New to TRUE off-road navigation - need help!

[Ni9mm]

With a name like "isurvive" make sure in your backup plan you have a good old fashioned compass and paper maps....or your just gonna drive in circles when them electronic gizmos stop working.

Gall dang it !

 

[iSurvive]

Well, the iSurvive moniker comes from knowing not to go off on my own. I'm only planning on trailing with a group of senior off-roaders. The Raptor Expeditions require this stuff, so I want to get decent products.

But I do like the idea of paper maps and a compass. As an IT Director, I appreciate the idea of redundancy and fallback plans.

I have ZERO sense of direction - so I would be the one driving in circles for sure!!

 

[Ni9mm]

The name is a good one. I've seen bad things happen to good people though and that would be ironic.

I use a Spot GPS Communicator but I always carry detailed charts and maps as well as a compass. Just an idea for you that's all.

An old saying I try to use when getting ready to play outside is " three is two is one is none. "

 

[Phyguy]

Yeah, let's meet up and check out your radio and compressed air setup. I'm sure I could think of a few more questions.

Have you done the Medano Pass Primitive Trail? Do you run at CORE? I'd like to get a few of us locals together to do something. MyDinosaur lives close to HR as well. We've met up before to check out our trucks and exchange some parts.

Cheers,
Robert

Definitely. Dane is down here too, but I've yet to meet up with him. There's a '12 Raptor owner around the corner from me that I've tried to turn onto this site as well.

I'm over near HR Parkway and Wildcat (the west side of HR). Should be around most of the day today, tomorrow then we're doing my daughter's birthday party at the lake on Sunday. I'll PM you my email/phone info.

Matt

 

[treypal]

The name is a good one. I've seen bad things happen to good people though and that would be ironic.

I use a Spot GPS Communicator but I always carry detailed charts and maps as well as a compass. Just an idea for you that's all.

An old saying I try to use when getting ready to play outside is " three is two is one is none. "

I carry a spot, Lowrance, handheld gps, and maps. The elite 5M doesn't have Topo while the HDS does.

 

[BlueSVT]

Thanks. I'm thinking of going on a Raptor Expedition.

Do you recommend a certain handheld VHF for truck to truck comms?

I help organize and run the expeditions... My recommendations?

For navigation, the Baja Elite 5M... small in size, quick response, VERY easy use, and very robust. The Topo on the HDS can is over-rated in my opinion, and rarely used. We rent these units, and they're a great little unit! I use Google Earth to plot all of our expeditions, and to edit data that I upload from the Lowrance units. Works well, easy to organize and customize.

As far as radio, to be honest if you're going to be going one more than just one run, or doing day trips with other friends with trucks, a good VHF radio is SO important! Even on the runs, the handheld units will start to break up and lose signal when only 1-2 miles away sometimes. The dash-mount units will go 10+ miles, even up to 20+ in the right conditions.

We normally recommend the Icom units, because Outlaw is a large dealer and service/warranty is much easier... However, if you're looking to save money there are some cheaper units out there.

For example this Yeasu unit, which a friend of mine has that works VERY well!

Amazon.com: Yaesu FT-2900R 75 Watt 2 Meter VHF Mobile Transceiver Amateur Ham Radio: Car Electronics


Only catch if you read the fine print is that it only "receives" communication between frequencies 136-174Mhz and we run on 151.625. HOWEVER! There is a simple "mod" you can do to the radio, which unlocks transmitting AND receiving on the entire range! That's what my buddy did... works perfect, and you can type in any frequency you want to transmit on, at any time! Which is very nice...

Here is a "how-to" on the modification...

Yaesu ft-2900r frequency modification mars mod

So for under $200, you can have a full function 75-watt radio which works across a very broad spectrum, and you can type in you own frequencies! Many other models (most in fact) require that you program channels in those ranges.

Hope that helps! We've done dozens of runs... so my recommendations come after experience with a variety of plotters and radios.

 

[treypal]

Does outlaw get their icoms from PCI?


Elite 5m is a good unit, but just recently got a trip calculator. It still doesn't have distance rings and some other features. For me if I had to do it over I would get the HDS. For the common man who doesn't race, and doesn't mind a chartplotter that lays out less points than the 5M is a solid unit.

 

[BlueSVT]

Does outlaw get their icoms from PCI?


Elite 5m is a good unit, but just recently got a trip calculator. It still doesn't have distance rings and some other features. For me if I had to do it over I would get the HDS. For the common man who doesn't race, and doesn't mind a chartplotter that lays out less points than the 5M is a solid unit.

Yes, the rings can be helpful if you have an experienced co-driver who knows how to read them. But for 99% of the guys that do what we do... like you said the 5M really is a solid unit!

Strange enough too, they seem to perform better, load faster, and pick-up a GPS signal much quicker when using the internal antenna. I would have thought the larger units would have faster performance, but it seems to be the opposite... I've had the HDS units lock up many times, or have a long delay to correct the screen orientation, where as the Elite units have always been spot-on without performance or freezing issues.

 

[iSurvive]

The name is a good one. I've seen bad things happen to good people though and that would be ironic.

I use a Spot GPS Communicator but I always carry detailed charts and maps as well as a compass. Just an idea for you that's all.

An old saying I try to use when getting ready to play outside is " three is two is one is none. "

Yeah, I don't want to jinx myself with the name. It's a leftover from World of Tanks.

It sounds like the safest bet is to own two Raptors, and tow one behind the other. LOL

I like your old saying, and sadly it is often true. I guess at some point you need to prepare the best you can and take the risk. The safest option is staying home - but that's no fun.

 

[BlueSVT]

The spot is great... if anything for peace of mind! I originally paid for the full service that also lets you do real-time tracking, then hardly used that feature. Next time I renew, it will be just for the messaging and SOS functions.