NTRotty Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 I have a Gecko 201 that I never really learned to use. Now am interested in hiking and want to include geocaching activity. Will this unit do what I need to get started? I am a very "green" beginner so any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment
+Milbank Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Your Gecko 201 will work great for geocaching. It will work ok for hiking too, but someday you may want to upgrade to something that will let you load maps. Quote Link to comment
+tirediron Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 As Millbank said, nothing wrong with the 201 at all. I would also suggest that for your first few 'caches you look for fairly simple ones; 1 or 2 star difficulty level. This will allow you to get an idea of what you are looking for, and some of the ways in which 'caches in your area are hidden. Have a look in your regional forum or on your local 'caching website and see if there are any events planned that you could attend, or maybe link up with a local, more eperienced 'cacher. Good luck and welcome! Quote Link to comment
+CurmudgeonlyGal Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 The 201 will work wonderfully well for geocaching... for hiking it should be o.k. as well. Millbank mentioned needing maps to hike, but I don't think that's necessarily true. I have been hiking a bit over this last year, and have never had a useful map FOR hiking in my GPS. Now, this is not to say I couldn't buy a Topo program for my GPS and have those maps, but... for the most part, I tend to follow the trail that's been laid out in front of me. On the other hand, because of the antenna on the Geko, you might find you lose your sat lock while hiking and won't get a good track to download... That's a different ball game. I think you'll like your Geko! We've had ours for about a year now, and altho it doesn't get used much (I also have a 60C), I really enjoy it when I do use it! -=- michelle Quote Link to comment
+AtoZ Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 The GEKO is great I have a 201 and there is NO problem with it. Get GPS MAD EASY it is a good book on GPSs. cheers Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 You're good to go with the Gecko. Just pull up your local cache pages, plug in the coordinates, hit 'go to' and you're on your way. The Gecko is a great little unit. My wife uses one and I have a higher end 60CS and under certain conditions she beats me to the cache. Quote Link to comment
+sTeamTraen Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 One note I would add for the 201: get two pairs of NiMH AAA batteries and make sure you always have the fully-charged spare set with you. Battery lifetime on the Geko series is one of its few weak points. Quote Link to comment
Aushiker Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 G'day I have the Geko 301 and I am pretty happy with that. I use it mainly for geocaching but also a bit of bushwalking, but still prefer real navigation when bushwalking . Find using a map and compass adds to the experience. Anyway, getting back to your Geko 201, I was orginally planning to purchase a 201 when I got my 301. Only got the 301 as I got such a good deal on it, it wasn't worth overlooking. You can find an Owner Review on the Geko 201 where it has been used for hiking at BackpackGearTest.org. Might give you some valuable feedback. Regards Andrew Quote Link to comment
Smaug1 Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 As others have said, you should be good to go with the Gecko 201. Doesn't the Gecko 201 have a US basemap built-in? With all the major roads? Or was that the 301? That may be all you need for interstate travel. Don't discount the comment about getting Ni-MH rechargeables. I have a Garmin Legend which runs on AAs (twice the capacity) and I still find it handy to have a spare set at all times. I actually carry two spare sets: one set Ni-MH and one set AA alkaline. Lastly, do a lot of reading on these forums with your indoor time. If you go back through some of the past pages here, you will see that nearly all of your questions have already been answered. Quote Link to comment
+sTeamTraen Posted January 22, 2005 Share Posted January 22, 2005 None of the Gekos have maps. The 201 adds more waypoint/route storage, games, and a PC link to the 101. The 301 adds a real compass and a real altimeter. Quote Link to comment
rdtrekker Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 I'm a new Geocacher with a Geko 201, and have found four Caches in a week of cold and windy weather in the MidWest. It's so easy to enter waypoints, and then go-to them that I can't imagine it being easier. I understand that there are more sophisticated units out there, but I did a lot of research before I purchased the Geko 201. If you can mark your position, and mark a waypoint (UTM) and go to it, what more can you ask? If you're hiking in the CA desert, and want to find where you started from, just follow the arrow! rdtrekker Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.