gps's?

[bido]

i was wondering if anyone uses a gps i'm lookin into to them and wanna know is it a great investment like my good ol' vex any comments would be appreciated ...bido

[Sandbilly]

bildo, my Garmin Summit is the 2nd most important piece of electronics I take icefishing. 1st being the Vex. It reads accurate to 21ft. but most of the time I'm within 5ft of the hole I marked a waypoint at. We've fished tournaments in blizzards that the only way we found the our prefishing spots was by using a gps. I would highly recommend one. It takes a while to get use to but I would be lost with out it.  

[Sandbilly]

Sorry, bido.....

[bido]

hey sandbilly you got a website for that and thats just a Garmin Summit? and that product has mapping?

[Andrew Sickler]

I have 3 GPS receivers, a basic etrex, a legend and a vista.  I use them for outdoors recreation, driving and geocaching.  For ice fishing and basic outdoors, the yellow etrex is fine.  I like the vista and legend, ( also Etrex's) as they have map capability, but you have to buy the maps on top of the gps.  I enjoy all of mine and use them at least weekly.  If you want to have fun learning to navigate with them, go to www.geocaching.com and read what it is about.  You can get hooked on it!

[LoneWolf]

Andrew I have a question for you.Since you have all 3 e-trex's maybe you could give some insight into WAAS enabled.On the higher end models it states WAAS enabled and supposedly this will get you closer to your point(at least that is what I was told).Does it really work and is it worth the money? Thanks,  LoneWolf >))))>

[Sandbilly]

The Garmin site is www.garmin.com  . We lost all of our ice but I hope next round it will be here to stay.

[bido]

now if i find a dealer in my area can i buy the maps there? or would i have to get a holf of Garmin? ..thanx   bido

[kenelz]

For ice fishing, all you need is an etrex. Just punch in a waypoint where you hit the ice. When you want to return, hit the waypoint and "go to". They are cheap, you dont need all the maps and stuff if your just using it to get to and back. Its light, and fits in your shirt pocket. Of course always take a compass and take a reading as you head out. You never know when you might lose "coverage". This very seldom happens on the ice, but in the woods in the summer, the canapy of the trees can cause problems.

[Andrew]

I have never had any of mine is a WAAS area.  I understand that it makes a difference, but no system in Wyoming.  No biggie though, i usually get accuracy to with in 15 feet.  As far as the signal fade in trees, I have never had a problem with it here, on any of my units.

[Andrew]

oh, buy the way, go to www.tvnav.com  they have really great prices for all Garmin units.

[LoneWolf]

Thanks Andrew.I thought the WAAS was all over(out of the satelites).I didn't realize you might not be able to use it.Still 15 ft is impressive.  LoneWolf

[Hard_H2O]

I have a Magellan GPS 315. I never head out without it.

Pluses: It works great for fishing. Easy to use.

Minuses: It sucks down the batteries. Could be better in heavy tree cover.

Here is a great review page:

http://www.jesseshuntingpage.com/gps.html

[Hoppes]

You posted some time ago about GPS's.  I've used a Lowrance for a few years which worked fine, no mapping though.  It also chewed up NiMh batteries.  Purchased a Garmin E-trex Legend this fall and am very happy.  Can leave the GPS on for 14-16 hours on one set of batteries, only uses two AAs.  (I use iPowerUS 2100 mah batteries, get them at www.thomas-distributing.com)  The GPS has mapping and I purchased Garmin's mapsource topo maps for less than $100.  There are only two WAAS satellites currently available, I haven't received a signal yet from them.  The accuracy from most GPS units without DGPS or WAAS is usually more than adequate to get you back to your stand or "hole".  The Legend came with 8 mb of memory, enough to almost load the whole state of Maine topo maps.  Good luck!

[outdoorwally]

I have an e-trex and my brother has a very high end model with waas.The difference in accuracy isn't worth all the extra money.
Another thing A gps can do is save you a boatload of steps back to the truck at dark when there isn't any lights where you parked.