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Which Gps ?


gpsjester

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  I am a very newbie, my wife has bought me an e-trex venture for my birthday biggrin.gif

unfortunately my birthday isn't for a couple of months and she won't let me have it early sad.gif having read this forum I can't wait to get started.

 

I know the feeling! My other half bought me my Etrex in September 02, and wraped it up as soon as it arrived, I didn't get it until xmas day. If your any good with maps, why not have a look for some 1/1's close by, some can be found with just a map and the clue.

 

Dave

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E-TREX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

groovy chick

p.s if money was no object this would still be the one i went for, you can get good deals on www.ebay.co.uk as thats where i got mine

Yeah, but's that's coz it's yellow B)

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Perhaps the answer is not which to buy, but where to buy it from.

 

Love it or loathe it you do get some good offers on Ebay, but make sure you get a UK or Europe base map, a US version will be cheaper but and it is a big but once you are off the loaded map area tough.

 

Also if you are worried about paying a lot and nothing turning up, there are quite a lot of retailers who use EBAY and the prices are better.

 

Make sure you check the rating of the seller, a nice 100% is always good. Anyway back to the GPS, I started looking at the legend and then I saw the Legend C and that was it sold. My justification was I am only going to buy one so lets make it a good un. :rolleyes: of course I then had to add the Autonavigation kit for another £165 but now I have a really good set up for in the car and of course for Geocaching

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Have taken the plunge after much agonising....have decided on GPS60....it seems better suited for Geocaching....more accurate....etc. Hope I haven't blundered....Have ordered today...... :)

 

PS...Anyone want to buy a Magellan GPS310 with mount and Data/charge cable for reasonable £££££££.....

what batteries does it take and how reasonable is reasonable??

dave

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I too have a Magellan!!! So there only 2 of us!

 

I was looking on here for something super for caching...

Reading all the stuff I thought I would ask opinion of all you out there.

 

I have just got tomtomgo so navigation isnt a problem.wish it had better maps though. not built for off road. I use it for caching and is spot on but not very handheld friendly and certainly not rugged.

 

I have had and used daily for 10+ years a Magellan Tracker.

 

I wonder how good this is for geocaching or is there something better that you lot are using?

 

The Magellan cost me £250 10 years ago and a few years ago they were in marine shop (called colour tracker) for £238

 

It has batt/satellite screen & co-ord screen which can split into 2 sets I used OSGB as primary and DegMinSec as secondary as using it in a cab I used osgb co-ords from my map books for 10yrs.also speed heading bearing on this screen

next screen is CTS,XTE,DST,SPD,BRG,HDG These are custmised so you can change them to VMG,ETA,TTG,TRN,ALT,time,temp or blank

Next screen is the compass and when you enter a GOTO a background compass indicates the way to go with 4 options as above at top of page.

 

Also sun and moon round compass so if you stop you can turn unit to line up with sun(as you have to be moving for compass to work)

 

Next screen has 4 options to display in big format,

 

Next screen is the road screen

Next is the tracker/plotter screen which tracks the route you travel,about 400 miles I think, screen zoom from 0.1m to 400miles

It holds 500 waypoints of which half have been all the motorway junctions I put in manually over the last 10 yrs.

Route 20 routes each which 30 or 29 waypoints in each.

 

fish hunt and sunrise and moon rise and set

 

Next is the Odometer screen with upto 100000miles and trip upto 999.9miles with car type speedo on it.

 

Next screen is Time,Time to go, Time of arrival and elapsed time displayed.

 

Battery says upto 30 hours but normally 22-23 when I put rechargables in it.

Obviously less with backlight function on but batt indicator drop when light goes on which can be always on,off or off after certain time.

 

Normally has 3-5 sats fix but in good view can be 5 or 7

Need 5 for altitude to be correct. poss of 12 but never had them all lit up

 

It has 77 map datums in it

Co-ord systems Long/Lat OSGB UTM,TD,Irish,Swiss,Sweedish,Finnish,German,French,MGRS,User Grid

 

Alarms,proximity and arrival etc and other stuff I don`t understand

 

I never successfully connected to computer but you can alter baud rates and other stuff I never used.

 

So do I get another unit now I have been geocaching for a few months or is this and the tomtomgo ok???

 

At the moment I select a cache or pass it on the road when it comes up on the tomtom and if I go do it I use magellan and enter co-ords manually.

 

The great thing about the tomtom is that I can chuck 20000 waypoints on it and the memory of the SD card hardly moves!

