Author Topic: Need GPS for Hunting Season (Read 1324 times)

two snakes · « **on:** September 25, 2005, 02:59:55 PM »

I am planning a hunting trip with my hunting partner to the George Washington National Forest. I have never been in this area. The camp will be in a shelter on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, and will be hunting a couple miles away from base camp. Any suggestions as to a good GPS at an inexpensive price ie $100 - $175? Garmin 75 and eXplorist look intersting.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #1 on:** October 04, 2005, 05:52:44 PM »

The Garmin 75 is obsolete and no longer sold by Garmin. :noway: You might find one on e-bay. But they are old technology. Based on the "75" manual they eat batteries compared to newer gps units. If you buy one you are on your own. I have noticed a number of Sporting Goods stores selling discontinue gps units at full retail. Buyer beware!

The very popular Garmin Legend has a good base map and you can add 8MB of additional mapping software. I choose the topo software as a hunter and fisherman. You will get twice the battery life out of two AA batteries, versus the 7-hours for four batteries in the Garmin 75. You should be able to get the Garmin Legend for $149.99 or less on the internet or from a better store.
The eXplorist are new technology and should serve you. There are a number of eXplorist models and the price is all over.

EsoxLucius · « **Reply #2 on:** October 05, 2005, 05:04:34 AM »

You should also look at the Magellan eXplorist 210 ($165) and the MapSend TOPO 3D USA ($90).

http://www.thegpsstore.com/detail-magellan-explorist-210.asp

MI VHNTR · « **Reply #3 on:** October 05, 2005, 02:21:29 PM »

Personally, I'd avoid Magellan. Lots of problems with the Explorist series of GPS units. Look here for more info:

http://forums.groundspeak.com/gc/

Further, personal experience tells me that Magellan customer service is sorely lacking.
I'm now a happy Garmin (GPSMap 76 CS) owner.
MI VHNTR

Siskiyou · « **Reply #4 on:** October 05, 2005, 03:52:00 PM »

MI VHNTER:

There must be a reason that Garmin is number one in sales. The vast majority of emergency responders that I work with have Garmin's. Maybe Garmin received the contract.

But a knowledgeable buyer will scan the same link and find gripes about Garmins and other brands. I currently own two Garmin's and if I was to buy another gps Garmin would have a head start. A professional forester I know has both brands and recommend the Garmin Etrex to me a few years ago. I expanded on his advice and bought a Garmin Etrex Legend. No regrets.

I also bought a Garmin 76C. Cost a lot more bucks, But I wanted to store more topo maps on it. I have hunting partners who would have no use for the large memory. They hardly get away from the county line. I venture farther and utilized the additional topo maps. But remember the Base Map in the Legend will get you to most small towns. My Legend even got me to Hamburg, CA. (N41,47.025/W123,03.474) Then I jumped to Glasgow, Virginia. (N37,38.020/W079,27.187) which is located in the Jefferson National Forest, then to Staunton, home to the Deerfield Ranger District, George Washington National Forest. (38,09.496/W079,03.787) I scrolled around Virginia and was impressed with the base map coverage. While not as detailed as other mapping software you can load on it, it gives you a good feeling for the general area. Far better then a gps without a base map.

(For the critics who noticed that I used a comma in place of degree symbol, a comma is the mandatory symbol when using many computer added dispatch systems.(CAD) The reason is that most key boards do not offer a degree symbol.)

PS MI VHNTER: Like your imput on the features of your new 76CS.

EsoxLucius · « **Reply #5 on:** October 06, 2005, 05:32:05 AM »

I have a Meridian Gold (traded up from the Meridian GPS to be able to use the new TOPO software) and it is a fine unit. I have worked with the eXplorist units and they seem competent to me. The eXplorist 210 has features the eTrex Legend lacks. Both are fine units, become familiar with both before you buy. Other than some long wait times the support staff at Thales have been very responsive to my inquiries.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #6 on:** October 06, 2005, 10:37:04 AM »

ExoxLucius: I am glad that somebody is speaking up for Magellan. Please continue. On paper it appears that the New eXplorist 210 does exceed the Legend in the memory and the number of satellite channels. In doing a side by side comparison with an eXplorist 100(14 satellite channels) and with Garmin Legend, 72, and 76C they all received the same number of satellites. At this time I do not see an advantage of a 14-channel receiver over a 12-channel receiver. Is there new software in the making? Will the new satellites with more powerful transmitters use those channels? Hard to say, most of the time I feel it is a good day when I am receiving six to eight satellites. My high is ten. Would I receive more channels if I lived in the flatlands, next to cultivated fields or standing on top of Mt. Shasta at 14,162 feet?

