Just getting acquainted with a Garmin eTrex Legend. What are some of the best practices for using a handheld GPS unit? (Yes, I am reading and re-reading the manual and visiting the Garmin website.)

So far I am making sure the unit can see the sky. But how do you carry the thing to maximize "sky" in the field without having to hold it in hand?

Thanks

I have a Garmin eTrex Legend, have had it for 4-years or so. I just put it in a coat or shirt breast pocket when out hiking. Or put it in a holster I bought for it.

When I use it while driving I put it up on the dash of my van, I wedge it against the window and dash or against the side window of the van. It almost always gets a good lock when in the van, while hiking it sometimes drops out of a good lock when in the pocket, but reacquires it when pulled out and held in front of me.


The best thing you can do is to get out and play with it to become familiar with what it can do. Mine runs for something like 18-hrs on 2 AA batteries so it’s not an expensive thing to use.

If you are referring to the screen often, a chest pack made for fly-fishing works very well. The front of the pack flops down flat or at what ever angle you adjust it to. I velcro the GPS to the inside of the front flap so it faces me at sternum level. A pen and log book for notes is on the vertical surface against your sternum - out of the way but handy. Extra batteries are beside the GPS.

If you have two noids, a trauma plate fit inside of the pack keeping it stiff, flat and full size. The GPS is heavier then its pouch partner, a S&W360PD.

Depends on what you're doing.
Walking, driving, running, boating, flying - what?
(won't work well for scuba diving, caving, or riding subway)

When hiking I run it off car power on the way to trailhead then mark where I parked the car. This is the single most important waypoint I'll take all day.

I may get mine out to mark a trail junction or something of importance but mostly it rides in its pocket.

Carrying it around like a tri-corder is a waste of batteries unless you're very close to some coordinates you were given (such as geo-caching). Read about the repeatability of GPS coordinates so you know why you aren't standing in your old footprints the 2nd time....

I've programmed hotel and business sites beforehand when doing business travel.
I've programmed a flight path I wanted to follow (tour of extinct missile silos in Colo. and Nebraska) when flying light aircraft.

I've plotted a wreckage debris field (somewhat questionable in terms of repeatability)

Lots of fun stuff you can do.

See http://coloradowreckchasing.com for more fun ideas.

I generally carry my Legend in my pack and only turn it on to check locations or mark a waypoint.

However, on some walks I have had it on the whole time more for entertainment reasons than navigation. I have one of those radio pouches from Country Comm and the Legend will just squeeze into that. You have to listen that you have not pushed the mouse down though. This radio pouch has a horizontal belt velcro arrangement that works great with my backpack straps. I have the pouch mounted on my left shoulder strap almost at shoulder level. It keeps tracking there and is easy to pull out to refer to.

I think Country comm has two versions of this pouch....I have the shorter one and the flap barely velcros shut....get the longer version I think.

oBuy and install an Invisible Shield screen protector ASAP.

oCarry spare batteries.

oCarry a compass with adjustable declination and a good paper topo map of the area - and know how to use them and the GPS together.

oCarry a UTM grid and know how to use it with your paper map to convert a GPS coordinate to a location on your paper map, and vise vera. See http://www.maptools.com for details.

oPre-load as many waypoints in your GPS as possible before heading out. I use geobuddy from http://www.geobuddy.com.

oMake sure you set the GPS datum to match your map. Common mistake!

oCarry a small notepad or folded paper, and a pen to take notes (see next suggestion).

oDon't bother creating waypoint names while traveling - just use the default codes and jot down a note defining the respective codes. Change the waypoint names later when you have more time at home or in camp. Use the same notepad to take notes on your trail.

oDon't leave your GPS on all the time unless you specifically want to capture a track for your travel route - instead stop frequently to turn on the GPS and capture key waypoints or to get bearings.

oCapture waypoints often - no such thing as too often. Make sure you create a waypoint for your car location and campsites.

oThe #1 rule of navigation is to never lose track of where you are - Ever. Always keep track of your current location on your paper map.

oCarry your GPS & compass with you when wondering away from camp. Lots of stories of folks who have problems finding their camp in dim evening light.

oAssume your GPS is water resistant, but NOT waterproof - lots of stories of leaking cases. Consider getting an Aquapac case if on water.

oLots of folks add an external antenna and then put the anetnna on top of hats or packpacks if leaving GPS on. A top shirt pocket may work for some. I myself don't leave it on.

oBe prepared!

I use mine much like unimogbert does. I turn it on, mark points and turn it off and your car IS the most important point you mark, trailhead, turns and forks are good too. If you can mark a point on the GPS that is a good visual reference, you will have a point of reference from the GPS to the real world (this may be more relevant to non-mapping units like mine, but it's still of use to units with maps).

I use it to fix specific locations, rather than plotting a track. If for some reason I became not found, I'd pull out the GPS and determine bearing and distance to one of the locations I'd marked. Then I'd use a real compass to walk to that spot. This saves batteries and keeps me from becoming fixated on the GPS rather than watching the trail.