The megallan only holds 500

 

I would be interested to hear what other people reckon of this OLD and rarely used or mentioned on this forum? I think there are only 2 of us so far! :lol:

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Hi.

 

I am still to purchase a gps unit, I am struggling to make up my mind between a Mapping one or not. Being new to this game.

 

I have been considering a Garmin Emap though, they seem to me to have a lot of functions and advantages over the legend and with reasonable 2nd hand prices it seems like you get a lot for your money.

 

My questions are;

 

Does anybody else use this gps? (I havnt heard it mentioned in any posts before)

Is it suitable?

Why is it now discontinued? This is what puts me off more than anything.

 

Sorry this post is is a bit off-topic. just after some advice.

 

Thanks.

 

Marty

Im a great lover of my little eMAP. Its got the latest firmware on, while it doesnt have the same capabilities of more modern machines (such as being able to take standard memory cards, no proper floating compass etc), for its price I was more than happy with it. Ive been caching with it for over a year, and cant think of any reason I would need to upgrade.

 

Its a basic mapping machine (wonderful when loaded with the streetmaps), with the addition of the neoprene cover, its semi waterproof and has been into quite a few adventures and rugged caches over its time with me.

 

Battery life is pretty good considering, and its slim enough to fit in a shirt pocket.

 

I must admit also, that when i first started caching, I went with a friend who had a GPS12 and the eMAP simply blew it away...

 

He's now got a Magplat, which Ill grant you is an excellent piece of kit, but still a little chunky compared to the sleek lines of the eMAP..

 

You wont go far wrong with it..

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My story so far,

 

Bought Magellen 310, sold it. Bought Garmin 12XL, sold it. Bought Garmin Emap, sold it. Bought another Garmin 12 XL, sold it. Bought Garmin 76CS, sold it. bought yet another Garmin 12XL, kept it.

 

All my navigation is done using map and compass. GPS is very rarely used and then only confirm that my navigation is correct.

 

I have had a few GPS's in my time, from the the basic to the state of the art.

 

I have found that the best pieces of equipment for Geocaching are still the traditional Map and Compass.

 

With the map you are able to get appreciation of the ground and its relief, which is not possible with with just a GPS.

 

I am interested to hear from other people who use Map and Compass.

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Hi All,

I am currently using ....an old Garmin GPS III which we bought to help when Jetski-ing. I fished it out the back of the cupboard when I herad about Geocaching and have been using that!

Trouble is it is hard to keep subtle when out, even with the screen turn option to make it look more like a mobile phone (if you're a muggle with poor vision and the person carrying it holds it down and walks fast!!)

So hubby is off to the states and has promised me an Extrex Yellow instead of perfume on his return - ah and they say romance is dead...

Trouble is having read all the above I am not sure ...

Can somone confirm that if you are not using waypoints - not advanced to that stage yet - that the Yellow wiill be ample and despite it's colour less obvious?

:lol:

Also where is the best place to learn about waypoints and how to use them......

 

edited for typo's bet I missed some.

Edited by The Clanchills
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I have a GPS III and wouldn't part with it. I admit to using my Legend mostly but when the going gets tough, under tree cover for instance, it's the GPS III that comes to the rescue. When I set a cache, I use the GPS III's averaging mode to record the waypoint of the new cache. It eats batteries like they're going out of fashion but with the latest 2500mAh NiMH things you can get a days caching out of a set of four. It might not be the latest 'state of the art' bit of kit but it's certainly good enough for geocaching. Use it with pride and welcome to the addiction!!! :lol::lol::lol:

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Thanks Guys!

Maybe I'll opt for perfume and carry my GPS III PLus with pride instead of shame - Hubby will be pleased, as the Tecchie of our lot he is always telling me about the number of sats and stuff.......

As for the batteries I have done several trips now and not lost and ounce of charge and with my navigational skills it is on for a LONG time :lol:

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Hi - just looking to buy my first GPS and it will be second hand I think - how does the Magellan Explorist 300 compare with the Extrex Legend?

 

Any thoughts please?

 

The most significant omission on the low numbered Explorists is that you can't hook them up to a PC to download Waypoints. Doesn't sound like a big problem, but personally I'd not buy a GPSr that didn't. They also use their own recharable battery whereas the eTrex receivers use standard AAs ( rechargeable or non-rechargeable ).