I was not aware that Magellan had brought the eXplorist 210 on the market to fill the gap left by the 200. I have not tried the eXplorist 210, but on paper it exceeds my minium expectations of a field grade gps receiver. If I was in the market it would receive my consideration to beat out the Legend. Based on usable memory alone. It looks like Magellan brought the eXplorist 210 and priced it to attack the market niche held by the Garmin Legend.

MI VHNTR · « **Reply #7 on:** October 06, 2005, 02:45:07 PM »

Siskiyou, I waiting for my City Select V7.0 to arrive for the 76 CS, so I really haven't used it a whole lot. I don't care for the basemap, since it really doesn't cover my area very well. That's where the City Select comes in. I've already got the topo for this area loaded and it appears to be better than the other brands version. I'm extremely pleased with the Garmin's features so far. It locks on quickly and the electronic compass is a very nice feature. I like the fact that it's easy to turn on/off and it appears to be quite accurate. The barometer might come in handy while I'm out in the woods, but it didn't sway my decision to purchase the 76 CS in the first place. The 115 MB of RAM was a BIG factor in my decision to purchase the 76 CS over the 60 CS. It'll allow me to load all of the maps that I might need without the need to add/delete any maps. I also prefer the shape of the 76 to the 60. The main thing that I like is the color display. The Garmin has the Magellan beat hands down in this respect. The autorouting will be VERY nice when traveling. I played around with my friends GPS Map60CS before I bought the 76 CS. This feature had a big part in mydecision to buy the Garmin. Once I get the CS7, I should be able to give you more details on the 76 CS. Hopefully, it'll arrive tomorrow or Monday. It has been on backorder for a while, according to the place where I ordered it.
I don't want to appear to be hammering on Magellan, but as I said previously, customer service is not their strong suit. Garmin and Lowrance could teach them a few things in this area. MI VHNTR

EsoxLucius · « **Reply #8 on:** October 06, 2005, 05:24:13 PM »

My understanding is that the advantage of a 14 channel or even 18 channel (watch out Garmin and Magellan, here comes Cobra) GPS is that with more channels the unit can lock onto the minimum number of satellites to begin processing data faster, and it can acquire satellites better under trees, obscured horizons and such. It does not matter how many satellites in total one can receive as your unit usually only uses three at any given time to process data.

I thought we were talking about units under $200 and not units that cost $500. The Magellan eXplorist 210 is worth looking at and not just dismissing out of hand because one person has had some problems with some Magellan units and Thales support. The Magellan eXplorist XL will give the Garmin 76C a run for the money, just add a 256 MB SD card. Even the Magellan Meridian Color (again add 256 MB for $50 and your just at $340) is about as feature rich, although it is bigger and the color display is not quite as good as the 76C.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #9 on:** October 06, 2005, 08:08:52 PM »

Certain user groups are maintaining problem lists on different gps units. It is not just one unhappy customer voicing an opinion. Take a look at the link that was provided. The group cited did an excellent job of documenting the problem with case cracking the Magellan SporTrak last year. The cases were cracking around the screws in the back of the case. They provided photo documentation and serial numbers so that production runs could be traced.

They also documented the problem with the rubber grip material on early Legends coming off.

They brought up the issue of a software problem in the Garmin 60C where the unit was locking up in the TracBac mode. This problem was corrected with a software update.

Currently they have a multi-page string on eXplorist problems. I noticed that one critic has backed off because Magellan is going to update the software.

Cobra gps units have not established themselves in the market as a quality gps unit.

Garmin, Magellan, and Lowrance are the three most identified recreation class gps units used by government agencys. The most prevalent units found are the older Garmin GPS III+, the GPSV, and the GPS12. According to government field test it is hard to beat the old GPSIII+ .
It has been discontinued, but can still be found new from some sources, and used ones on E-Bay.

I think there is value in discussing different units in different price ranges. Yesterdays top of the line is todays E-Bay offering. And while the manufactures price for the 76C is around $500, I paid close to $350 for mine.

tucoblue · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2005, 08:38:13 PM »

Siskiyou, you can make a "°" sign by holding "ALT" down while tapping "0176". Don't get any ideas that I'm bright because I happen to know this. Just one of those stupid things I read somewhere. °.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #11 on:** October 06, 2005, 09:31:04 PM »

° A little slow for emergency dispatching when you are after a very short response time. To get a successful degree I had to num lock, and then type Alt, 0176° on the number key pad.

I thank-you for the bit of knowledge. I will put it to use in the future. The free flow of information is great.

victorcharlie · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2005, 05:38:00 AM »

I guess I'm a bit confused now.........I thought the more sat's your unit receives, the less the error, or the more accuracy you have.........From what I've been reading, although a unit has more channels, if it can only see 8 sat's, it's not going to provide any better coverage, or more accuracy than a 12 channel unit receiving the same 8 sats. The reports I have read indicate that the high channel units still receive the same number of sat's as the 12 channel units, so until there are more sat's in the sky there is no real advantage to adding channels.........

