GPS hardware – my slight disillusionment
So here’s my story. For the past year I have been caching with my Android phone and C:GEO. In fact that is the reason I took the plunge into this sport, for me the barrier to entry was $0. I had just purchased a smartphone with decent GPS specs, it wasn’t the reason I bought it, it was just a bonus feature. Being a bit of a geek I had heard of geocaching and this was the perfect opportunity: got the phone (GPSr), free account of Geocaching.com, and free app in C:GEO. Wow, I was hooked. I could cache at a moment’s notice since that what that app does (yes, I know, in violation of GC’s TOS). I didn’t care about pocket queries or GSAK or uploading files to my device (HTC Magic in case you wanted to know).
As I got more in the sporting side where I wanted to do cache runs for the exercise, I noticed a niggling feature that was beginning to really irritate me: very short battery life. I couldn’t go more than 2 hours before the phone would peter out. Also I was caching out of province and forgot to store caches on the phone’s SDCard so I had to use data roaming and the added expense that went with that. Well it happened again last weekend, baterry meter was in the red and that was it – I was getting a real GPSr.
Look at that spec, 20 hours on a set of batteries, batteries that I could replace in the field in the need occurred. I did some asking around and shopping and bought a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx, a popular model I noticed. As a techie guy I couldn’t wait to get my package from GPSCity (great service BTW) and to get my unit up and running. Well here’s where the fun started to leak away. Maps: gotta get additional maps or you don’t see much on the screen for reference. I was able to install the Ibycus map so that was kind of ok but it wasn’t what I was used to (more on that later), Then it was getting comfortable with pocket queries and getting into a habit of updating my database regularly. Did I really want to pay for GSAK? I tried EasyGPS but the map view was crappy. Then there’s navigating the screens on the Garmin and the button pressing (maybe I’ll get a touchscreen GPSr in the future). This wasn’t intuitive by any means. I mean why can’t I just see a map of the area I’m in, see all the caches there then select the one I’m aiming for and go either right to the compass or right to the cache details including description, hint and logs?
I have been so spoiled by being able to see caches overlaid perfectly on Google satellite view, I could see trails and swamps and brooks, etc, I’ll truly miss that. I’ll likely seek help from a seasoned user of my make/model but it made me realize: if someone could make a dedicated GPSr for geocaching that had the ease of use of C:GEO that would be the geocaching killer app. If you haven’t seen what that app does then ask me to show you some day, I’ll always have both the phone and the Garmin with me whenever I cache now.
Cheers,
FreddyBeach
One thing about those older GPS models is that they don’t support map overlays. On the newer ones (Colorado, Oregon, Dakota and the new 62 I think) you can create an overlay which sits under your regular map.
Check out https://www.cacheupnb.com/archives/968 for a bit of insight into using Google Satellite and Garmin Birdseye imagery on Garmin GPS units.
I use a BlackBerry with Cacheberry and a 4 year old Magellan 500. I love the Maggie, no restrictions on how many caches I can put on the SD card, I can load them as GPX files or POI and the color map is very good. I also use my Ipod Touch with the official App and it is great for the info and taking field notes (as well as the BlackBerry). I love GSAK and glad I paid for it. I will be replacing my BlackBerry, hopefully in a couple of weeks with an HTC Desire HD so the first thing I will do is get both the official app and c:geo. I am not going to replace my Maggie until it dies and I always have my phone which will have a spare battery or two and can hold all the caches in the world on the SD card. If you set up your email on the phone to get PQ’s then there is no reason to ever not be able to find a cache wherever you may be, I have done it with the BlackBerry.
Well we bought an Oregon cause it was on sale and Ma loves it. But I prefer the legend HCX. I am so used to it and it does many things that the oregon cant do and often in less steps and I dont have to plug it into the PC to delete my finds. The Oregon is good as a PDA when we need to know the cache page details.
Oh and what is a map overlay?
I am not really good with high tech gadget (you should see my cell phone, it weighs 15 pounds, it has a rotating wheel and I carry it in a suitcase), and it’s probably why I prefer my old Garmin 76csx to the Oregon 450 we got, although I solely use the Oregon now (I know I am weird, my wife tells it to me all the time). I hate having to plug it to delete caches and stuff (this is so stupid if you ask me). I do not know what is map overlay, I can only do the strict minimum, Press the ON button, wait for the signal, target a cache… DONE!
