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GPS Recommendations:
The GPS is not necessary to be used with traces from this site. One can just download and print them using Topo! or other programs and then do the hike following the trace. Having a GPS receiver is obviously better, because it tells the hiker his current position, speed, sunrise and sunset, direction, etc. It helps not to get lost by matching the waypoints uploaded to it with the ones on the printed maps. I will first describe the GPS receiver that I have, then some other units that have unique features and finally explain the features that I find necessary in any GPS.
My unit is made by Garmin and is called GPSMap 76Cx, where "Map" means that it can have Garmin maps uploaded to it on MicroSD card sold separately (up to 2GBytes) and internal memory. Map feature only works with Garmin proprietary software which costs a hundred dollars plus for the whole US but can be bought for just a part of the country for less. This software has scale barely suitable for hiking - 1:100,000. There are relatively new digital maps with the scale 1:24,000 from Garmin, but they only cover major national parks, such as the Shenandoah N.P. and the Appalachian Trail for where I live. Appalachian Trail on this maps is very outdated, the software is weak, missing a lot of features and the digitized maps are missing a lot of map features as well... Still it's better than having nothing on your GPS. "76" is a highly successful marine series of GPS units, which has the best antennas (quadrifilar helix), is waterproof and has a relatively large screen. The battery run time is one of the best as well. "C" stands for color display. "x" is very important - it mans that the unit has a SiRF chip that allows to boot up much faster, significantly increases the sensitivity of the unit (no need for external antenna any more in most places), and thus keeps the unit locked almost all the time in adverse conditions (trees, mountains around, etc.). The unit has WAAS Differential GPS that adds accuracy when available.
Now to the units that I don't have. GPSMap 76CSx is exactly like mine with addition of the "S" feature, which stands for a Barometric Sensor. This sensor measures barometric pressure and elevation (barometric elevation is supposed to be much more accurate than GPS elevation, but I am not so sure about that). Be aware that the sensor eats batteries, and either disable it or bring some extra ones.
Here are some units that I've never
used or seen used, but which have unique features worth looking into:
Bushnell Onix200CR Onix3500 and Onix4000 allow to upload topographic maps as well as aerial photos. You can buy them from Bushnell, I am not sure with what scale or for what countries other than US. Onix3500 and 4000 have very large screens and support XM radio with its weather channel (subscription required).
DeLorme Earthmate GPS PN-20. Similar to Bushnell in that it allows to upload topographical and aerial photo maps that can be bought separately (the company gives a $100 credit towards purchase). The unit comes with the Topo USA vector graphics software. It has a high sensitivity receiver. It's rugged. This unit is probably the best bang for the buck. The only downside which may have been fixed by now is that the software Topo USA used to be extremely user unfriendly with a lot of features missing and the data had a lot of information missing.
All the units above are rather pricy ($300 - $700). A less expensive alternative would be to get any Garmin unit with "x" or "HC" in its name, meaning that it would have a SiRF high sensitivity chip in it. A still less expensive solution would be to get a Garmin 76 or 60 with or without Map and Color (good antenna). For that setup you will need an external antenna (see below) to have a better reception.
Finally, here is a picture of my old unit. The new one (GPSMap 76Cx) looks exactly the same but without the external antenna.
Tip: make sure to get the 30 day return policy and use it if the unit doesn't fit your needs.
GPS Accessories Rechargeable AA Batteries. Cost <$3 each. Last ~500-2000 recharges. Make sure they are >= 2500 mAH. Energizer, Panasonic and Sanyo make them. Best Buy, Circuit City and Wall Mart sell them and chargers.
Bag for the GPS: GPS Outfitters - the only one that works for me. Very rugged, and has a pocket for extra batteries, memory cards, etc. + 2 mesh pockets for stuff. Here is a picture.
Mounts for "any" GPS units by "any" manufacturer simply don't work. They are too week. www.gpscity.com has mounts by RAM that do the job admirably and are specifically designed for each individual GPS. Mounts themselves are for cars, boats, bikes, poles, etc.