To me, the things to look for are first battery life, then large memory and good software that takes advantage of it..........water proof or resistant is a plus....shock resistance and durability are a must in rugged terrain....the biggest thing not talked about is receiver sensitivity.....or the ability to detect the sat's signal under clouds, trees etc...when the signal strength is low.....we mention certain units are better than others at this, and I suspect this is why.......JMO....

MI VHNTR · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2005, 02:49:37 PM »

victorcharlie, here's a good link to look up GPS units for functionality, sensitivity, etc. There are a lot of units tested here.

http://gpsinformation.net/

MI VHNTR

Siskiyou · « **Reply #14 on:** October 08, 2005, 10:21:49 AM »

MI VHNTR: I have been going to that link for years. A very good source.

Victor Charlie: I believe we are on the same page for gps criteria. I believe that the criteria for field GIS work is a minimum of 4 satellites. I have been creating a number of track maps from my hunting trips. I have been plotting water sources and critter tracks. On the ridge top yesterday I was receiving up to eight satellites, but down in the steep gullys I was lucky to get four while standing still. Those super sized Sugar Pine take up a lot of sky. Part of yesterdays hunt crossed paths from two days ago. Found a bear track on top of my tracks for a short distance.

You hit upon receiver sensitivity. I understand that Magellan, Garmin, and Lowrance do a good job for the conditions in this area. The new generation of satellites should improve coverage under canopy. I review a lot of data put out by State and Federal land management agencies. BIA, FS, BLM, and others. There is a real value in an external antenna for their work. I have and still considering the purchase of an external antenna for my Garmin 76C. (It has a plug for an external antenna, the Legend does not.) The unit normally has more then adequate reception. But I noticed that when was busting Tan Oak Brush under a Pine stand, in a deep gulley. the number of tracking points dropped off. This was notable on the maps I printed out. The drop off was only for a few hundred feet in the thickest cover.

The down side would be how to manage the external antenna. I am thinking of creating a inside pocket in the top of my day pack. Some outdoors men hare created a pocket in their hat. To close to the brain pan for me, I cannot afford additional damage.

Is it required for better coverage for a few hundred feet. I think not! But I might justify it. I carried the gps in a cupholder in the old pickup and it worked great. The cup holders are lower in the new pickup. Coverage is not as great, but it still works a great deal of the time. Even the XM satellite radio blanks out at times.

For a little bit of research info. www.fs.fed.us/database/gps I have found some good BIA info, the Parks Service tells you what you cannot do. At times you will find articles regarding testing of recreation grade gps by agency employees. I find these of interest.

I strongly recommend a mapping gps unit. If the price hurts take a look on the Internet. There is one location that sells factory refurbished Garmin units at a reduced price. They come with a factory warranty°°

MI VHNTR · « **Reply #15 on:** October 08, 2005, 02:48:26 PM »

Siskiyou, I FINALLY got my City Select V7.0 DVD today! It took a while, but it seems to be well worth the wait. I'll start to put the unit through its paces tomorrow out in the woods. Also, I agree with purchasing a mapping unit. Once a person uses one, you won't be without it. MI VHNTR

Siskiyou · « **Reply #16 on:** October 08, 2005, 04:01:25 PM »

MI VHNTR: How about starting a new topic on City Select V7.0. I know there are a number of members who have newer Garmins that maybe interested in the subject.

Aside item. My cousin recently mention that her daughter and son-in-law enjoy geocaching up in the U.P. It would be interesting to do a flash back in time and show my relatives who settled in Michigan in 1832 a gps unit.

daddywpb · « **Reply #17 on:** October 08, 2005, 11:07:53 PM »

two sanakes,
If you can afford it, buy a good mapping unit to start with like the Garmin 76CS or the 60CS. I have a 60CS, and once you start using one, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. I have a Legend, and my only complaint with it was that the screen is hard for me to read, tiny letters and numbers and a small map. Once you start using one, you'll want a better one, so save some $$$$'s and start off right. I wish I had. :grin:

MI VHNTR · « **Reply #18 on:** October 09, 2005, 03:39:16 PM »

Siskiyou, I'll start a thread in a day or two. It'll give me some time to play with it and familiarize myself with the features. One thing that I've already noticed though. There's a LOT of info contained in it. It will really come in handy while traveling. The unlocking process is kind of an inconvenience though. We've done a bit of geocaching UP here also. You really get to see some interesting scenery too.

daddywpb hit the nail right on the head. Save up get a mapping unit with autorouting built in and be done with it. You'll save money in the long run.
MI VHNTR