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The serial out on the GPS is sometimes needed for devices that cant use the USB. The serial out on the back of the garmin is the standard NEMA? protocal that works with fishfinders and other equipment that needs it. I was wondering if that was what the other pins were for. I've never seen such a cable either - I use the USB port. Perhaps I'll just use it this way for now and get it repaired/replaced when my year of warranty is almost up.

When did you update your software? There was an update that really slowed down the acquisition. A later one fixed it. I'm sure you've got the latest from a few weeks ago since you said you updated but everyone should be sure to run webupdater whenever they have some issue.

This is the drawback to greater sensitivity is the multipath issue. In my book, some lock is better than no lock as long as you know whats happening... Knowing how to use your tools is the key and when your information may be degraded.

track up when zoomed below 1.2 mi North up 1.2mi and out. the 60csx changes automatically and can be set to your preference. My old gpsV did not do this...this is one of the new features I forget to tell everyone about but I love it.

I think you want to save the track here. I can see where it might be nice to have the info from the trip computer also (stopped time, average time, ect ect). I guess you have to write them down quickley upon arrival....

Looks like the preferred NT version wont come out till the end of august. I cant find anywhere to by the full version on the garmin site (the full NT version that is). Does anyone have a link? I did find the link for the UPDATE NT version but not the full version. They wont let me update my 60csx to the NT version for some reason.

No, wont hold it all. YOu need like 1.5 gig for the whole thing

Well, if I was the guy designing it..I would go for the most sensitive, "signal pullin out of the noise" receiver I could build. Its the software guys that have to interpret that data to give the most palettable result. I just think the software guys need to do more work now to handle multipath better. This sort of thing is being done with digital TV signals now with the latest generation digital receivers and how they handle multipath....I think the TV software guys need to talk to the GPS software guys. I would say your assumption regarding a solution where a different unit might not get reception pretty much sums up what I've observed. The question comes down to which is preferable, no solution, or one that can be off by a considerable distance. A few years back now, I did a few comparisons with the at the time most sensitive unit (Sportrak), compared to a etrex legend. Searching for a little over a hundred caches, and comparing hiking tracks side by side for a couple hundred miles I actually decided I prefered the Legend over the sportrak which I had purchased hoping to get better reception than the Legend had been giving me. My current preference is that the Sirf units are great for vehicle navigation, where you're traveling at higher speeds, the software has lock to road and other features that help out in the overall position solution, and having accurate track data isn't critical. For hiking etc. I prefer the older units performance being as how I've found I'm more comfortable having to work to get reception than I am with the possibility that the data I have is quite problematic. For slow speed non road navigation/track logging the unit I use the most is my Forerunner 305. I've found I would much prefer it to have the older receiver section like my 201 but maintain the antenna placement of the new design. The 305 tends to periodically (Every 150 miles or so depending on terrain) log a track that wanders all over the place. It also tends to get fairly confused on mountain trails when compared to my 201.

You know, every once and a while this sort of thing happens to me too. Not sure what causes it..bad sat orientation? local interference. This has happened to me maybe 4 or 5 times since I have owned GPS's. Sometimes I think the government is doing some jamming tests? Once in an airplane heading into DC my gps altitude (no pressure sensor on this one) went negative for maybe 10 minutes of flight as we entered DC for landing. All this while the horizontal positioning was right on. The csx the other week had me off the highway by a few hundred feet. These events are rare but do happen.

Firmware and SW version?? The latest really improved that stuff.... Ive never seen mine that bad so maybe yours has a problem.

I've not been in that situation (mountains on one side or skyscrapers even). In general, are the places that would give a SIRF receiver the most problems also places that non SIRF receivers would not receive any signal? I can see the engineers building these super sensitive chips up and getting such great reception and then not realizing that getting that good of reception opens up a whole new can of worms. When checking accuracy of Sirf chipped units in situations like "under a metal pavillion", I've found the position accuracy to be quite interesting. Your solution is based on a bounced rather than direct signals, which results in quite variable position indications, depending on how far away the surfaces that are bouning the signal are. I've found the sirf based units can be somewhat of a blessing in flatter terrain, heavy tree cover, but the error you can get in mountainous canyons can be quite remarkable, measured in miles rather than feet on occasion. (To be fair, most of the time virtually all GPS units I've used are remarkably accurate, with significant errors being the exception rather than the rule) Set up your unit for time based track recording, get into a situation like a canyon with steep vertical walls, and leave the unit stationary for a couple hours. You can get some pretty interesting tracks doing this. My old sportraks would jump off course and stay there for awhile when recording tracks while moving, but because of the averaging it was hard to tell what they were doing while stationary. My Garmin units are prone to more fleeting but sometimes more significant position errors. The new chip setup however seems to be capable of getting the farthest off course, especially when it comes to being off position and staying there for awhile. Which is preferable to you probably has a lot to do with the sort of conditions you spend your time in the most.

