+Soupjr48 Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hello fellow cachers, My name is Chris and I hail from the great state of New Jersey. I began geocaching in August of this year after I was turned onto this wonderful world by a friend. I would consider myself a casual yet determined geocacher. I have exclusively been using my iPhone 6 for everything so far, tracking, compass, logging, etc. However I have noticed that my compass is rather jumpy and it really irks me. I have put into heavy consideration buying a handheld GPS system. I would like it to be small and easy to read. It would also be nice if I could punch in coordinates manually (which I know is backwards to the way most people want it). Can anyone help me out? I consider myself an above average tech person, but I don't want anything too fancy. I am very lost when it comes to this kind of stuff and wouldn't know where to start. Thank you all! Quote Link to comment
Pacific NW Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 If you're going to be inputting a lot of data manually, I'd suggest a touchscreen model from Garmin. Preferably one with a three-axis compass, too. There is the eTrex Touch 25 / 35 series (all with a magnetic compass), the Oregon 600 series, the Montana and Monterra (both larger touchscreen models). Also, there are still some older Dakota 20 and Oregon 450 & 550 models floating around out there, although they are in limited supply. Beware that newer Garmins can have firmware issues, so definitely do a little Googling before buying, and make sure the store has a good return policy. But even with a dedicated GPS receiver, the compass may still be jumpy as you get close to the cache location. A much cheaper alternative would be buying a quality $15-20 compass. Honestly, the iPhone 6 is hard to beat nowadays, especially with the interface, nice screen, etc. Where it becomes a problem is in regards to durability and battery life in the outdoors -- although there are rugged cases and portable battery chargers now. Quote Link to comment
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