Antenna for the GPS. I recommend www.gpsgeek.com. It's price is higher than it used to be but still much lower than Garmin's. They have great customer service and ship fast. Antennas come with different length of the cord, get 3ft - shortest, or longer to put on the car roof. They have magnetic bottom to put on top of the car. I sowed a small flat piece of metal to the top of the GPS bag and stick antenna on top of it for my first GPS (Garmin 76), my current one doesn't need an external antenna. www.gpsgeek.com also sells power adapters for home and for the car as well as computer interface cables.
Cheapest Sony Digital Voice Recorder. $40 - $50. Other brands have far less convenient controls and their recording quality in general is much lower. When you are hiking, instead of writing the messages (descriptions of the waypoints) in a notepad, record them on a voice recorder and type them after coming home.
MicroSD Card by Sandisk, 2Gbytes to put maps on or any other format memory that works with your GPS. Here is a trick: If you buy it with a reader and travel to a place with a computer, you can upload any data to it (such as photos from your camera to save space) or preload it with mp3s and transfer them to you player when you get tired of the current compilation. GPS features: 1) Have a GPS unit with a battery life of 15 hours +. It is a good idea to have the receiver always on to see your trace as well as to eliminate the time it takes for the GPS to acquire its position. Rechargeable NiMH batteries with power >= 2500 mAH are the best to be used. Don't forget to charge them before each use, as they discharge by themselves within a week. Alkaline batteries work for a much shorter time particularly in winter. Thus they should be avoided altogether. Once an alkaline battery set lasted me only 4 hours in the winter. Longest time comes from Lithium Batteries, which are not rechargeable, are costly. They don't self discharge either and are light, so use them on backpacks and long trips. Energizer makes them.
2) Make sure your GPS has an input for the USB cable. It’s a standard feature now, but some old models do not have it. Serial port is very slow.
3) Have a built in quad-helix antenna vs. a strip antenna. It significantly increases the reception of the unit, especially in the woods and in the mountains. Always remember, that without good reception, a GPS is absolutely useless. Alternatively, if you are planning to always use external antenna, it doesn't matter. Have a good sensitivity chip like SiRF or any of its competitors - boot time will decrease, the GPS will be locked to the satellites almost without interruptions under very adverse conditions.
4) Have an input for an external antenna. External antennas are small (a narrow box of about 2*2*0.5 in., have a built-in amplifier and can be used in the woods, mountains, or cities where the view of the satellite can be obscured. They also take very little of the battery power. They have long cords and magnetic bases and stick to the roofs of cars well.
5) The unit should have the largest screen size and the smallest nonscreen size possible. Those tiny screens where you have to have a magnifier to see anything rally annoy me. So do the units that have a huge area not covered by the screen, or large bulk in general. We are not in the 70's and miniaturization is not such a huge deal any more. There is also no reason why the screen sizes should be so tiny. They don't cost that much.
6) The unit should have a slot for external memory. Why cameras have it for photos and some GPS units don't have it for maps? Maybe I would like to get a Marine or City or foreign map set in addition to what I currently have. I should be able to put them together on a memory card.
7) GPS bag is very important. In the hiking environment it should be thick and padded. Before, during and after the hike the GPS gets thrown in the car with the backpack, sat on, bumped against the rocks and the trees. The porch helps it endure all that. It also should have a capability of sitting on the backpack strap as high as possible. If it's in the backpack - it's inaccessible fast when you need to check it or record waypoints. If it's sitting on the belt, your body blocks most of the satellite view which makes the reception very poor.
8) GPS Units should have User Friendly Interface or at the very least consistent. All the units these days have huge number of features, most of them useless. Make sure it's easy to get to the ones you need without referencing the manual all the time. Remember, the maps that you can upload to your unit almost always "have" to be from the same manufacturer as your unit. Make sure the software with these maps is user friendly as well.
Page Created: 12/26/2006. |
