Hand Held GPS

Which hand held GPS is the best bang for the buck? I’ve never used one before but I sure there are lots of uses for one. What are some of the uses you use ?

ec

ecnook, I’ve got a $350.00 dollar plus Garmin that I have been using for a bout 3 years now and I like it just fine. However A friend of mine got a $150.00 Garmin as a Christmas present this last year and after showing him how to use that unit I figured if mine ever fell overboard I’d be just as happy to replace it with the cheaper unit. No questions asked.

Have used a Garmin GPS 12 for 4 years. Simple, reliable, and inexpensive. No maps, but they don’t do me much good anyway. 12 satellites, quick acquisition, 500 waypoints, stores 20 routes, I think. Just got a cigarette lighter adapter and bracket for the boat for use there, and it’s easy on batteries for when hunting, or what-ever. Only drawback is it’s got a relatively small screen, but haven’t found that to be a problem.

I’ll second the Garmin GPS 12. Great unit that has a proven track record. Have several friends who use them. Garmin has great customer service too. If something goes bad, they will fix or replace.

I have the Garmin 126. Basically the same “Guts” as a GPS 12 but has a bigger screen and is dash mounted. I think they are in the range of $279. Worth a look especially if you are using only in the boat.

I also have a Lowrance Global Map 100 handheld. Don’t use it much because it’s not user friendly. I’ll agree that the maping is kinda neat, but useless to me.

J.

Gianni did a great post on this a while back. Perhaps he could jump in and update his work. I’m in the market for a new GPS also. How about it Gianni?

I have used a Magellan 315 for two years. It is all I will ever need. It cost $139. The accessories such as DC cords, data lines and dash mounts cost half that of Garmin. If you use 30 percent of its features you must be Lewis and Clark.

I got to give the Garmin 12 the thumbs up also. They are inexpensive (seen them for$139) reliable and tough. Ive dropped mine more than once out of the deer stand about twelve feet up and never had a problem. Also its very simple to use.

Thanks alot guys !!

I could just go down to the sports store and talk to one guy about it but this fourm is WAY better..

What are the different types of uses to this Garmen 12 ?

what all do you use it for ?

besides locating fishing and hunting spots ?

ec

Ecnook,

Thorne Bros (www.thorne bros.com) has the GP12 for $139, which include free shipping.

I use my GPS primarily for the navigation (both on water and land) for areas that are hard to naturally navigate. For example open water or flat woodlands. I have never used mine for fishing the Mississippi, because natural navigation is all that is needed to get me back to a particular spot, but have used it on the river for safety purposes.

If you are caught out after dark, or in some low vis situation (rain, fog, snow ect.), having your course plotted could get you home safely.

Steve

ecnook,

A GPS will make your 49mph boat go only 38!!!

Handy for getting around at night. Very usefull on a new lake like Vermilion where there are a lot of cuts and islands and the shore looks the same everywhere you look. Takes the guesswork out.

J.

Garmin gps 12 as well. I learned how to use it driving from home to the lake one day while wife was driving the truck. I like using it as a speedometer in boat, and or truck, how long to get to a particular spot…….he go-to-waypoint feature, sunrise, sunset feature, clock, and of course finding and keeping fishing hotspots. I have the dash mount on my truck and boat and bought the ac adapter for use in the truck.

I have the garmin 45 XL, which was before the model 12 came out, sure can’t go wrong with the price or the performance, the times mine was necessary to help me out ;,it worked great, and the 12 would be a better unit. Jack.

I want to throw a plug in for the Garmin MAP 76. You may spend a little more for it but the additional features are very nice, including that is is water proof. I looked at a lot of units before I purchased and for fishing the MAP 76 seemed to fit my needs the best!ScottS

I’ll second the Map76. Feature rich, waterproof and portable. I put a dash mount and external power in my boat for convenience.

I just want to add that the waterproof thing had me worried also so I checked with Garmin and the plus 3 and I believe the 12 are waterproof to 1 meter for 30 minutes (aprox 39.37″ for 30 minutes)

I have had a Garmin 12 for 3 years now and recommend it.

I had the old Garmin 38 but it developed a display problem. I send the 38 to Garmin and they sent me back a Garmin 12 with all of my waypoints restored from the Garmin 38.

It is nice having a hand held GPS as my waypoints travel with me for open water, ice fishing and hunting.

I have a magellan 330M marine and love it. Cost about 280 @ Cabelas. This thing will show everything from street numbers to the names of points on a lake.

Well EC, here goes my sales pitch.

First thing I always ask, do you have a pc, well obviously you do. Next, what applications do you need it for, fishing, hunting, traveling in a car??? Since I don’t know this I’ll explain the two models I would choose and why. These are strictly opinions so take it for what it’s worth.

