Garmin eTrex 10 or eTrex 20?

Started by Luis R. Ramos, February 13, 2016, 03:08:14 PM

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Luis R. Ramos

I am considering buying my first Garmin GPS. Not having owned any, I tend to look for a cheap model at this time. So I am turning to those posters that own Garmin products and others.

Since this will be my first GPS, can you tell me about your experiences with the eTrex 10 or eTrex 20? Easy to use walking or in a vehicle? Easy to program? How fast?
Squadron Safety Officer
Squadron Communication Officer
Squadron Emergency Services Officer

kirbahashi

Hmmm.

I thought someone would chime in by now. 

http://www.gpscompared.net/garmin-etrex-10-vs-etrex-20/

Just on the surface of things, I would chose the etrex 20.  Color display, able to use a microSD, larger screen... I might get one.  I have an old Garmin GPS III+ and I have never had any problems with it. 

How do you plan to use it?  You said something about using it in a vehicle.  Would you use this as a navi?  If so, I would not suggest this as there are other alternatives that are much user friendly.  But, if you planned to use it in transition, then either would be adequate.

Also, what is the determining factor here?  Cost?  I ask because for a few $$ more, you'd get a Garmin Oregon 600.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Handheld-Gps-Reviews/Garmin-Oregon-600
There's only one thing I hate more than lying: skim milk. Which is water that's lying about being milk.

Spaceman3750

Whatever you get, you should be planning on spending another $100 on map packs. The base maps that Garmin provides may not be adequate for what you do in your area.

I have a previous generation eTrex. I primarily use it to get quick coordinate reads for check-ins, since I'm usually not doing pencil and topographic map land nav in my area. It is 100% adequate for that purpose. I'm increasingly using my smartphone for this, but the GPS does have the benefit of being a dedicated device. The model I have does not have enough space for any significant maps and no expansion capability. I wished I had that immediately after I bought it.

If I had to do it again, I would probably get an Oregon.

Luis R. Ramos

My most important consideration is getting the cheapest model I can until I get more familiar with the technology. I intend to use it within the vehicle or off the vehicle in missions.

About getting map packs for it, does it mean I would not be able to use it with the road maps and county atlases already available? Would these maps be electronic to load into the GPS or paper maps?

If I need electronic maps, I guess this means at some point I will also need upgrades as well, right?
Squadron Safety Officer
Squadron Communication Officer
Squadron Emergency Services Officer

Spaceman3750

The eTrex 10 comes with a "worldwide basemap" which I believe shows basic roads and points of interest. You can see the other map options here:

http://www.garmin.com/en-US/maps/outdoor

There are also some open source mapping projects that are Garmin compatible, you'd have to Google to see what they offer because I haven't looked in a really long time. I loaded one open source base map and wasn't super impressed with it, but that was years ago.

Spam

Other Garmin products:

My unit bought two Garmin RINOs around 2011 or so and has been steadily using them on exercises and actuals with great results.  The unit combines a solid GPS with moving map display and the usual tools (waypoints, nav to a point, find home, etc.) with an FMS frequency voice and data link which shares unit location data.

Our CONOPS is that we issue one each to our GTL and assistant Team Leader, who then bring the units up to plot team progress through the sortie. When dismounted, the two members will be on either end of a dismounted search line and, by identing periodically, we plot the two ends of the search line across the depicted terrain map to ensure complete search line coverage. At the end of the sortie, the files are downloaded to visualize search terrain coverage for debrief and the end of day IC report.  NOTE: per policy the FMS voice functions are not employed on SAR missions, but having them available continuously to monitor for emissions by the search target is part of our CONOPS, and having an emergency comm backup is an added benefit.  Support: very easy, we stock rechargeable AAs, and keep the units in our go kit. Training: we currently have seven GTLs, employing an initial qual process and the use of the units for proficiency in all SAREX/DREX events.


Recommended for an individual buy as part of a team concept, if your unit considers real, non casual ES use.


V/R
Spam



Spaceman3750

Quote from: Spam on February 17, 2016, 07:30:25 PM
Our CONOPS is that we issue one each to our GTL and assistant Team Leader, who then bring the units up to plot team progress through the sortie. When dismounted, the two members will be on either end of a dismounted search line and, by identing periodically, we plot the two ends of the search line across the depicted terrain map to ensure complete search line coverage.

Since our training clearly states "Only on the smallest teams should the team leader be part of the search line.  THE TEAM LEADER IS NOT A SEARCHER." for good reason, you may want to consider the GTL handing the GPS off to the base person of the line, instead of being a member of the line himself for the sake of getting a GPS track (that's task O-0418, for citation purposes). It does say that "occasionally" you may want to travel along the search line for the purposes of controlling the team, but you're not part of the search line at that point, and if the goal is to get a track of the width of the search line, the GPS should probably still be handed off. There are no wrong answers here, but there are really, really good suggestions.

Still though, super cool concept. Is the GPS actually accurate enough to give you a reliable read of the line spread?

SarDragon

Do you want just maps, or navigation, too? For navigation you need to get a map set, which will cost you $60-100. Depending on your choices when you purchase the map set, you can transfer it to a different device later, use the map set with BaseCamp, or something else I can't find right now. The catch - you can only do two of the three things.

As for accuracy, I'm not sure it's all that good for a search line. With a best case of about 3 meters, and a usual accuracy of around 10-15 meters, this may be close to the line length in dense vegetation.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

SarDragon

I forgot to mention that most handhelds are degraded inside vehicles. Some auto glass uses a metallic base in the privacy glass, which will attenuate the sat signal.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

ALORD

Mobiles and portables have a lot of features at cross purposes. The low end ETREX units are great for finding your way back when you have wandered off into terra Incognita, but they are nearly impossible to use in a car ( Your Naviguesser might be able to read it properly, buts its a low res device. Mobiles have big bright displays and road maps,  eat power like a hungry lumberjack, and won't survive long in the field. Some of the midline Garmin products (I like the GPS 60 which you can generally find cheap on E-Bay) are a little more convenient for dual use. High-end handhelds can make a techie or a ground-pounders heart fill with puppy dogs and frolicking Unicorns! Besides just navigating, some can switch to U.S. Geological view aerial or Satellite photos, and can help you navigate terrain ( even in the dark) the smart way, instead of following the low-res map image which may not have meaningful or useful contour changes. Since I am an APRS guy, I love my Garmin GPS 60 for field work, because it's cheap enough to lose without tears, and its APRS compatible. The rest of the time I stick with my Avmap G5 or G6. In the car, I mostly use "Siri" on my I-Phone to navigate, since it is usually very current, and hands-free. If I could afford it, and still ran around in the boonies, I would buy a high end-Trimble. If you just need a cheapie to see if it is going to work out for you, PM me and I will dig up an old Magellan GPS 315 and mail it to you. If you don't like it, donate it to your Squadron or some other CAP'r who wants to do ES work. It's got a cracked face shield, but it works.