Advice on GPS units
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condor22
Mike
There are a number of things one can do to avoid getting lost.
GPS
Map and Compass - Awkward when detecting at the same time.
Noting the sun position and time when leaving the car, if cloud cover allows.
Situational awareness
(Tell someone where you are going and for how long)
and others. It comes down to personal preference, experience in bush craft and navigation, budget and again, others. The common denominator is "not getting lost".
I mostly detect alone and I am very experienced in all of the above and have still had to get the GPS out a couple of times in the last 7 or so years. Batteries only go flat if not checked or leaving the device on unnecessarily. I carry a couple of spare AAs in my pack, a magnetic compass and a KTI PLB on my arm.
Redundancy in more than one option.
All of the above, pretty well works, pick one and learn it really well in your own "backyard" until comfortable to venture out. Another suggestion if not experienced, go on a couple of trips with a bush walking/orienteering club.
Google - map reading - navigation - Using a GPS, there's heaps of info online.
GPS
Map and Compass - Awkward when detecting at the same time.
Noting the sun position and time when leaving the car, if cloud cover allows.
Situational awareness
(Tell someone where you are going and for how long)
and others. It comes down to personal preference, experience in bush craft and navigation, budget and again, others. The common denominator is "not getting lost".
I mostly detect alone and I am very experienced in all of the above and have still had to get the GPS out a couple of times in the last 7 or so years. Batteries only go flat if not checked or leaving the device on unnecessarily. I carry a couple of spare AAs in my pack, a magnetic compass and a KTI PLB on my arm.
Redundancy in more than one option.
All of the above, pretty well works, pick one and learn it really well in your own "backyard" until comfortable to venture out. Another suggestion if not experienced, go on a couple of trips with a bush walking/orienteering club.
Google - map reading - navigation - Using a GPS, there's heaps of info online.
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Moneybox said:
Yes, I remember once I had walked a long way and decided to go back to the car. I had no idea which direction. I turned on my Etrex and the arrow pointed the direction and told me about 800 meters. Just as I started walking it went blank. Dead batteries. LOL But at least I got the direction and distance first!.
I have been using a Magellan Roadmate GPS since 2007. I just bought a Garmin eTrex 22 because it has a colour screen. Normal price $329.00 but on special at Anaconda at the moment for $264.00. If you don't require a colour screen the eTrex 10 will suit you better.
ALWAYS carry a spare set of batteries in your pocket and preferably use NiMh rechargable batteries. They won't leak inside the unit and ruin it. The eTrex series are very compact and reasonably easy to use.
If you want to carry a UHF radio as well then go for the Rhino series with the integrated radio. Had I needed a radio that is the one I would have purchased.
Regards Axtyr.
ALWAYS carry a spare set of batteries in your pocket and preferably use NiMh rechargable batteries. They won't leak inside the unit and ruin it. The eTrex series are very compact and reasonably easy to use.
If you want to carry a UHF radio as well then go for the Rhino series with the integrated radio. Had I needed a radio that is the one I would have purchased.
Regards Axtyr.
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Go with the Bushnell, cheap easy to use and Very Reliable. Its all Ive ever used and its never let me down. If you just want to know where your vehicle is/was, it will show you, you can also mark a favourite spot that say youve just found and want to go back to at a later date.
Found notes from an old website I had in the past which outlines navigating with a compass. Used this method for years on long walks in search of likely ground.
As has been mentioned several times in this thread, you can be within a short distance from your vehicle and it can be obscured by a tree. (Also been there and experienced that)
Buy yourself a compass SILVA is a good brand as it is flat/light and you can hang it around your neck at all times. Practice compass walks eg: Walk for 15 minutes in any direction (noting what heading you are on) then swing 90deg left, walk for 15 minutes swing 90deg left, walk again for 15 minutes, swing 90deg left and in 15 minutes you should be in sight of your starting point. Given time and practice you don't need the compass and you can be guaranteed to be back near starting point. You can also practice walking in a triangle 120deg swings (this is my preferred method). Walk for a selected time each leg and you will almost always come back to the vehicle. Jump forward a decade If this fails pull the GPS out of your back pack, retrieve the co-ordinates you entered before leaving your vehicle?? Likely locate the vehicle within a few hundred metres, (probably obscured by a clump of trees or hill.) Always take note of any prominent landmarks.
