Re: Hand held GPS questions
I have a Garmin ETrex handheld. If I remember correctly, it was about $80 for the yellow version, and $90 for the camo version. I have a camo covered unit, but Academy Sports sold it to me for the lower price because they were out of the yellow ones. If you have an Acadamy Sports store in your area, they are pretty good about that sort of thing.
The ETrex is a very basic unit, without a map display. I bought it primarily because I had been doing some SAR missions for the US Coast Guard and the Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries. Both tend to use GPS coordinates to indicate the center point of a search area, so I needed something to plan expanding square or sector type searches.
For what they are (basic, inexpensive units), the ETrex GPS are pretty good. My main complaint with them is that the menu/entry system uses small buttons that are a bit clumsy. There are four buttons to use (one on the right side, three on the left) and it takes a bit of time to get used to which ones do what. Because of the way you have to use the buttons, and flip through various menus, operation of the ETrex is somewhat slow. That said, with time you do get used to them, and operation becomes much faster.
The waypoint name capability is also limited, so you end up using abbreviations all the time. I don't have mine handy at the moment, but my memory is telling me that you can only use 6 characters for each name. The problem with this, is that you end up putting in abbreviations that make sense when you enter them, but may be hard to remember later on. This is especially true, once you have have a bunch of them stored. On the slowness of input issue, this is the worst area because you have to move through a list of each number (0 - 9) and each letter, to input the appropriate character in each of the six character "positions." Even if you have a three character name, you still have to move through the remaining three character positions and leave an underline character there.
One handy feature that the ETrex does have, is a simulated operation mode. GPS units are "line of sight" receivers, and do not acquire the satelite signals well, or at all, if there is a physical barrier between the antenna and the sky. Since the antenna in a handheld is, of course, in the unit, you lose satelite reception, as soon as you go indoors. The simulated operation mode in the ETrex allows you to practice and learn the menu/operations of the unit, while sitting in your home. You can also plug in waypoints while in that mode. I find this feature to be very handy for taking a known position, such as a search datum position or reef position for fishing, and entering it into the GPS.
Another useful feature of the ETrex is the tracking mode. While in the tracking mode, a figure of a man walking is diplayed on the screen, with a path behind him. Since the memory on the unit is limited, it has an ability to set the distance between marking points of the track. If you only want to track for a short distance, you can set the tracking resolution to a short distance between points. For longer distance tracking needs, you could run out of memory if the resolution was set this way, so the ETrex allows you to set the points to a much wider distance. I don't use the tracking feature much, but it does come in handy if I have to go up into a bayou that I am not familiar with at night. I just track on the way in, and then follow it out when I depart. This feature is also very handy when fog is possible or expected, later in the cruise or mission.
The Etrex GPS screen is only backlit when you want it to be. The back lighting is activated when you depress and release the on/off key quickly. I don't remember the duration capability, but the max duration is pretty short. There is some variability and it is set via a menu entry. Because the duration can only be set for up to three minutes or so, if you need to see the screen a lot at night, you have to keep depressing the on/off key.
You could use the ETrex to monitor speed while in the "goto" mode. In this mode, you just select a waypoint (it doesn't matter which one) and select "goto" on the menu. Once the unit is tracking to or from a waypoint, it presents a screen that has a compass rose with a pointer on it, along with a window that gives speed.
Battery power for the ETrex is two, double A cells. I've never checked the duration of the battery life if left on continuoulsy, but its not very long - probably about eight hours. I am finding that a lot of portable electronics these days, even the less expensive items, have an option for use of double A batteries, or a rechargeable llithium ion battery pack. For example, my Midland handheld VHF radio will take either, and the LI battery pack can be charged right in the unit, via a "wall wart" or cigarette lighter type charger, that plugs into the side of the radio. This is something that I really wish the ETRex had.
While the ETrex is a very basic unit, and has a few drawbacks, I think it is pretty good for the money. I am probably going to buy a dash mounted unit, with map display and much richer programming functions, but the ETrex gets the basic job done. On the cost/benefit scale, I think they are a great buy.
