Just got back from the hatfield mccoy trails in W.Va. Purchased a garmin etrex to take with me. Seems like it did not receive very well, had trouble tracking, etc. I was thinking that maybe the mountains affect reception?
Is this normal for the area? did i buy to cheap?
Thanks in advance
David

 

Funny this came up. Just 5 min. before I read this thread I was comparing hand helds and was considering the Etrex. I'd like to know your guys experiences with different models and reception as well.

 

I have a E-Trex that I used for Geo-caching up here in the Mountains in Co. It works ok till you get in heavy tree coverage. Got tired of the sporadic coverage and decided to get a Garmin Oregon 300T (map must be downloaded compared to the 400/500t) as the people on Gecahing.com recommended it. All I can say is wow this thing is so sensitive I even have coverage inside my house. No only is it much more sensable than the E-Trex with a touch screen it is so much easy'r to use! I put the Co/Ut Topo map from Garmin and the maps work beautifuly. The Oregon works for me but there are plenty of atvers that also use the Garmin CSX60 as well and love it as well!

 

In a really heavy canopy of trees most GPS will not pick up as many satellites. I had more of that issue with the Garmin Map 76 than I do with the Garmin Nuvi 500 I now use. I think the newer the GPS the better as the technologies change pretty quickly.

 

I use a Garmin E Trex Venture HC hand held GPS. I turn it on and put it in my pocket then entire time I ride. I rode Little Coal River, Rockhouse, Bear Wallow, and Buffalo Mountain this summer and it never lost reception. I was able to track all of our trails. This GPS does not have many features at all, but gets the job done when needed.

 

I also have the Garmin E Trex and it works just fine for me

 

The gps chip thats in most cell phones today are better than the ones found in older gps receivers like the etrex line. i took a hike yesterday in the woods and i never lost signal on my htc smartphone. gps units that use at least a sirf III chipset do better in cover. my old etrex vista is terrible. takes foreverf to locate a satelite and loses signal anywhere around a tree. lol. most modern nav units for cars are superior to the older geocache style handhelds.

 

I also find that my garmin Nuvi and Street sPilot work alot better than my handheld etrex. The treet pilot is old, big and water proof, so I prefer it over the Nuvi and It worked great at Hatfield McCoy.

 

I use the Garmin gpsmap 60 and it works very well for me. One of my friends has the Garmin Legend and it does good until your under a thick canopy of trees.

 

Garmin Nuvi 500 is also waterproof down to 3 meters.