A GPS that gives a numerical Bearing?

John Y Cannuck

John Y Cannuck

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My ancient Lawrence Globe 12 will give me a numerical bearing to any way point. At which point I can put the big F*cker away, and use my compass.

Eg Waypoint is at 135 degrees, 5 miles.

I've seen a few newer units {Garmin} that make you read your bearing off the "compass" dial. Not very accurately.

We had a guy lost, (short term) because the Garmin GPS bearing he was given to use with his compass, put him out at the wrong beaver dam.

Are there units out there that will give a true bearing?

I'd like to replace my old clunker, but accuracy in direction (as in shooting) is important to me.
 
I use the garmin colorado 400T. It is a topo map as well as a compass, altimeter, waterproof, and big color touch screen. Its a little pricey buit well worth it 4 hunting
 
Just go to the lawrance web site. They have the I finder(IIRC) It should have most of what the old lawrances had

I have the Global map100 And it still does more things better, than most of the new GPS's
 
John Y Cannuck said:
My ancient Lawrence Globe 12 will give me a numerical bearing to any way point. At which point I can put the big F*cker away, and use my compass.

Eg Waypoint is at 135 degrees, 5 miles.

I've seen a few newer units {Garmin} that make you read your bearing off the "compass" dial. Not very accurately.

We had a guy lost, (short term) because the Garmin GPS bearing he was given to use with his compass, put him out at the wrong beaver dam.

Are there units out there that will give a true bearing?

I'd like to replace my old clunker, but accuracy in direction (as in shooting) is important to me.
Click to expand...

was his compass calibrated??? you have to re-calibrate the compass ever time you replace the batteries. I have a Garmin 60 CSx and have no problems with it
 
Ok lets get this strait.
The guy dropping off the doggers (four of them), had a nice new Garmin GPS, mapping, extra software, the whole shmere. The doggers were using compass only. But when he gave each guy the "bearing" to walk the best he could do was a vague "North East".
If I'd known it would have lead to me walking in to get one guy, I'd have dropped the guys with my old clunker, and given them the exact bearing.
So, I want a GPS, that gives a numerical Bearing.
I really don't give a #### about all the extra fluff. The map is nice, but the rest is stuff I'll never use.
 
On the garmin unit, go into setup. Go into heading. Change the display from cardinal letters to degrees. Then back on the compass page, the bearing will show a degree such as 90 instead of E.
 
super7 said:
On the garmin unit, go into setup. Go into heading. Change the display from cardinal letters to degrees. Then back on the compass page, the bearing will show a degree such as 90 instead of E.
Click to expand...

How accurately?
Five to Ten degrees could mean walking down the wrong side of a very large lake in one of our areas.
Do you still have to read it off the electronic compass bezel, and figure out the number for yourself?
Thanks!
 
Looks accurate to me based on a diving compass I have here. No you don't have to figure it out from the compass display/screen. Any field on any screen can be changed to (for example) heading or bearing and it will read the numerical number instead of N, S, E, W.

You'd probably want to take a minute and recalibrate the compass before you gave someone a bearing from it.
 
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dont forget to change the declination. a lot of navigation errors can be traced back to an improper declination.

my old etrex gives me a bearing. best thing is still map and compass. I don't like to trust battery operated gadgets like that.
 
I finally found a GPS setup thingy on the net. Looks like the waypoint information screen is what I want. It gives the bearing numerically to that waypoint from your current location.
Not as handy as my old unit, that had that info on the front screen, with the compass bezel as well, but, a lot smaller, lighter, and uses two batteries, not four.
I usually set the GPS to magnetic bearing, and I let the north direction on the screen float, rather than lock it to UP.
Declination is set (12.5 degrees)
h*tp://www.thecompassstore.com/decvar.html
Though I may choose not to use it, depending on how short a run I'm doing.
Took orienteering, and forestry back in my college days.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
I finally found a GPS setup thingy on the net. Looks like the waypoint information screen is what I want. It gives the bearing numerically to that waypoint from your current location.
Not as handy as my old unit, that had that info on the front screen, with the compass bezel as well, but, a lot smaller, lighter, and uses two batteries, not four.
I usually set the GPS to magnetic bearing, and I let the north direction on the screen float, rather than lock it to UP.
Declination is set (12.5 degrees)
h*tp://www.thecompassstore.com/decvar.html
Though I may choose not to use it, depending on how short a run I'm doing.
Took orienteering, and forestry back in my college days.
Click to expand...

As you've already figured out, they have a way of doing it, but you need to know how to use your unit.

I've used many different ones, particularly Garmins, and they have all had a way to determine the bearing to your waypoint.

Reading the manual to determine how it works, or playing with the unit until you figure out what buttons to push to get the bearing will save lots of hassles.
 
It's Ok Fogducker, keep yours, I'm buying one, probably an Etrex, and likely in the next few days.
PS, your tent blind rolls down the field really well, in high wind. I caught it before it got going. Had to hunt in the open today. Damn it was windy and cold. No deer, no tracks, and mine filled in while i was there!
About a foot of snow right now. Drifted to close to 2 feet in the driveway.

I think what really ticked me off about the guy that got lost, is that the area he was supposed to go through, is all of 300 yards across, and about a half mile long. He came to the wrong dam. Good thing he didn't cross it, or God knows where I'd have found him. Thankfully, I've been hunting that area for 40 years. I don't use even my compass that often anymore.
 
So I got out my GPS.

On my map screen it gives me my distance and my heading.
The heading can be changed to bearing, but I like it set with heading.

I can go to any point on my map with the cursor and take the bearing.

The page can be cutomized for ETA, distance to waypoint, speed, etc etc etc.

What I used to do is take the bearing off my GPS and stay on mark with my compass to save the batteries, then I got lazy and haven't doen that in a while. That's why I was really sure my GPS gives the bearing.

If someone would, could they post the bearing and poassible lat and long for Regina, or Edmonton or Calgary. I have been into the stuff I should not have been, and want to make sure I am still setup right, thanks
 
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Garmin GPS and bearings

John Y Cannuck said:
Are there units out there that will give a true bearing?

Garmins will give the bearing in any way that the user chooses!

Have a look at my "Practical Guide to GPS - UTM" at www.dbartlett.com

This is not a commercial site and I don't get anything for the hits, thus I excuse the hot link.

Would that I had a GPS 40 years ago. You young bucks get all the good stuff.:(

SOF
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