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We have just bought a GPSMAP 60 and are thrilled - does everything we need. Couldn't stretch to a colour one. We paid just £185!! Brand new - seem the website made a mistake because the following day the price had shot up, but still very reasonable .... (turtle creek - still cheaper than anywhere else. Google them for their website as can't remember off hand).

 

We chose by using the garmin product assistant which asks lots of questions and then makes suggestions. You can then compare those it has suggested. We followed the in-car nav route and then the geocache route and both times it suggested the map 60.

 

Fantastic - and its drop proof and waterproof - always handy! :P

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We have just bought a GPSMAP 60 and are thrilled - does everything we need. Couldn't stretch to a colour one. We paid just £185!! Brand new - seem the website made a mistake because the following day the price had shot up, but still very reasonable .... (turtle creek - still cheaper than anywhere else. Google them for their website as can't remember off hand).

 

We chose by using the garmin product assistant which asks lots of questions and then makes suggestions. You can then compare those it has suggested. We followed the in-car nav route and then the geocache route and both times it suggested the map 60.

 

Fantastic - and its drop proof and waterproof - always handy! :unsure:

How much better is the gpsmap 60 series of Gps at maintaining a lock under trees compared to the etrex range and is the extra cost justified on this criteria alone

Cheers

Dave

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We have just bought a GPSMAP 60 and are thrilled - does everything we need. Couldn't stretch to a colour one. We paid just £185!! Brand new - seem the website made a mistake because the following day the price had shot up, but still very reasonable .... (turtle creek - still cheaper than anywhere else. Google them for their website as can't remember off hand).

 

We chose by using the garmin product assistant which asks lots of questions and then makes suggestions. You can then compare those it has suggested. We followed the in-car nav route and then the geocache route and both times it suggested the map 60.

 

Fantastic - and its drop proof and waterproof - always handy! :anibad:

How much better is the gpsmap 60 series of Gps at maintaining a lock under trees compared to the etrex range and is the extra cost justified on this criteria alone

Cheers

Dave

sorry don't know - this is our first one.

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We bought our emap about 3 years ago, and never really used it much until we started caching... we were made up with it... UNTIL.......

 

We spotted a Magellan Sportak on ebay for 35 quid that was brokedn.... Phill got it, reset the thing, and now it works perfectly.

 

We still use the emap too, but tend to have it linked to the laptop and inthe car for getting us between caches. We like the magellan because of the compass, and alos the topo maps that Garmin refuse to get!!

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we've had a basic yellow (you can see where you dropped it) etrex, since Xmas and it works fine. There is a common error about its specification(and the camo). The error appears on the garmin site and suppliers who have copied data from it. The site says the etrex stores only one route of up to 50 waypoints and 1536 tracklog points. The current manual shows the following...

 

Stores 20 routes with up to 125 waypoints each

Stores 500 waypoints with name and icon

10,000 point active track log, 10 saved tracks (750 points each)

WAAS enabled

A Hunt/Fish feature showing best times for hunting/fishing

Sun/Moon feature showing sun/moon rise/set (although the moon rise/set is not actually available!)

 

See all etrex manuals at

http://www.garmin.com/products/manual.jsp?...ct=010-00190-00

Download the current etrex manual ...

http://www.garmin.com/manuals/eTrex_Owners...00andabove_.pdf

 

The etrex is a fine device especially when linked with GSAK to manage cache locations downloaded in bulk. Even so, a GPS with a thumbstick such as the etrex Venture is more usable. It costs £30 more but you get a 'free' PC interface cable which you don't with the ordinary etrex.

So don't dismiss the yellow etrex on the basis of the wrong spec. If a budget basic GPS is what you need then it's a good piece of kit.

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I am a happy bunny now - I got an etrex legend for my birthday and have really enjoyed learning how to use it and having a go at finding things! When we went for a walk with my children and my nephew I entered waypoints for lots of land features and they had fun using the gps to find them. Just have to make sure I don't forget how to use map and compass now! :o

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Got the etrex (yellow one) and now thinking about an upgrade for somthing with WAAS, as the etrex dosent support this feature. Plus if I got a new one I could give the etrex to the missus so she isn't asking the all important questions, such as, which way now and how far away are we from it... :lol:

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Bought the basic Legend but contemplating buying the Legend C just for its routing capabilities...... Although I have thought of buying Tom Tom for the car and using my Legend for when I'm on foot. I have been more than happy so far with the basic Legend although it does seem to suffer under the lightest of tree cover :anitongue:

 

Xiwolf

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Hi

 

I am a newbie to this MB, been caching since May

 

I bought a Legend on E-bay from a US seller for £80, so it has a US/Canada base map (useful when I went to the states recently though), but I have invested in MapQuest (another E-Bay seller!) and it has worked out fine

 

I particularly like the fact that it is designed for left hand use, leaving the right hand free. Battery life is excellent, although the meter seems very pessimistic - my GPS seems to run on 'empty' for hours.

