Newbie Question

[+boxerlady]

i have a garmin etrex legend,is this a good gps to have as a beginner?

i have found that it doesn't work well in some area i go,like all cellphones.

is there anyway to alleviate this problem on this model.

thanks

boxerlady

[+Lil Elephants]

I use the same model and have had no problems with it.

[+Muddler]

Does BoxerLady refer to the dogs you keep, car you drive or an occupation? Just courious? I have found that my GPS works pretty well anywhere that I take it with the exception, that the conditions over your head (tree cover, buildings, cliff walls, etc.) will limit SAT reception. What I have found is that as long as my GPS can see the sky I can get a SAT lock and find a cache. The more "sky cover" you have and the lower number of SATs that you GPSr can see the poorer the accuracy of the numbers you will get.

 

Muddler

[+briansnat]

The eTrex line needs to be held flat, face up to the sky for best reception. If you clip it to your belt, hang it around your neck via the laynard or carry it in your hand dangling at your side you could lose reception. You need to carry it the way a waiter would carry a tray of beer.

 

Also, turn it on well before you enter the woods so it knows where all the sats are. I flick it on in the car as I leave the house and put it on the dashboard.

 

When I first got my Legend I was very disappointed with it until I figured all this out. Once I did, it performed flawlessly, even under heavy tree cover.

 

The Legend is an excellent GPS for beginners and probably the most popular unit around because of its price, features and performance.

Edited March 26, 2005 by briansnat

[+Milbank]

i have a garmin etrex legend,is this a good gps to have as a beginner?

 

Welcome,

Yes the Legend is a great unit.

I have found that my Explorist 100 does pick up the sats. better then my Legend.

 

But it's like briansnat said.

 

Its new to you and after you use it a bit you will start to learn the best way.

 

Have fun....

[+Tidalflame]

My eTrex works fine no matter how I hold it. However, there are some areas where it will not work - for example, in canyons. I took mine into the bottom of Maligne Canyon and got no signal.

 

The reason for this is that the GPS unit needs to be able to receive data from satellites. The satellite signals do have some capacity to penetrate solid objects, but not nearly as much as handheld radios, cell phones, etc. So when you can't see much of the sky, your GPS receiver may have problems. There is no way around this.

Edited March 26, 2005 by Tidalflame