Anyone know of a GPS unit that I could use for the Junior World Championships?

I want to be able to mark waypoints of all the spots I am finding on maps when I am here in MD- not actually sitting on the water- is this possible? So that when I get on the water, I will have some sort of direction to head, and know where those nice spots are.

I have a wide price range, lets try to keep it 450$ and under though. I will hopefully get the cash for christmas.

what I want (I don't know if these are possible):

- I want to be able to look at a map over christmas break, and program waypoints based on longitude and latitude, saving them onto the GPS unit & have them programmed and ready to find when I am on the water at the JWC (hundreds of miles away from MD, where I initially punched in the numbers)

-Portable- I wont be mounting it to the boat

Its late, and this might not make any sense , but let me know if you guys have any expertise or advice pertaining to Global Positioning Systems

I really think the use of GPS will help me level the playing field with the competitors who fish Logan Martin all the time

Thanks Again

Ben Dziwulski

Ben, like most things, the more you spend the more you get. I personally have had a Garmin Vista (b/w) and a Garmin GPSMap 60cs (still have this one). I highly reco a Garmin.

The difference with a cheap one and an expensive one is the following:

better reception (really important, usless without it)

altimeter (really nice if you backpack as i do)

color (not necc but extremely nicer with color)

storage (the number of waypoints, points on a bread crumb trail, amount of additional detail map you can download)

auto routing (my vista didnt have this. my 60cs does. BUT, it is just ok with the basemap hard-coded in unit. for door to door you would need additional software - $100+)

The only additional software i have is the TOPO; again, used for backpacking. the topo has most of all lakes, but not detail of the lake. it does have known boat ramps, gas stations.

points of interests are also part of the base map. i have used the POI while on road trips, finding the nearest subway shop, taco bell, gas station (does it have deisel or not) etc. really nice.

I cant speak of other brands but i do love my garmin. they no longer make mine. it has been upgraded, using a more sensitive chip, which means quicker sat acquisition and better sat hold while under cover (trees, etc)

Mine works really well but the newer version is even better (GPSMap 60csx)

you can find them with rebates that would distill down to $350+ out of pocket. Try googling for discouted deals and go to http://www.geocaching.com/forums/register.aspx, register and ask away about the various units. lots of knowledge there and they have a garage sale thread too where you might find a used one a bit cheaper.

if you have any other questions let me know here or PM

jb

oh, garmin also sales additional software called fisghing hot spots.  never used it and might not be worth it.

and to answer your other questions...yes.  you can do all you mentioned above at home, on the water, wherever you are.

I would also recommend sticking with a Garmin, and don't waste your money on anything made by Magellan. I only have one hand held, and it's a Megellan. About all it's good for is checking the speed of boats and that's all I use if for. My brother uses this one and likes it http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap76csx/. Just stick with one that has the expandable memory using SD cards or similar.  Just having the internal memory will limit it's coverage if you want to use it as a vehicle gps also.

One thing you're gonna find out though, the chances of plotting fishing spots from a map and then going to them is going to be a little harder than you think, unless you have some very good maps. Being off several seconds can put you a long way from where you wanted to be.

I just bought a Lowrance IFinder H2OC at BPS for $269 plus a Navtronics USA SD Card that covers the entire USA with Hot Spots Maps for additional $125. I really like this unit. It has a larger screen than most I looked at and it uses 16 satelites vs. 12 or 13 like other brands. It is water proof and floats. Feels great in your hand easy to use buttons and hold a signal very well without an external antenna. I couldn't understand spending more for a Garmin in the same category and having to spend $100 more :-? I love the maps as well, instead of using a region specific card that only maps out lakes that i would never fish for more money. Never figured out how they could charge more for a regional map that basically plots out farm ponds when the USA card covers all lakes in the Hot Spots paper map brand which would be lakes that I can fish any way.

Good Luck

harshman

your best is to go to a retail store and look at all models.  also, keep a couple of things in mind:

battery life

waterproof (submersible?..does it float)

does it capture all the data you want (speed, altitude)

does it have an elctronic compass (you would think all do but it is not so)

   and this is important. when not moving a gps without one will not give you a heading.

   without a compass the gps will require you to be on the move and when trolling real slow or just looking around trying to zero in  on a waypoint you will be "lost"

how does it feel in hand and how easy it it to work with one hand...i know, this sounds goofy but believe me it does make a difference.

but, most important, how well does it hold a sat signal.  no mater if it can pick up 1 or 16 sats, if the chip is not very responsive your accuracy will be off.  dont be fooled by the number of sats, its the acqusition and hold of that signal, along with accuracy that matters most.  after all, the point of the device is to tell you where you are and how to get somewhere.

the forum i mentioned above is to gps what this forum is to fishing.  tell them exactly what you want to do and how much you want to spend, they'll help you

I'll second the I-Finder.  It will do all you want and more.

Though you HAVE to get the hot spots card with it.  Don't just get the unit.

And whatever you get for the love of Hand helds get COLOR!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D

You don't have a black and white tv any more do you???? :-? :-? :-?

I'll reccomend the I Finder, awsome unit, I have it mounted on my dash with a gimble mount. very accurate and reliable.

Rob

I have a Magellan Meridian Gold and I like it very much. I load Mapsend software into it and it works great for me. I also upgraded the memory to load more maps. Some people like Magellan some like Garmin. It's a personal preference.

One piece of advice. Make sure that you can upgrade the memory. This is very important regardless of what unit you buy. Also, make sure that the memory chip is still available for sale and that it will continue to be made. My Magellan is 4 years old. The memory upgrade was 64K maximum. That particular 64K memory chip is no longer made. Luckily I have extras but it's something to keep in mind.

I would also recommend a color screen versus black and white if you can afford it. It does make a difference. Mine is black and white and it's sometimes hard to read in the bright sunshine.

Good luck and I hope you get what you need.

Tom