| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
s4xton
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Posts: 1070
Location: Minneapolis, MN
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
jaywc7
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 360
|
 Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:01 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
Ok, I was kidding the last time. NOW I believe you... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
miles58
Geocacher
Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 196
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
If you're worried about the Garmin's sucking the battery down when you use WAAS you could always go buy a Lowrance iFinder Go for about $70 and get 48 hour battery life, 16 channels, WAAS, basic mapping and 32Mb memory. It has an available cig. lighter plug, and supposedly a data cable too.
I bought one to see what it was and did it work.
It has a small screen, amber backlight, buttons close together, but otherwise is one heck of a unit for that money. I have used it for caching and it's great for that. The battery life is worth it alone.
I wouldn't trade my big iFinder for it, but I'd swap my Garmins for it in a heartbeat. Both of them for it! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaywc7
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 360
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| miles58 wrote: |
If you're worried about the Garmin's sucking the battery down when you use WAAS you could always go buy a Lowrance iFinder Go for about $70 and get 48 hour battery life, 16 channels, WAAS, basic mapping and 32Mb memory. It has an available cig. lighter plug, and supposedly a data cable too.
I bought one to see what it was and did it work.
It has a small screen, amber backlight, buttons close together, but otherwise is one heck of a unit for that money. I have used it for caching and it's great for that. The battery life is worth it alone.
I wouldn't trade my big iFinder for it, but I'd swap my Garmins for it in a heartbeat. Both of them for it! |
Yeah - your right, it is a good GPS for sure. I've heard many of these "Lowrance - Bang for yer Buck" stories now. I'm just paranoid to sway from Magellan or Garmin. I guess Lowrance isn't so bad considering their fishing equipment background. Whatever you do, just DON'T BUY COBRA!!! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
miles58
Geocacher
Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 196
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The iFinder Go from Lowrance is a heck of a lot of unit for $70.
It has 16 channels, WAAS, an available power cable, an available data cable (I haven't seen one but suspect it may be like the old Garmin cables and is a combo job) It gets unbelievable battery life, and it works great.
The down side is that the screen is small, the backlight is amber, and the buttons are close together.
I have one. I use it for caching sometimes. I like it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RubberToes
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 222
Location: Apple Valley
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| I never turn my WAAS on anymore...sucks my batteries too fast. |
Agreed. And additionally, it's a rare day when I can even get a WAAS lock. Being in the center of the country is a disadvantage in that regard. I've been much happier since I turned it off and forgot about it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaywc7
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 360
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| RubberToes wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I never turn my WAAS on anymore...sucks my batteries too fast. |
Agreed. And additionally, it's a rare day when I can even get a WAAS lock. Being in the center of the country is a disadvantage in that regard. I've been much happier since I turned it off and forgot about it. |
Ok, just one specification that I'm sure about :
The WAAS towers are on the coasts, but they do not directly link to the GPS units. Their signal is relayed to the Geostationary Satellites, and then relayed to your GPS. So - you may or may not be getting a good WAAS signal,,, but it should have nothing to do with the fact that you are in the middle of the country. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RubberToes
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 222
Location: Apple Valley
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| I never turn my WAAS on anymore...sucks my batteries too fast. |
Apparently, then I misread or misunderstood something. I just always had much trouble aquiring a WAAS signal, so I finally gave up. Maybe it's location.
Garmin says: "For some users in the U.S., the position of the satellites over the equator makes it difficult to receive the signals when trees or mountains obstruct the view of the horizon." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaywc7
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 360
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 4:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| RubberToes wrote: |
| Quote: |
| I never turn my WAAS on anymore...sucks my batteries too fast. |
Apparently, then I misread or misunderstood something. I just always had much trouble aquiring a WAAS signal, so I finally gave up. Maybe it's location.
Garmin says: "For some users in the U.S., the position of the satellites over the equator makes it difficult to receive the signals when trees or mountains obstruct the view of the horizon." |
Ah - that's no problem. Just look back on all the false information I thought I knew! We're all doing the best we can to understand and use these things. There's new perspectives and new info around every corner really. The part about the obstructions is totally true though! Heck - even holding the GPS in the middle of a vehicle that is thick roofed will obstruct it as I'm sure many people have found. Luckily for me, my Tracker is a cheap POS, and the GPS works great inside it!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Buzzygirl
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Posts: 499
Location: Little Canada
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 4:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| The Magellan eXplorist series does have WAAS. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jaywc7
Geocacher
Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 360
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Buzzygirl wrote: |
| The Magellan eXplorist series does have WAAS. |
Cool... I thought so... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RayRoad
Geocacher
Joined: 12 Jun 2004
Posts: 7
Location: Oronoco, MN (Lake Zumbro)
|
| Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 11:40 am Post subject: Ifinder Go & Go2 |
|
|
I have ordered a Lowrance Ifinder Go2 from TigerGPS for $86, along with a power/data cable. (Cable is around $18 extra, and requires you solder on the DB9 serial connector) Otherwise, you pay $35 for a fully assembled power/data cable.
The bad thing I've learned, but have yet to verifiy, is that although the Go & Go2 have a computer interface, you can't use it to manage waypoints. It just sends out NMEA sentences for other devices that need real-time location info. That is a shame, because the Go & Go2 have 1000 waypoint capacity. (And NO SD/MMC card slot like their upscale brethren!) I currently use a Garmin eMap, with no WAAS, so I thought I'd like to compare the two. I can supply comparison info later, once the Go2 is "broken in"!
_________________
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
User list
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