Magellan Meridian Gold($299) vs. Garmin Map76($300 after mail-in rebate)

Both waterproof, both float. Both WAAS capable. About the same size and weight.

The Meridian has 16Mb built in, with the ability to add memory in 16 or 32 or 64 Mb cards. The Garmin comes with 8mb built in, not upgradeable.

I’m a garmin fan, the customer service is second to none, but if I were in the market for a gps, I’d buy the Magellan right now. Why buy a mapping gps vs non-mapping?? I like the ability to fish Mille Lacs before even getting to the lake. I can create and name waypoints much easier on my pc than on the gps. A quick download and your set to go fishing!! Download a map of Chicago before heading there on vacation!! Of course you’ll have to invest in software to get detailed maps of lakes or streets or topo.

If these featurs will not be of any use to you then the GPS12 is the perfect unit for marking spots and getting back to them. Creating routes to the deer stand ect…

Good luck in you shopping!!

I know what you mean Joj J, My boat lost several MPH after I got a GPS. LOL Those boat speedos are pretty optomistic.

For the most part, GPS is becoming a commodity item – by that I mean that the actual radios undergo a pretty limited number of changes and will all perform similairly as far as accuracy, acquisition time, etc.

The thing that’s going to set them apart will be the user interface. Some people like moving maps, some people hate them. Some people like lots of buttons and features, others just want to turn it on and go. I personally apply the KISS principle – keep it simple.

If you’re buying it for fishing, then does a moving map really do you that much good? Unless you’re in zero-vis conditions, then you can take some common sense measures to keep from running aground, like looking where you’re going. If you’re using it to navigate through downtown LA, then a map can help out a lot.

If you’re using it for deer hunting or headed out west and don’t want to get lost, then battery life should be a major concern. Packing an eight-oz GPS into the woods is a good safeguard, but not if you suffer exhaustion from all the extra batteries you’re carrying.

WAAS will give you some accuracy improvement, but my instinct would be that it’s not worth paying extra. Most likely, you’re using the GPS to put you within a few yards of where you’re headed and the sonar to locate structure or fish. Since the fish will tend to move, sub-meter accuracy probably won’t be of great service to you.

One thing I have changed my mind on is antenna configurations. I used to like stick-type antennas like:

but now prefer the patch-type inside the case:

This is because the stick-type gives more sky visibility under most circumstances. Unfortunately, around water and ice, it provides no antenna masking for multipath (reflected signal) which is probably the largest error contributor for GPS position when on the water. There are things that the radio’s software does to mitigate ‘far’ multipath, but ‘near’ multipath there just ain’t much that can be done.

(images linked from magellangps.com)

Please correct me if I’m wrong here….

WAAS is not available here. (Minnesota, Western Wisconsin, Iowa or anywhere near the Mississippi river) My understanding is that WAAS has only been set up on the Coats and selected Great Lakes areas.

I have seen WAAS in action on a Chartplotter mapping unit on Lake Michigan and all I can say is Wow!! Can’t wait for it here.

J.

gps….neat toy for the area….i have been fishing s northern ontario lake area for 8+ yrs now and have used the garmin 12 the last 3 or so, dont know how we ever did it without it, saves a TON of time navigating channels between lakes and you dont waste time searching for previously marked channels/inlets between lakes. before having one i thought my boats top speed was 52….boy was i in never never land.

I’m pretty sure I remember my unit displaying WAAS mode. Not always, but sometimes. Anyone??

I have my WAAS enabled on my map 76 but I can honestly say that I have never actually seen it operating in WAAS mode. I have fished pretty much the entire state with it. Anybody else have any luck with WAAS in MN?ScottS

Same with me. I have a Garmin eTrex Vista with the WAAS enabled, but never picked up the signal while using it on the river last year.

yeah you would be right, in the airplanes we run on that so if it isn’t hooked up, watch out we might be landing on your driveway.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WAAS should be available everywhere in the US. You may be thinking DGPS, which the Coast Guard broadcasts for commercial nav. It’s concentrated on the coasts, but there are a few stations on the Miss – Minneapolis and Davenport are two that I know of.

DGPS will get you sub-1-foot accuracy, but usually requires a seperate radio connected to your GPS to receive it.

Gianni,

You are Correct Sir!! Arr-Arr-Arr!! I was probably looking at a DGPS enabled unit.

Did some surfing for info and this link here has some good info. You guys with WAAS problems should continue looking into the problem and post what you find.

http://gps.faa.gov/Programs/WAAS/waas.htm

Jon J.