[meteorite-list] Garmin GPS unit evaluation for meteorite hunting

From: John K. Gwilliam <jkg_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:31:12 2004
Message-ID: <6.0.3.0.2.20040407214122.028c62c0_at_mail.theriver.com>

Rob and List,
Thanks for the in comprehensive comparison of the Garmin GPS units. A
similar comparison chart is available from REI and is a quick reference to
the features, capabilities and limits of each unit.

While we're on this subject, would any one like to comment on the different
software programs used in conjunction with GPS units? I have both the
Garmin MapSource (1: 100,000 scale) and the TOPO! program (1: 24,000 scale)
sold under the National Geographic label for individual states. Both
programs are easy to use and both have lots of nice features. What I would
prefer is a combination of the two so I could have access to all the
features in one interface.

Anybody have any comments, good or bad, about these programs?

BTW, if you do a little shopping around, you can find pretty good deals on
the Garmin units. We recently bought two Etrex Legends for $140.00 each
and I've found the Vista for under $250.00

Best,
John Gwilliam

At 04:07 PM 4/7/2004, Matson, Robert wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Wanted to thank Ron Baalke for posting the link to a Garmin GPS
>comparison website:
>
>http://www.gpsnow.com/gpscmpm.htm
>
>For those that haven't checked it out, perhaps my analysis will save
>you some time as far as the selection of a GPS unit best-suited for
>meteorite recovery work.
>
>First, my requirements:
>
>1. Large # of track points -- at least 2000. For a 1-day trip, and
>8 hours of active hunting, I would need 480 track points at 1-minute
>temporal resolution. So 2000 track points would support trips of up
>to 4 days without computer access.
>
>2. WAAS accuracy a must.
>
>3. Waypoints (for marking find locations) -- would like at least 500
>active at a given time; for multi-day trips at multiple locations, it
>would be nice to have 1000.
>
>4. PC interface: USB preferred; 9-pin serial acceptable.
>
>5. Battery life: the longer the better
>
>6. Display: the greater the # of pixels, the better
>
>Other features which are nice to have, but not critical:
>
>1. Electronic compass
>2. 2-way radio with position reporting
>3. Detachable or external antenna hookup
>
>13 units are compared at this site, three of which (the most
>expensive ones) are dash-mounted, so that leaves 10. Battery life
>is only 1.5-5 hours on the Garmin iQue 3600, which is the most
>expensive of the handheld models. This is because it has a lot
>of extra bells and whistles (PDA, voice recorder, MP3 player). It
>also uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which adds to the
>expense if you need to carry an extra one along. Nice unit, but
>overkill on features and not optimum for meteorite hunting.
>
>That leaves 9 units, which can be separated into two groups --
>those with electronic compass and barometric altimeter, and
>those without:
>
>No compass/altimeter:
>
> Track Way- Inter- Batt. Approx.
> Garmin Unit Pnts. Pnts. face Life Pixels Colors Price
> ------------ ----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ------ ------
>1. eTrex Legend 10000 1000 9-pin 18 46080 4-gray $200
>2. Rino 120 2048 500 9-pin 15 25600 4-gray $250
>3. GPSMAP 76 10000 1000 9-pin 16 43200 4-gray $300
>4. V Deluxe 3000 500 9-pin 25 40960 4-gray $400
>5. GPSMAP 60C 10000 1000 USB 30 38400 256 $450
>
>With compass & altimeter:
>
> Track Way- Inter- Batt. Approx.
> Garmin Unit Pnts. Pnts. face Life Pixels Colors Price
> ------------ ----- ----- ------ ----- ------ ------ ------
>6. eTrex Vista 10000 1000 9-pin 12 46080 4-gray $300
>7. Rino 130 2048 500 9-pin 14 25600 4-gray $350
>8. GPSMAP 76S 10000 1000 9-pin 10 43200 4-gray $400
>9. GPSMAP 60CS 10000 1000 USB 30 38400 256 $500
>
>The compass feature is nice, but I don't think you'd need the
>altimeter for meteorite hunting. However, if you're planning to
>use the GPS for backpacking, the altimeter would be a nice feature.
>Basically you pay an extra $100 for the altimeter/compass option
>($50 extra for the GPSMAP 60CS vs. 60C).
>
>The V Deluxe has a detachable GPS antenna and includes a MapSource
>CD-ROM (MapSource North America City Select). Fancy maps are
>fine for driving navigation or trail hiking, but you'll find
>they're of little use for wilderness meteorite hunting. The places
>you're most likely to find meteorites are the very places that
>tend to be devoid of interesting map features, so if you're only
>using the GPS for meteorite hunting, I wouldn't spend a lot of
>extra money on the mapping capabilities.
>
>One thing that looks odd in these lists is that the eTrex appears
>to be a better deal than the GPSMAP 76. It has the same # of
>track points and waypoints, 4-gray-scale display and 9-pin
>interface, but the eTrex has slightly MORE pixels and a little
>longer battery life and yet costs $100 less! The reason for the
>disparity is a "feature" I failed to include -- screen size. The
>GPSMAP 76 has a 52% larger display than the eTrex (it also has an
>external antenna hookup and more route features).
>
>That's one problem with the Rino units -- the display is puny:
>only 1.4" x 1.4". On this basis alone, I probably wouldn't buy
>one. This is unfortunate, because they do have that nice 2-way
>radio and position reporting feature.
>
>The eTrex display isn't much better -- 2.1" x 1.1" versus
>2.2" x 1.6" for the GPSMAP 76.
>
>Based on all this, my Garmin GPS recommendation would be the
>GPSMAP 76 (or GPSMAP 76S if you want the altimeter/compass).
>If you have young eyes, you can probably get away with spending
>$100 less for the eTrex.
>
>One other cool feature of the GPSMAP 76's: they float! Also, I just
>checked the "too low to advertise price" at the above website --
>you can get the GPSMAP 76 there for only $256.90 including shipping!
>(The 76S is only $316.90 including shipping.) That's a pretty
>good deal.
>
>--Rob
>
>
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Received on Thu 08 Apr 2004 12:56:09 AM PDT


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