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GPS

Ex Ranger Instructor

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I'm in the market to buy a civilian pattern GPS unit.  I'm willing to pay up to $300 or so for it.  My concern is that I'm a bit ignorant on the topic of these devices, and I don't want to buy a piece of garbage.  I was hoping that someone around here could give me some pointers on what models I should be considering.

Specifically, I'm going to want to use this more for work related purposes than in my off time, so I want to get a model that will be capable of displaying my location using NAD 27 and 83 so that I can use it to get a grid ref like you can with the PLGR, vice just a long/lat, which is what I'm guessing most civvy GPS units use.  Can anyone help?
 
I don't know much about GPS but you could probably pick one up from almost any electronics store. ex... radio shack, maybe even the sony store but I'm not sure on how much it would cost...
 
There's some talk regarding GPS in this thread:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/3995.0.html
 
i have an older garmin GPS 12 and it does all its stuff in MGRS, Lat and long, utm, you name it it will do it, paid about $260 for it that was in 99. go to can tire and look at the garmin or even magellan series. I am partial to garmin as most of my friends use them for work, and such have had good expierance with their use.
 
Hi Willy,

I have had a couple of different GPS units over the past few years and am currently using a GARMIN - Etrex Legend which will do more than you will ever need. This GPS also uses topo maps which are very handy. The best price in Canada is at a place in Calgary called GPS City -  www.gpscity.ca. My unit I think sells for about $193 + tax. They sell pretty much every make and model on the market today so you may find another unit to suit your needs better.

Hope this is of some help to you.


Cheers,


Fireman

:cdn:
 
The etrex from garmin  is probably the easiest to use ,it is rugged as well I use it flying my ultralight air plane as it also has altitude.ALWAYS CARRY EXTRA BATTERIES
 
I own three different GPS receivers and use them all for SAR activities.  By far the easiest to use is the Etrex Legend by Garmin.  I also have a GSPMap76 and an iQue 3600.  The Map76 is a nice unit as well and has a larger screen than the Legend.  You can also get the colour screen version.  The Map76 also has the cabability of a remote antenna which is important for winter ops, travelling in a vehicle, etc.  I believe with the rebates currently offered by Garmin the Map76 and the LegendC (colour version) will both fall in your price range.

GPSCity is good and I also deal with Prairie Geomatics in Manitoba.  Both offer good pricing.

Herc
 
I just got a Garmin E Trex Legend C from Priarie Geomatics. They had the best prices I could find, and it was here within 2 days. Just from playing around with it, I thinks its the cat's a$$. Easy to use, simple displays and such. First field test will be this weekend. Hopefully it will get some good use in Wainwright this year.
 
A couple of months ago I bought a used Garmin Gecko 201.  It's MGRS compatible, and works well despite the fairly crude interface.  So far I've compared it to grid references on maps of Petawawa, Borden, Meaford, Fort Drum, and a couple maps here in Ottawa, and seems to be very accurate.  My only beef with it (besides the lime green faceplate) is that it only gives headings and bearings in degrees.  If they are going to make it MGRS compatible, it would seem logical to provide the option to use mils instead of degrees.
 
Hunter said:
A couple of months ago I bought a used Garmin Gecko 201.   It's MGRS compatible, and works well despite the fairly crude interface.   So far I've compared it to grid references on maps of Petawawa, Borden, Meaford, Fort Drum, and a couple maps here in Ottawa, and seems to be very accurate.   My only beef with it (besides the lime green faceplate) is that it only gives headings and bearings in degrees.   If they are going to make it MGRS compatible, it would seem logical to provide the option to use mils instead of degrees.

The Geko is a great piece of kit for the average CF soldier.  The only problem I have encountered with it is that it runs on AAA batteries, which are difficult to get thought system and tend to drain quickly in the cold.
 
GARMIN RINO 120 or 130

They are easy to use and combine FRS with GPS and have a bunch of cool interfacing features like beaming grids to other GPS's.  Get the rechargeable batteries though.  They are pigs on 3 x AA alkalines.

I've had mine for 2 years, no problems.
 
EW said:
GPS location to other FRS', not something I'd like to broadcast while on deployment.
Cheers ....

OPSEC does not permit the use of FRS on deployment.  The radio can be turned off and used as a stand alone GPS.
 
In my opinion, eTrex is the way forward, used it on a tour of Iraq and it pulled me through some dicey situations that needed a no messing alterative to map reading. Piece of advice though. Never let it replace a map, always use it in addition, as an aid to navigation. If you do go for an eTrex model, just be careful when using it in hot (i mean 40+) conditions as the rubber grips tend to come unstuck, leaving the buttons exposed.

Dan
 
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