Posts: 1,475
Threads: 51
Thanks Received: 871 in 590 posts
Thanks Given: 843
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation:
2
GPS doesn’t work all the time and can be inaccurate but I love mine anyway. You can buy one on shopgoodwill for around $5 plus shipping and handling if you are lucky. Be sure it has a cord but we have rigged a cord anyway by finding one that fit the gps and ran to a thingy in the cigarette lighter. I wouldn’t buy a new one.
I'm not lost. I'm exploring.
•
Posts: 4,984
Threads: 80
Thanks Received: 1,995 in 1,492 posts
Thanks Given: 2,705
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation:
29
Yes.
yes
satellites
yes
Power ? Plug it in ciggy etc 12v.
stay tuned
popeye
Weirdo Overlord : FMS Fleet Ops , Awards , Badges , aka Tamerlane the Impaler Mod.
•
Posts: 464
Threads: 23
Thanks Received: 429 in 256 posts
Thanks Given: 477
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation:
5
I've never lost signal on my GPS unless im in a tunnel. That being said it doesn't always know what roads im on and when it gets confused it shows me in a big open field. However, it always knows an exact GPS coordinate for my location, at least I assume it's accurate, i've never checked it but assume it's pretty close.
My truck has satellite radio and that loses reception quite frequently, albeit only for a few seconds at a time at very random times where as the GPS unit doesn't. Not sure why. I really enjoy it traveling as you have the same stations country wide and don't lose them as you go through states like local stations.
Cell phone loses reception all over, I hate Sprint but have had it so long I just stick with it for some reason. I guess I like the plan and the price and the inconvenience factor has never affected me.
GPS's have internal batteries like cell phones and you charge them with a 12v cord plugged into ciggy outlet or you can hardwire them directly in so they're always plugged in.
•
Posts: 182
Threads: 65
Thanks Received: 110 in 68 posts
Thanks Given: 148
Joined: Nov 2017
Reputation:
2
01-10-2018, 11:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-10-2018, 11:35 PM by BCGuy.)
A GPS does not eliminate a need for a map. I have had one tell me that I was going in the wrong direction (I was not), tell me to make turn that would have taken me off road into some bush (I was not driving a 4x4), tell me that the quickest route was a secondary road along side of a highway (I figured it out after I was on the secondary road), tell me to take an exit from a highway and then tell me to take the on ramp, and other delightful things.
They have their place but you can not depend on them.
•
Posts: 770
Threads: 55
Thanks Received: 527 in 322 posts
Thanks Given: 152
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation:
2
Okay, thanks -- it's a matter of use it, but don't turn off your brain, I guess.
Posts: 464
Threads: 23
Thanks Received: 429 in 256 posts
Thanks Given: 477
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation:
5
BC guy pointed out what we all should have. They don't replace a map. Just another tool in the shed for getting from A to B. Though I imagine most people using them now a days don't have any clue how to use a map. 98% of the time they are great and get you very very close to where you need to be. I'll never understand the stories of people that drive into lakes and rivers and other sorts of things of that nature because the GPS told them too?
•
Posts: 770
Threads: 55
Thanks Received: 527 in 322 posts
Thanks Given: 152
Joined: Sep 2017
Reputation:
2
When I drove RR crews around, I didn't trust the GPS too much. It would say that I had arrived at my pickup point, but I was on an elevated freeway overpass, or out in the weeds with no tracks in sight. I guess they're pretty good for named places, but when my company couldn't seem to enter the actual coordinates for a boondocks pickup, it was a real crapshoot. One time, I asked the engineer to blow the whistle to see if I was getting close. I had never realized that when you're in an area with NO lights, a shut-down train can be sitting near you and you won't know it until/unless your headlights actually hit it.
Thanks for the information.
•