Garmin GPSmaps 64s and 60csx

"Bob, I appreciate your simple explanations on the practical use and limitations of GPS units. So my question to you is as map and compass guy who will be traversing the Brooks range next summer and will be bringing along a gps for the sole purpose of confirming my static location. Reassurance. Which unit would you recommend that is not filled with so much fluff. My mind is a confused and hazy after researching this.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

John"

Well I will go out on a limb here John. I would consider the Garmin eTrex series. Compact, reasonable weight, decent antenna system and battery life.

The 10 is a monochrome screen and no map overlay capability – you can get lat & lon and transfer to a map, it will also do tracks/breadcrumbs.

The 20 give you a clor screen, and the ability to have map overlays, so you can see your location on a map.

The 30 adds an electronic compass and barametric altimiter, probably not features you really need.

Hope this helps

"Aren't the GLONASS satellites supposed to give better coverage in the far north? Would it not pay to get a GPS that also has GLONASS compatibility (such as some of the Garmins)?"

An interesting thing about GLONASS I hear is… a lot of the tablets and phones include GLONASS capability because it turns out that it is cheaper for them to attain more accuracy by adding GLOSNASS capability than it is to attain that same accuracy with US satelites only.

Billy

>>>The 30 adds an electronic compass and barametric altimiter

James,

+1 on the eTrex line, either the 20 or the 30. I have the 30 and really like it, even though I hike with GPS a lot less than I used to.

The altimeter is primarily barometric but it has that very handy "auto calibration" feature that recalibrates altitude when the unit gets a very strong GPS-altitude reading when it reaches a certain amount of variance with the barometric reading. At that point it resets to the GPS altitude and immediately resumes with barometric readings. It is a neat trick and I find it to be quite accurate, and I like the set-n-forget nature of it – one less thing to worry about.

The compass I do not use, but that bearing arrow can be kinda fun sometimes.