The Garmin E-trex

[NewGil Pictures Indie Film]

Well it's too late now, I am getting one for an early father's day present, but my question was, anyone who has used just the basic eTrex model, how does it handle out in the field. I used my Dad's a couple weeks ago and it seemed to work really well when we went geocaching, maybe not the best reception under tree cover but that's to be expected. Would anyone reccommend it for a newbie geocacher, for both hiding and seeking caches? Thanks.

 

Robbie

[+Miragee]

It will work just fine. I have the Garmin eTrex Vista, but I understand lots of people have found lots of caches with the basic eTrex model.

 

Have fun with your new obsession . . . er . . . activity.

[+briansnat]

Its a great unit for a beginner, but consider returning it and gettiing the eTrex Legend instead. You will eventually want the capability to hook your GPS to a PC to dowload waypoints directly, as well as software upgrades and if you have the Legend, maps.

 

The yellow eTrex comes without a data cable and it's $30 from Garmin. The Legend comes with the data cable as standard. Considering that the Legend is $130 if you shop around and the yellow is $89. If you add in the cost of the data cable, there is only a $10 difference between the two. For that $10 bucks you get an excellent little mapping unit that you are not likely to outgrow as quickly.

 

Also, the eTrex units get fine reception under trees if used correctly. First, turn your unit on well before entering the trees so it knows where all the sats are. Second, it likes to be held flat, face up to the sky for optimum reception. If you clip it to your belt, put it in your pack or pocket, hang it by the laynard around your neck, or just hold it in your hand dangling at your side, you will not get the best reception with it. You want to hold it out kind of like a waiter holding a tray of beer.

Edited May 6, 2005 by briansnat

[GarminGuy12]

Yeah definitely the Etrex is the best in the world for new geocachers it navigates fine and it's a good model, tough and i would recommend it to anyone

[+Willy Wombat]

I've had the yellow eTrex for the last couple of weeks and found 13 caches with it so far

 

I've had no problems whatsoever and it's always got me to within 5m of the cache - even under fairly heavy tree cover.

 

As for maps - well, pesonally, I love my paper maps - I read them like others read books, using them to remind me of the places I've been to as well as looking at the places I want to go to. So, I don't have much use for electronic maps - Unless they come down in price and are as detailed as our ordanance survey maps!

 

All in all, I think the etrex is a great unit, although I take the point about downloading waypoints. It can take almost 2 minutes to load a waypoint but if you have 50 to add, your fingers start to get sore - My next purchase will be a serial cable.

 

HTH

 

Willy Wombat

Edited May 7, 2005 by Willy Wombat

[+gsmX2]

My wife has a Legend and it works really well for us. For my birthday, I was considering getting the Vista because it seemed silly to own two of the exact same GPS units. But for the $30.00 difference in price, it really didn't make sense to get the lesser model. BTW--in retail stores, Office Max has the best price $149.99 That is not a sale price and no rebate required.

[+Moab Man]

I have been using the Etrex for years. You don't NEED to have all the extras. You can download and upload waypoints to the Etrex.

 

I have recently purchased one with all the extras but to tell you the truth it really doesn't find things any better in real world practice. Sure it has WAAS for that greater accuracy but you still have to take into account the accuracy of the hiders coordinates.

 

Bling is nice but in the end the Etrex will do you just fine.

[Neo_Geo]

My next purchase will be a serial cable.

Sorry to go off topic, but for anyone not familiar with THE GEEK, they're an excellent vendor for low-priced, but good quality GPS accessories - including CABLES.

[Timmus]

I own both the Etrex Yellow and the map60 cs....I use the Etrex mainly for hiking so I can find my way to the car if I need to or to let me know how far I've trekked. It's really all I need for that type of stuff.....one of my hobbies though is looking for abandoned towns and villages in the forests around here in northern New England (there are quite a few of them) and It's nice to be able to have a topo map loaded in the GPSr with waypoints where buildings once stood. Also, the Etrex only goes down to 200' resolution, where the 60cs goes down to 20'....it helps pinpoint alot closer those places I'm looking for....they each do the job very well for which they were intended.

 

Timmus

[Juline]

I've been lurking for a while. I haven't started looking for caches yet, but do have a used Garmin eTrex Summit and I have a question.