The Legend has a patch antenna that has to be orintated horiozntal to work. So you do just like you do with a compass. Know wyere you are and then start moving so the bearing needle pointos the direction you want to go. Now find a prominate object in the direction your going and head to it. Once you get there repeat until you get to where you want to be.
cheers

Good info. Since AA batteries are pretty cheap at Costco, I usually leave my GPS on all the time, and have it leave a cookie crumb trail of where I have been. Just 'cuz I like to. But I still carry a map and compass, and spend a lot of time practicing putting my GPS location on the paper map. If I don't practice it I tend to forget how to do it. And what did I have for breakfast today???

Buy a pack of Eneloop's. My Garmin takes two AA's so the $7.99 to $11.99 depending on where you buy them 4 pack of Sanyo Eneloop's gives me one set in the gps and one spare set. I tend to turn mine on and drop it in a poclet when we go any place and let it log. SO I just swap the batteries on a friday night before the weekend's travels and drop the somewhat used set in the charger and pull them out Sat morning before we leave.

Ok here is my 2 cents worth and that's what it's worth. Let's say I'm going birdwatching or whatever, I don't want to fuss with navigation. I mark where my truck is,I agree with all this is most important. Then I turn off the unit and do what I came to do. When I want to return to the truck I get the bearing and distance to it from the gps, set up my compass, turn off the unit, and walk to the truck.
Most important skills are how to mark a waypoint, be able to recall that waypoint & use the goto function.
I always carry a compass and usually carry a paper map. I usually only use the map if I find something interesting or I want to know what the terrain is like over the ridgeline without going there.

Excellent, you guys are the best!

Thanks.

I just bought mine early in Jan and did the update last week and it was three firmware vsrsions behind.

I kept the windows copy that came with my laptop on there as a dual boot so once every few months I'll boot windows and run all the updates so I checked my gps version then.

A fresh pair of Eneloops last about 13 hours in my Garmin GpsMap 60cx. I prefer to keep the unit switched on when walking. Having a track of everywhere you've been can be more useful than just a few waypoints.

In any case it's worth leaving it on for half an hour or so every few months, so it can update its almanac. (The almanac is a database of satellite positions which helps the unit get a quick initial fix.) It can also be worth switching it on before you start the journey, because they can be slow to get an initial fix when they are actually moving.

Mine is mostly used for in-car navigation. I have found it best to configure the screen "north up" rather than "track up". Although "track up" makes it easier to understand the directions it gives you, "north up" is easier to relate to paper maps and to the real world. Eg it is immediately apparent if you are moving east to west when you should be moving west to east.

I leave them both North up, but then I only use it for waypoints, not tracks. . .Unless I'm driving in which case it's hooked up to the truck's 12V power.

I have an eTrex Legend Blue and it seems to be a decent unit for the price. The only thing I wish I had was a card slot. It works pretty well clipped to a strap. It may lose some accuracy like carriedthat, but when you pick it back up to look at the screen you can see the numbers stabilize down pretty quick.
I don't like to turn it on and off because it takes a bit long to achieve lock on (or I'm too impatient.) Of course, I haven't taken it out on multi-day hikes yet so battery life hasn't been an issue for me. I use it alot in my car tethered to my Dell Axim running Tom Tom. Excellent reception in there using the stock antenna.
Some nice cable stuff here, including additional antennas:
http://www.pc-mobile.net/gpsant.htm

The card slot is nice, I paid extra for mine just to get it. I leave mine on all the time too letting it log to the card so later I can save off those gpx files.

By the way, one of my concerns with the Garmin eTrex lineup is that, at least to my knowledge, it does not provide a connection for using an external antenna.

They're great units, but I never understood why they didn't include an ext. antenna connector.

I also never could get used the not having labels on the buttons, but that's just because in my old age I just can't remember where the .... uh .... what were we talking about?!

I've had an Etrex Vista for quite a while in all kinds of environments.

Best advice that I can give you is geocaching.com.

There is a forum on there with quite a bit of resources on GPSs.

And geocaching will get you out there working with it. You will be having so much fun that you wont even realizing that you're becoming an expert with your GPS.

The new "H" models of eTrex have a lot going- memory card, road route calculation, but most important is higher sensitivity. My old Vista would lose signal all the time under trees, while my new Vista HCx holds on to a signal tight even in my pocket while under trees. I bring it jogging all the time, and even in a fanny pack it never has a skip in the track log.

EDIT: By the way, they do have labels on the buttons- there's a cryptic icon molded into the rubber button. Good luck figuring out what they mean though!

I thought the x mean it had the memory card not the H.

The "x" does mean that the unit is capable of using the microSD cards for memory. The "H" indicates the newest etrex models with the more sensitive chipset. If you go out today, you will find models with no letters after their name, models with just "Cx," indicating the expandable memory, and models with "Hcx," that have both expandable memory and fantastic reception.

The kicker is that all three go for the same price retail. If you go buy one, make sure it is the "Hcx" model.