What is your recommendation on..

....an inexpensive GPS receiver that has PC interface cables? I've been
finding weird addresses for more than 24 yrs delivering RV's so I don't
need it for that. I plan to float the John Day river solo this summer
(well, not the whole river, maybe 2 days worth) I've given up on the
outfitter(s) that I was supposed to go with...turns out they take mostly
chunk and winders, hell, I never thought about that when I made first
contact. I've decided an adventure on my own would be fun, even without
someone else to BS with. A sackful of jerky, lots of bottled water, my bivy
tent and a ground pad should be all I'll need. Somehow I'll find a way to
bring my backpacker stove and coffee fixin's too. Anyhow, these folks:
http://servicecreekstagestop.com/index.html will get my truck to the take
out point, I just don't want to bypass it in the dark :-) FYI, here is a
map of the area, find Service Creek and you're there. Anyway, I've been
looking at some inexpensive Garmin GPS units (around 100 bucks) seems to me
that they would do the job. Suggestions appreciated. An invitation is
extended to join me, this will take place sometime in June. Be prepared to
meet me on short notice (about a week is as much as I can give) as I will
be delivering an RV to get myself out there. That's it! a mini-clave on the
John Day!! (didn't I hear that last year?)

Frank Sr.
a thought for Louie...put tank treads on your wheelchair to get to the
river. :-)

"Frank Church" wrote in message
9.11...
...an inexpensive GPS receiver that has PC interface cables?

I've recently been in the handheld GPS market and eventually settled on a
Magellan Explorist 300; but that does not fit your specs. However, in my
search, I was sorely tempted by the Explorist 210. That is a reasonably
priced unit that does have the PC interface. It looked like it would do
everything I needed and was in my price range; but I ultimately passed
because I was unconvinced of its water resistance (I'll be using it on the
kayak). Other than that, it looks like a nifty unit.

Joe F.

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 19:03:01 GMT, Frank Church
wrote:

a thought for Louie...put tank treads on your wheelchair to get to the
river. :-)

LOL. And perhaps a busty 20 yo to push me?

d;o)

Dave LaCourse wrote in
:

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 19:03:01 GMT, Frank Church
wrote:

a thought for Louie...put tank treads on your wheelchair to get to the
river. :-)

LOL. And perhaps a busty 20 yo to push me?

definitely wouldn't recommend that Louie, you'd break your neck lookin at
the goodies. ;-)

Spring is bustin' out all over....

Frank Sr.

"rb608" wrote in
news:aNUZf.7817$gy2.6508@trnddc08:

"Frank Church" wrote in message
9.11...
...an inexpensive GPS receiver that has PC interface cables?

I've recently been in the handheld GPS market and eventually settled
on a Magellan Explorist 300; but that does not fit your specs.
However, in my search, I was sorely tempted by the Explorist 210.
That is a reasonably priced unit that does have the PC interface. It
looked like it would do everything I needed and was in my price range;
but I ultimately passed because I was unconvinced of its water
resistance (I'll be using it on the kayak). Other than that, it looks
like a nifty unit.

....right now I'm eyeballin' a couple of Garmin waterproof units, one
displays in color. On ebay for around 120 or so, that's more my style.
I have about a dozen that I'm watching.

Frank Sr.

I have a Garmin E-Trex. You can get them for $150. The little thing is
amazing. My kids were using it geocaching and it put them right on some of
the sites they were looking for. I can turn it on walk to the bathroom and
it will plot the track to and from even if I stop at fridge for a beer.
It has more features and capabilites than I have figure out how to use.
The bad feature is that it eats two AA batteries a day ( continual use).
The software I have for street maps is out of date so It doesn't find all
the restaurants. It did find an "In-N-Out in a recent trip to California.
It is also waterproof (or at least rainproof).
"Frank Church" wrote in message
9.11...
...an inexpensive GPS receiver that has PC interface cables? I've been
finding weird addresses for more than 24 yrs delivering RV's so I don't
need it for that. I plan to float the John Day river solo this summer
(well, not the whole river, maybe 2 days worth) I've given up on the
outfitter(s) that I was supposed to go with...turns out they take mostly
chunk and winders, hell, I never thought about that when I made first
contact. I've decided an adventure on my own would be fun, even without
someone else to BS with. A sackful of jerky, lots of bottled water, my
bivy
tent and a ground pad should be all I'll need. Somehow I'll find a way to
bring my backpacker stove and coffee fixin's too. Anyhow, these folks:
http://servicecreekstagestop.com/index.html will get my truck to the take
out point, I just don't want to bypass it in the dark :-) FYI, here is a
map of the area, find Service Creek and you're there. Anyway, I've been
looking at some inexpensive Garmin GPS units (around 100 bucks) seems to
me
that they would do the job. Suggestions appreciated. An invitation is
extended to join me, this will take place sometime in June. Be prepared to
meet me on short notice (about a week is as much as I can give) as I will
be delivering an RV to get myself out there. That's it! a mini-clave on
the
John Day!! (didn't I hear that last year?)

