Author Topic: Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad???  (Read 1097 times)

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Offline smoky

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad???
« on: August 24, 2004, 09:08:31 AM »
I am contemplating a sportrak.  Maybe the basic sportrak or the pro or the topo model.  Any comments good or bad and any suggestions are welcome.  I will use it mainly for deer hunting.  I'm hoping to be able to "wander" and scout without concentrating so much on how to get back to the starting place.  I would also use it for marking stand locations and finding them without marking tape, etc.

Any help would be great.


Smoky
Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.

Offline PA-Joe

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2004, 04:15:13 AM »
I'm after a sportrak topo myself.

Offline oppi127

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2004, 03:50:11 PM »
I use one while coon hunting.   I'ts a live saver in the dark.   The sporttrax map is personal favorite.   I got the CD and put  all the hunting areas in it.    This way if you wonder to far, just look and there might be  a road, or hiking trail on the gps map.    :eek:

Offline MI VHNTR

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2004, 04:35:15 PM »
I've got the SporTrak Pro and it's been flawless since I bought it. I like the ability to add/delete maps to the unit.  MI VHNTR
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The Second Amendment isn't about hunting. It's about Freedom.

Offline Val

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Sport Trak
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2004, 10:23:03 AM »
One more satisfied Sport Trak user. I have the color display and like it very much.
Hunting and fishing are not matters of life or death. They are much more important than that.

Offline Will Bison

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2004, 07:57:49 PM »
Got the B/W screen. A good unit. Also have the Mag Gold and the Mag 315. Sportrac is right on with the other two.

The only very minor thing is the screen size on the Mag Gold is a bit bigger which I like.

Offline Siskiyou

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2004, 08:32:39 PM »
I understand that there has been a problem with cracking around the screws that hold the case together.  I have seen photos of the cracks.  There are efforts by some users to track the problem down to certain production runs by serial number.  Customer satisfaction with Magellan correcting the problem has been high.

Will Bison & MI VHNTR can you let me know what the default DATUM is/or was in your Magellan gps units when your received them?
There is a learning process to effectively using a gps.  Do not throw your compass and map away!

Boycott: San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, and City of Sacramento, CA.

Offline Will Bison

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #7 on: November 26, 2004, 06:41:08 AM »
Siskiyou;  I think mine were set to WGS84 as default but I won't swear to it. I keep mine all on WGS84 as primary and NAD27 secondary.

Offline MI VHNTR

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #8 on: November 26, 2004, 05:00:01 PM »
Siskiyou, IIRC, my STP was setup with the WGS84 as the default datum. It shows this after any software updates also. I too use the WGS84 as the primary datum and the NAD27 as the secondary datum. I use lat/lon, but use the UTM as the secondary coordinate system.  MI VHNTR
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The Second Amendment isn't about hunting. It's about Freedom.

Offline Siskiyou

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2004, 06:27:24 AM »
Will Bison and MI VHNTR:  Thanks for the information.  I do not normally use UTM, but I have decided to learn more about it.  I am from the Lat/Long, feet, inches, miles, and chain generation.(1 chain = 66 feet).  I was playing with my DeLorme Topo software and changed the units to UTM.  I got a drop down stating that most UTM surveys are based on NAD27.
There is a learning process to effectively using a gps.  Do not throw your compass and map away!

Boycott: San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, and City of Sacramento, CA.

Offline MI VHNTR

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2004, 04:02:38 PM »
Siskiyou, I use my STP with lat/lon and WGS84 as the primary coordinate/datum system and the UTM/NAD27 as the secondary coordinate/datum system. You can change these at any time, ie. lat/lon w/NAD27 or UTM w/WGS84. The STP gives you quite a few options in this regard. Just a FWIW.  MI VHNTR
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The Second Amendment isn't about hunting. It's about Freedom.

Offline smoky

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #11 on: November 30, 2004, 06:45:21 AM »
Siskiyou,

Not to correct you, but I thought 1 chain= 66 feet, not 88.  Therefore 80 chains equals one mile.  

Am I incorrect.

Smoky
Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.

Offline Siskiyou

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #12 on: November 30, 2004, 07:38:39 AM »
Smoky:  You are 100% correct.  Talk about having brain damage.  Thanks for the heads up.  How about 80 chains to the mile?
There is a learning process to effectively using a gps.  Do not throw your compass and map away!

Boycott: San Francisco, L.A., Oakland, and City of Sacramento, CA.

Offline doorgunner

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Magellan Sportrak-Experiences good or Bad??
« Reply #13 on: February 19, 2005, 07:52:46 AM »
I have a Magellan SporTrak Topo for sale in the classifieds section.  Six months old, and I don't see any cracks around the screw holes anywhere.  This thing is way out of my league.  I confess that I'm way too GPS challenged to operate this thing to it's potential. LOL
"Walk Softly, and Carry a Large Caliber Bolt Gun!"