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GPS questions

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GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 02, 2018 •  [Post 1]

I'm going to buy a new GPS for back country here soon. Just curious what you guys were using. Last season we were in some thick timber and my GPS would not work correctly.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 04 02, 2018 •  [Post 2]

I can’t help you brother, the GPS I use is 15 years old and Lowrance is out of the GPS business :-/. My buddy has a new Garmin touch screen model that seems to work great. Can’t remember the model, sorry. I’m sure others will chime in. Oh, the lack of coverage/acquisition in heavy timber cover is not unusual with any model.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Swede » 04 02, 2018 •  [Post 3]

I like the Garmin. It is easy to learn and use. I prefer to keep it as simple as possible, but with the ability to gather up satellites quickly.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby wawhitey » 04 02, 2018 •  [Post 4]

Ive been using a garmin 62st for several years, with a hunt on x chip. Still very happy with it. Ive found that if i turn it on in thick timber it can have trouble acquiring a signal, but if i turn it on where i can pick up the signal, i can then go wherever and it will continue to work.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 5]

I do like the looks of the Garmin touch screen. My worries about a touch screen are if it getts wet will it recognise my finger. My cell phone is touch screen. If my screen is wet it will not do anything. Our if my finger is wet it will catch on the screen. Has anyone had these experiences.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby pointysticks » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 6]

my friend has the Rino with the touchscreen. A Garmin product.

it is pretty cool, but the touch screen is a bit weird. he cant figure the unit out, so he always just hands it to me. lazy bum. it is very intuitive. just like my very old Rino 520. gloves are a no-go. and the moisture is a problem.

i prefer the buttons on mine. he paid big money for the touchscreen..meh. i just want it to work.

having said that, my family and i all have Rinos. the radios are the best i've used. you can whisper into them and the recipient will hear you.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 7]

I would NOT spend the money on a GPS until I tried the phone app from OnX maps. I have a Garmin Oregon that hasn't been used once since I got the app for the phone. For the money, give that a try first would be my suggestion. Phone touchscreens are so much better than GPS touchscreens IMO.

To answer a question that many ask...no you do not need cell service. You download the detailed maps before you go and turn your cell phone on to airplane mode to save battery. Been doing that for years and it works great.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Brendan » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 8]

Agree with Tigger, but I prefer Gaia to OnX. With the premium subscription, functionality is similar.

Regarding a real GPS - I've had real good luck with my Garmin Montana, the other one I'd look at is the Oregon series which is a little smaller.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby RAMMONT » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 9]

I have a Garmin Rhino 650, I've had a couple of them since they first came out, mine hasn't been a problem in the snow or rain for me ( I live along the Continental Divide in southwestern Montana) and the radio is pretty handy. They aren't cheap but it's easy to upgrade the maps and move data from and to the device from a computer. I download my waypoints on the Google Earth Pro to help plan my hunts. Garmin also has mapping software called BaseCamp that you can use to manage your waypoint info, tracks, etc.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 10]

So here is my fear of using a phone with the maps on them. Last hunting season we were out for a week straight. Our phones were dead. Unless you are in you truck with it running you are not charging your phone. I like the double aa batteries. My head lamp takes them. So I figured if my GPS batteries die then I could always steal them from my head lamp or just carry extra batteries. If you are using your cell phone with your maps on them then how are you charging your phone so that it doesn't die.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby pointysticks » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 11]

my Rino ( i assume all Garmin) battery (rechargeable) is nothing short of amazing.

i can manage it so that the battery last a very very long time. turn off stuff you dont use, turn off unit and blip it on for just waypoints, etc.

right now i dont even know where it is..i havent seen it since last oct. i know when i turn it on, it will be near 100% charged. i charge it before i put it away..(right or wrong)
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Brendan » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 12]

Lonnie wrote:So here is my fear of using a phone with the maps on them. Last hunting season we were out for a week straight. Our phones were dead. Unless you are in you truck with it running you are not charging your phone. I like the double aa batteries. My head lamp takes them. So I figured if my GPS batteries die then I could always steal them from my head lamp or just carry extra batteries. If you are using your cell phone with your maps on them then how are you charging your phone so that it doesn't die.
So, first, turn off cell, Bluetooth, etc so your battery usage goes way down. Phone will last many days unless you leave it on tracking. Then I bring a battery pack that will give me 4-5 recharges. I've even brought a small solar charger to recharge the battery pack at spike camp during the day.

The ability to use topo, sat, private land maps in the field is WAY better with the phone than my Garmin to the point I didn't bring it at all the last 2 years. I just take all my Google Earth and Garmin waypoints, load them into the phone and download maps before I go.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 13]

I do the same as Brendan. It works great.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 14]

So here is a question for you cell phone user's. I use to use my cell phone for my maps. I had two years of field data on my old phone. I switched phones and only half of my field data switched over. I lost a lot of important information that I had collected in the field. Do you think a hand held GPS would retain the information better. Assuming you didn't loose it or break it. Cell phones we change out every two years. I know guys who have had their hand held GPS for 5 years. So what you guys think.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 03, 2018 •  [Post 15]

I did find a cell phone charger. That is light weight and will charge your phone 3 times for 49.99.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Charina » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 16]

Galaxy S7 as my primary gps. I use either Maverick Pro gps (recently updated to work on latest android platforms) or Alpine Quest. I don't ever take the backup GPS out of the pack except to set camp location.

