Garmin - 76S Review

In choosing the right GPS reciever, the most important thing to know about buying a GPS is what it will be used for. You will notice on the Garmin web-page that the menu is divided by uses rather than models. That’s because different features deal with different conditions well and the whole trick is to get the particular set of features that works for your purpose. For instance the 76S is WASS enabled. This enhancement is newer than DGPS and offers even greater accuracy. Don’t assume though, that because you have the feature that you will always have the benefit of having that feature. WASS is US based and it works well on open land and water. Outside the US you will not currently receive increased accuracy, even if you receive the signal. Garmin and Wikipedia both have excellent content explaining these features further. Trimble http://www.trimble.com/gps/index.shtml has an excellent tutorial on how GPS receivers work.

There are also different types of antenna in the GPS, each better suited to some purposes better than others. HAM resources can be a good place to find technical expertise on features you may want for some purposes.

The “S” in 76S is for sensor and indicates that it has a barometer. This was important to me because GPS signals do not pinpoint altitude well. The wonderful accuracy reading that you see applies to horizontal location, not altitude. However with a barometer in place changes in barometric pressure will improve give additional information for adjustment. At the time I purchased this GPS, I intended to use it for navigation in a hot-air balloon and accurate altitude information was important to me. While you won’t find a hot-air ballooning section in the Garmin menu, and you won’t find this unit in the aviation portable section either. Still this GPS has been a popular choice among pilots because the features are so well suited to that purpose. If I were choosing a GPS today for the same purpose, it would be the 96C because it offers aviation base maps. If my budget were unlimited it would be the 496, full of great bells and whistles.

User manuals for all Garmin GPS are available on-line in case you loose yours. This can be quite convenient.

My particular 76S has not performed consistently. Occasionally, I get strange results. I take the GPS to BFA National Hot Air Balloon Championships once a year and use it among many pilots who have the same model of the same approximate age. None have the same problem and none can find what is causing mine. When this happens, I must borrow a GPS to get my data. So, while I have been happy with my purchase on many levels, I do think there is some sort of manufacturer defect causing intermittent problems. I was not able to reproduce the problem in the limited context of a call with customer relations or to resolve the problem through them. They were polite and suggested updates, but regardless, the problem is not fixed.

Is the 76S for you? In the end, there are two ways to go about choosing the best GPS. One is to be hands on, learn extensive details about the features and decide for your self, doing a lot of research. However, if you are not that serious about the details, it is probably fairly safe to simply buy within a category that is intended for your purpose, tell a knowledge customer service representative what you plan to do and let them help to guide you. The corporate web site and stores like REI carry a data sheet that allows comparison between feature in spreadsheet format. Between the spreadsheet and a little explanation from a customer service representative it is not necessary to understand everything completely on a technical level to get the best match.

In spite of my personal experience with this unit, I do prefer Garmin for personal hand-helds and portable aviation needs.