Advice on GPS units

[thesmithy]

I have a Lawrence Endura came loaded with Australia wide raster mapping.
No need to add on.
32g mini SD CARD included.
It does everthing i require.
999 waypoints
Back track
Elevation.
Touch screen or button
Distance travelled
Speed walking or driving. It tells me how long it took to get to destination and how long to get back.
+ all the other gadgets modern GPS units have
5 colour trail markers.
999 trails.
1 touch waypoints
Key board touch screen
Exit 4B hit way point give it a name......hit new trail done. Go for a 3 klm walk. Hit back track......it asks you if you want compass or trail. Compass will beep if you are off course. Trail will pinpoint your position in relation to the trail. When you are within 30m of the 4B it will tell you by beeping then show you a directional compass.

That being said i always carry a map of the area i am in as well as surrounding maps.
As well as a SILVAR Compass with declination. GPS will not always work in heavy wooded areas or high mountains. Or it will be sposmadic cutting in and out.

Turn GPS on at home plug into external power...or when you arrive at your starting point and turn it on it will take ages to find its location.

On longer hunting trips where i am covering many klms i carry laptop with external GPS antenna.
It's loaded with BASE MAP / OZTOPO / MAPSCOURSE / RASTER MAPPING?
It works as a giant Plotter GPS.
I can plot the next days hunting / prospecting right down to distance travelled fuel usage...
If on foot i can use the hand held then transfer the days waypoints on to the larger pc to save for next trip.

To be able to do all this it took many hrs of mishaps study failures then it all fell into place.

Back ground....18 years with the NSWRFS using paper maps and compasses then 7 years with FRNSW only using GPS and UBDs now we have in appliance GPS Tracking units the vehicle shows up as a little red truck on a large screen at COMMCEN so comms can direct us to the incident if we become lost.

It is modern technology at its best.....unfortunately if there is a break down in the GPS system we are flying blind as them no longer teach map reading.

Sorry to bore you.
Just my way of doing things.
Cheers
TheSmithy.....!

 

[gavfromoz]

Very interesting Smithy. Love all the things your unit can do BUT!!! can it bake a cake? I know what you mean, the old map reading courses should always be taught as with anythng old, if the new technology breaks down, at least you can rely on the good ol paper maps and compass. Interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[Diggerdude]

No wuckkas Gav,
I'm just playing around with Topo's on my iPhone - if I can get my head around it.
Looking at some old posts from DiggerDude. Seems WA maps are free, but Vic ones you gotto pay for :/

Hey Marty,

The 250k topo's with the Memory map app are free, the statewide 25ks are $100, but worth every cent in my opinion. I have bought them for every state.
You can get a DVD from the dpi witch has the whole state geology/mine/title data and maps for $10 , it's great value too and can be used on your iPhone with a GIS app (GISRoam etc), which most will also cache the google earth image with hybrid overlay to a moving map.
Impossible to get lost with these.
Here is a link to the dpi DVD.

http://dpistore.efirst.com.au/product.asp?pID=674&cID=12

DD

 

[thesmithy]

Footnote,
The reasoning for using GPS antenna is no need for phone service or internet connection.
As some of the locations i frequent have neither.
Quite inexpensive at $169 from i think JOHNNY APPLESEED
There are cheaper versions out there.

Great info DD

To be totally truthful i carry all of the above all the time just incase i may need them.......usually it is to help someone else out.
But mainly use the in car navigator and handheld GPS.

Cheers
TheSmithy

 

[thesmithy]

Hey Gav,
Nah can't bake a cake neither can I.
I think it can find me someone that can though
Brian.

 

[Nightjar]

We use the Garmin Rino 650, two for one deal from Johnny Appleseed, best money ever spent for remote WA areas.

 

[gavfromoz]

Sounds excellent Nightjar, 2 for 1 is always a good deal

 

[Zakman]

Hi guys Im progressing into the getting lost and need a GPS detecting stage.

SO which is the best value for money say up to $150 - $200 ausy?

What I want to do it find a place on google maps pin point it and then import that position to the GPS.

Also I see that some companies need you to buy their maps like Garmin and others seem to just download them when you find you present position.

