janandsteve

Running the latest beta firmware version. Using GPS simulator mode to put myself in your location, it shows me the same as you see on the 62, sunrise at 5:26 and sunset at 20:36. Funny enough, with GPS demo mode off and using the "search near" thingie of the sun/moon screen and picking the same location, I get the sunrise 2 minutes earlier and the sunset 1 minute later, but showing in the local time zone. But that's probably just a time zone thing, when I pick May 3rd using this method, I get the same values again. Thanks for confirming that this seems to be an issue across the range of 62 and 400 series. Wonder if the 500 series is indeed the same or has that got the 'correct' formula, considering the test result pasted earlier in the thread. Garmin replied back within the last hour ( they have had my email for a while, but appreciate they will be busy with the latest software feedback ) and they confirm that they will look into why there is a descrepancy. Thanks again for the confirmation.

Here's me thinking it was the only one Garmin did.... GARMIN's claim not mine. I was merely pointing out that their 'top-of-the-line' model should be accurate. Others have reported similar probs - maybe its a batch thing..... What can I be doing wrong? You just read the data field.......

If you tell me your approximate location, I can tell you what times my 450 reports. Thanks for agreeing to do this for me. I'm from Doncaster in the UK: 53°31.611'N, 1°07.990'W My 62s is showing 8:36pm for 4th May 2011. http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/sunrise.html is showing 8:39pm http://www.goflying.org/met/riseset/index.htm is showing 8:40pm My yellow etrex from 2002 shows 8:40pm It would be good to see what the 450 reports. Thanks. Steve

I would assume that the 62 gives exactly the same times are the Oregon 550 (which was mentioned) as they run essentially the same software. Refering back to previous posts, the 62/s is off for a few of us, so not too sure why the 550 is correct.....

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread. How? I'll read on.... respect. Totally standard stuff - I agree. Thank you for taking the time to perform these extensive tests, which conclude without doubt that all previous Garmin units tie in with the 'standard calculations' and those of the online sites. This just gives us more evidence that the 62s is WRONG and needs reprogramming with the 'correct' formula, so that this 'top-of-the-line' flagship model is as accurate as its predecessors. Not too sure of the dates on (1) & (2) above from 1999, as "Selective Availability" was discontinued On May 2, 2000 - unless of course they were military spec. I didnt think this was the case, hence why I didnt reply to your previous post. My simple comparison between my yellow etrex from 2002 ( ties in with the standard calculation and online sites ) and my flagship 62s model from 2009 gave me enough confidence that the 62s is WRONG and needs reprogramming with the correct formula. With the conclusions from your extensive testing ( thanks again ) and the forum posts by others on this thread, it is easy to account for the discrepancy - the 62s simply isnt programmed with the correct formula. This is also backed up from my own simple test with my yellow etrex from 2002. I see every reason to 'stomp' on Garmins formula, as you have concluded yourself, it is simply NOT RIGHT for the flagship model - the 62s. Not for me it's not.... and I guess for others who want it correcting, it wont be either. Close enough is just not good enough, when you have proved beyond doubt that Garmin do in fact know the correct formula, otherwise those units that you tested would be wrong as well. I do not find any of my posts bitter or abusive in nature. I just simply want whats right and I guess others do too.....

See my earlier post. My 'consumer grade' yellow Etrex from 2002 shows the sunset time accurately based on online comparisons. My 62s is WRONG. Garmin know the 'true' calculation, so why change it for the 62s? Almost 10 years on and they seem to have gone backwards....

AGREE. Thanks for the support.

Yeah I thoroughly enjoyed the lack of that alert as well. Oh well... Personally I like the alert. All the other waypoints 'beep' when navigating a route. To find a cache you need to come out of the route nav and select a single cache and GO - but before there was no beep like in route navigation; I find the readdition a welcome. Maybe have it switchable for those that dont like it?

The beta team can be contacted at: 62-78Beta@garmin.com if that helps for future suggestions, although we all like to know about things on here as well. If its something that does need addressing, you will find support on here and many people will email the beta team. The more that do this, the better it will be for us all to get things implemented / probs corrected.

This functionality has been there as long as I can remember, and certainely was in the 2.80 version.