Having said this, I do not know why those GPS companies do not come with a specific GPS, super user friendly for stone age people like me. Your idea of a GPS dedicated to geocaching sounds very appealing to my ear. Oh yeah, with the oregon, if you wear the gps attached to you, when it bounces as you walk it keeps popping the screen on which is not good for the battery life I find.
I don’t think my comments here are of any help, but as Rev will tell you, I like to share what I think 😉
Be careful with the Etrex. I had a legend, then a legend HCx. After 14 months, the rubber stripping the runs the perimeter of the unit came unglued. I looked online and found that it was a common problem for the unit, dating back 8 years! Garmin never bothered to fix the recurring issue, whick irks me greatly. After complaining, I was told to just use Gorilla glue on it, or I could send it to their service facility in Canada, where they would use Gorilla glue on it (at my expense, I might add). I upgraded to an Oregon 450 last summer, and am very pleased with the paperless caching feature. Given my distaste with Garmin after the rubber seal issue, I really wanted to go with a different company, but at the time, there really wasn’t much in terms of good competition out there.
On the Etrex you can contact Garmin and request a new gasket (the rubber grippy thing. I just wish they had the rubber piece available for the GPSxxx60 series
I know that I will have to get comfortable with the whole situation since I will be caching longer than 2 hours at a time and I will be in no-cell zones. I’ll likely get in touch with a seasoned cacher in my area who has the same hardware and get the tips and tricks I need.
Thanks for the tip about the rubber stripping, I had indeed read about that and had planned to handle it carefully and to watch for any early signs.
I too had a Legend HCx and in a way, I kind of agree with Pa. I have an Oregon 550 and I LOVE it, but there are days when there are things about it that bug me, such as the inability to delete finds. I also find the battery on the Oregon tends to go faster than on the HCx. Regardless, the Oregon is a great device.
There are a couple of little tricks that CAN help you with the Legend/Vista brands. For starters, if you want more than 500/1000 caches (depends on the model), you can use GSAK to export any amount of caches as POIs. Then you simply add the POI file to your device and when you want to go to as a cache, you simply create a waypoint from the POI. I did this for large trips and it worked like a charm.
Also, I changed the settings in GSAK so that the “description” of the cache was always the hint. It’s limited to 14 characters but it’s better than nothing. Another GSAK trick was to change the “name” of cache to show a special version of the code. Include the GC code, but tack on some other info. When I did it, I tacked on the type, size, terrain, and difficulty to the code. So something like GCBBA would show up as GCBBA-TR1A (Traditional, Regular size, difficulty 1, terrain 1.5). This plus the hint trick made life a LOT easier since you can’t get full cache details on those models.
And Nemo, a map overlay is a custom map you can create yourself that sits on top of/under the regular map you have on your GPS. So say you have the Ibycus topo, or City Navigator maps, but you want to add satellite imagery, you can install the regular map, then use a tool to create the overlay (much like the video I posted earlier), then put the overlay on your GPS. You then get a combination of your regular map, plus the overlay.
I don’t use it much anymore, but there are instances where it’s very helpful.
Zor, it was Pa that didn’t know what an overlay was and Nemo knows even less, rookies.
That is why I love my old Magellan, I don’t have to tweek anything it was more Geocaching friendly than the Garmins until the newer touch screens came out and I will admit my next GPSr will be an Oregan or whatever is the newest Garmin when I do buy one. I have found aver 300 cac
The POI thing works great in combination with a smartphone and App, that is what I do, if I need more info than just the POI I can look it up.
Thanks guys. Good tricks to know. I’ve already messaged a local guy here in Freddy to show me a few things. I just got off the phone with ranger170 and we’re planning a somewhat lengthy cache run on Saturday – best to get out there and Just Do It®. I’ll admit I’m cheap when it comes to having to buy maps, this is just one of my hobbies and with two young kids I gotta spread the wealth. 🙂
Ibycus topo 3.2. It’s free and a hell of a nice topo map for Canada.
It’s already installed. 🙂
Update:
Vbpad kindly agreed to meet me at lunch hour to help me out with this. Within a few minutes he changed a few settings, removed some little used screens and then we were on our way to find a few. he showed me the way to navigate my way through the screens and buttons to efficiently use the device on a cache run. I feel a lot better and can’t wait to fly solo on Saturday as I put it through its paces. Big thanks to Vbpad for the helping hand. Geocaching truly has a mindset geared on helping each other out – it’ll keep me in the sport for a good long while.