? ? ? GPS SYSTEMS SOFTWARE ? ? ?

[MR.HAPPY]

CAN YOU GUYS USING GPS TELL ME WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A NEW UNIT?
I'M LOOKING TO BUY ONE AND HAVE NEVER USED ONE!
I'M LOOKING TO FIND MY WAY BACK & TO ANYWHERE MY SLED CAN RUN!
DIRT ROADS, ROADS, MOUNTAINS, TRAILS, FOREST ROADS ANYWHERE!
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT!!!
SPEND MOST OF MY TIME IN THE U.P. OF MICHIGAN & BEYOND!
BR

 

[Buckeye]

Here is my choice. It does it all. The Meridian Color.

http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php ... id=1000556

 

[monker]

I have the Garmin E-trex Vista. It's small enough that I mounted it on the dash and just added a 12v plug to power it. I also use it quite a bit when hiking, hunting, and marking those secret fishing spots.

 

[MR.HAPPY]

THANKS GUYS!
DO THESE THINGS HAVE FOREST ROADS & DIRT ROADS?
WILL THEY REVERSE YOUR TRIP IN ANY CONDITIONS?
BR

 

[Buckeye]

Yes to the reverse trip and get the topo disc and I belive you will get the forest maps.

 

[snowsweat]

I have a Garmin eTrex. I do not recomment it or any other Garmin products. The unit came with a Map Cd which is fairly easy to use. The problem is, here in Canada, the map is always reading 1000 ft (300m) off, always to the north. I have tried to get the unit to adjust, I have spent many hours on the phone with the Garmin reps and it was a complete waste of time. The machine finally just quit working and I was told it was $100 US plus shipping just for them to look at it. The customer service was very poor, but the unit actually wasn't that bad.

 

[Riceburner]

What Datums did you try?

wgs84
can
nad 27
others?

Any of them make any changes in your position?

 

[hlmrx1]

I have a garmin etrex venture and highly recommend the garmin brand. I've had no problems with it, so I can't say what their service is like.

 

[MR.HAPPY]

I SEE SKIDOO DEALERS SELL GARMIN GPS IN THEIR CATALOG!
BR

 

[yamrx-1]

I use the Garman GPS lll . It has allways been right on. I hard wired it in 2 years ago and its been a very good unit. If you GPS was off that much 1000 ft, you had the wrong DaTum set. That can be the only thing to throw it off that much. the varable POSISTIONING System was lifted 4 years ago i believe, in the US Anyway.

 

[YammiMoose]

GPS

Can you place them in a windshield bag or does it have to be left out in the open to get Satellite reception? Any problems in very cold temps. I have a MP3 player and if I isn't it in the case in my inside pocket it won't power on.


1989 Scoot
1997 SX
2000 Srx
2002 Viper
2005 RX1 ER Red

 

[QCRider]

I have a Garmin GPSMap 76C, and it works great so far though I have not used it on my sled yet. I have used it in Canada however and it was accurate to <10 feet.

You can either mount the unit where it has a view of the sky, or you can mount a remote antenna and keep the unit in a bag as you mentioned.

Monker, what did you use as your 12V outlet on your sled? Where did you get one?

 

[yamrx-1]

Most of the new one will go though bags ect. as far as the cold, there made to be out in the cold too but batteries will not last too long though. thats why i hard wired mine in, because i was going though 12 battery's in a full days ride 14 hrs or so with the light on most of the riding.

 

[RobX-1]

I have a Garmin GPS V Deluxe. Had for a couple of years now and really like the unit. It too comes with the US MapSource CD which gives more detailed street data. What is also cool is that it has a built in US highways database and makes driving to unfamiliar cities more reassuring since you know where you are at. Gives exit ramp data on major highways as your driving. The only downside is that it has a built in 19MB memory module and doesn't have the option for removeable memory cards. Haven't had a problem with not having enough storage for my maps and such and has been trouble-free. It also allows you to toggle between horizontal and vertical veiws. It's WASS enabled and accurate to within 10ft.

During one of the demo/shows at Cabela's this past summer, I got to speak to one of the Garmin reps about their topo CD. He had it loaded on a notebook he was demo'ing the software on. I wanted to see if it had trail information and seasonal roads for up in the UP where we ride. Although it did show power lines and some additional seasonal roads that I did not have in the MapSource CD, I didn't see any trail markings. It would really be cool to have that data be accessible from this unit or any GPS.

http://www.garmin.com/products/gps5/

 

[snowsweat]

In response to some of your questions:
I tried every datum that was available on the machine, and then I downloaded the latest software; no difference. I exchanged the unit at the local Radio shack, same problem. My buddy has a different Garmin unit, same thing. It may be the (Canadian) map, but the error shows up in the built-in map before I put the detailed map in. I eventually gave up and just learned to live with it. Still, I would think that someone, somewhere would be able to speak intelligently about this product.