Not sure how that works.

Plus some need a SIM phone card ?

Looking forward to you replies . Thanks Zak

 

[Rastys 1964]

Zac
I have a Magellan explorist 310 and have no complaints. It has very good maps and can you can upload waypoints from your computer. Highly recommend one of these.

Richard

 

[WalnLiz]

G'day Zak,

Big range of GPS units out there from the basic units to some with a coffee machine attached (LOL). I prefer to use the KISS models, as downloading maps for "detecting" purposes is a bit of an overkill, and not really of much benefit to you. I usually take my coordinates from sources like Google Earth etc, and enter them into a diary manually with notes for each of my locations.

Transferring coordinates manually to your GPS takes only a few minutes. The main reason for using a GPS detecting is ..1..To stop you getting lost,..(so enter your camp or vehicle position)...and 2...to record nugget finds, and areas you like to return to in your hunting area. Don't need a fancy GPS to do these functions.

I prefer to spend the surplus money from a top of the line GPS on good detecting boots, good pick, and good quality accessories.

Cheers Wal,

 

[Zakman]

Thanks Rastys and Walnlz.

Good points I will look at the 310 and see how much it is. Any other info on types ect .

Wal which GPS do you use?

ZAK

 

[WalnLiz]

I've run a Garmin GPS 12 for a lot of years ZAK ( they'll have different models now) and anything similar will serve you well. Think i paid under $150 for it.

Cheers Wal.

 

[gavfromoz]

Does anyone have a Garmin eTrex 30? If so, could you please tell me how to enter UTM co-ords? For instance, Nuggets coordinates for the weekend camp in Nundle?

Cheers

 

[gcause]

Ok I went out to the new fossicking areas in Warwick and tried out my new eTrex10 and it works like a charm. I was able to mark the location of my car and navigate my way back to it after a few hours of detecting just fine. You do have to give the unit time to find the satellites so I found that you need to move around a bit and then stand still to let it settle on which direction you are going. I was able to determine where I was within the bounds of the new fossicking areas I had marked on the map and to mark the location of any finds I made. It all just worked. Once home I was able to sync the data back onto my PC. The base camp software is a free download and it does this for you.

To answer Gav's question just download the free base camp software from the garmin site and you will be able to load all the co ords you like that was how I got the fossicking areas boundaries loaded. The software is really easy to use and they provide some great tutorial videos to go with it. Hope that helps.

So all in all the eTrax10 is a winner but it does lack the memory of other units and is only black and white maps. But for me it s enough to do what I want.

 

[Zakman]

Thanks I try and find one at a good price ?
ZAk

 

[gavfromoz]

Thanks for that gcause. I'll try and get it downloaded and work out how to use it

 

[Zakman]

Wow after looking around I realise the cheap part of getting a GPS is the GPS the expensive side is the maps anyone know which GPS has reasonable priced maps Obviously I need trail maps . Im seriously considering just a simple no map design where you can input lat and long from Google . Might be then best way.
ZAK

 

[WalnLiz]

That's all i use ZAK and I've never needed any more. Keep a diary, and keep adding your search history to the diary. If i want a map from the computer for a particular trip, I take a pic of it from the screen with my mobile phone. Have mates with full on "Map GPS's"......it doesn't get them any more gold, ....but then again i guess I'm still "Old School"... :/

Cheers Wal.

 

[Nightjar]

Hi Zak we use Garmin Rino 650, up the list, price wise however the combination radio/GPS serves us very well.
Installed Australia map from this site;
http://shonkylogic.net/shonkymaps/

Good luck with your endeavours.

Peter

 

[gavfromoz]

Old school is always the best as it's proven methods in everything. I was given a Garmin eTrex 30 to kick start my adventures in this hobby but I have absolutely no idea how it works as all this is new to me.

I looked at the topographic maps but that was $140 but I found one on eBay, which included the City Navigator map as well as an Australia-wide topo map for $20 + $4 postage and it came on a SD card. Now to learn how to use these as well.

AGMan knew of a member who was selling a very good GPS for $170. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/ hp?id=2742

All the best
Gav