Geocaching Australia

Hi

I am new to Geocaching and in the market to buy my first GPS unit.

I was considering the Garmin eTrex legend HCx.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't seem to be able to find any stockists in Newcastle, do I have to buy online?

Not really in a position to make recommendations, depends if you need mapping etc or just the arrow.

You should be able to find a range of GPS units at places like Dick Smith (though you might pay a premium) as well as 4WD and camping outlets.

Have a look at the sticky topics of that thread:
http://forum.geocaching.com.au/viewforum.php?f=12
That should serve as good discussion point, although it might get a bit too detailed...
Cheers

and to the second part of the question: online is an option, I used ebay from US a year ago, and that was great value for less money for a device not available at that time in Australia...

and to the second part of the question: online is an option, I used ebay from US a year ago, and that was great value for less money for a device not available at that time in Australia...

Well, I bought a Garmin eTrex legend HCx online from a dealer in Sydney.
I was very happy with the price and very happy with the GPSr.

Using maps with the Mapsource program is excellent and use it often for directions (autoroute) while driving, bushwalking with shonkymaps, and of course geocaching. There are other maps online that can be used with this Garmin unit.

I've just had the same conundrum, and was about to go for the Legend also, but then decided to pay $50 more for the Vista HCx; I do a bit of bushwalking so liked the altimeter feature, and the Magnetic compass I'd seen in action on someone else's machine, and it seemed to be beneficial when getting closer to a cache- you can stand still, and it will still point to where the cache is supposed to be. My previous GPS doesn't have a magnetic compass, and I was forever doing what I believe is affectionately known as the bee-dance; making heaps of small moves to try and narrow down a location!

Since receiving my new beastie, I have done a wopping 1 cache with it; however, it was a multi-stage, and it performed wonderfully (and I am now TOTALLY converted to maps, as it made this urban so much easier to determine where I was heading to next!) LOVE it!

I am still a reluctant internet-buyer, but when I found the VISTA HCx for 100 dollars cheaper than I could buy a LEGEND HCx locally, (PLUS it included a micro SD card with tassie maps pre-installed, and a neoprene case!) I bit the bullet, and nervously ordered.

The site I ordered from did good (for me); it arrived next day from Perth to Tassie!

And thus another Magellan user has gone over to the dark side!

All the best with making what can be an almost overwhelming decision, and welcome to the mad and crazy world of Geocaching!

scotley wrote:I was considering the Garmin eTrex legend HCx.

Get a mobile phone with GPS functionality, some have A-GPS which will acquire or re-aquire location with the help of the mobile network sooner, the blackberry 8310 seems pretty damn accurate from what I've used it for so far.

You also have phones from that other company related to fruit, although the GPS functionality is supposed to be poorer.

There is an endless number of nokia's and other java enabled phones that work and have GPS functionality, although no idea on the accuracy.

The benefit in doing this, trekbuddy is a j2me app you can download maps for, or use maps online, $15 for 1G with Virgin mobile.

And of course online access, although that doesn't help when you can't get signal but when you do have it's great

I have got some gear from Prestiege comunications and found them good. They are in WA, but do overnight freight included in the price.
http://www.prestigecom.net.au/index.php ... f4b9519ff2

You might also have a look at http://www.octapc.com.au/

Scotley - moved this discussion to Hardware section of forums. You may receive more answers here.

SG-3 wrote: I do a bit of bushwalking so liked the altimeter feature, and the Magnetic compass I'd seen in action on someone else's machine, and it seemed to be beneficial when getting closer to a cache- you can stand still, and it will still point to where the cache is supposed to be. My previous GPS doesn't have a magnetic compass, and I was forever doing what I believe is affectionately known as the bee-dance; making heaps of small moves to try and narrow down a location!

The magnetic compass is a very worthwhile investment! I think it helps alot when getting closer to a cache but also for other things for example when trying to find where north is and that kinda stuff!!

I would go for the VISTA HCx