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Thanks, it arrived on time, packaged the way it was described. It is a nice Christmas present for my soldier who is getting ready to deploy overseas.
I waded in to retrieve it, knowing NOT to try to turn it on, and took the batteries out immediately. It even kept all of my saved waypoints and tracks. I've had it for about 3 years.The Foretrex (like all Garmin handhelds) is IPX7 waterproof, meaning it should withstand submersion in 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. I looked everywhere. Needless to say, it was not waterproof enough to withstand submersion in 1 meter of water for 24 hours. I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out where it was. Well a few days ago I decided to take the unit apart as a last resort. I basically left it sitting a container of uncooked rice for 2 weeks to try to dry it out (sidenote: It turns out the unit does a very good job of holding water IN, at least under atmoshperic pressure).
I then reassembled everything, re-sealed the unit with pure silicone caulk, and used super glue to hold the case together.Yesterday, after waiting a day for the caulk and glue to cure, I put in fresh batteries and fired it up. I could see water behind the screen. I slowly squeezed it in a bar clamp long ways, as suggested on the internet, to get the 2 halves apart. I cleaned all of the electrical contacts on the main board, some of which had corroded, with 91% rubbing alcohol. WORKED LIKE NEW.
I disassembled the guts as much as possible (not as easy as it sounds - very small/sensitive parts). After we got home from our vacation, I figured it was a lost cause, and was too busy to deal with it anyway. While houseboating, I lost it when we were docked on the shore one morning. I could not be happier. under about a meter of water, give or take a few inches. Incredible.Aside from being ridiculously rugged (idiot-proof), I love this thing for geocaching and keeping me from getting lost in the wilderness. I could hear water sloshing around when I shook it.
Well let's just say I did some "testing" on mine. The next morning, about 10 minutes before we were going to head to a different location, I saw my Garmin sitting right next to the boat. This did not look good. Seriously, it's the best you can get for $100. It's a great bare-bones GPS unit. Since the Foretrex 101 has been around for a while, and there are plenty of other reviews you can read, I thought I'd just tell a little story about mine. My guess is that it had been there for about 24 hours.
I dried everything with a paper towel and put the parts in rice for about a day to make sure.
Display looks like 1980's technology, and it is pretty confusing to use. I imagine there will be much better technology with much better displays coming out soon. Was hoping for something a lot better than this. It takes a while for the satellites to connect & when they do, it is still a bit uncertain what to do next.
It gives accurate MGRS after a short satellite link up, and is durable enough to go where I go. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.
Reception is really bad in Europe & Afghanistan. I have to bring my Magellan Triton along if I want an accurate distance. Everywhere I go with this unit reception is an issue.This unit will take 10-20 minutes sometimes just to receive the initial signal. Pros:Clear, informative and responsive GPSSmall and lightweight unitClear displayEasy to use pages and menusUses any AAA battery, alkaline or rechargeable Cons:This gps is unreliable tracking distance when using it running, biking, or hiking. I used this for unit for long runs, bike rides, and hiking. As soon as I enter moderately dense forest I will lose reception.
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