An interesting observation today..... I performed a test comparison between my Garmin 62s and my OLD yellow ETREX from late 2002 - basic yellow without WASS. Todays accuracy on the ETREX was 21ft and that of the 62s was 10ft - so nothing that would make a huge difference to my 'location' and therefore the sunset times should be comparible. Based on http://www.csgnetwork.com/sunriseset.html tonights sunset will be 8:34pm Garmin 62s: 8:30pm 2002 ETREX: 8:33pm +/- 1 digit is acceptable and therefore I conclude that my OLD ETREX from 2002 is ACCURATE and my GARMIN 62s is WRONG. This means that Garmin DOES know the 'correct' sunset formula, so why the discrepancy in the 62s?

Thanks to all who have replied. The 62s does change the sunset time if I move East/West within the same time zone, suggesting that it calculates the sunset from its sat position fix. email already with the beta team at time of original post. Please email them so that we can get this sorted for everyone...... 62-78Beta@garmin.com Thanks for the support and interest.

Thanks for the replies so far. It's a function I was unaware of until the other day when the arrows briefly appeared, but now I know about them, its a function that could prove useful, esp seeing the nearest caches in the direction of travel. Thanks for confirming that the arrows work better when moving - but in the car is not much use when on the trail.... maybe when they appeared the other day, I was moving fast? The geocaching dashboard on the map screen utilises the arrow pointing to the closest cache even when navigating a route - a feature I find useful due to the cluttered map screen with those big blue pins - so I wonder what processing power would be required to display this as an arrow in real time - utilising the gps internal compass - for each of the closest caches on that screen - so when I turn round the arrows move with me...... a nice feature if it worked. Looks like the functionality is there, but it just isnt working for me at the moment........ email already with the beta team.

Thanks for your reply..... here are some that I tried.... http://www.sunrisesunset.com/custom.asp http://www.sunrisesunsetmap.com/ http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/rs-one-year-world http://www.schoolsobservatory.org.uk/astro/esm/sunrs_uk http://www.dawnsun.net/astro/suncalc/ http://www.goflying.org/met/riseset/index.htm Weatherunderground is also another site to check..... I'd be interested to know if your 62s is displaying the same problem.

I wonder if the online calculators factor in elevation, which is an important factor in what time the sun sets. Find a clear view of the horizon and tell us which one was correct? Thanks for your reply. The online calculators always use sea level to calc the sunset times, as per the FAQs stated on the ones I have used. As my 62s is always before the actual online times, it would suggest I am below sea level..... but I am above sea level and below 100ft, which is why I thought it strange that the 62s seems to be out????

I have used several online sunset calculators to determine the sunset time at my location. All tell me 8:30pm for 29 April 2011. I have noticed that the 62s always shows a few min before the times indicated on the online calc sites. Eg tonight my 62s is showing 8:27pm. Any ideas why this may be so? I appreciate that its to do with the algorithm used by the 62s, but based on a few online sites which all agree with each other, the 62s is always wrong. Why?

Thanks for your reply. My nearest geocache screen just sticks on bearings on the right hand side...... I did notice that after 2mins or so, the bearing changed to a red arrow for 5 or so secs, but then it has gone and still after 5mins staring at the screen, the arrows never came back. When they were here, I turned around and the arrow was pointing in the wrong direction, so looks like they are only a snap shot when present - so not much use? I just had a walk down the garden ( quite long ) and they dont even appear when moving...... I'm a little confused now... I'm running the latest beta 2.95. Seems like a good feature if it worked for me. Any more suggestions?

