I went to buy a GPS for around $169-$200 on sale. We tried our address out and since it is new it only work on the $600. one. I am in a new development. Can anyone tell me if Lighthouses are easy to find with them. Which one do you recommend? Let me hear your opinions. I heard Tom Tom gets returned to Best Buy a lot.

Many of the different brands use the same underlying positing information. It could be that the software in the one you were using was not the latest release and that's why your new address (subdivision) didn't show up.

You can locate the coordinates for lighthouses generally from LighthouseFriends website. That should help you get to the general location -- but if the lighthouse is out in the water, leave your car at shore!!!!

I have published some GPS folders for different states that either lists the coordinates of the lighthouse or of a viewing spot on shore for those off-shore lighthouses. They fold down to credit card size -- and fold out to various sizes depending on the number of lighthouses in the state.

We have two TomToms, and I'd really recommend them. Easy-to-use interface, simple display, good reception. Great price. The regular device, the One 3rd Edition, is $170 on Amazon. I personally use the widescreen One XL, which is $300 ($350 with extra voice features, which I find no need for). Comparing my XL to my mom's regular one, the extra map space is definitely nice...but not essential if you'd rather save the $130.

Not sure if your address will work (the data that John mentioned sometimes takes a while to update sometimes), but worse comes to worse, you can figure out what the "address" is for the nearest access road and use that, and navigate the distance between there and the driveway by memory. (Hopefully you know that part!)

Another thing I'd recommend, if you don't have it, is Streets and Trips. I use this to do the initial plotting for my trips, following the directions on the map and placing the "pushpins" at the light or viewing point. Then you can go into the Location Sensor in S&T, roll the mouse over the pushpin, and get the GPS coordinates to plug into the GPS system. Navigates me right to the light.

I also use Google Earth a lot, comparing it with photographs on the various websites, but that's getting REALLY obsessive there.

Fran,

Stan and I bought a Garmin Quest 2 a couple of years ago and had to purchase the Mapsource CD entitled Waterways and Lights to make use of it for lighthousing. The unit came loaded with streets, addresses, etc., but lighthouses don't have street addresses and the CD locates them after I plug in the coordinates. I agree with JC that the best source for correct coordinates is Lighthouse Friends site. I don't know if they offer data on lighthouses other than those in the US.

We were totally blown away the first time we made use of the GPS. We decided to take a day trip to Long Island and see lighthouses. I plugged in the coordinates and requested directions to Long Beach Bar light, not knowing that travel involved getting onto and off a ferry. The voice (a woman's!!) directed us to travel a few different roads, and finished that set of directions with "pull into line in 200 feet and wait to board the ferry." After boarding the ferry, Stan turned the engine off. When he turned the car back on, the voice never missed a beat, saying "take your next right after getting off the ferry."

I can recommend Garmin not only for its quality product, but for their customer service reps as well. There was an update to the software recently that I had trouble downloading. I called, got through very quickly, and their rep stayed with me until we got it loaded--about an hour and a half later, and at no expense to me other than the phone call. The rep determined there was a glitch in their update that nobody had been aware of prior to my call.

The only issue I have with what we have is that the voice doesn't give the name of the street she wants you to turn onto; it's displayed on the screen, but it's not verbalized. Newer models have incorporated verbal identification.

We have the removable holder so it sits on the dashboard in all our vehicles, and holder and GPS are removed and placed in the glove compartment when we leave the vehicle.

Sandy

Fran, the key is how old the maps in the GPS are. By the time they end up in consumer hands the maps could be a couple years old (or more). Two years ago on my way to Chesapeake for the regional, I was on a stretch of road that had been reconstucted and move a ways from where it originally was. The GPS showed where I was, but as far as it knew I was in a field and it wanted me to return to the road as it knew it. It is also frustrating that all the hotels and restaurants may not be in the data base.

That said, the accuracy of the GPS is quite good. It can generally show the specific intersection you might be at, and even which side of the intersection you are sitting at.

The maps are updated periodically. I know there is an updated map for my Garmin unit, but it is not a freebie.

You can establish waypoints and save them in the GPS. I try to do this before I leave home on a trip. Sometimes it is easy to find where you want to be, sometimes not. Many lights are in a park and you can often find the park in the waypoint choices. Sometimes you might know an address or intersection that you can set up.

