RE: [Paddlewise] Garmin eTrex GPS

|But do I need the map capability?

Hmmmmm, good question.  But how good are their maps?

I don't have the answer to the last question but my experience with both
topomaps and lake maps is that they can be very  inaccurate.  If the GPS is
accurate but the maps are off what is the point?  I have used my 12XL to
try to pinpoint locations on topomaps and have been greatly suprised how
inaccurate the maps seem to be.  A few years ago I was trying to locate
property boundries on a topo map and it seemed to be really inaccurate.  I
could find major landmarks on the map and I had multiple readings from the
GPS but did not have confidence on putting points on the map.

I wrote the previous paragraph last night but held off posting because I
had taken about a dozen positions on some property this weekend.    So last
night I tried to plot the positions on a 1:24000 topo map and the map is
off anywhere from 200-300 meters both north to south and east to west.
This is similar to what I seen on another topomap a few years ago.  I'm
very familiar with the topography of the land, and I can very easily guess
property boundries from ground features.  But the map features and the GPS
positions don't line up.  Since I was walking in straight lines along a
marked survey line I have confidence that the GPS numbers are accurate.
They certainly are consistent.  Soooo, either the map is wrong or I can not
plot points on a map........  8-)

On the other hand do you really need accuracy down to the meter?  These are
not nautical charts either which may be more important to you than a topo
map.  Hopefully nautical charts are more accurate.....

Hope this helps...
Dan



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