I have one; what would you like to know about it (never having been on a DXpedition myself)?
I find it is a very good all-in-one GPS. I use it in the car, on hikes, etc. It's small enough to fit in my pocket, and big enough to see what's on the screen when driving. I found that one of those big black spring clips works well on the dash air vent, with the GPS back's clip carefully threaded through the spring handle. Battery life is pretty good (I use 2450mah NiMH batteries in it). I bought mine a number of years ago, swallowed hard and bought the maps too; the base map that comes with it is NOT sufficient for most navigation purposes. Recently I found an on-line site that has a number of topo maps that work with it too, so it appears to be actively supported by the community. Also a lot of "points of interest" that you can download. There's a GeoCaching "app" built in, for those into that sort of thing. The interface to the outside world is USB only (no serial or bluetooth), so that's a big downside if you want to do APRS with it. I decided that the advantages of the unit far outweighed that negative, meaning I'd have to buy another GPS something for APRS. (Ended up buying a little GPS module from Sparkfun for APRS work with my D7). The only problem I have with it is that the glue that holds the rubber band that rings the unit has failed, and the rubber is sort of floating around the outside. It seems to have stretched, though I have no idea why. Maybe the rubber and the glue were incompatible. Oh, also the internal barometric altimeter is great when it's calibrated, but the automatic calibration often gets confused and puts me at some really wacko elevation. I wish the priority went to the GPS Altimeter, with the analog one only coming into play on request. Enjoy the new toy, Greg KO6TH > From: ke4...@bellsouth.net > To: amsat-bb@amsat.org > Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 21:41:10 -0400 > Subject: [amsat-bb] GPS for dx-expedition > > I am looking into purchasing a Garmin "eTrex Vista HCx" GPS to use for > dxexpeditioning in working different grids. > > > > Has anyone got any reviews on this gps? > > > > Does anyone suggest a better one to use for dx-expeditioning? > > > > I appreciate all info and suggestions. > > > > Thanks in advance. > > Jim > > Ke4kol > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. > Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! > Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb _______________________________________________ Sent via amsat...@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