As far as not losing the data, it takes all of 30 seconds to export and email myself all waypoints out of either app. And then I incorporate them into GE, and vice versa.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 17]

For OnX, they are all stored into your account. no issues when I changed phones.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 18]

Brendan,
I have never used Gaia, so I just went in and looked at it. The map in my area is 8 years old as my neighbors house isn't even there. Have you noticed that? Also, I didn't see much for layers like public/private which is essential for some of the hunting I do. Do they have that on the app? Why do you prefer it over OnX?
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 19]

Brenda. So with on x maps. Do you have to set up a account to have waypoints saved to the cloud so if you loose your phone you don't loose your feild data.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 20]

yes you need an account.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby scubohuntr » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 21]

I carry a dedicated GPS, because my GPS has WAAS and will (if I leave it in one spot for a minute or two) give me under ten feet CEP in most cases, and around a foot in good conditions. That's about a tenth of what I get with the phone. So, when I really, really need to find a non-obvious spot again I use the GPS. For navigation and general use, I use the phone with Spyglass and Avenza (I'll be getting OnXMaps before fall). I'm a big fan of redundancy, hence the compass on my belt and the topo maps in the pack.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 22]

So I did buy on x maps for my state today and a cell phone solar charger. Total bill. 130.00. I figured let's try this first. Scouting this year will be a good way to try it out before hunting season. The GPS I wanted was 360.00. So if the phone works better I guess it will be a savings.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Brendan » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 23]

Tigger wrote:Brendan,
I have never used Gaia, so I just went in and looked at it. The map in my area is 8 years old as my neighbors house isn't even there. Have you noticed that? Also, I didn't see much for layers like public/private which is essential for some of the hunting I do. Do they have that on the app? Why do you prefer it over OnX?
First things first - you need to pay for premium which I believe is $39.99 per year compared to onX which I think is $99 / year for similar functionality? That gets you a bunch of different map sources and layers like public and private, fire history, slope maps, relief maps....

I didn't notice any satellite differences when I used the two side by side, but don't know if it was using a different data source or not.

If there are any premium screen shots you want, let me know and I can post them.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Brendan » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 24]

Another big reason I like Gaia, but am unsure if they fixed this in OnX since I used it: I manage all my waypoints in Google Earth and Garmin Basecamp, and load them into Gaia before I go into the field. I then download any new waypoints out of Gaia and back into GE / Garmin after my trip so they're not locked into a proprietary platform. I'd heard OnX was looking to add this functionality, but my membership lapsed so I can't check.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 04, 2018 •  [Post 25]

So I was told at outdoors man that the map I bought today from on x maps was Idaho. I paid 30.00. I am going to log on to the computer and down load it tomorrow. I will let you know what the maps are after I down load them. Thanks for the help Brendan.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 05, 2018 •  [Post 26]

Brendan, that makes a ton more sense! I think they fixed that waypoint stuff, but I just keep mine in OnX.

Lonnie, $30 is for 1 state and $100 is for all the states. Unless of course you listen to Randy Newberg podcasts and get his discount code! Hint! Hint!
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 05, 2018 •  [Post 27]

Tigger. I went cheep and only bought the one state because I didn't know if I would like it and I will not be hunting in any other states until my kids are a little older. The way I figured is you can always up grade your on x maps when ever you want. So for right now I wanted to save money and try it.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Tigger » 04 06, 2018 •  [Post 28]

How do you like it? I find myself using it at least a couple of time per week around here for non-hunting related stuff.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 06, 2018 •  [Post 29]

Well I'm still trying to figure out how to download to my phone so that when I turn my data off the map doesn't go white. I do really like how you can layer your map. It is nice to be able to see land owners and know where's the boundaries. I would like my map to be a little clearer. But that might be something I need to learn.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Lonnie » 04 10, 2018 •  [Post 30]

One of the things I have noticed with on x maps on my cell phone. Is it is using more data then normal. What are you guys doing to keep your Data usage down. But I do like the pin point where I am.
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Re: GPS questions

Postby Brendan » 04 11, 2018 •  [Post 31]

A couple things I do for battery savings, and in case I'm out of cell range.

I make sure that background app/data usage is turned off so that the app is only running when I'm actively using it - I don't track in the background. Also, I download maps in advance and then put the phone on airplane mode where battery is a concern or if I'm going to be out of cell range. Both of those will help.

Data usage has never really been a concern for me, but you could download maps over wifi if it's a concern for you.
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