While attempting to create a new "Where is Mister Johnny" Land Nav quiz, (which was in a very very cool location) My trusty old skool Magellan 315 died. Totally fried. I put in new batteries, tried again, nothing. el morte. I called Magellan and they told me they don't support it any longer. Anyone have any recommendations for a new, basic gps? I just want long and lat, utm grid and so forth, top price of $150. Thank you for your help
Mister Johnny out
Academy Sports is advertising the Etrex basic model for 69.99. Great basic gps. I paid 99.00 for one in December. Best bang for the buck I would say...
eBay - you'll get more bang for the buck on a used GPS - my suggestion would be a Garmin III+ or V.
Do you need maps on board or just Lat/Lon with waypoints?
If you just need the waypoints, the Garmin Geko is great. Small, light, and still is WAAS capable. I got mine on sale for $100 and use it for Lat/Lon tagging some of my photos, and in my 24hr gear.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=220
It is hard to beat the etrex model. I have issued them to aircrews and had them place them on the dash. After the sortie, they are down loaded into Delorme's Topo USA and print outs used to analyse crew effectiveness in covering a grid and as well to show overall grid coverage. This can also be done with Ground Teams as well.
I first saw this being done by Tom Peterson, Air SAR Coordinator for Washington State.
As an avid geocaching, I've seen/used a number of GPS units. Garmin is by far the best manufacturer, however the eTrex model is shaky at best. Some units work well, I know a guy who has found near 5000 geocaches with a basic eTrex Legend model. Whereas when I had the exact same model, I lost reception whenever I stood under the shade of a tree, or if the wind blew hard enough I'd also lose it.
The Garmin Geko 201 is a good choice, seen it used and seems to work fine.
Magellans have a tendency to overshoot the target location by 70-100 feet. If you can live with backtracking a little bit, the Magellan 100-300 series will work fine.
Lowrance makes some nice handhelds too, may be find a unit on ebay in your price range. The biggest thing I miss about my old Lowrance is the big screen it had. The units have the largest screen I've seen in a handheld.
Personally, I use a Garmin 60CSx, I've got the City Navigator v.7 and US Topo's 2008. Still trying to scrounge the money for a Gamin Colorado. ;D ;D ;D