Some units do allow you to input lat/long coordinates, but you do have to be careful - there are variations in how coordinates are expressed and you may have to learn to convert from one style to another.

I do all this at home, transfer the information to my GPS and then look at where the map puts it, comparing it to maps on my computer to be sure the location is accurate. You ccertainly want the GPS to take you to the right place. Whenever you are using a GPS you also need to do two other things: (1) have a good, old fashioned road map with you, and have plotted on it where your lights are. (2) have a general idea of where you should be heading - don't blindly trust the GPS.

All that said, buying a GPS is no different than so many other things: the more you are willing to spend, the more you will get, at least to a point. You have to decide what each feature is worth to you. When I bought my GPS 3 years ago, it was worth an extra $100 to have the maps built into the unit instead of having them on an SD card (but I can use an SD card to add additional maps and such). It wasn't worth yet another $100 to the cost to get blue tooth and supposedly live traffic info. FWIW, the unit I bought for $450 3 years ago sells for half that now and they have created even smaller units. There are so many to look at that the decision can be difficult. You may want to look at units that allow you to either input lat/long coordinates directly into the unit or that have included software that allow you to plan your trip on the computer and transfer the route to the GPS.

A GPS really is handy for a variety of reasons, including the proverbial 'peace of mind' that you can eventually find your way back to civilization with it.

Fran,

I've got a tom tom and I've been very pleased with it. I even used it in Ireland this past October and that was definitely a godsend- even if I did experience a couple of episodes like Dave's where the road I was on didn't exist in the database- and it was the latest one that I had downloaded just before we left on the trip.

Then again Ireland has been very busy recently making new roads.

I've used it on several trips in the US and Canada specifically lighthouse trips as well and it was very helpful. I used the Lighthouse Friends to determine some lighthouse locations by coordinates but most we determined by addresses utilizing my Delorme Street Atlas program and then programmed into the tomtom gps.

I did seem to lose it's mind a bit at times but it got us where we were going everytime.

Dennis

Thanks for all your help I am ging to buy one this week and play. Dont know which one yet.

We have a TomTom and we are happy with it. It has directed us well so far! No funny and long ways to anywhere. Just clear and easy to follow directions. It is easy to set too.

Let us know which one you are going to opt for!

I am going tonight to Best buy and look again. I was told if your not happy with it return it. OK I am going to Savannah this weekend and on to Sapelo Light after Tybee. It will be a trial run, still dont know which one.

On the BestBuy site, the cheapest available is the TomTom One 3rd Edition, at $170, followed by the Magellan Maestro 3200, at $180.

My personal suggestion? Get the TomTom (or the Magellan, but I'm suggesting the TomTom from my personal experience). Try it out this weekend in Georgia. If you think you want a different unit, return it and get a different one. If you love it, then you saved yourself some money by falling in love with the less expensive unit.

BUT...make sure you triple check the return policy, in re: opened boxes and used devices.

Rich came home last night with the Garmin Nuvi 200. We played around with it and it seems easy. We are able to put Latitude and Longitude and it got us to the light. Will it work when we are in the car? only time will tell!!!!!

Here the latest Consumer Reports:
CR GPS

And don't leave it on you windshield or in your car. It sounds obvious but close to 900 have been 'smashed and grabbed' on LI in January.

From what I read lately there all basically the same on the new one, and then you add on. So if you don't need MP3, attach to your phone, etc.

Make sure you know what maps it comes with or are able to get the ones you might need. I KNOW PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE GARMIN NUVi 200 AND AN EXPENSIVE TOMTOM ( IM NOT YELLIN MY KEYBOARD JUST LOCKED IN CAPS)BOTH ARE GOOD.

Good suggestion bob- but to take it just a bit further don't leave even the mount on the windshield and if it starts to leave a mark there wipe that off as well.

The telltale circle on the windshiled entices people to smash into the car figuring there is one in there but just hidden a bit.

Isn't it a wonderful world these days.

Dennis

When looking for Lighthouses using coordinates, be VERY careful. My Garmin Nuvi 660 (replaced by the 680 after this) really went wrong. We put in the Long\Lat for Fort Washington Light in MD. It guided us south into Virginia south along the Potomac river, then it told me to turn left. If I did, I would have driven through a road divider, across oncoming traffic, then into the river. After lodging a complaint with Garmin, they said the coordinates were IN the river by about 10 feet according to their maps. So their unit was correct, crossing the river was the fastest way to the lighthouse.

