Re: Magellan Explorist GPS

On Jun 12, 11:39 pm, Danny Colyer <danny_col...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

That could explain why one of the screen shots on the Garmin website
looks like a compass display, despite the specs saying it doesn't have
an electronic compass. Now that I've read the description of the
compass feature in the Magellan manual, it doesn't seem quite so great.
You have to be moving for it to give a bearing, and if I'm moving then
I should be able to work out which direction I'm heading in just by
watching which direction the arrow moves in.

Any gps can simulate a compass when it's moving. This implies that the
Magellan unit you're interested in does not have an independent
electronic compass. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I nearly
always run my Geko with the compass turned off to save the batteries;
it's an extra drain. If you're moving you don't need it as the gps
itself provides full compass function, and if you're following a route
or track you don't need it.

Before reading the manuals, I was leaning slightly towards the Garmin.
I've now read the Magellan manual and am satisfied that the Magellan is
an excellent choice. I just need to read the Garmin manual and decide
whether it's a better choice.

The manual for the Garmin Geko 301 doesn't give much away. It doesn't
even tell you how to do a factory reset which you might need if the
software starts behaving oddly. You can learn far more about specific
units from googling the gps newsgroups.

--
Dave...

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Is Electronic Compass on Garmin 76csx useful?
    ... Dale DePriest wrote: ... This is where a real compass comes in handy. ... This is where the built in GPS compass shines as you can do the sighting ... I use a GPSr without an electronic compass, ...
    (sci.geo.satellite-nav)
  • Re: compass changing polarity!!
    ... >> I pulled out my compass and started walking north...or so I thought. ... Aside from that website's supposition that there will be a massive flip of ... The earth's magnetic poles are moving and moving quickly. ...
    (rec.backcountry)
  • Re: which gadgets?
    ... >> moving in a different direction. ... >> Of course it will take the GPS a bit longer to notice that the ... Where can I get a compass that shows me cross-track error? ... to the wind - when re-triming is required, ...
    (uk.rec.sailing)
  • Re: Quote of the week
    ... >>> GPS with an electronic compass. ... >> Just a paper map which gets wet and soggy and blows away because I can't ...
    (uk.rec.walking)
  • Re: GPS and Digital Photography
    ... the default setting for the Auto Compass Switch ... use for almost all the time when moving at pedestrian speeds. ... the GPS for the entire duration of a walk? ... this saves power will of course depend upon whether the compass is ...
    (sci.geo.satellite-nav)
Loading