Not important unless you are being told a heading to take or are comparing to a compass.....then you need to know. When flying VFR you always use magetic

Be sure to run webupdater on it and get the latest firmware. Report back..if its still like this then its messed up cause the csx's get reception inside buildings and outside no way will it have that kind of trouble. Also, make sure you give it enough time to lock....a new gps will take a long time to find itself and download almanac data. Just ensure you get the latest firmware first and do this with webupdater because there are two firmwares to upload.

The GPS V is/was a great GPS....I finally sold mine after I got my 60csx. I considered keeping it as a second unit but felt the deficencies (that always bugged me) were too great. My wife always complained about it being too slow to calculate a route. Adding new maps was a pain through the serial port (slow). YOu could not load anywhere close to all the maps you need for a complete route if its any real distance because of the limited memory (19meg). I would say its a great off road gps, but a poor onroad gps. Dont get me wrong, it was good in its day and a flagship...but time moves one and the csx garmins just have too much over them. In my opinion.

If your want autorouting then garmin 60csx, cx or 76 csx, cs. If you dont care about autorouting then you might consider the lowrance units that have very good reception also. Some folks on here like Magellan alot so you might check those high end models out as well but as of now they do not use the new SIRF receiver chips. Lowrance uses and older model SIRF chip I hear. Garmin is one chip behind the flagship SIRF chipset (which no one uses yet).

Hey, now thats an idea....hide a cache inside a building (that has good reception inside) and see how many finds you get. Like maybe under a metal pavillion at a park or inside the caboose on dispaly in our local park. In the pavillion at verison music center at INDY. My gps V would have given up under those but I'll bet the csx would work (maybe your meridian gold too). Anyway, having an extra sensitive reciever and getting reception inside buildings is not the point. Getting good reception under heavy tree cover is or whenever you dont have a clear view of the sky. Opening up options that you did not have before. There's no setting for that presently. There is on my Magellan Gold...you can set it to power off at different intervals if no buttons are pressed, or power off if it doesn't MOVE after a certain amount of time. As far as the Sirf chip getting reception indoors, I suppose that's great if you are looking for a cache under your couch...gives a whole new meaning to 'couch-caching', eh? LOL

There ya have it!!! Lowrance had SIRF's before Garmin!!! I have a Lowrance unit (iFinder GO) with 16 channels, and it saw 13 satellites + WAAS in the sky at the same time once. I do agree that GPSr's don't need all 12 channels to get the accuracy practical enough for us to use. Lowrance has been using SiRF chips for a while - the older units use the SiRF Star II series while most of their new ones use SiRF Star III (same as the Garmin X series), or so it's alleged. I still have no definitive proof on which chip my iFinder GO uses...

I've never had a shut down or a permanent lock up....I've had temprary freezes. This has to be due to corrupted maps or poor transflash contacts....I wasn't very happy with the way the transflash attaches in there. It seemed pretty touchy to me...

Thanks for bringing this back to reality...I had forgotten some lowrance owners were equally thrilled with their reception..I wonder what chipset lowrance uses?????? While I'm sure the Sirf III chip is an appreciated enhancement in GPS technology, I'd caution giving it any more credit than it is due. I bought my Lowrance iFinder Pro back in March 2004 and, it would get an equally reliable position lock while sitting in my livingroom too, about 15 feet in from the nearest window And it's ability to retain signal lock under amazon-like treecover is flat out amazing! Seems nowdays everyone is praising Surf technology for bringing GPS out of the dark ages, but personally I don't think it's as revolutionary as some may think.

If you have the money, then get the 'x' version. You will get 1)expandable memory 2) Receiver sensitivity that FAR exceeds any consumer grade gps out there 3) Faster processor for your autorouting All three of those make this a no brainer if you can pay the price. Remember, you will add in 1) 1gig memory card 50 bucks 2) City navigator 8 115bucks 3) RAM mount 60 bucks 4) Automobile power cord $25? PS....Looks like #2 is a lie..here's a guy who says he gets the same type of performance from his lowracne. see this thread http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=139079

Yep, I would wait. Having the unit freeze for 5 seconds occasionally surely outweighs all the other huge advantages you get with these units. Maybe you can jump in in a year or two. Oh wait, someone down the list said Garmin fixed it already with the new firmware...well, you better just hold off to be sure.... better safe than sorry.

This type of reception under heavy tree cover is common in units a few years old. An older Magellan is supposed to be better. The new Garmin 60csx and 76csx will give you what your looking for. It will not loose lock but under heavy tree cover you will loose some accuracy. These are not bluetooth however.

they should last as long or longer but they wont sit charged on a shelf as well.

Too late, you already bought maps for your 60csx..LOL BTW, I think that one does make breakfast for you...

You've got the premo set up now. Do you have a nice RAM mount and a power cord for the car? yah - I just got it for 108 from amazon. bought a 1gb chip for my 60csx too thanks