 

What do you all mean when you refer to "mapping" that my Summit doesn't have? And am I wrong in thinking that I can hook up my Summit to a PC with a serial cable in order to download waypoints?

 

Another question, one I haven't found in the FAQ: when I enter a waypoint into my GPS and then I start looking for it, how do I know when I'm getting close? I'm sure the manual tells me somewhere, but I haven't quite learned all the lingo yet, so I'm not sure what I'm looking for.

 

Any help would be appreciated. I've leared a ton of stuff just lurking the last couple weeks, thanks!

[+Tervas]

What do you all mean when you refer to "mapping" that my Summit doesn't have? And am I wrong in thinking that I can hook up my Summit to a PC with a serial cable in order to download waypoints?

Mapping= electric map that is buit in the GPSr (fixed or in most cases user downloadable)

You can download waypoints from your PC via serial cable using a software like EasyGPS

...when I enter a waypoint into my GPS and then I start looking for it, how do I know when I'm getting close?

The Quick start guide should help you, look at section 9, the pointer page tells you the direction and destination to the currently selected waypoint.

[+Yamahammer]

Bought my Etrex last year for hunting in unknown river bottoms. It worked excellent in that capacity. Mark the hole, route and tracks were all needed resources. Then I found this, GC. Man, I've got to tell you, I'm thrilled at the performance of this thing. I want to upgrade sometime but not presently. I'm looking into buying a PDA for paperless caching in the near future.

 

Carry on!!!

 

[+JeepCachr]

The yellow extrex is an excellent GPS. Its basic but for geocaching all you need is the basics. Usually you can turn around and sell it for most of what you payed for it when you decide to upgrade or its cheap enough to keep around and let the wife or the kids use when out caching with the family.

 

The more expensive units aren't that much more accurate. They may be faster, they might get slightly better reception but most of what your paying for as you go up the upgrade ladder is bells and whistles.

 

I have a foretrex 201 and a explorist 600, I think the foretrex is still my favorite because it does what I need it to do even though the 600 is fancy and color and has loads of memory.

[TXcachehunter]

The E-Trex GPSr is the only unit that I have used and I seem to know it well. The best accuracy I have noticed was 13ft when it had 12 satillites locked and this was in in open field. It worked well when taking readings on a walking trail project with a GIS club and is a good, basic unit for geocaching.

[+bigbbfan]

I started doing this about a month ago with a Etrex Summit that I have owned since 2002. So far, the accuracy stated on the GPS is usually 13-20ft. My actual experience has been that I can get usually get down to 1-3ft accuracy with this thing - that is without the WAAS! Needless to say, I have learned to trust this GPS.

 

I've found 10 caches so far and the only one that I didn't get that good of accuracy (off by 10-15 ft), was one where the cache was almost right under some high power lines.

 

I purchased a combo cable to connect to the PC and download waypoints and charge in the car. Has worked very well for me.

[+JeepCachr]

I started doing this about a month ago with a Etrex Summit that I have owned since 2002. So far, the accuracy stated on the GPS is usually 13-20ft. My actual experience has been that I can get usually get down to 1-3ft accuracy with this thing - that is without the WAAS! Needless to say, I have learned to trust this GPS.

 

I've found 10 caches so far and the only one that I didn't get that good of accuracy (off by 10-15 ft), was one where the cache was almost right under some high power lines.

 

I purchased a combo cable to connect to the PC and download waypoints and charge in the car. Has worked very well for me.

I call shenanagins. The only way you could make statements like you have just made is to have been going to 10 known confirmed known locations not to geocaches. Not every geocache has accurate coordinates.

 

There is no handheld consumer GPS with the accuracy you think you have. Its just not possible if you look at the underlying technology.

 

Of course the best GPS to most GPS users is the one that they own and they would choose no other.

[+bigbbfan]

I recall watching the GPS to the geocache locations go down from 15ft, 10ft, 6ft, 3ft, 2ft, and being very impressed with its accuracy. I must have been provided great coordinates to start with. Whatever it is, it's been a real positive experience and great way to start out. Almost all my 10 finds have been in open sky though.

 

I have had 2 GPS units over an 8 year period. In the past, I have only used them to find general landmarks out on the Alaska tundra (camp, airplane pickup, etc..). Out there, where a person can see 3-5 miles in every direction, pinpoint accuracy is not that important. Via geocaching, I'm seeing just how accurate a GPS can be - very cool.