Garmin GPS Help

flathead willie · #1 06-06-2006, 09:54 PM

I just got a Garmin Legend Etrex GPS (handheld) to find my way around the national forest in the dark. However I can't find any topo maps on it. How do I get them? Do I have to pay another $100 for them or are they available on the net? Can anyone help? Does anyone use one of these?

copycat · #2 06-06-2006, 09:59 PM

I think you have to buy the maps. I have one and the only problem I have had with the handhelds is in dense woods. The trees will interfere with reception to the sats. and the unit will not work until you get to a thinner area to pickup sats. again. Keep this in mind before you go way out somewhere. They work well in the winter, but when there are leaves beware. Take a good compass with you!

Scott Daw · #3 06-06-2006, 11:53 PM

according to the owners manual for my garmin etrax you can get them thru www.garmin.com along with the latest software updates throughout the life of my garmin product. since i have the basic etrax (the ugly yellow one) theres an adaptor i can buy to download gps coordinates from the web into my unit.

duxsrus · #4 06-07-2006, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by copycat

I think you have to buy the maps. I have one and the only problem I have had with the handhelds is in dense woods. The trees will interfere with reception to the sats. and the unit will not work until you get to a thinner area to pickup sats. again. Keep this in mind before you go way out somewhere. They work well in the winter, but when there are leaves beware. Take a good compass with you!

I'll second that. You have a good gps but any gps will have issues in dense tree cover.
The Mapsource Topo cd you want is about $100. I tried to "acquire" it from the net once but it was corrupt and never did work. The base map on it serves me just fine though.

flathead willie · #5 06-07-2006, 08:59 AM

They don't tell you when you buy the unit that you need to spend another $100 before you can use the thing. I'm looking for the topo maps because I do a lot of hunting in the 2.5 million acre Jefferson National Forest. It's easy to get turned around in these mountains. Finding the tree you scouted at 4:00am in the dark can be tricky.