I hate not having a compass in my truck, does anyone have any good suggestions as to a quick mod for this? I've seen those digital ones, but do they work well?

 

Check out my pics!! Really cool gauges, but they were a little expensive.

Matt

 

Got mine mounted under the ashtray just behind the shifters. It is in an out of the way location and the Co-Pilot compensates for magnetic distortions within the vehicle. I've had it for a couple of years and it works really well and you can set it up so it lights up at the push of a button. There is a newer (silver) version called the Wayfinder that includes an altimeter/barometer/in-out temp for around $50 at Costco. I tried it out and it works well but I liked the rugged look of this one better so I took it back. Go figure- style vs. substance. You can get the Wayfinder at Sharper Image also but they'll charge ya $120 for the same thing. It comes with a bracket so you can mount it up on the windshield and a power cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter if you don't want to use batteries. I modified mine so it taps into a power line and keeps the lighter free for other goodies.

 

I have a Garmin GPS 3+ as well as an electronic compass on my CB (Some Radio Shack one that also has headset jacks) CAn't remember the model number of the thing though.

 

I had purchased a compass several years ago from Precision Navigation http://www.precisionnav.com/wayfinde...r%20v2000.html

It looked something like this.


It was a real nice unit but it had some downfalls.
One of the downfalls was after you calibrate the unit and you drive down the road and go over a bridge or overpass the metal in the bridge would cancel the compass part.
We have lots of bridges and overpasses here in Washington.
I went through 3 different units and each one did the same thing.
I finally gave up and got my money back. The company said there units just didn't do well around metal.

So thats when i purchased my Garmin E-trex GPS.


It was the same price as the compass from Precision Navigation.
The GPS is the better way to go. Plus you can take the GPS out of your rig and use it for hiking or other uses.
I have been using my GPS to map out property line distance as a reference. We are looking to purchase property and i want to know the property line length.

Hope this helps.

 

I have the same GPS as Todd. I love it. The one thing that I don't like is that it is not really a true compas. You have to be moving for the compass to work. Other than that, it is great. :fireman:

 

I also vote for the GPS.
My next one will be a Garmin Vista, and will have the true compass in it so it will work while still.

But for now the standard yellow E-Trex works great.


PS, found this cool graphic the other day. To bad the file size is to big for an avatar.