Don't get me wrong, you could see the light from where it said turn left, but swimming has never a part of a LH Challenge... as of yet.

None of them are perfect but we would never go on a trip without our Garmin. It sure has saved arguments in the car between the driver and the navigator! We are going to pay to get the Europe download so we will have it this fall when we go to Spain. It was one of the best gifts I ever gave Bill. He always programs it in the computer and then we are good to go.
Judy

Judy,

I agree with everything you said. I paid about half of what it would have cost to renat a GPS in Ireland to download the update for Ireland from tomtom.

It was a godsend- although like I said before it did get confused a bit by new roads a couple of times but it got us where we wnated to go with almost no misdirection the entire trip.

I don't leave home without it now even on a trip where I know where i'm going- because you never know when it will come in handy.

Dennis

Judy,
Can you put a map that is given on Lighthousefriends on an SD and put it on the GPS. Do you know what and how to put on the SD. There was no info in the book that came with it.

One of the hats I wear is that of a Notary Public. I've had a few calls requesting that I come to the home where a Notary is needed. Our GPS has guided me to the doorstep in some outlying areas that I would have never ventured to before.

Our home is not listed in the GPS' maps. Only the route numbers of two routes that intersect in the center of town comes up. "She" does get a bit testy when we get off-route, but this she does, too.

Fran,
Bill plans the trip in the computer and downloads it to the GPS unit with the USB cable. We have never downloaded the map from LighthouseFriends and Bill doesn't understand how to use the coordinates but he does use their map. If there isn't an address available he'll enlarge the map and use the nearest roads to program the location. It's probably not real sophisticated but it works! We've been all over and very rarely have we gotten lost or missed a lighthouse. We like having the portable one since we can use it in either car and it is easier to program it through the computer.
Judy

Dennis,

Glad to hear the download in Ireland was worthwhile. We will pay for the download for Spain (I think it is Europe software) and use it in our travels over there. We can program it before we leave and have a lot of peace of mind driving in a foreign country. When we went to Spain two years ago we did not have it with us and ended up getting lost repeatedly and going in circles. It's stressful enough driving in another country but with a GPS we are looking forward to a more enjoyable adventure.

Judy

One thing that I do want to point out is that Bill & Judy are using a high end Garmin unit. As mentioned previously, the more you are willing to invest, the more features you will have. Lower end GPS units don't have the option to lay out your trip on the computer and transfer to your GPS. You have to do it one waypoint at a time. Takes more planning and work to set up the trip, but it does work.

Something else is that you can not put blind faith in a GPS. There is the story of the man in Germany that drove down what used to be a road but was now a boat ramp.... When we were on Long Island last year, Bus Driver Paul and I have the same GPS unit. They were set to the "semi" setting, but it still tried to take the bus under an overpass that would have turned the bus into a convertible.

On the way to Montauk I looked at Paul's GPS and it had an arrival time a couple hours later than I knew we would be there. Mine was right on. When I got to looking and asking questions I figured out what wss happening: I knew where the light was and had set that location in my GPS. Paul had searched for lighthouses around Montauk. For whatever reason the POI (points of interest) did not have Montauk Light in its database (though the state park was there). Paul had chosen the lighthouse that the unit said was closest, and had we followed his we were headed to Block Island....... he seemed to be able to make the bus do most things he needed to get done, but I'm not sure if he had his captain's license yet for the trip across to BI.

Dave,

Good points. It's why I also mapped out the routes using AA in Ireland (sorta like our AAA) and took a good atlas with me.

It's always good to have a backup- you never know when the battery won't hold a charge, the lady in the GPS has a brain freeze, etc.

We had some minor instances similar to yours but by looking at themap and picking a town name we got back on the right road quickly.

Dennis

Dennis

"Jane" in our GPS does that every time we go to visit our son in Wales. She wants to send us miles out of our way. We want to go over the bridge crossing the river Severn near where we live, but "Jane" thinks we should go to the bridge further North and then comeback down along the river. This would add at least 1.5 hrs to our journey

Can't think why she wants us to do this, seeing we have asked the unit to give us the route with the least miles???

It just goes to prove: Never trust a computer :rolleyes: