Thread: garmin gpsmap 76

is it worth the extra money for the electric compass(gpsmap 76S) or would the plain (gpsmap 76)be good enough ,don`t need nothing fancy just need to mark structure thanks

The agency that I work for supplies us with a garmin gps76marine. It is an excellent tool. It shows accuracy in feet once it locks enough satellites and that is very important. I always try to have acuracy of 20' or less before marking a waypoint or looking for one. Ours often register as little as 6 to 12 feet of accuracy.

Think about the memory storage too. The basic only has 8 MB, the 76s has 24 MB, and the Cx and CSx have data card slots. If you are planning to add maps you may consider more memory. I have the CSx with some laks added with plenty of room left over

I have a Csx and it is a dandy little instrument. I bought it at PCNation for a good, good price...about $240 at the time.

Of all the bells and whistles it has, I use the electric compass the LEAST. As sophisticated as it is, the compass will not allow you to shoot an azmuth in order to triangulate a boat on open water (using two azimuths from two known points. Why is that important to me? Well, let's just say that if I see folks parked over open water and boating a bunch of good fish, I get a bit curious and want to know e x a c t l y where they are sitting.

Shooting an azimuth would be the easiest way, but I have adapted and have found other ways. lol

The 76 will do you just fine, but it does not have the memory capacity of the more sophisticated ones.

aj

I have a GPS 72 and a GPS76Cx in mounts attached to a metal plate that I lay in the boat where I can see it when running or when fishing. Of course I have had the 72 a lot longer than I have had the 76 so I'm sure I know it better and I don't use maps because I seldom go to unknown to me lakes. I run the 72 on the pointer page and the 76 on the map page with the same waypoint entered. The base map on the 76 shows one of my best WP's on dry land. When I go in someone else's boat I find that I always grab the 72, again it's maybe because I just know it better. I also find it is easier to see the 72 with my bi-focal polarize sunglasses but it is still nice to have them both up front when fishing. My set-up, just can't let it overboard or it's gone.

so basically if i don`t care about nothing but marking structure the gpsmap76 will be fine

Originally Posted by blueball

so basically if i don`t care about nothing but marking structure the gpsmap76 will be fine

To my way of thinking that is correct.

thanks