I have done some searxhing on the site and talk to a few people now my head is spinning. I'll try to keep it short...one guy I know says his $117 GPS gets him to any tree he marks in the GPS, another guy said if you are going to get on you need to spend atleast $350-400 for it to be useful. My question is who is right obviously, but since there are gps units from 100-1500 what is the difference. AND when you buy one will it work out of the box, or do you need a bunch of accessories and programs to download maps?
They all work. It just depends on what you want it to do. I think any of them can find a treestand. The more expensive ones just have more features if you have a need for them. I have used a Garmin GPSMap 76 when I interned with the USDA as a soil conservationist. It would calculate area, do reversible tracks, had downloadable maps, and would store a lot of waypoints. I used it quite a bit, usually with an antenna for improved accuracy. To certify a government assisted practice, I believe the requirement was that the unit had to be recieving within ten feet. Most of the time the handheld alone was within 13 feet or less. With the antenna, I could get it to three feet. But for general navigation purposes, I think you could get something for less than the $300 this unit costs and still be well served.
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RE: gps q's
I have a Garmin Geko 201 it was close to the $117.99 on sale it willget me there and back. It just dosn't have all the bells and whisles that some of the $300+ units have. Can't down load topo maps into it ,dosn't have a memorey card. It just is the plain model 7 routes
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Magellan Meridan Gold about $200 at Wal-Mart waterproof and floats. You can by topo software and download to it and you can get a chip to download alot to it. Yes there are always accessories but these things are great if you get off the road. Depends on your needs as to what model you need. Just (MHO)
what is the point of having topo maps...a lot of people talk about them....how do they help people...I basically want to be able to find my way back to the truck or back to a tree or location I found earlier in the season.
there are a couple of reasons i use a topo map in conjunction with a gps.
1. the maps that are included with the gps units are small, lack a lot of detail.
2. the gps unit will give you your current location (grid coordinates), by using this information you can locate your position on the map. it gives you a better idea of the overall picture of the land, where you are, where you might want to go, etc etc.
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I have a Garmin Etrex Legend. Love it. It has some more bells and whistles than an entry level unit, but not as much as the real expensive ones. I couldnt justify spending the extra bucks just for more memory that ill ever need or an electronic compass. It has a built in basemap which is nice on the road although they wont help you in the woods (except if you need to know where the close by major roads are). You can download detailed maps to it, but I havent found the need to. I use it with my PC and free S/W on the web to help scout and mark my waypoints on topo maps and aerial photos. I print out my own maps for free, and they're customized. It also does areas, sunrise/sunset, hunt fish calculator, track back, etc. You can probably pick up one for around 150 from amazon.com.
If all you want to do is find your way back to the truck the cheaper model may be ok. Although I don't know how strong of a signal you will get. I have a Meridain Gold and it is great! you can down load and displayt different maps. They also just came out with software for auto routing. I actually use it mor for that now. All youdo is put in an address and will direct you right there.
The units that can download maps are very useful in the field. You can use the GPS map with your paper map to pinpoint your location. The GPS map will show creeks, roads and other major features.
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Depends on what you want to do with a gps. If you just want to be able to have the unit get you back to the truck if you get turned around the cheap ones will do fine. If you want to download topo maps and road maps you have to get one with more memory, and you also have to buy additional map programs. As far as accuracy goes a $300 gps is no more accurate than a $100 gps you just get more memory and bells and whistles. I have 2 both are garmins and they have never let me down.
gps q's
