kenai1

I am looking for a software program that will take my GPS track and give me the maximum slope or grade percent for that track. Does any anyone know of anything (other than Track Analzyzer ver 103 - as it needs atleast a 300 m track) Thanks Kenai

There is a limit to the number of points you can have in a track so this option probable will not fly for an 8Meg SHP file. Make a map overlay as suggested. Plus if you did just upload a track then you have to be sure to turn track recording off on your GPS or the end of your track would merge into your movements, and the start of your track would slowly disappear point by point over time. Another optipon in the ozixplorer program is to filter the number of track points down to a reasonable number . I have taken 40 000 points in one track and filtered it down to 4000 and then sent it to my gps unit as a saved track. Youy lose some of the detail and a bit of distance due to the filtering process but the track still remains relatively accurate if you are using t as a guide to follow while you are out riding. Kenai

Mapsource will not use or recognize shape files so you have to use one of the other programs I mentioned. If the file was a bit smaller I could convert it to a gpx file for you send it back to you but 8 mb is a bit too big to email. If you know how to zip files using winzip or other programs it would probaly zip it to a file small enough to email. Kenai

You do not have to save the .shp file as a garmin map sheet to view them in your gps unit. You can send the shp file to your gps unit as as a saved track. DNR Garmin or Oziexplorer (plus probably other programs) will allow you to send the trails to your gps unit. What program are you using now to send tracks and waypoints to your GPS unit. Kenai

I used the barometric pressure from a weather station at the university where I work. (100 ft away). I tried it again today and the trending work fine over night with the unit off but as soon as I turn it on the pressure flatlines and does not change where the other units all have a decreasing pressure Rob

I did calibrate all the units and it did work just fine until it was turned on. You can see in this next photo it is not changing at all while all the units (4) are all dropping steadily so why not he Colorado. http://www3.telus.net/husky/baromterflatline.jpg Rob

I know this was discussed in in alot of previous posts that I scanned through but i thought the problem fixed with the new unit software. I just recieved my new colorado and was surfing through some of the posts and I came across alot of glitches with the barometer. My Barometer is acting up. I left in on the "save always" feature when I have it turned off and it seemed to be working fine but a soon as I turn it on the pressure jumped to an abnormal range. I have inserted a link to the screen shot. I have 4 other units that all give a pressure of around 1010.1 mb. The colorado was reading this until it was turned on. I have the new software v2.7. I am missing something or is this normal. FYI With both the units off the colorado is reading 2530 ft elev and the 76csx is 2600 ft and the 76S is 2615 ft http://www3.telus.net/husky/barometer.jpg Rob

A quick tweak of the battery connectors to make sure of a good contact has fixed similar problems with this unit. I have tried tweaking and moving connectors and no luck. Kenai

I have a 60csx that won't power up using batteries. It will power on if I hook it up to my computer using the USB cable. Anyone else had this problem? Kenai

I finally got around to comparing 8 of my GPS units. I drove a steeet up and back woth the units tracking every 10 m ( except for the forerunner and trackstick). I have posted a couple of pictures of the results. It may be hard to see from the legend but in this non-scientific project the 76CS seemed to show mw driving up the road on one side and then down the other side of the road. The GPS 38 was by far the worst. Rob

I think you would want to turn it off in areas where the WAAS correction data is not relevant to your location. ie if you were near the equator you would still be able to lock onto the WAAS satellites but the correction data would be usueful if not degrading your accuracy as there are no WAAS base stations in that area. I think only lower 2/3 of North America and Alaska are serviced by these WAAS Base stations so if you are outside this area WAAS is of no use to you. Rob

Does anyone have any experience hooking their garmin gps upto a fish finder and recording depths? Ie If the depth is showing on the trip computer field will it automatically replace the altitude when you download the track to a program like Oziexplorer? Thanks Kenai1

I just received my Astro today and went out for 3 km hike through a forested trail near my house. I have 20 Siberian Huskies which are notorious for taking off when "Off Leash". I picked my best behaved husky and put the harness and antenna on him and off we went. The unit seemed to provided results as I expected. The "Dog Page" has a pointer with a distance to Dog field that worked great. I could tell at any time what direction the dog was and how far away he was from me. He did wander more than a few hundred metres off into the forest but the communication strength with the antenna remained 5 out of 5 bars. The Map page tracks is like any other Garmin Map Page except that it is tracking 2 tracks at once. ( The user and the dog's). The unit also gives real time distance travelled for the dog as well and it s speed and whether the dog is moving or not. This report is still very preliminary as I have only had the unit our for one trip. The only complaint I had was the harness for the dog. It worked satifiactorily but I did have to adjust it a couple of times after the dog came out of some heavy brush. I think I can adjust it to make it stay upright better though. The trail I walked was 3.2 km while the dog covered 4.8 km ( probably will be more when I bring a younger dog out as this one was 11 yrs old and does not venture out to far like he used to. Kenai1

I use an external antenna with my Garmin 76cs most of the time I hike ( I like to leave the GPS unit in my pocket) but I was wondering if I bought a new 76csx if I would still benefit from the Sirf technology when using an external Antenna. Thanks Kenai

I have a question about the sirf star technology. 1. If I use an external antenna with the 76csx does the unit still take advantage of this new technology? If not is there an external antenna that uses this Sirf Star technology (ie an antenna I could use with a 76CS) Thanks kenai

I have a GPS 76cs that worked fine for a year and now it has been acting strange. Every time I turn it on, it does a cold start "Searching the Sky" for 5-10 min before getting a fix. Even if I turn it off after using it for an hour it takes another 10 min to get a fix. I have reloaded the latest firmware as well. Any Suggestions? Kenai

I just used my vista for the first time on 3 different flights and it worked great except that the altimeter only read 6000 ft when it should have been close to 30 000 ft. I turned off the auto calibration and no difference. I also had a pilot who was deadheading back home sit next to me and he said the cabin is pressurized to a maximum of about 6000 ft and that I was probably still reading from the barometer. (BTW he did not seem to mind that i had it on during takeoff and landing). Is there some way of overriding the barometer so that it only calculates elevation from the satellites? Thanks

Is the minimum distance that the track log records 0.01km (10 m) or can it be set to a lower number. Thanks Rob