Most accurate handheld GPS for ONx Hunt

[hueyjazz]

I have three properties that I've purchase and that are join at irregular points.  Most of it is surveyed fairly well and is well understood.  I would like to use ONx Hunt with tax map feature to get a close approximation of the hazy boundaries.  Within ten feet would be fine.  Area is heavily wooded.  I downloaded ONx Hunt to my cell and looked at known and well documented points and they were way, way off from what they should be.  I don't mind spending a few bucks for a decent hand held GPS and I'm willing to spend up to $400 but like most of you, I like to spend only what I have to.  I know accuracy improves with more antennas.  Beyond standard GPS there's also Glonass and Gallio that are supposed to have improved accuracy over standard GPS.  I'm kind of partial to Garmin as I've had good experience with their equipment.  There's only a limited number of hand held units that work with ONx.

Does anyone have experience with this or can offer a alternative solution?

[Steve D]

I am using the Garmin 680 and like it. it is a touch screen and has worked for me . You can find them on sale for under $400 if you shop around. This video is of the 680t which has a camera where the 680 doesn't,  which lowers the cost. With the exception of the camera they are exactly the same. Can't go wrong with  a Garmin in my opinion. It does work with onx. 

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Steve D

[Hock3y24]

Contact you’re local county for an official tax map. Go out and mark the actual lines on onx hunt. They only update so often.

[Jeremy K]

9 hours ago, Steve D said:

I am using the Garmin 680 and like it. it is a touch screen and has worked for me . You can find them on sale for under $400 if you shop around. This video is of the 680t which has a camera where the 680 doesn't,  which lowers the cost. With the exception of the camera they are exactly the same. Can't go wrong with  a Garmin in my opinion. It does work with onx. 

 

That's the same one i have , it works great but ive completely switched over to just using my phone.

[hueyjazz]

Hock3y24

The parcel boundaries haven't changed in years.  The only benefit of going to County is current owners of property.

And that I already know and even the owner of the others properties doesn't know the borders it this hazy area that's in question as it isn't a square or a rectangle.

[Steve D]

8 hours ago, Hock3y24 said:

Contact you’re local county for an official tax map. Go out and mark the actual lines on onx hunt. They only update so often.

A lot of counties are set up with the county tax maps online. Here in Ontario county I can set at my desk and look up individual properties, boundaries etc. Not sure how often they update them but I know they are behind at the present but will have to have them updated by the end of the year for the county & town tax rolls.

[Steve D]

2 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

That's the same one i have , it works great but ive completely switched over to just using my phone.

The main reason I use the GPS is because some of the areas I hunt cell phone signals are spotty at best. There are also areas in the Adirondacks that are hard to get reception but I have always been able to acquire a satellite signal on the GPS.

[hueyjazz]

Steve

My job puts me on call 24/7

I’m a few months away from retirement. Nowhere on my property do I get cell service. (Paid extra for that). My Amish neighbors aren’t big into cells.  I pity the person that inherits my cell number.  One of the attractions of OnX was the offline maps that show tax lots.  You can get an OnX chip to insert into certain GPS units.   The 680 was one of them.  Using my cell I established a waypoint from a known survey marker.  But when I checked program it was more than 100 feet off actual.  This I blame more on the cell ability to establish satellite contacts than the program.  Property is all very mature and dense hardwood.  

[GR HUNTER]

Are you downloading the parcel map before you head out? Then just using the map in offline mode? I wonder if that might help with accuracy. 

[hueyjazz]

GR Hunter

Yes, I download the map first then go offline.  I have to as 100' from cabin I lose any service. 

My cabin has internet service.  Not sure why as I'm the only "English" in the area.  The rest are Amish

But the internet sure come in handy out there

[helmut in the bush]

Just got a Cabelas flyer and they have the Garmin Montana on sale, $200 off. Good luck hunting with the amish neighbors 

[Steve D]

On 9/21/2020 at 6:34 PM, hueyjazz said:

There's only a limited number of hand held units that work with ONx.

Does anyone have experience with this or can offer a alternative solution?

