Sureshot GPS 8850

[ParMaster]

Well I just got one of these yesterday and have no freaking idea how to work it or anything.

Could anybody here give me some advice on the machine, and just any tips in general about using it? Also there are 5 different memberships to choose from, ranging from Professional to Silver. What is the best value for money one to buy?

Any tips appreciated.

[PeteyD]

Buy an express post bag, pop it in, send to me :D

[Captain Nemo]

Read the manual!:-k

[ParMaster]

I'm wondering more about what the best membership is to buy. Obviously there are people on here that have it aswell, so what membership thing do you fellas have?

[drnick]

Depends on how many courses you want to load on the device Pup.

Check this out - http://www.sureshotgps.com/membership.php

That will tell all! :)

S

[adlo]

Annual fees to use a GPS seems like a scam to me.

Sell it and get a rangefinder Pup.

[henno]

Or an igolf/bushnell neo thing, like the rest of the cool kids.

[adlo]

Or an igolf/bushnell neo thing, like the rest of the cool kids.

Crazy Qld cats...

http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/adlo_2009/james-dean-boulevard-of-broken-drea.jpg

[henno]

It appears that he only has another 186m or so until his destination.

[Johnny Canuck]

You'd be better off with a rangefinder Pup. At your level, you'll benefit more from exact distances.

[Minor_Threat]

Sounds like a scam to me also, buying memberships?

[adlo]

It appears that he only has another 186m or so until his destination.
:lol:

It is actually 168m


You'd be better off with a rangefinder Pup. At your level, you'll benefit more from exact distances.
I have now played on more than a few occasions when another player in our group has a GPS than is 10+ metres out. At kwinana Sunday we had 2 rangefinders giving the exact same distances all day, and Veefores GPS was 10-12m out on every reading.

[ParMaster]

You'd be better off with a rangefinder Pup. At your level, you'll benefit more from exact distances.

JC I don't have steady hands at all. And my attempts thus far at using rangefinders have been crap because I haven't been picking up the target I'm trying to get..:oops:

[Johnny Canuck]

i've had a few bad readings from gps units in my very limited dealings.

try using your bag like a tri pod if you hav to pup.

i couldn't use aldo's at first, but i got used to it.

[adlo]

They are easy once you get the hang of it. With pinseeker technology you can't go wrong. And at 15 y.o. Pup, I am sure you can steady those old, shaky hands of yours.

Or, just get your parents to walk around the course with you getting the readings. They seem to be pretty generous parents.

[TheTrueReview]

From one SureShotter to another - congratulations on your buy. Thoroughly enjoying mine.

[Flavzz]

Used a sureshot b4. Quite liked it. Very quick seek times.

[ParMaster]

From one SureShotter to another - congratulations on your buy. Thoroughly enjoying mine.

Didn't buy it. :mrgreen: Thanks though.

What membership do you have mate?

[TheTrueReview]

What membership do you have mate?

Platinum or Platinum Plus.

[ParMaster]

Yay, I figured this thingy oot.

Case closed. ;)

[goonie]

:lol:

It is actually 168m


I have now played on more than a few occasions when another player in our group has a GPS than is 10+ metres out. At kwinana Sunday we had 2 rangefinders giving the exact same distances all day, and Veefores GPS was 10-12m out on every reading.

if it was 10-12m out the course wasn't mapped properly or its a crap GPS, mine is accurate to about 2m, and can give me a distance when I can't see the pin :-)

[adlo]

I'm not going to start that one again Goonie. There are threads full of the same discussion.

We are both happy with our purchases. Win, win. I am right though.



:mrgreen:

[Rusty]

Pup 40 course, 3 years m'ship. for me, that's enough.

[IanO]

I have had a Sureshot for over a year now and love it. I have the cheapest membership coz I don't need more than 10 courses on it at a time.

On the accuracy, I regularly play in groups where there are 3 Sureshot's and, providing you are using the same course config, they are not more than 1 to 3 m different.

[ParMaster]

Had my 1st game with the sureshot today and it was on the ball 90% of the time. It came up with some stupid readings but your common sense would figure that out..

[Johnny Canuck]

90 percent?

gps:oops:.

rangefinder - 100%8-)

[goonie]

90 percent?

gps:oops:.

rangefinder - 100%8-)

only if you can see the pin:oops:

[goonie]

Had my 1st game with the sureshot today and it was on the ball 90% of the time. It came up with some stupid readings but your common sense would figure that out..

sounds like a bad map, which is the only real downside to a good GPS, and if you play the course a lot it is easy to fix.

