[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Hand held GPS (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 10/6/2007 2:49:29 PM EDT
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Does anyone use a hand held GPS for hiking or hunting? I'm in a new area, so I thought I'd pick one up. Preferably one that takes topo maps. Any suggestions? |
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Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX. Awesome handheld that does autorouting so it doubles as an in car unit. Quad helix antenna. Color lcd. Micro SD card for map storage. I love mine. It has so many features you'll be entertained just fooling with it indoors. Beyond that, the hunt and fish timer is nice, and it has sunset / sunrise times. The moon phase display is cool as well, gves you an idea of what nighs you'll have light out. All in all, it's one of the nicest handhelds out right now. |
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Here's a link to a good similiar discussion from just the other day. www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=625100 |
I got the 76 csx, which also has a compass that you can set for gps or magnetic north, haven't got a chance to get the topo maps, but if it is as good as the road and bluewater charts, you can't go wrong, humm....maybe price. |
| Do you find them useful? Essentially, since I'm in a new area that is extremely congested, I'd like to load topo maps so I know that I'm within the boundaries and how far I am from roads/houses. I'd also like to mark spots I want to return to, other hunters stands, etc. |
Best part is you can have 1 memory card for roads and 1 for topo, just switch and you are good to go. |
Big +1. I use my recreationally and professionally. Best handheld unit out there, IMO. Takes topo and street maps, and street maps are routable (topo maps are NOT). |
I find with the 60CSx that all I need is one memory card, 512 MB. I've got both street and topo maps loaded in for: NC, SC, VA, WV, parts of GA, eastern TN, southern KY, portions of southern OH, eastern KS, AZ, and southern NV. With room left over. When you want to switch from street to topo, you just go into the map setup and tell it to "hide" the street maps. |
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If you want to use topo, be advised that Garmin's topo maps are 1:100 scale. That's not nearly enough detail for serious off-trail hunting/hiking. You need at least 1:63, or better yet 1:24 scale like the USGS maps. I'm not aware that any better topo software is available for Garmin units. Be aware, too, that only certain higher end Garmin units will stay locked on to satellites under more than light tree cover. My Garmin etrex Venture CX loses lock-on when I can see the sky through the leaves. So far, I'm underwhelmed with my gps for off trail woods use. edited: for accuracy |
+1 I work at Sportsmans Warehouse in the department that sells GPSs and this is the one I recommend to everyone. Its a kick ass unit. |
I have an older 60cs without the Sirf processor or memory cards, and I love it. I would love to have the newer more sensitive 60Csx. |
I've got the Vista Hcx and i get lock inside my house  . The topo maps you can get for a GPS blow, the road maps are nice to have though. Your best bet is buy a gazetteer or topo map with GPS grids on them.
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Garmin is coming out with 1:24,000 TOPO maps next year. |
Good to know. My wallet hates you. |
That's good news.....My advice; wait until the more detailed topo is offered. You'll be much better served. |
How is the reception? I was talking to a guy at the shop tonight and he said people are using Google Earth to get their gps coordinates. |
Garmin is all I've ever owned. I love them, but that DeLorme is intriguing. Aerial overlays would be nice. I'll have to see if there is a place near me where I can check one out. |
Gift bar bitch!  
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Garmin 60CSx - excellent model. Wallyworld online has them up to $200 cheaper than most any other place around. Mapsource maps are the sukkor though for road navigatoin, unless of course if you like most highway and city maps being based on information 20 years old. |
IIRC they already offer a national parks software package at 1:24,000 resolution, but I could be wrong about that. It will be great if they come out with complete US coverage at that scale. I wonder how much storage space it will require? As it is now, using the existing mapsource US TOPO software, there seems to be a limit on the number of individual maps within a mapset that you can load onto the reciver. It's well into the hundreds of maps, but there is a limit. For instance, a 1 gig micro SD card has enough space to fit almost the entire US TOPO EAST collection of maps, but when you try to load that many, the software returns an error saying the number of maps is too large. (not the size of the file) Good news is, there doesn't seems to be a single state that won't fit on one 64mb micro sd card with room to spare. But I would hate to have to buy more than two or three cards to get full TOPO coverage. Anyway, I'll be looking out for the release of the 1:24,000 scale maps.
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www.google.com |
See info here: cypherman1.googlepages.com/CreatingCustomTopoMapsWithMapSetTool.pdf It takes some time, but you can get some really good topos out. I have only used the elevation data, no water data. I'll try to post a screenshot of mapsourcde with the topos. |
Can you upload a 1:24,000 map on the Garmin if you make it yourself, or only their proprietary maps? National Geographic has a 1:24000 map set. Can you load those maps on it? |
I was looking at that. Thus far, when doing the comparison on Garmin.com, I notice that it doesn't come with a card (not a big deal, since you can buy preloaded cards) and the screen is considerably smaller. Other than that, it seems to be pretty much the same as far as I can tell. I'm really interested in the DeLorme, but I'd like to have an internal compass for convenience and orientation. |
Yes, you can upload it through mapsource. |
| I went and looked at a bunch today. I liked the Bushnell and the DeLorme best, but the functionality of the Bushnell left much to be desired. I just didn't like the button layout. I've pretty much decided on the DeLorme. They have a great bundle now with maps, downloads, chargers, cards and card readers for only 379. |