 

Entering data is a breeze, and although the screen is small it is clear.

 

My latest acquisition has been a handlbar mount for my bike. Using the GPS on a bike is a real test as the screen is further away and there is a lot of vibration [at least the way I ride :blink: ]. I find the screen still readable. They are cheap[£8.50] at the moment on Amazon.

 

En route to caches I place it in a mobile telephone holder in the car - again no probs reading it - no adjustment though, stay legal :( ]

It is quite sensitive to tree cover though - I don't know if this is common to all GPSr.

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Bought the basic Legend but contemplating buying the Legend C just for its routing capabilities...... Although I have thought of buying Tom Tom for the car and using my Legend for when I'm on foot.

You may be in for a nasty surprise!

 

The Legend C (and Vista C) will auto-route ONLY when fed data from Garmin's City Select or City Navigator software discs. Both these packages are v. expensive, particularly when compared to the cost of the hardware.

 

If you already own a Garmin unit that came with one of these software packages included, you can use the second "unlock" available with the software. You can then use it with your Legend.

 

Note - I suspect that the 8 mb of memory in the Legend C would not be big enough for anything other than the smallest map "tile" in CN. City Select is the preferred software for the Legends.

 

I have a StreetPilot 3 that included CN. I unlocked the software to my Vista C using the second "unlock". The software works superbly in it.

Edited by Sue & Bernie
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I've had my yellow for only a month or so and was disapointed with its performance in our over grown lanes so I bought a gpsmap 60c. I am even more mift now :rolleyes: as I took both units out this evening and ran them side by side!

The 60c beeped and displayed that it had lost contact with the sats and the yellow still had a good lock on 4 of them .What is going on??

Dave

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Bought the basic Legend but contemplating buying the Legend C just for its routing capabilities...... Although I have thought of buying Tom Tom for the car and using my Legend for when I'm on foot.

You may be in for a nasty surprise!

 

The Legend C (and Vista C) will auto-route ONLY when fed data from Garmin's City Select or City Navigator software discs. Both these packages are v. expensive, particularly when compared to the cost of the hardware.

 

If you already own a Garmin unit that came with one of these software packages included, you can use the second "unlock" available with the software. You can then use it with your Legend.

 

Note - I suspect that the 8 mb of memory in the Legend C would not be big enough for anything other than the smallest map "tile" in CN. City Select is the preferred software for the Legends.

 

I have a StreetPilot 3 that included CN. I unlocked the software to my Vista C using the second "unlock". The software works superbly in it.

Yeah i would agree that the city select maps are way too expensive.

 

I have been using the basic Legend in the car with Garmin Metroguide software, this has suited me fine so far, but I do have to plan all my routes before hand at home (or take out the laptop with me), very impressed with the Legend/Laptop/Nroute setup :D except that my wife doesn't like having the laptop on her knee whilst I am driving :) ... so I think I will invest in a TomTom Go 300 for the car.

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Anyone else using SIRF III chipset ?

I bought a bluetooth GPS from Holux(GR-236) that uses this chipset and I can not get over the amazing performance of the thing.

 

Signal retention is bongers. I can go out and never take the GPS out of trouser pocket and retain a good enough geocaching signal. I can even get a rapid sat lock indoors.

 

Hot starts take about 5 sec to get a position lock. I have yet to get a cold start to take longer than a minute.

 

I logged 9 1/2 hours of NMEA data on one battery charge (without power saving switched on) with the gps sitting in my living room and my laptop next to my bed upstairs at the rear of the house. (the laptop has 100ft range bluetooth dongle). After the 9 hours or so the transmitted data was garbled with errors in the NMEA sentences. I presume GPS would still be transmitting valid data after 10 hours if the distance between the BT devices was shorter. I have not tried switching on the GPS's power saving mode yet.

 

Well pleased with the unit from holux performance wise. The GPS package itself, could have done with a belt clip, necklace, keyring or wrist strap etc has it seems so unnatural to have a working gps giving good signal from inside ones pocket. It could also do with a more positive locking battery cover.

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Hi,

 

Having just got into GC, currently using an IPAQ and Navman 4410 unit, I'm looking at getting something more rugged.

