The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay GPS Units

I am looking to purchase a portable GPS unit to use in my truck and am curious to know if anybody out here has any recommendations.

I don't even know if some of the technology I want is out there, but I would love to find one that has the following:

-Ability to tell me where I am in case I break down and need to call for help.
-Ability to track where I have been so I can plug into my computer after my road trip and see where i went on a map. I would love to be able to have this but son;t know if it even exists.
-turn by turn guidance; for those times when i have made so many turns on back country roads that i have no clue where I am any more.
-ability to see where the next gas station is.
-needs to be self powered due to the 6V system n the truck


Anybody have any recommendations - other than - buy a good old fassion map?

there are quite a few out there that fit those needs. not sure about pluging it in to your computer. they are all self powered.
Garmin, TomTom and others should be able to get one for around $150

look on on line my son bought one on line at christmas, jarmin, that listed for 200 but got it for 99 including shipping. ron

I have a garmin. We use it on the honda goldwing. Does everything u want.

Darin

I charge mine up "before" I put in the truck and the charge lasts about 4 fours without plugging it in. That way you can avoid the 6 volt issue. I've got a Garmin.

i have one of the garmin and it works good.thanks

I have the Garmin Nuvi 200. It's o.k some abilities are impressive, ability to locate restaurants and point of interest. Maybe a little homework ahead of time.
http://www.gpsreview.net/
This website is helpful. I think I should have spent more to get one where you can replace the battery.

I bought the top of the line Garmin about 14 months ago. I hardly ever use it. I guess I just dont venture to places im not familiar with. It will route you ways that you wouldn't go. It's fun though, good for laughs. It is selling now less then half what I paid for it.

I like the Garmin 205W. It is a wide screen so I don't have to squint so much. It will do all that you are asking.

As far as running a gps on 6 volts, purchase a voltage convertor

If you have a pos ground, there are units for you as well, just check ebay. I picked one up for my GMC (pos grnd) and wired it to my cigar lighter. I needed to change the lighter socket to a 12 volt unit from a local FLAPS. The sizes are different between the 6 volt and 12 volt units. Once you hook up to the inverter with a simple ground and a hot lead to the lighter socket, you're in business. You can run the GPS and get your cell phone charged up as well. It was one of the best simple things I have done to my truck. No more battery pack on the floor for long trips. Plug and go!

have i Garmin also.used it for the first time on a trip .loved it.....................dave

I have the Garmin 360 Nuvi and it's great.It will tell you what gas stations,restraunts,lodging are near.You can spell out a business name and search for phone number and address(yellow pages).I can scroll the screen with my finger to look at the map.

The Garmin Hand helds will leave "tracks" to determine where you have been. My Garmin GPSMap76Csx does that well. However they lack good turn by turn directions.

For street use, i recommend a Garmin Nuvi as the street pilot series are now out of production. we got our Nuvi 750 at Sams club for $315 out the door. The thing I like is that I can also load music in it and it will broadcast to an FM station. that way both directions and favorite tunes are available.

for low $, I heard that the Tom Tom is a good unit. However I also have heard it compared that Tom Tom will get you close, Garmin will get you within 6 feet.

to date, we have the Garmin C530 Street Pilot, 750 Nuvi, and GPSMap76Csx (hiking, boating, etc.)

I have a Garmin Nuvi 660 that I've had a little over a year and really like it. I use it for work also (Truck Driver) and it has yet to leave me lost. I can set the parameters for the shortest distance or I can have it route me on truck routes which is a bonus for me.

This is all some great info and insight. thanks. i greatly appreciate having some input prior to going out and getting one. Now I can make a better informed purchase.

Probably a good idea so that in a pinch you can just plug things in. Good call!

Make sure the unit you buy is WAAS enabled. Most models are nowadays, but not all of them. With WAAS you get better position accuracy.

I thought about wiring a cigar lighter 12v with a voltage booster into to my Truck which is a 6 volt so that I could charge my cell or my GPS. My brother works in product development/marketing for Garmin and we discussed the power requirements for the unit- the amount is very very low so it should not hamper the system while the engine is running, but Definately unplug it when out of the truck.
Same thing with most cell phone chargers now as well. The Nuvi is a good unit- the make a nice widescreen, and you can even get them with satelite radio, which make you have a gps and 1940's radio all in one shot.(or 50's)

I may try taking an old cell phone and plugging it into my 6V lighter to see if it will charge. Is there anything that would hard the truck in trying this. I dont think there would be but figure I better ask before I go and try it. Would it just be like a slower charge? Maybe I just identified myself as the village idiot as it relates to electrical. I am still amazed that I was able to figure out the wiring at all.

My question is how can he get a full charge at 6 volts ? Seems like it would ruin the battery after a while. I think i would install that converter that K10 recommended .

Since this has turned into an electrical discussion, I suppose I need to move it.

The Tom Toms are really good as well, they are all rather cheaper now too.

As far as the power issue, now I have done this on a boat from a 24 volt system by buying a invertor and bypassing the regular fuse box by using an inline fuse and hooking up the power invertor that way, it could be installed out of sight to keep it out of mind but still give you some 120v power outlets for your accessories.

I got a TomTom 120 door prize at our company Xmas party.Works pretty good,its rechargable and compact.

I was looking just for your link but it's been removed. Could you PM me with it? Thanks.