Frank Sr.
a thought for Louie...put tank treads on your wheelchair to get to the
river. :-)

"BJ Conner" wrote in
news:WCVZf.1385$7Z6.1013@trnddc06:

I have a Garmin E-Trex. You can get them for $150. The little thing
is amazing. My kids were using it geocaching and it put them right on
some of the sites they were looking for. I can turn it on walk to the
bathroom and it will plot the track to and from even if I stop at
fridge for a beer. It has more features and capabilites than I have
figure out how to use. The bad feature is that it eats two AA
batteries a day ( continual use). The software I have for street maps
is out of date so It doesn't find all the restaurants. It did find an
"In-N-Out in a recent trip to California. It is also waterproof (or at
least rainproof). "Frank Church"
wrote in message

...there are some on ebay and wallieworld has them for 99 bucks. Am I right
in assuming there is no way to upload maps to this unit, and there is no
interface cable to the PC for uploading? It may very well do what I need to
do and I may get one to play with before deciding on whether I need one
with more functions. Thanks for the info.

Frank Sr.

It connect to the PC. There are at least two soft ware packages available.
One is roadmaps the other is topo maps.
I don't recall the exact memory it's limited. You can't do the whole USA
road maps. I dones have all the major interstates. I can load detailed
maps for I-5 from the Bay Area to PDX. For a road trip you have to load the
maps you need or take the laptop. The maps show all the streets and have
gas stations, restaurants, rest stops etc. For some reason the commercial
locations on the map aren't up to date. It still shows a Boston Market
about a mile from us that hasn't been there for 5 years. It does show the
Jack in The Box that's in the same building.
My daughter has the Topo maps and they show as much or more info as the
USGS maps. The screen in color. For $99 that a deal.
The soft ware will cost you more than that. They all take software of
somekind. Mapquest is about $150.
You need to shop the software (maps) as much as the GPS unit. One way or
the other you going to buy the maps. In some ways there like printers, there
cheap but the ink can kill you. REI has a pretty good write up "GPS 101"
http://www.rei.com/shop/GPS.htm
"Frank Church" wrote in message
9.11...
"BJ Conner" wrote in
news:WCVZf.1385$7Z6.1013@trnddc06:

I have a Garmin E-Trex. You can get them for $150. The little thing
is amazing. My kids were using it geocaching and it put them right on
some of the sites they were looking for. I can turn it on walk to the
bathroom and it will plot the track to and from even if I stop at
fridge for a beer. It has more features and capabilites than I have
figure out how to use. The bad feature is that it eats two AA
batteries a day ( continual use). The software I have for street maps
is out of date so It doesn't find all the restaurants. It did find an
"In-N-Out in a recent trip to California. It is also waterproof (or at
least rainproof). "Frank Church"
wrote in message

..there are some on ebay and wallieworld has them for 99 bucks. Am I right
in assuming there is no way to upload maps to this unit, and there is no
interface cable to the PC for uploading? It may very well do what I need
to
do and I may get one to play with before deciding on whether I need one
with more functions. Thanks for the info.

Frank Sr.

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 19:03:01 GMT, Frank Church
wrote:

...an inexpensive GPS receiver that has PC interface cables? I've been
finding weird addresses for more than 24 yrs delivering RV's so I don't
need it for that. I plan to float the John Day river solo this summer
(well, not the whole river, maybe 2 days worth) I've given up on the
outfitter(s) that I was supposed to go with...turns out they take mostly
chunk and winders, hell, I never thought about that when I made first
contact. I've decided an adventure on my own would be fun, even without
someone else to BS with. A sackful of jerky, lots of bottled water, my bivy
tent and a ground pad should be all I'll need. Somehow I'll find a way to
bring my backpacker stove and coffee fixin's too. Anyhow, these folks:
http://servicecreekstagestop.com/index.html will get my truck to the take
out point, I just don't want to bypass it in the dark :-) FYI, here is a
map of the area, find Service Creek and you're there. Anyway, I've been
looking at some inexpensive Garmin GPS units (around 100 bucks) seems to me
that they would do the job. Suggestions appreciated. An invitation is
extended to join me, this will take place sometime in June. Be prepared to
meet me on short notice (about a week is as much as I can give) as I will
be delivering an RV to get myself out there. That's it! a mini-clave on the
John Day!! (didn't I hear that last year?)

Frank Sr.
a thought for Louie...put tank treads on your wheelchair to get to the
river. :-)

Pretty much any one will do it. You'll have your lat and long and
maybe a little map of each time you turned it on and you'll know, from
your maps, where to stop. Anything more is overkill for this
particular trip.

Take along extra batteries.
--

r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless.
Really.

I would go a Magellan personally, for a comparable price to the Gamin I
believe they perform a little better. I have found that the cheaper garmins
can sometimes lead you in the wrong direction for a while if it is being
used to navigate, a problem that is corrected by the Magellan and more
expensive garmins by use of more directional noding. But if it's use is
intended more to track where you are going, both do very well.