One experience I'll never forget was setting off on a cloudy day and getting completely lost with no sun sightings available and a change of wind direction. Fortunately a prominent land mark guided me to a track that I had traversed earlier. Much longer walk than planned but gave the heart a work out finding vehicle again.
As has been mentioned several times in this thread, you can be within a short distance from your vehicle and it can be obscured by a tree. (Also been there and experienced that)
Buy yourself a compass SILVA is a good brand as it is flat/light and you can hang it around your neck at all times. Practice compass walks eg: Walk for 15 minutes in any direction (noting what heading you are on) then swing 90deg left, walk for 15 minutes swing 90deg left, walk again for 15 minutes, swing 90deg left and in 15 minutes you should be in sight of your starting point. Given time and practice you don't need the compass and you can be guaranteed to be back near starting point. You can also practice walking in a triangle 120deg swings (this is my preferred method). Walk for a selected time each leg and you will almost always come back to the vehicle. Jump forward a decade If this fails pull the GPS out of your back pack, retrieve the co-ordinates you entered before leaving your vehicle?? Likely locate the vehicle within a few hundred metres, (probably obscured by a clump of trees or hill.) Always take note of any prominent landmarks.
One experience I'll never forget was setting off on a cloudy day and getting completely lost with no sun sightings available and a change of wind direction. Fortunately a prominent land mark guided me to a track that I had traversed earlier. Much longer walk than planned but gave the heart a work out finding vehicle again.
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I can also recommend looking for an amplifier here https://www.myamplifiers.com/en-au/ I had some issues with GPS due to bad internet connection.
vitrail said:
Can you elaborate on this?
Didn't know GPS required Internet?
We have both a Magellan and a Garmin Etrex 10, Magellan is spot on with it's location data, but put the two side by side and the Etrex is 100s of meters out, last time I did a map comparison it was somewhere around 600m, that's a bloody long way in the bush go figure :awful:
go figure :awful:
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Nightjar said:
GPS does not need any internet connectivity. Its a passive system, you just need a receiver. However if you are using your phone and do not have offline maps, youd need an internet connection to download them. Handheld gps devices dont need internet and many navigation apps support offline maps.
Dihusky said:We have both a Magellan and a Garmin Etrex 10, Magellan is spot on with it's location data, but put the two side by side and the Etrex is 100s of meters out, last time I did a map comparison it was somewhere around 600m, that's a bloody long way in the bush
Even the cheapest $15 GPS dongle or $100 phone GPS will be FAR more accurate than 600m. For consumer level equipment, GPS stationary position accuracy is not related to price. Any given consumer GPS should be accurate within 15m 95% of the time so 2 GPS should agree within 30m, generally much less. That includes older GPSs.
Any stationary position error between 2 GPS units should be random - you should not have 2 GPS consistently different in the same direction or magnitude .
One thing to check is that they are set to the same datums. Mind you the difference between these datums is normally under a metre so unlikely to be the source of the issue but might as well check that your 2 GPS are set to the same datum - WSG84 or GDA94 or GDA2020.
GPS only requires clear view of the sky to pick up satellite radio signals.
A-GPS requires the same satellites & also a mobile data network signal to help with speed of aquisition of those satelites but is no more accurate than GPS. An A-GPS device will revert to just GPS when no mobile network available. Mobile phones are A-GPS which is why they find your position in seconds versus the 1-3min cold start time when you turn on your handheld GPS. Downside of A-GPS is that they use more juice.
GPS just gives you a position (eg lat/long). The map data that that position dot goes on can be located just on your device or on the net or a mixture of both.
G
Guest
G'day
I have owned and tried many gps types over the years and found that the KISS principle applies, the more complicated the unit is the easier it is for a person to get into trouble with it, lets face it a fair few of us who prospect are older types and we were not born with some form of electronic device in our hands as they seem to be these days, so for many of us the easier the unit to use the more likely it is that it will be used, put simply if it is too complex people wont bother with it and just take their chances without it, I already know some people that are like that.
