may21581 wrote:ThePreBanMan wrote:may21581 wrote:ThePreBanMan wrote:may21581 wrote:These gps units will show landowners and property boundaries? They work off satellites so cell reception is not an issue then correct? Also do any of them have the ability to be tracked? Example if your hunting alone and something happens someone can find you?
You can put whatever you want on them. It does take some time to make your own maps and such - if you're cheap and don't want to buy them... Like me...
If you get a Garmin make sure you get a model that has the S in it's name... Like 64
S. The S stands for "sensors" such as a magnetic compass. You want them!!
Sorry for being illiterate but your talking to a guy that has been printing off topo maps at work on colored printers and marking the beds accordingly. So what do you mean by making your own maps? I was under the impression they come preloaded with them or they download based on your location or selection?
You can buy map chips which are SD cards you can install in the GPS. Or you can export data from Google Earth or Cal topo into the GPS as well. You can make your own overlays, etc. from Google Earth too. They're pretty powerful.... Consider that with OnX all you get is the map that they give you. But what if you want historical aerial photos like you can get on Google Earth? What if you want Ariel's from a certain time of year? With a handheld Garmin you can export all that stuff from Google Earth and put it right on your GPS.
It requires a bit of time and computer savvy. But it's much more powerful once you figure it out..... And much more reliable. You can carry extra batteries and change your GPS if they die. Can't do that with a cell phone these days. the GPS is also very accurate compared to a cell phone when it comes to determining your location and direction of travel. A cell phone only has a GPS compass. The Garmin has a magnetic compass. That's an important distinction. The phone will only tell you what direction you're traveling if you walk in a straight line for a while so we can figure out your direction of travel based on the GPS coordinates. If you want to just get your bearing you can't rely on the phone to do that. But you can with the GPS... They're just better once you get the hang of them. They're just not as easy as a phone app.
What kind would you recommend?
I have the Garmin 64S and I like it well enough. I run an older version of their Base Camp software because the newer versions removed the export to Google Earth feature. YOu can still move stuff between Base Camp and Google Earth, it's just more of a PITA. I do have a copy of the older software if you end up needing it. My unit is an older one and the screen resolution and detail aren't as good as some of the newer units I'm sure. This is where I see cell phones having an advantage. One cool thing you can do that no many people know about, you can export information from Google Earth and save it into Google Maps which can then access while in the field. I do that too where I really want to zoom in and view fine details of the aerial overlays. OnX also doesn't have property lines or owner info in my state (MA) so I mark up that on maps which I save to the GPS and Google Maps as well.
I won't lie - doing all this can be a little challenging if you're not comfortable with tech, PCs, etc. I'm not trying to dissuade you and I do think the handheld Garmin is better than a cell. If I could choose just one, it would be the Garmin. But full disclosure on what is involved, because it's not as easy as just opening an app on your phone.
YOu can also get a lot of free maps from GPSFileDepot.Com too.