I've been thinking about buying a Garmin Legend GPS. Does anyone own this GPS? If so, how does it work in wooded areas?

I want to use it to take long. & lat. readings while out on the trail with my quad. Then I'll transfer the info to a paper map that I also carry with me. I've read where people have had a problem getting a signal while under trees. If this is true, how large of an opening would I need to get a signal?

I just don't want to buy a gps if it's not going to do what I need it to do. 90% of my riding will be under cover. (when I'll need the gps)

 

I would also be interested in hearing about other models and how they work under things like trees.

 

I'm not sure how GPS units use a 3 channel receiver, but make sure the unit you buy has a 12 channel receiver. It will be less likely to lose the signal. The reason being is a GPS works in "triangulation" with the satellites. In other words, they need to track at least 3 satellites in order to work properly.

If you plan on riding in wooded areas where you can't see the sky, you risk losing the signal no matter how good your GPS is. Some may have better luck than others. I would say that the Garmin units are probably the best that money can buy.

 

If youre in heavily wooded areas, none of the gps recievers will work very good, no matter how much you spend. The inexpensive ones are as acrurate as the top buck ones. The reciever needs to "see" three satelites, to give long and lat, 4 to give altitude. Ive been in some heavy woods, and if you come to a standstill, in an opening, youll get a good reading, but if youre blasting along at 40 mph, itll be hit and miss.

 

they pretty much said it. you may have to find openings or high points to use it if you are in trees. Best thing to bring is a map, compass, and gps. Brig them all.

 

I have a Garmin E-trex Summit. For the most part part I don't have any problems with it. Sometimes in really bad weather it wonst shoot through the trees, but overall it isn't to bad. If you get a good map program you can download your Tracks and Waypoints onto the computer and print out your own maps of your riding areas. There are a few programs out there. I like MapTech the best. Just make sure whatever GPS you get is PC compatible.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to purchase the Legend. Garmin is currently offering a rebate for that model. I've been trying to transfer info from the topo and air photos sites to my paper map. The GPS should hopefully help to get it right.

 

I bought the Garmin Legend today. Took it for a short ride and it worked great. It lost the signal under the trees but picked it as it could. Now I just have to read through the manual to figure out how to use it.

 

BTW- I now know exactly how slow my Foremans top speed is. The Foreman speedo is off by about 3 mph.

 

ok i have an older Lowrance global nav 12 and it works very great...just one thing about yours....i really never lose signal nomatter where i am..... i can be in deep woods and always have connection and i can even use it in the house...so how could yours lose connection when you are under trees??? I really like the features of my gps it has always worked with out a fluke but it has a 12 channel reciever also...