GPS??? Any suggestions

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

Just curious if any one uses a gps system? If you could recommend one. I am in great need of one, especially for riding in Tahuya state forest. Also, any information on ones NOT to get.

 

[Airlooped]

Garmin has a great line of GPS receivers. Check out garmin.com.

 

[Tony Eeds]

Get a color unit if you can afford it. They are the easiest to read.

I have a Garmin GPSmap 76CS and love it. The software is also remarkable in that it has many of the roads and goat trails I ride already in the system.

 

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

What do you think of the garmin gps60?
I was hoping to spend under 300$ if possible.. other wise it will have to wait till christmas :(

 

[Papakeith]

how about in direct sunlight? is b/w better than color? or the other way around?

 

[Tony Eeds]

What do you think of the garmin gps60?
I was hoping to spend under 300$ if possible.. other wise it will have to wait till christmas :(

The main differences between the 60 and the 76 are

• The 60 has less memory
• The 60 (although waterproof) does not float

I got the 76 primarily because of the float issue. I use mine in the water (canoeing) also. The extra memory allow me to load 100% of all the Texas maps plus all border areas I am likely to visit.

The 60 is a good unit except for the stated limitations.

how about in direct sunlight? is b/w better than color? or the other way around?

Having owned only a color unit, I may not be the best judge. That being said, I have found my unit much easier to read under all lighting conditions than friends monochrome units that I have used.

Check out Groundspeak for way more information than you will likely ever want.

 

[tyesai]

I bought the Magellan explorist 100. It was a $100 at Wal-Mart and does everything I need to make it back to camp or the truck or whatever. It was inexpensive, basic, and can get you back to where you need to be. This is definetly a no frills GPS though, but it will work if you just want something to get you back to where ever it is you need to go back to.

 

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

All we are planning on using it for is trail riding. And we dont need to store the info on there for long, just for the day... so it doesnt need a whole lot of memory... Does it show great detail? And are you happy with it?

 

[xsnrg]

I just got back from WV riding with a Garmin 60CS (60 with color screen) mounted on my handlebars. It worked great for the first 2 hours or so, but after that it would keep shutting itself off. I couldn't tell if it was something inside that had vibrated loose or if the vibration and bumps had anything to do with it. I put some pieces of rubber band between the batteries and the battery cover thinking they may have been getting knocked loose enough to loose power momentarily, but it did not seem to help. It was great while it worked though! It all came to an ugly conclusion when I did a slow motion endo on a steep downhill singletrack. The 220 landed squarely on the GPS unit and cracked the base of the antenna and the case. The unit still worked when handling it gently, but it is going to have to be sent in for an overhaul...$100 flat rate according to Garmin. BTW...their "customer support" line is a joke. They put you on hold telling you it will be a 15-20 wait to get to a customer support rep and every 30s they tell you to go to their website for answers. I am convinced that they just put everyone on hold with that message for 15-20 hoping you'll hang up or lose the call. If anyone gets through in under 15 minutes, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[tyesai]

All we are planning on using it for is trail riding. And we dont need to store the info on there for long, just for the day... so it doesnt need a whole lot of memory... Does it show great detail? And are you happy with it?

As far as showing detail it doesn't have a "map" on it. It doesn't show roads or hills or anything like that. All it does, and I say that lightly because to me the thing is a frieking miracle, is kind of track you. It has a screen, you turn it on and you are in the center of the screen marked by a cursor. You move and the cursor moves and draws a line. As you travel it draws a map of where you have been, kind of like an etcher sketch. What it allows you to do is see where you have gone from your starting point. Then what you can do is see where you are in relation to your starting point. You can then use it to backtrack if you want. What I usually end up doing is using it to see where I am in relation to my starting way point then just head back towards it. It has a couple of different screens, one is like a compass type screen that will show you wich way you are going, where your desired destination is and where the sun and the moon are in relation to the way you are traveling. That is helpful sometimes because it lets you know that to get back to your point of origin you need to keep the sun at your back, or on the right side of you. It also will show elevation, speed, lat and long. It is a pretty cool little toy and accurate to within about 10 feet sometimes. I like it, one time me and my buddy went out to ride on Cherokee logging land and we got completly turned about. Neither one of us had a clue as to where we were. Just consult Mr. GPS and it turned out we were about 300 feet away from the trucks. Just go across the stream and take a right. Like I said, $100 at Wal-Mart, go buy it and play with it in your truck for a couple of days. If you don't like it take it back. I don't mount mine on the handlebars I just put it in my camel back and consult when necessary for the above mentioned breaking reason although mine seems well made and is water proof.

 

[Tony Eeds]

All we are planning on using it for is trail riding. And we dont need to store the info on there for long, just for the day... so it doesnt need a whole lot of memory... Does it show great detail? And are you happy with it?

