Compass location distance thing

[fileyprepper]

What I would say is that if you do get one and plan to go for a hike then test yours thoroughly before you go out, also I would suggest a back up method just in case there are any issues. for the £30 inc delivery its worth it. I wouldn't pay more personally. if it works over 200m im sure it will work over the same in miles, but remember this is 'as the crow flies' it doesn't navigate you home as such it just points an arrow and gives you a distance to the place you have set. it's probably more use for geocaching etc than anything else. I wouldn't recommend navigating with it over 5 miles due to the fact it will take straight over mountains etc or whatever is in your way.

but as I say £30, take the plunge. they are £75 ish on ebay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw= ... 2&_sacat=0

[ukpreppergrrl]

Thanks for the reports fileyprepper. As someone who can get lost on a staircase* this looks interesting and for £30 worth a punt!

*ok, perhaps not a staircase, but my lack of a sense of direction is legendary amongst my friends!

[omega man]

Ok guys and gals,
Being a tight ars*e I never did buy the Bushnell Backtrack but has it happens the Mrs must have be listening to me at some point and I ended up with one at Christmas!

So this afternoon I drove out to a local'ish nature trail we know fairly well. I popped some batteries in the Backtrack then walked about 10m from the truck, turned it on and walked slowly in a figure of eight with the device in compass mode.. this is apparently how to best calibrate the unit. Now at this point I expected the satellite icon to become constant / stop flashing to indicate it had locked on to the GPS signal..errr no, it just kept on flashing. Now it was quite nippy so rather than hang around waiting we just started our ramble and then maybe 40 yards from where I'd wanted to set the 'return to point' it finally connected to the signal, I quickly set that point with my truck still in sight.. happy days?.. I put this delay in connecting down to new device??

According to the instructions one you've set your point you can then switch the Backtrack off to conserve battery life, I did so.

We'd walked for a few mile and decided that by the time we returned it would be starting to get dark, on with the Backtrack and guess what! no connection again!! after what must have been 10 minutes it decided to connect and in all fairness once connected it did do what it was supposed to leading us to the exact spot I'd set.

Few questions:

Q1 There are some lots of trees in the area we walked, will these obscure signal? (that said whilst trying to gain signal I did ensure I had clear view of sky)

Q2 Should the Backtrack switch itself off after 5 minutes? is that a fault or clever battery saving mode?

Q3 I read somewhere that removing then replacing batteries can help with the slow connection issue, is this so?

Q4 If I remoe batteries does the device lose your set points?


More updates to come as I play with he Backtrack further

OM

[fileyprepper]

happy new year !

i must say mine has sat on a shelf for the last couple of months and haven't done much with it. however, to answer some of your questions:

Few questions:

Q1 There are some lots of trees in the area we walked, will these obscure signal? (that said whilst trying to gain signal I did ensure I had clear view of sky)

A1 I guess it depends on where the satellites are in orbit, as they may not be directly above you. depending on orbit they could be quite low lying to the horizon. always best to have clear sky and open field back garden etc to turn the device on.

Q2 Should the Backtrack switch itself off after 5 minutes? is that a fault or clever battery saving mode?

A2 I don't think mine does, I have had it on for a couple of hours and it has not turned off, maybe pound shop batteries ? just kidding however when I was using mine I was moving, so if the device is stationary maybe it does save power by turning off?

Q3 I read somewhere that removing then replacing batteries can help with the slow connection issue, is this so?

A3 this was certainly my experience. I remember when I put in the batteries and turned it on for the first time I was in the house, then went outside to get the signal GPS lock. it took ages and the device was sketchy in terms of the accuracy of tracking back to a point. this was solved by removing the batteries, waiting 5 mins or so, then standing in the back garden or field and placing the batteries back in. First GPS lock does take a long time but the accuracy was good after that.

Q4 If I remoe batteries does the device lose your set points?

A4 not sure but probably as it needs some residual energy from the battery to keep the point in memory I assume