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Any point in basic GPS reciever? Any point in basic GPS reciever?
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Navigation - Maps, Compass, GPS How to find your way - traditional map, compass and road signs, or GPS and more
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia




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Old 19 Jan 2014
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Any point in basic GPS reciever?
Hi all,

Apologies none of this makes much sense to me... I've got some really nice Reise maps and a decent working compass which always shows north. I guess that's a good start? I am doing a loop around S.America, or intending to anyway! I don't want to be glued to a high-tec GPS/Satnav screen. My reasoning was more to keep in the thing in the bag and only pull it out when I wasn't happy with having absolutely no idea where I was. I want to do things basic and simple, and I'm on a budget. I can pick up a very basic GPS receiver cheaply (Garmin eTrex H) but what will it do exactly? Will it give me my exact co-ordinates which I can then trace on the map and correlate my position? All my map has is the basic grid of longitude and latitude - am I right in thinking even with exact co-ordinates I could really hazard a guess whereabouts I actually was inside the 'box' on my map? Sorry if this sounds dumb but I'm a total novice and can't even claim to have been in the boy scouts.

:confused1:
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Old 19 Jan 2014
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A GPS is very useful when in the cities. It is very useful for finding places to camp or hostels. On the highways, it isn't that useful. I use both paper maps and GPS. I don't like to spend a lot of time searching for places, the GPS makes it much easier.
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Old 19 Jan 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gunt86 View Post
A GPS is very useful when in the cities. It is very useful for finding places to camp or hostels. On the highways, it isn't that useful. I use both paper maps and GPS. I don't like to spend a lot of time searching for places, the GPS makes it much easier.
Even with a basic GPS like the eTrex 10 H, which has no maps to speak of, can you dial in some GPS coordinates, i.e. a hostel, etc, and then it will lead you there, more or less?
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Old 19 Jan 2014
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There are times when you want to get lost and times when you don't. Spend £20 on the etrex for the times you don't.

Back in the days when I was in the boy scouts we were taught map and compass stuff - back bearings from the church spire, hill in the distance, that kind of thing so you could work out where you actually were. When, about 15yrs ago, I bought my very basic Garmin (GPS2+) it was like magic; I didn't have to fiddle around with a compass, I could just look the numbers up and there I was. That got me out of the sh*t many times both hiking and riding.

It also had the ability to pre program a route with waypoints and about 10yrs ago that got me across a 50 mile featureless stretch of the Sahara knowing I was heading in the right direction. Ok it could have been done with compass bearings but the gps made it so much easier.

Things have moved on but a cheap basic gps is very useful as a backup. I'd still be using mine if it hadn't been drowned in a rainstorm about 3yrs ago.
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Old 19 Jan 2014
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personally I would splurge a couple of hundred bucks and get a decent GPS and mount. I've travelled both with them and without them, and I've found that when I don't have a GPS I tend to be more conservative navigationally, because I don't want to spend several hours lost somewhere or go somewhere I won't be able to get out of (I usually travel by myself).

This summer I was in Mongolia; there weren't many signs to speak of, and it was a pretty good feeling being able to navigate around. The biggest thing is being able to navigate into, out of, or through cities without getting lost.
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Old 19 Jan 2014
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Count the time and cost of fuel etc. you spend on finding the way in, out or to anything you are looking for or want to visit without GPS, not to forget the things you won't find at all and your conclusion can only be one: A decent GPS (few hundred) with actual maps(free) and waypoint/track info(free) from other travelers, is very cheap.

GRTZ,

JP
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