The most basic and straight forward gps I have used is the Garmin Geko, I have three of them and have sourced them for other people who found other models difficult to use, even seeing one bloke toss a brand new Garmin Etrex 10 into the fire because he got lost using it, was actually his fault as he did not know how to properly use it but I got him a Geko and he mastered it quickly and didnt get lost again as far as I know.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/AU/p/220
cheers
stayyerAU
I have owned and tried many gps types over the years and found that the KISS principle applies, the more complicated the unit is the easier it is for a person to get into trouble with it, lets face it a fair few of us who prospect are older types and we were not born with some form of electronic device in our hands as they seem to be these days, so for many of us the easier the unit to use the more likely it is that it will be used, put simply if it is too complex people wont bother with it and just take their chances without it, I already know some people that are like that.
The most basic and straight forward gps I have used is the Garmin Geko, I have three of them and have sourced them for other people who found other models difficult to use, even seeing one bloke toss a brand new Garmin Etrex 10 into the fire because he got lost using it, was actually his fault as he did not know how to properly use it but I got him a Geko and he mastered it quickly and didnt get lost again as far as I know.
https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/AU/p/220
cheers
stayyerAU
G
Guest
Mungass said:
G'day
Sorry have no idea, cant say I have even looked at games on them, not even sure if games are on the versions that I have, maybe its something that came out on the later models?, anyway I will have a look at mine tomorrow and see what that's all about and let you know, I just like these units as they are compact, easy to use and very reliable.
cheers
stayyerAU
XLOOX said:Dihusky said:We have both a Magellan and a Garmin Etrex 10, Magellan is spot on with it's location data, but put the two side by side and the Etrex is 100s of meters out, last time I did a map comparison it was somewhere around 600m, that's a bloody long way in the bush
Even the cheapest $15 GPS dongle or $100 phone GPS will be FAR more accurate than 600m. For consumer level equipment, GPS stationary position accuracy is not related to price. Any given consumer GPS should be accurate within 15m 95% of the time so 2 GPS should agree within 30m, generally much less. That includes older GPSs.
Any stationary position error between 2 GPS units should be random - you should not have 2 GPS consistently different in the same direction or magnitude .
One thing to check is that they are set to the same datums. Mind you the difference between these datums is normally under a metre so unlikely to be the source of the issue but might as well check that your 2 GPS are set to the same datum - WSG84 or GDA94 or GDA2020.
GPS only requires clear view of the sky to pick up satellite radio signals.
A-GPS requires the same satellites & also a mobile data network signal to help with speed of aquisition of those satelites but is no more accurate than GPS. An A-GPS device will revert to just GPS when no mobile network available. Mobile phones are A-GPS which is why they find your position in seconds versus the 1-3min cold start time when you turn on your handheld GPS. Downside of A-GPS is that they use more juice.
GPS just gives you a position (eg lat/long). The map data that that position dot goes on can be located just on your device or on the net or a mixture of both.
First time we encountered this was swinging at Clermont and my wife an I had agreed on a datum peg for our meeting point, just as well we had radios with us. Basic settings on both units are the same.
Has anyone got or used the Garmin Etech 10 GPS and what do you think of them.
condor22
Mike
I have an Etrex10 & Etrex20. Compact and easy to use. The E20 has additional Oz wide maps, I purchased, with more detail, the E10 has no facility for this. I only bought the E10 as I travelled to VIC from SA and forgot to take the E20 with me.
I use mine primarily for safety only. I have 2 waypoints, renamed to CAMP & CAR. Go into the Waypoint menu, reposition to the current CAMP location. As I rarely move, it's there all the time.
With the CAR, I reposition before leaving the car each time and turn the GPS off. I only turn on if needed and as such get better than a year from the batteries.
I use mine primarily for safety only. I have 2 waypoints, renamed to CAMP & CAR. Go into the Waypoint menu, reposition to the current CAMP location. As I rarely move, it's there all the time.
With the CAR, I reposition before leaving the car each time and turn the GPS off. I only turn on if needed and as such get better than a year from the batteries.
condor22
Thanks for that as I only want it for safety so I am just feeling it out as like are they worth it for pease of mind or should I get the Etech20
Thanks for that as I only want it for safety so I am just feeling it out as like are they worth it for pease of mind or should I get the Etech20
