devinsixtyseven
Explorer
Just picked up one of these tiny receivers yesterday. Got it at REI (I wanted it *right now*, etc), but they can be found on Ebay for much cheaper--60 to 80 bucks shipped. Had I thought of this sooner, I'd have bought it earlier from Ebay and put the savings somewhere else.
I wanted a bare-bones GPSR...just lat/lon/alt/time, and velocity plus a couple points stored in memory...no need for blinkenlites or mappentech, just something simple that could be used in or out of the vehicle, small enough to fit in a pocket, and help me coordinate positions on a map with position on the ground. This thing comes with a wrist strap, and it's about the size of an early mp3 player...probably for the same reason, as it runs on a pair of AAA batteries (14-16 hours run time, so it says). It's also water "resistant"...it should survive a dunk in one meter for thirty minutes and work fine after drying out.
It'll be used for hiking more than vehicle fixes...with a topo map and sat photo, both marked in advance with a couple IVOs, it'll make getting lost a little harder and getting unlost a little easier. Eventually I'll probably spend for a high-dollar, color screen, blinking lights, map-software-enabled, voice-prompting, laptop-connected, external antennaed, hardwired, uber unit for the truck, but this tiny little piece should work great for years, in and out of the truck.
I haven't really taken it for a spin yet...like most GPSRs it doesn't get much signal indoors
. The UI is very, very simple, and it can be interfaced to a PC...don't know tho if it's USB or RS232 yet, I don't have a cable. It is WAAS capable, and fairly feature rich for the price and compared to the other "intro" level units.
It uses standard watch strap pins to attach to the wrist strap. Hopefully they are durable, but as the unit is smaller than an FRS/GMRS radio, it'll work great in any clear-covered jacket pocket, like my Arcteryx Sidewinder...the buttons are very, very easy to reach and press (five buttons plus power, all at the bottom of the unit, easy to feel in the dark and easy to mark through fabric), and the backlight is a very high visibility orange that could double as a tent light in a pinch, and will certainly be visible through a clear pocket.
More later after it's had some use.
-Sean
I wanted a bare-bones GPSR...just lat/lon/alt/time, and velocity plus a couple points stored in memory...no need for blinkenlites or mappentech, just something simple that could be used in or out of the vehicle, small enough to fit in a pocket, and help me coordinate positions on a map with position on the ground. This thing comes with a wrist strap, and it's about the size of an early mp3 player...probably for the same reason, as it runs on a pair of AAA batteries (14-16 hours run time, so it says). It's also water "resistant"...it should survive a dunk in one meter for thirty minutes and work fine after drying out.
It'll be used for hiking more than vehicle fixes...with a topo map and sat photo, both marked in advance with a couple IVOs, it'll make getting lost a little harder and getting unlost a little easier. Eventually I'll probably spend for a high-dollar, color screen, blinking lights, map-software-enabled, voice-prompting, laptop-connected, external antennaed, hardwired, uber unit for the truck, but this tiny little piece should work great for years, in and out of the truck.
I haven't really taken it for a spin yet...like most GPSRs it doesn't get much signal indoors
. The UI is very, very simple, and it can be interfaced to a PC...don't know tho if it's USB or RS232 yet, I don't have a cable. It is WAAS capable, and fairly feature rich for the price and compared to the other "intro" level units.It uses standard watch strap pins to attach to the wrist strap. Hopefully they are durable, but as the unit is smaller than an FRS/GMRS radio, it'll work great in any clear-covered jacket pocket, like my Arcteryx Sidewinder...the buttons are very, very easy to reach and press (five buttons plus power, all at the bottom of the unit, easy to feel in the dark and easy to mark through fabric), and the backlight is a very high visibility orange that could double as a tent light in a pinch, and will certainly be visible through a clear pocket.
More later after it's had some use
.-Sean