GPS Recommendations & storage of path information question

[zerozappa]

OK, not sure about the jargon, but please read on...

I'm interested in getting a small, light, waterproof gps...and the e-trex is one of the options... Through the reviews at http://www.jungletraining.com/navigati.htm I was considering the Magellan ColorTRAK gps because it performed well even under a lot of canopy in the Amazon (yeah, yeah, I'll most likely never need that kind of performance, but you never know)...

I think that I read in the January issue of Self Reliance that the eTrex compresses your recorded path when you store it.. and therefore when you try to backtrack, you can't always simply follow the device to the next point because it may be off by a bit due to dropping some of the "detail" when it stored only the "main" points along the path..

Has anyone had any experience like this with a GPS?

What are your recommendations?

 

[Steve6]

E trek's new model with the built in compass (I believe it's called the summit ~$ 250) and altimeter / barometer seems like it would be a big improvement over models lacking those features.

The bigest drawback to GPS models lacking the compass is that the unit needs to be moving in order to determine your current magnetic course (not your heading to the point, it knows that).

With the integral magnetic compass, navigation direct to a point should be much more accurate since the GPS unit knows your position, the location of the waypoint, the heading to the waypoint, and its current heading. This last piece of information, lacking on most other units, should allow you to point the GPS unit right at your "to" waypoint. This is especially important as you get close, say within 200 M, of your target.

Also, the altimeter function could be very useful in mountainous terrain, and the barometer funtion would be helpfull in predicting a change in the weather.

Finally, I'd try to stick with a unit that requires only 2 AA bateries (like the e trek). A lot of units require 4 batteries and still have a shorter "run" time.

As far as route compression goes, I have not experienced that problem, mainly because I don't use that function (reverse route). I generally navigate "point to point" and haven't had a problem.

[This message has been edited by Steve6 (edited 02-01-2001).]

 

[Jebediah]

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