Garmin Handheld GPS 76CX

minuteman62-64

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Apr 12, 2011
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1,350
EDIT Anybody use one for boating/fishing? Any input on value?

Application would be in a 16 foot open skiff in bays and nearshore coastal waters of Southern California. Mainly to return to good fishing locations.
 
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Snowfish

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Jul 3, 2009
Messages
234
Re: Garmin Handheld GPS 76CX

That unit will get you back spot on every time. Mark your way point and return to the exact same spot the next day. Or just follow your track log. It will record 10,000 points & 20 individual tracks.

I've used my old Garmin E-Trex Legend c on many large inland lakes. Lake of the Woods, Mille Lacs, Leach, etc. Even up in Canada to mark hazards & hot spots. Always right on.

Your unit is many notches above mine. It will be great. The AA batteries are a huge plus in my opinion. The internal rechargeable just don't seem to last as long. With the back light off, I leave mine on all day when out on the water.

No need for the back light anyway since the screen is daylight viewable. Just hold it towards the sun and the map gets brighter. Can't say that for the other brands that wash out to the point of being in-viewable.

I've used Garmin, Lowrance, & Magellins. I'm Garmin all the way. Plus a huge variety of maps is available for Garmins. From inland lakes, to off shore, to snowmobile trails, to topographicals, to aviation applications.

You will not be disappointed.
 

minuteman62-64

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Joined
Apr 12, 2011
Messages
1,350
Re: Garmin Handheld GPS 76CX

Well, I bought it. Been playing with it for a couple of weeks. Impressed, so far.

I purchased the North American road map package from Garmin and a 4 GB micro-SD card from Fry's to make sure I had the capacity to hold the data. When installnig the road map on my PC (bought it on CD) I was prompted to download a newer map package. I thought it was a typo/joke when the site indicated it might take "several hours" to download. Nope, started at 10:00 pm, went to bed at 11:00 pm with it still downloading and came back at 3:00 am just as it finished. There's a testimonial for a faster DSL service. It also took about 20 minutes to download just the Southern Cal/Northern Baja portion from the PC to the gps unit.

The road map package works good - does everything our Magellan does except talk to me. So, I will get dual use from this little unit. I purchased an auto mount from Best Buy to make it a little more usable in my truck.

I bought the Garmin Marine Mount from Amazon and will begin experimenting with various mounting locations for the unit and the power receptical on my console. Next step, early this Spring, will be to buy the Bluemap package for the West Coast.

So far, so good. Appreciate all the input to this post and my post on where to mount the unit.
 
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