I sent this to the Beta Team an hour ago and they responded within 10mins saying.... 'Beta software 2.95 is released for the 62. It addresses the beep issue you have reported. We'll look at everything else you've mentioned soon.' I attach the below in case someone can add anything..... Always trying to get the best from my 62s I have now setup a screen to show the active route for my Geocaching trips. Part reason for this is to help identify geocaches on my route due to probs with the cluttered map screen display...... Most of my trips here in the UK are along public footpaths and I always plan a route for my trip. I always place a 'marker' 100ft or so before a cache so that the 62s will beep when approaching. I also add the cache to the trip plan. UPDATE: EMAIL FROM BETA TEAM: 'Beta software 2.95 is released for the 62. It addresses the beep issue you have reported' I will have to try the 'new' beep for a single waypoint / cache. Still may be worth keeping my 100ft marker as a 'double' beep just in case. With this in mind, the map screen shows many blue 'pins' and the cache is not obvious from the map screen. Quest: How can I change the blue pins to small dots so that the map screen is not cluttered? I have worked this out in Basecamp with a registry edit ( thanks to this forum ), but the blue pins still appear on the 62s even tho they dont in basecamp. I have changed to some custom geocache icons ( thanks again to this forum ) to help with this, but the screen is still too cluttered. I know this has been mentioned on these forums, but as yet, nothing has been done to rectify the issue - another gentle reminder to Garmin on the email I sent As a result of the cluttered screen, I have now added an active route page for my trips. The idea I thought was to see when a cache was coming up. This works great for the first few waypoint markers, but a few miles into a trip, when I change to this screen, I have to scroll to the bottom of the active list to see my next waypoint I will visit. Quest: On active route page, there is no point starting at the top of the list from hours ago. I want to see my next waypoint marker and dont want to scroll 10 pages down to see my next point. This is where the red flag shows next to the waypoint. Can anything be done about this please? Anything anyone can add, please reply. Thanks. Steve

I noticed something useful pop up yesterday, but then it seems to have gone again without any changes to any settings - when viewing nearest geocaches, it shows distance and bearing - but yesterday I noticed some red arrows flash up - a very useful feature I thought - but then they disapeared as soon as they appeared - this feature is useful to see the geocaches that are coming up in the direction of travel. The nearest cache may be 0.3 miles away at the back of me, but I want to see those closest on my route forward. Any ideas how to keep these arrows on all the time instead of bearing?

Changes made from version 2.94 to 2.95: ◦Fixed issues relating to WAAS performance. ◦Fixed issue where the device would not regain a GPS signal after losing the GPS signal in a tunnel. ◦Fixed shutdown on the map screen when a waypoint was being moved to the same location as a geocache or other POIs. ◦Fixed issue where proximity waypoint alerts could only be set in feet regardless of what was selected as a Distance/Speed unit in the setup page. ◦Fixed an issue where the enabled/disabled option for custom maps could not be changed when two or more BirdsEye™ Satellite Imagery providers were on the device. ◦Fixed an issue where the device would not beep when approaching a destination while routing off-road. ◦Problems with the software may be reported to 62-78Beta@garmin.com

I use Basecamp without any problem. Free Software from Garmin for their newer models. Here's the link: http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/us/onthetrail/basecamp

...but not if you have an original SD Garmin map card that is read only.....

Google: 'Pomorska navigacija' Select the first on the list - in polish first - and then go back in browser and do a translate. Seems it means 'Maritime navigation' - look just above the chart plotter on the right Strange it appears in Polish when English selected - sounds like a refurb unit to me. Maybe send it back like others have suggested? I doubt it's a refurb: still in the original Garmin blister pack. And it's from gpscity.ca, ad I've never had problems with them. Anyway, it's just a curiosity to me, not a bug. But it makes sense that it means "marine." We posted at the same time - see my edit above. The language seems to be Slovenian. Maybe it is new and was originally destined for there? As long as you are happy, I guess it dont matter that much.

Google: 'Pomorska navigacija' Select the first on the list - in polish first - and then go back in browser and do a translate. Seems it means 'Maritime navigation' - look just above the chart plotter on the right Strange it appears in Polish ( EDIT: Slovenian ) when English selected - sounds like a refurb unit to me. Maybe send it back like others have suggested? EDIT: a closer look at the page suggests the language converted from Slovenian Google translate http://translate.google.co.uk/translate_t?hl=en&pq=pomorska+navigacija+&xhr=t&q=slovenian+to+english&cp=11&wrapid=tlif130270553335210&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wT#sl|en|'Pomorska%20navigacija'%0D%0A confirms Marine Navigation

We use fieldnotes as fieldnotes. That is, we do not (anymore) try to type out an entire log to post online. We simply "shorthand" info so that we can remember that particular cache on a long run. That and if we dropped or retrieved a traveler. We always edit, or finish those fieldnotes before submitting. The typing function (it's a stretch to call it that) is cumbersome, at best, with a GPSr. EASYNICEVIEWLEFTCARTB Now what if I want to add that the log is wet and needs replacing?