Mapsource software shows a fair number of contours and some of the larger (i.e. viewable from a sat photo) trails. It does not have the same level of detail that a 7.5 quad does. The best way to look at it is to think of the GPS as a tool to show you where you are and the map as a tool to show you where you are going.

I just got back from WV riding with a Garmin 60CS (60 with color screen) mounted on my handlebars. It worked great for the first 2 hours or so, but after that it would keep shutting itself off. I couldn't tell if it was something inside that had vibrated loose or if the vibration and bumps had anything to do with it.

Vibration has everything to do with it. My 76CS does the same thing with SOME batteries. I don't know why, but Duracell are a bit longer and do not break the connection. For other batteries I lay a pice of folded paper across the batteries before replacing the cover. That seems to do the trick. Dialelectric grease on the ends of the batteries helps as well.

 

[XRpredator]

. . . Vibration has everything to do with it.

I don't think its just your batteries either. I recall a while back in Dirt Bike they were talking about using GPS for whatever, and they would send them off to an outfit that would "harden" them so they could withstand the abuse they will take when mounted to a dirt bike.

THIS is a short explaination of "hardening", I'm sure there is more stuff out there about it.

 

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

Garmin Rino 110

Just curious if any one knew anything bad about the garmin rino 110.... I like that it double as a two way radio.. Nice feature, being that the trails in tahuya are crazy to follow, and I admit, I have taken the wrong trails from my group... atleast one time :nener: I have also been getting interested in the garmin etrex hand held, and the geko.... and the magellan explorist 200
Thanks for all the help

 

[KiwiBird]

I have Garmin 76S - nice big screen - but have moved to Rino GPS as they allow you to see where another party (also using a Rino) is. They also work with all the FRS radios like the Motorola and Cobra.

I use a 130 and give 120s to my riding buddies when we go out. Knowing what I do now I'd recommend the 130 as it is a bit more idiot proof in that you don't need to know where north is as it has an internal compass. The 110 and 120 are ok but you need to go in a straight line for a bit before stopping so you can orient the GPS easily. This is not a show stopper by any means but requires a bit of education before using.

 

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

it doesnt sound like my husband likes the Garmin Rino 110.. thinks they sound cheap.... so I am at a loss..... He likes the 2 way radio feature.. but is afraid he would be selling him self short, as gps goes... any comments??? :(

 

[Kav]

I have a Garmin 72, it float, it doesn't do maping, but it does tracking. if I could have gotten one I would have gone with the rino. Kiwi has loned me one, and the only down fall compared to mine is the smaller screen. other then that every thing is pretty much the same. But the Rinos have some good safty options. like when you key the mic it send's out where you are at to other rino units. that's a great thing to have if you get a little sepreated from your group. but keep in mind that that will be good for a few miles between units.

 

[holeshot]

I have a base model Garmin (cheap) that I mount to the bars from time to time. It hasn't failed yet, and it has no "hardening".

I had a problem with it blinking off at first, because the AA batteries would vibrate and their connection would be momentarily lost. I lined the battery compartment with electrical tape so that the batteries would fit snug. Not a problem since then.

 

[Alaskan_h230_gurl]

does the bade model do everything that you want? Or do you ever feel that you need it to do more?

 

[UFS207]

I recently bought a garmin etrex to mount on my KDX and have been really pleased with it. The etrex (base model) costs about $90 from circuit city and honestly it does pretty much everything an offroad rider could need. The more expense models have roadmaps, color screens and more memory (for said roadmaps) so I figured the base model would work just fine.

Originally Posted by Tony Eeds
Vibration has everything to do with it. My 76CS does the same thing with SOME batteries. I don't know why, but Duracell are a bit longer and do not break the connection. For other batteries I lay a pice of folded paper across the batteries before replacing the cover. That seems to do the trick. Dialelectric grease on the ends of the batteries helps as well.

I figured vibration would be a huge problem right off the bat so I made my own mount for it so I could clamp it to my bars. Milled a pocket in a hunk of scrap plastic big enough for the GPS plus some padding and made a plexi-glass cover to secure it. No vibration problems in the past 300+ miles and the entire assembly has withstood a couple of light crashes without so much as moving. I`m going to make a smaller/lighter/more refined and better padded mount eventually, I just kinda winged this one in about 2 hours at work one day.

 

[harjp]

I went with the Garmin Foretrex 201, $129 plus $15 for a mount through Amazon.com. This is a pretty basic model (no color, not a lot of memory, etc.), but has the "breadcrumb" functionality I was look for. What really sold me on it, though, was the rechargeable internal battery so I'm not spending alot on AAA's or having to hardwire it to my bike's electrical system.