Did a search and found alittle information on this but not exactly what I'm looking for.

Wondering what is a good handheld GPS unit for marking where things are? I will be exploring some deer hunting ground and would like to mark them again so I will be able to find them during the season.

Not looking to spend a fourtune but something that is going to be worth the money.

Thanks,
Weg

 

friend and i bought a pair of garmin rino 120's. handheld gps 8 mg ram, with gmrs radios built in. very happy with them, garmin has a good map program.

 

Do a search on GPS and there will be several that shoud work for you. The garman e-trac is a nice unit. When I was working they were issued to the tech.

 

Lowrance makes an awesome handheld in several models. They also have holders to mount in trucks. All gps models in any brand will also have upgradeable chips you can ad to them wich will show roads or even detail countours on lakes. I run Lowrance on my bass boat and use the hand held for hunting and in the truck with the atlas chip. You can combo a hand held up to use for many things all in one unit, hunting, road trip, fishing. Bass Pro sells these. Or you can google Lowrance they are located in Tulsa Oklahoma.

 

i've got a Garmin e-trex. i just have the baseline model. <$100 when i got it. no maps or anything on it, but you can do "tracks where it maps where u've been. saves 100 (or maybe more, not sure) waypoints. does a couple routes, gives speed, average speed, trip, etc. its a good little unit for what i need it for. when i had the boat i used it quite a bit and now when im out hunting i take it just in case i wanna mark something i find. i also use it for a speedo when im driving the jeep

 

I have a Garmin Map76cs. It is a great unit. It may be more than you are wanting to spend if you are just wanting to mark points. There are a couple of GPS sites out on the net that I found when doing reearch when I purchased. Unfortunately I cant remember any of them off the top of my head. I chose the one I did for the feature set it had. It has great battery life too. Not all, but many units have a feature that give you a pointer/direction finder to your waypoint. It is very nice as you arent trying to stay on a numerical course you just follow the pointer. I thought Garmin had the best map but it was best for what I wanted it for. One thing to remember is that the map that comes with the unit is the only one it will hold (well the manufacturer may have more than one that you can download but it is their map and not all are of small enough scale to be as useful as they could be in the backcountry). You cant say go get National Geographic Topo of the state you want and download it to the unit. You can use the "other" map software on your pc and download your unit's info to it or put info on the "other" map and upload it onto your units map but it will only upload the info you added to it and overlay it on the units map. By doing that you can get very detailed maps to print out that have your route and whatever other info you want marked on it. Use that in conjunction with the gps and you are set. Dont think that a GPS will replace a map at least not for serious back country trekking especially someplace you havent been before.

 

I've gotten a lot of use out of my Garmin GPSMAP 76S.

You will want a gps that permits you to save your locations/tracks to a PC so you can upload them during hunting season when needed, and clear them off when not needed.

The definition of "cost a fortune" varies with individuals, but I'd plan on spending at least a couple of hundred bucks or so. Once you start using a GPS, you'll find more uses than you first imagined, then you'll realize your budget machine is woefully inadequate. And you will find yourself buying yet another one.

I think my old GPSMAP 76S goes for a little over $200 at gpscity.com - its got the monochromatic screen (black & white) - but for a few bucks more you can get the color version 76C.

 

I've also got a Garmin GPS MAP 76CS. If I were going to get a new one, it'd be the new 76CSx which has an expandabel memory slot. The new ones go for around $550. I think a 76CS can be bought for about $450 now. The 76CS has a 115MB internal memory, I've loaded Western Missouri, Western Arkansas, Eastern Texas, Eastern Kansas & Eastern Oklahoma all at the same time for a trip from Kansas City to near Tyler, TX.

There are a lot of great GPS units that are fairly inexpensive. One reason I chose the 76CS was for the color screen.

Good Luck

 

So is it my understanding that GPS units actually work now?

My dad got a Magellen unit when they first came out; cost a few hundred dollars. Whenever we'd go quad running he would bring the darn thing and talk about how he could do this and that and it was oh so cool and so revolutionary and you gotta see this, and then he'd set it on the tailgate for about 2 hours. We'd come back and it would still be looking for a satellite lock.

It was so impressive dad...

 

The good ones do, the junkie ones do not. Thats why its important not to cheap out.

We used a Trimble to navigate through the minefields back in the "big one" - WWPG.

 

....this is the one I got about two months ago. It works great and also shows elevation. I wasn't sure I really wanted one, but now I wish I would have spent more to get some other features. Things we've used it for: road trips, marking the good beaches and coves at the lake, knowing the elevation is interesting, mark bad spots in the river, marking the location of the car. Handy little tool.

 

I have the etrex too. Inexpensive, simple, always works, but no bells and whistles. Does what I want, just marking points in fields and rough measuring distances and areas and speeds.

 

About two weeks ago, I purchased the Garmin EtreX Vista Cx(there are several EtreX models) and it comes with a 64mb removable micro SD memory card which will hold bunches of maps(Cx models will accept at least a 512mb card that I know of, possibly even 1gb from some user reports).
I was warned by another Garmin Etrex owner not to cheap out as the entry level model doesn't have upgrade capabilities. I bought it at Academy since I was given a $100 Academy gift card by my employer, so I just put $250 with it to get this one...
The Cx models are their newest handhelds with color(C) and external memory(x)cards
I bought the Vista model because I needed built-in magnetic compass capability for obtaining bearings while sitting still. It switches automatically if you are moving slower than ~10mph(programmable). I use this feature for aiming Ham Radio microwave dish antennas from my truck while I am parked or while in-motion.
Can upload where you've been to your computer via the USB port and you can play around on your PC with that data. Can create routes on your PC and then download to the GPS to save tiny button pushing.

Only downsides?
-Unit's small buttons are layed out better for use by the left hand, but that is not a real problem... (The MAP 76CSx's models have much larger button layout in a larger package)
-Screen is a bit too small for in-car navigation, but that is primarily because of my crummy eyesight. ( I knew that going forward but that is not what I bought it for.)
-Default base roadmap that comes pre-loaded in most all these units really stinks ... Really need to get the MapSource CD's to get some REAL maps in there. (Father's Day hint.. )

Think about what you REALLY will be using it for and get the model that is best suited for your primary application.. Like others said: Once you get one, you'll find all kinds of uses for it... THen you'll want another one for other dedicated apps like car-nav etc...

K.

 

Just picked up a pair of Rhino 530's for the wife and I. You can store something like 500 way points and they have a two way radio built in. With a 1 watt repeater some guys are talking up to 50 miles away over the GMRS. I haven't played with them much as we just got them but I'm looking forward to it. They also have temp, altitude, and a digital compass along with 7 weather channels. It also has backtrack and peer to peer features.

http://www.garmin.com/products/rino530/

http://gpsnow.com/gmr530.htm

 

We have a Garmin GPSMAP 60CS with the Garmin Automotive Navigation Kit with City Select North America. I bought it off Amazon.com about 3 months ago for $505 delivered to our door. We just got back from 2 weeks on the road with it and it was great. We also take it with us hiking and biking.