[Johnny Canuck]

only if you can see the pin:oops:]

so gps is a hacker device?

a rangefinder is perfect for my course as there are hardly any trees.

ever at kwinana on the weekend, the rangerfinder worked well. if i didn't have a line, i walked 10m and got one. if i had to walk more than that, chances were that i was so deep that i wasn't hitting to the pin anyways. you don't need exact distances when you are chipping out 12m sideways:oops:. i just tried to hit zeusgolf's bag. it made a great target.

[Sydney Hacker]

]

so gps is a hacker device?

a rangefinder is perfect for my course as there are hardly any trees.

ever at kwinana on the weekend, the rangerfinder worked well. if i didn't have a line, i walked 10m and got one. if i had to walk more than that, chances were that i was so deep that i wasn't hitting to the pin anyways. you don't need exact distances when you are chipping out 12m sideways:oops:. i just tried to hit zeusgolf's bag. it made a great target.

How do you get on in the wind ?

I tried one before I got a sureshot and it was quite windy, I found it very hard to try and get a reading because of the moving flagstick.

[Johnny Canuck]

i don't mind it, as long as someone hasn't wrapped the flag around the stick, making the target very small.

my finder is pretty small, so I can hold it pretty steady. it also has a scan function, which i have to use a lot of time in the heavy winds.

[Rusty]

Had my 1st game with the sureshot today and it was on the ball 90% of the time. It came up with some stupid readings but your common sense would figure that out..

of course, you can always check by walking to the back and front of the green to see how far out those waypoints are. then remap & upload for next time & others.

[Johnny Canuck]

don't tell him that. now he's going to ask how without looking in the manual or on the net!

[ParMaster]

How do you do that Rusty? (Happy JC??)

;)

^^^^

[Rusty]

dunno. it just sounded good. ;)

[markTHEblake]

I beleive that if your GPS has the SirFStar 3 chip it should be quite accurate. so if nextime you have a couple of different readings with differnt devices, check out what chip you have in them.

[Daves]

I beleive that if your GPS has the SirFStar 3 chip it should be quite accurate. so if nextime you have a couple of different readings with differnt devices, check out what chip you have in them.

My Neo has the SiFR star111 chip, my Nokia N95 has another type (Texas Instruments made). A little bit of difference, slower to lock would be the main and most noticeable one. I usually have both on and difference would be a metre or 2 at most, most of the time. Probably as much the mapping as the chip.

[oz]

I have the 8850 & love it. I have the 10 course, 3 year membership, unlimited downloads - so you can change the roster of 10 courses regularly. It's a snap to use, too, even when stat-tracking.

No probs with accuracy for me, plus it gives you distances to hazards, doglegs, front, middle, & back of greens, plus layup points and ability to add custom points. No brainer - GPS is best for me.

[Daves]

In my experience the 10m error situations are mostly where the course has been mapped via Google Earth. The satellite image overlays on GE can be out to their correct coordinates by that much.

[goonie]

I also find setting up layup points handy, Reddy bay has some good doglegs and there can be a big difference in tee positions on some holes.

And MTB will be very happy to know that my Pennant Comp allows GPS's to be used :-)

[markTHEblake]

I would really like to do some proper testing to verify these claims that they are not so accurate (or if they really are). The system itself is highly accurate, this i know having used them for timing synch on radio towers.

Some of the things i recall are; if the device is moving it will be more accurate, so dont keep it in a pocket. and should be accurate to 2m (consumer grade)

Waypoints on maps are not a good method for checking as they are unreliable, and not the same between devices. What you you really need to do is cross check with several devices the Lat/Long reading it gives to really determine if one is giving wrong locations, especially if can get some devices the same.

Goonie, I dont have to play pennants against you anyway and if the association allows it, then there is no issue at all. I dont know what GC is doing but if they do allow it, then i will be more than happy to use mine.

[ParMaster]

I'll be using this for the 1st time at NSWGC tomorrow so I'm looking forward to it. Been awhile since I've even played there..

[PeteyD]

GPS is as accurate as the mappings. Ones I have done of Google Earth have been spot on (except for when Carbrook was out on the satallite photos!). Range finders are good when you are follwing groups of women on the Gold Coast courses.

[ParMaster]

GPS worked well today at NSW. No problems with it so far.

[TheTrueReview]

I posted this in another thread but should've put it here.

If anyone has mapped Brookwater on their SureShot, I'd appreciate it if you could upload it.

There's no professionally mapped version to download & there's only one (non-professional) attempt at mapping it which I didn't find very accurate last time I was at Brookwater.