LOL, indeed, I can't seem to find a single page on EGSA87 in English...
In Garmin units you have to add it manually as a user datum.
One cool feature of Magellan units (well, the only one IMHO) is it can display two datums at the same time

rhyang wrote:Yes, this is why I like UTM -- it's metric, so no messing around with degrees, minutes, etc. Nice and linear.

The geko 201 has a datum setting which defaults to WGS 84, but I couldn't find EGSA 87 in the list of choices .. garmin has a list of available datums online here. I couldn't find much info on the Greek system via google .. probably I'd have better luck if I could read Greek

I live and hike near the boundary between UTM zones. A UTM display can be a bit interesting when you cross a zone.

Last weekend I managed to lose my Geko 201 somewhere between Alta Peak and Pear Lake .. probably covered in a couple of feet of snow by now So I just picked up an eTrex H. Wow, much faster satellite acquisition. But it's heavier and more bulky, though the lanyard is nice.

I wonder if maybe I should have gotten a Foretrex 301 instead. Anybody used one ? Looks like it has all the basic features I'd need, is small & light and still has a high sensitivity receiver.

btw I noticed the date was messed up on my geko 201 when I powered it up last weekend. Apparently there was some kind of software glitch that popped up this year which Garmin issued a patch for just recently.

I decided to go down to the local Return Every Item and looked at a foretrex 301. The UI was more reminiscent of the geko than the etrex, so I decided to get one and took it out on a hike, just to see how it did. Very nice. I think the etrex H is going on ebay now.

I don't really expect to wear the foretrex on my wrist much (looks like the wrist strap can be removed) but it's small and light and has a high-sensitivity receiver. The computer interface is USB, and it comes with a cable (unlike the etrex). It also has a setting for NiMH and lithium batteries (unlike the eTrex).

National Geographic Topo 4.5 doesn't seem to list support for the foretrex 301, but it seemed to work by setting it up to look for the foretrex 101/201 and USB.

Guess we'll see how it does on Shasta in the next month or two.

Dingus Milktoast wrote:I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but by God I'll post in this thread anyway !

DMT

Thanks for your imput, kind sir

I'm an old guy like Dingus I guess. I don't get all the fuss about a GPS. A map and compass, and an altimeter is all you need. I guess I would take one if I was navigating big, flat frozen wastes like Greenland or something. It's much more fun to follow a bearing and find that you reached your goal anyway.

That said, I love analyzing terrain when I get back home to the computer. A GPS track would be great fun to play with. But it's nothing to do with climbing.

Three on the tree was simple, but an automatic transmission is "simpler".
I'm sure that none of the other GPS users will deny that UTM is far simpler than Lat/Long.
I agree that it is vital to carry a paper map and a compass for the wide view and backup, a mapping GPS, such as the Garmin 60csx is simpler, and far more functional. In a downpour or high wind most hikers tend to avoid opening up their large paper map.
The only advantage to a non-mapping GPS such as the Gekko (I had one, sold it for $25) is that it is cheap. Let's not pretend it has other virtues. SEXTANT?

Just fer yer information : there are other threads for those of you who need to piss & moan about people who use GPS. I believe there are also some threads for users of mapping units. Both of which are clearly irrelevant to this one. You too can learn to use the forum search

btw I put my paper maps in a gallon ziploc bag. That is, if the map isn't already waterproof.

Dingus Milktoast wrote:Why have they become mandatory equipment? I don't really get it.

I would dare say, to the OP, you clearly haven't needed a GPS heretofore. Why now?

There is value, in getting lost, btw. If you never ever get lost you will never be found, either. Nor will you experience the incredible universe of 'being lost.'

Now of course all the mundane 'just in case' examples will be submitted - glacier in a white out, continuous tree cover, etc.

SURE! By all means, if yer headed up into white out country take GPS!

But for every day whatever?

I - JUST - DON'T - GET - IT.

Like when someone asks me for the GPS coordinates to the base of a climb, I want to fucking SCREAM!

FIND IT YOURSELVES! Turn off your e-binkies and look up once and a while!

DMT

I don't believe a GPS has become "mandatory equipment" but aren't they really just an extension of the map and compass which most climbers carry as well. We've all seen these comments before (why the f*ck do you need a GPS) and I can't help wondering if the really old guys, before compasses and maps were invented, said the same things when they came out? Perhaps we should also comment on climbers using 12-point crampons instead of hobnailed boots. Better yet, how about from now on only complaints chiseled on slate tablets and delivered by hand will be posted on SP. If everyone thought this way we'd still looking for fire.

Oh, and I should add this from Wikipedia:

A compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the Earth's magnetic poles. It consists of a magnetized pointer (usually marked on the North end) free to align itself with Earth's magnetic field. The compass greatly improved the safety and efficiency of travel, especially ocean travel. A compass can be used to calculate heading, used with a sextant to calculate latitude, and with a marine chronometer to calculate longitude. It thus provides a much improved navigational capability that has only been recently supplanted by modern devices such as the Global Positioning System (GPS).

True climbers go bare-ass.

Us pissers and moaners are just tryin' to save the rest of you from an emasculating dependency on COMPUTERS in the MOUNTAINS. Nevertheless, point taken, going elsewhere...

Yeti wrote:I'm dreaming of a GPS that spits out Altitude, Lattitude, and Longintude ONLY, and does it immediately when turned on. Not a handheld PC that needs tech support to use, just a little display with those three gems on it, so that I can find myself on my quad/chart, and be on my way. North/South would be nice, too, but I've got a compass.

Does such a simple device exsist?

Just so y'all know -- this is what the thread is about. Cheers

btw If you carry a digital watch or modern LED headlamp, you now have two computers with you .. they just don't look like computers.

My watch looks like a PDP-11, but it has a strap.

GPS simplicity; does it exist?

No, I don't think so

Diego Sahagún wrote:

GPS simplicity; does it exist?

No, I don't think so

Yes, but human simplicity does exist!