Recommendations appreciated; I spent time this summer enjoying paddling in > fog infested Maine and other great areas of the North east. I am ready to buy > a GPS to help minimize that wild feeling I have had "Where am I? ". Even > though I spent sufficient funds in the 60's to enjoy that lost foggy feeling, > at this point I need an assist from electronics to provide direction. My > budget is $200.. all suggestions welcome > Gregg *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I broke down and purchased a GPS from Cabelas this Spring. ( a Garmin 12CX for $250 with shipping... the monochrome 12XL is about $30 less, the price is probably a bit lower now, 9 months later). I bought the color unit, which really wasn't necessary. We went on a 7 week trip on the central Canadian Arctic Coast this summer. Descending the Hiukitak River to the coast I was worried about knowing where the rapids were . I also was worried about ice-fog, and long exposed crossings on salt-water, once we reached Bathurst Inlet. We needed to locate the exact spot on the map as we attempted crossings on Bathurst Inlet in an open canoe. Because of the "skinny" long north-south granite islands and irregular shores , being "off" by a mile or so meant the difference between a one-mile crossing, and a possible 3 mile crossing.... Mostly I used the unit 3-4 times a day, to locate distance from Rapids, figure where we were on the coastline, to get a Long/Lat for our campsites, and to figure how fast we paddled each leg, when we were forced to paddle at 2AM, and were a "bit disoriented" in the gloaming. Certainly look at the sci.geo.satellite-nav usenet site. This question gets asked hourly there. There is also a fantastic site at http://joe.mehaffey.com/ , with a slight leaning to Garmin products. Also think where you are paddling... there are a lot of map type units which are specific ( in their installed maps to the US).. a lot of time this info is not as good when you start to paddle coastlines (..i.e. you are in a boat.. while 99.99% of other users are in a car trying to locate the Interstate exit to Dubuque Iowa.)There are also archived discussins on the Paddlewise home page. See http://www.paddlewise.net/ There are also good PC map programs like Ozie (see the site http://www.powerup.com.au/~lornew/oziexp.html ) which permit you to scan maps into a computer, calibrate the map, set points of importance, and download into a GPS unit. That program is distributed as share ware which you can download free. I spent 20 minutes useing it , then bought it. This is a great way to pre-plan a trip, and can make for reaaly fab trip reports, complete with maps, GPS locations, trip route, etc,etc,etc, This is a big topic..take time to identify your real needs and budget,,, I didn't really need the ability to store 500 waypoints. Basically, like you, coming from a map&compass background I am comfortable with "eye-balling" the shore-line, using a compass, looking at a 1:50K map, and then asking my wife as to where we are. The GPS unit has eliminated all of the arguments as to "where we are". Before I got the Garmin, Wendy was almost always right, although I was unsure. Now with both the GPS and my wife, HEY...I always know where I am! rich dempsey ----- Original Message ----- From: <GREGGB50_at_aol.com> To: <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2000 12:31 PM Subject: [Paddlewise] GPS Recommendations > Recommendations appreciated; I spent time this summer enjoying paddling in > > fog infested Maine and other great areas of the North east. I am ready to > buy > > a GPS to help minimize that wild feeling I have had "Where am I? ". Even > > though I spent sufficient funds in the 60's to enjoy that lost foggy > feeling, > > at this point I need an assist from electronics to provide direction. My > > budget is $200.. all suggestions welcome > > Gregg *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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