 

Reading this thread, I've come to the conclusion that the Garmin GPSMAP76 appears to be the choice unit. Am I correct that improved perfromance is due to the different antenna technology in use of that in the etrek (Built-in quadrifilar Vs Patch).

 

From this I'm looking at either, the Garmin GPS72, or the Magellan Sporttrak. Any comments on either of the above (budget is limited due to our 5 month old son, who is also hooked on GC)

 

Cheers

 

Stuart

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I'd always go for the best GPSr you can afford. I bought a Legend for Greenlaning but since then have used it more for geocaching and routing. So the better (more functions) the GPS the more uses it has.

I've been using my Legend quite happily for a couple of years. The rubber outer band has split but I've stuck it back and it's okay now. It is waterproof for those rainy days and boat use. It has sufficient mapping for local use. Following routes on it in the car is okay even with no sound an limited garphics. I'd like to be able to have tide calculations on it, mix metric and imperial units. i.e. 200m on foot while 40mph in the car. But for what it can do I'm more than impressed.

Over the years I aquired Mapsource Europe, a car charger, a serial cable, a combined car charger/serial cable, a bike mount, a neoprene case and a love of high performance batteries. ( I did get a set of Lithium batteries for use on my motorbike as wind chill seemed to kill normal batteries but I sold the bike before I got to try them).

If we know where we're going I load the maps in for the area I need. I also load as many routes as I think I will need and all the local geocaches. We've travelled across Europe with it and found that as long as I did my research before we left for bits of map and routes, I've got to where I needed to go. We even took a laptop and ran nRoute but it was too cumbersome for in car use. The POI are rather limited as it just hasn't got the localised database. In fact I'd rather have a little less detail on POI for more map area.

I've also been using an iPAQ 4150 for storing cache details and using the bluetooth to my phone to get on the net if I have missed any information for a particular cache.

I'm now deciding what to do next. I like the look of the Legend C but can see all my cables will be obsolete. Or do I get a bluetooth GPSr and TomTom or equiv for my iPAQ. Or buy an in car GPS system. Good for navigating, bad for Geocaching.

I've been looking at the Mio 269 which has European maps built in, which is useful for my semi-regular runs into France. It just lacks the geocaching aspect. There do seem to be quite a few applications for swapping POI's but I haven't found anything definative about being able to convert gpx files into the Mio system. I've also come across a few web sites that show that you can actually run WinCE applications on the Mio which looks promising. If I can geocache using a car navigation system then at least I'll be able to recoup some of my losses by selling all my Garmin kit.

So has anyone got any experience of using one of these car navigation systems for geocaching?

 

Robin

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After reading this excellent post about batteries or cells by MCL.

 

In low temperatures use Lithium or NiMH high capacity batteries, i.e. below +5 C.

Alkaline and NiCd can not deliver power needed in GPSr below plus 5 degrees centigrade.

I'm using 2300 mAh NiMH in eTrex and getting 18+ hours use. Carry spare NiMh and backup Alkaline.

 

Another example of low temperature problems.

 

I met someone who was getting 30 minutes from regular Duracell alkaline AA batteries, whilst ski touring in Norway (-15C before windchill ). They did not know about low temperature problem of alkaline batteries, so each time GPSr came out of inner jacket pocket, it stopped working, turned off.

 

I use Silva solar AA charger to replenish NiMH, sits on dashboard when travelling.

(Fair weather cacher!!! :D )

 

When cells flatten whilst in use, eTrex carries on where it left off, mid route. Clever.

Hope that helps.

:D

Edited by flipflopnick
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The 60c beeped and displayed that it had lost contact with the sats and the yellow still had a good lock on 4 of them .

 

I recently ran my yellow basic side by side with a eTrex Summit and Legend owned by non-geocaching friends and my yellow was the only one that didnt struggle under tree cover nor lost signal lock.

Is this because the basic model has more reception qualities or is it just fluke?

 

Thinking of upgrading to a Legend.

Edited by Lady Fairfax
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for me the legend is the best all round buy. i have recommended it to 3 others and they have all been very happy.i use mine for far more than geocaching. great to download tracks and see where you have been.worth looking out for the mapsource cds heaps of info on them. also always worth looking on ebay as often get good bundles second hand. i wouldn't advise buying from usa though as these come with american base maps. hope this helps. ps using rechargable batteries is well worth the initial outlay as normal ones do not last the 20 hours the makers say.

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