UPDATE: I loaded the onx chip in my Garmin and the property boundaries seem to be accurate. I have been waiting for the county tax maps to get updated based upon some recent sales I was aware of before updating the chip. The county tax rolls have been updated so I downloaded the update chip only to find out that onx was still not up to date.

 After looking at some of the neighboring properties on the onx chip I discovered that some of the properties sold in the last 10 years have not been updated.

 I contacted onx and they said they were not aware of that, would look into it, and get back to me. I finally heard back and the answer was they had updated the cell app. as of 9/22/20 but have yet to do the chip.

They promised to put their "team" on it to get it updated when possible but couldn't give a timeframe for when it would be completed. They also urge using the app because it is more apt to be current for whatever reason.

 The final communication was to check back every so often to see if the chip update has been completed but my guess is if it hasn't been done in ten years it won't be done anytime soon.

 I only purchased the New York Sate chip so am not sure what the status is as far as updates with other states.

I like the information supplied and the detail, plus being able to view the same information on a computer,  but am somewhat frustrated with the fact you cannot be confident the information as far as ownership is up to date. It also leaves some doubt on property boundaries if a piece of property has changed hands and divided.

[biggamefish]

Just use a smart phone if you have one. I used mine with onx this year when I went to montana. If you don't have cell service just make sure you have the map downloaded before you loose reception. It is very accurate. I wouldn't buy a GPS unit just to use onx. Phones work just as good.

[hueyjazz]

Biggamefish

I think the accuracy of a cell phone is highly dependent on your view of satellites.    I found taking readings of know positions of survey marks to be more than 200' off using my cell phone GPS  with Onx located boundary lines.  This is in an area of dense and tall trees on a mountain top.

That's not acceptable for my purposes and cell phones don't have all the antennas that the better GPS unit have.  Plus good GPS have access to GLONASS or GALILEO 

 

Steve D

You pay over $100 for a chip that's less accurate than the program you can download for $30????   (Not that the property owners in my situation matter to me.  I already know who they are.)  I did find that the Huntstand app seems to be more updated as to owners and that can be had with their free app.  But I don't know you can import that to a GPS like you can with Onx with a chip.

[Jeremy K]

I've been getting more disappointed using onX on my phone ,you can literally watch the little blue dot move around onbthe screen while you are standing still

[nyslowhand]

Aren't most decent handheld GPS units accurate to +/-10"? Suppose that might have even improved since I owned my Garmin 62~4yrs ago or with the high-end GPSs. Also, the more satellites your GPS connects to, the more accurate they become. I found a little quirk with my Garmin 62, when turned on in a wide open area it'd connect to a certain # of satellites. If I waited and turned it on in the woods with a canopy, as expected it connected with fewer satellites and accuracy went down somewhat. If I ever had the need for a decent GPS again, JMO I'd splurge and get something with a decent screen size. Those 2' x 3" screens are a PITA.

[biggamefish]

Yes all handheld GPS units at best will get you within 10 +/- feet.  I play with survey grade GPS on a daily bases. Even those in densly wooded areas are as bad as  10 feet. I have used my phone in alot of conditions and it always seems to be pretty decent. 

The onx hunt blue dot is always moving because it uses cell towers and gps. So its constantly correcting itself.. It seems to calm down if you use one or the other. 

[Steve D]

9 hours ago, hueyjazz said:

Steve D

You pay over $100 for a chip that's less accurate than the program you can download for $30????   (Not that the property owners in my situation matter to me.  I already know who they are.) 

That would be correct. I only checked it because the property next door sold and onx still showed the previous owner. The more I checked around my area (and some others) the more discrepancies I found. Some of the properties I checked changed hands over ten years ago. 

 Keep in mind this is just the NY chip not the entire country. I don't use the app but supposedly that was updated in Sept. My guess would be because surveyors and others use the apps instead of the GPS.

You get a year of "free" updates with  the purchase but if they haven't updated the chip in 10 yrs. I am not expecting much. I didn't expect it to be 100% because real estate is moving fast but at least somewhat current. They should at least be able to keep up with the tax maps which I believe are done annually.

 I will keep bugging them once a month or so to see if I get any results and will update here if I learn anymore.