kb9nvh
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Posts posted by kb9nvh
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I appreciate the sorted lists of areas. Nice effort on neogeo's part. Thanks.
Todd
Point being?
Whatever point you wanna make of it...
You're welcome to ignore it if you don't care
It doesn't make it any less stupid. Likewise, your welcome to ignore it if you don't care.
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Forgiven,
Some of us who own Garmin may be slightly sensitive about negative comments about the brand. Most of this comes from past fanboy wars. Garmin is not perfect but my only complaint with them is the map unlocking regiem they force us into. I cant even use my version 4.0 maps on my new 60csx because, for some reason, when I upgraded to 6.0 my version 4 maps cannot be unlocked to my new gps. Some features of version 4 I needed lost it because I upgraded. (I'm still mad about this)!!
With my old lowrance unit, my 10yr lithium battery died after 1.5 years. Too bad soo sad for me said Lowrance. That was one reason I would not consider lowrance as my next gps. I have heard recently that some garmins had the same battery problem around that time. ...
Welcome to our group and we hope you enjoy your gps as much as we do (no matter what brand you own).
Here is a thread that explains how to get the TOPO maps on your computer hard drive.
Those maps can be installed on any number of computers.
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Yep, presurized airplanes is basically where I want to see it. But you are correct that in most instances your better off with the barometric pressure.
I don't know what the advantage would be to having the ability to display the GPS (satellite) derived altitude. You'll just wind up aggravating yourself looking at the difference between the barometer and the satellite elevation. The problem has always been that with auto cal "on", the gps using the sats, corrects the barometer altitude. This works reasonably well until you get yourself in a position where you have a bad sat configuration, or some of the sats are blocked because of the terrain you are in. Of course none of us know what logic Garmin uses as to when and how it will decide whether a given sat altitude is "accurate" enough to be used as a "correction". I can say from using it a lot, that using just the barometer is a lot more accurate than relying on the GPS sat side to add it's "corrections". Of course that applies only when you don't have a significant movement in atmospheric pressure. It also means that you have to calibrate the unit from a known atmospheric pressure or elevation which sometimes is a PITA. For ease of use and more reliable results, I am more comfortable with the topo contour lines, as I make my own and they are more detailed than Garmins. This method doesn't of course give you a pretty altutude graph on the GPS., something I would find as an interesting reference, but very non-interesting if it's not accurate....which it isn't.
I have always had a hunch the GPS sat correction doesn't have, or doesn't have a good enough logic circuit to decide when it has an accurate enough sat reading to apply the correction. To check the variation on the GPS altitude, try taking several readiings ath the same spot on different times of the day using the sat page and GPS the GPS altitude...with my 60CS I can see a "big" swing in altitudes....
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I thought the 110 was the NON-map version of the rhino?
They seem to have lots more Rhino radio/gps's out not (500 series).
Here's a rundown of the models..
I bought a Rino 110 (which I am beleiving to be a mistake on my part). I love the device for what it is and how easily the UI funtions with the physical buttons and the screen is phenominal. However, I realized rather quickly that I cannot view streets, highways, etc. like I can on my friend's Etrex.
My question is; Is there ANYWAY POSSIBLE to get those features on my Rino???
If not, anyone intrested in buying an almost brand new Garmin Rino 110 for a discounted $ ?
I appriciate you input,
Gene
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This sounds like you need to first do a master reset and see if that clears it up. Other than that I think a call to Garmin will be in order
Today I was caching and about halfway to cache #1 in car, I look up and the Legend is off. I thought I might have clamped the dash mount on the power button, so I turn it back on.
A couple minutes later there is a window that looks like this:
- At the top it says, "External Power Source unplugged"
- Middle, "GPS will shut off in..." countdown numbers
- Bottom - "Press any button to switch to battery power"
At the end of countdown GPS shuts down.
I don't and have never had an external power source. I pressed the button and that window would close, but just pop up again a few minutes later.
When I started caching it stopped, but I'm not sure if something was fixed, or it was because I was fiddling with all the buttons while caching, keeping the window away.
Anyone have this problem? How does one fix it?
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Yep, unfortuatly, another 100 bucks. Did metroguide come with it or did you buy it seperate?
Maybe your can return it for credit on city select/navigator 8.
Okay, thanks :-)
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I dont like the way the RAM 60 series mount works...or at least it needs some grinding to make it easier to mont and unmount the unit. Besides that the suction mount is the BEST I have found for moving from car to car.
You may need to look into another option. My 3 month old Ram mounnt broke yesterday. I was "squeezing" it open and it cracked, rendering it useless. I repaired it with a splint and epoxy and thread but it sure should not have broken. If there is an alternative bracket I would look into that.
This was for a 60 series Garmin? How do you "squeeze" it open?
GeoBC
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I love mine, they have fixed all the major bugs. Some folks on here have still been dissatified and returned their unit. I'm not sure why because I dont see where it can get much better than this 60csx (at least mine). I have owned a lowrance airmap100 and a garmin gpsV and now the 60csx. It seems like I keep finding new features on this thing (like proximity detection of waypoints). I love the elevation plots (by time or distance) and are very accurate in the short term. Long term requires recalibration as does the compass. I suppose I would find this an annoyance if other units I had did not need recalibration for those functions (and maybe they dont but I've never had compass or altimeter before). Chime in any time magellan or lowrance owners.
I love my autorouting and pretty much garmin is the only good solution for that if you want your gps to do multiduty. If I didnt' want/need autorouting then I likely would have purchased lowrance.
These are very expensive after you get maps and power cords and RAM mounts and such so if cost is a major issue then you might wish to consider lowrance or magellan.
I'm new to Geocaching, so new that I haven't bought a GPS. I've been considering the 60CSX but have read a lot of bad things about it. What's the real scoop? Is it worth the bucks? Have the fixed all the problems I've read about it?
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There are two things to update in firmware. The software version and the "gps sw version" One is garmins part and the other is from the sirfIII manufacturer but garmin supplies it to you. run webupdater at least twice and it will find it and do it for you.
I have had the 60CSx for about a week and a half and have yet to see any "D" in the signal strength bar or any sats higher than #29. I have upgraded the firmware/software, enabled WAAS in setup, and restarted outside in a clearing. Still no such luck. My EPE varies substantially in current stated condition: An average from 45-100 ft, where on occasion and briefly it will state +-10ft.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or insight, especially considering this is my first GPSr.
Now, I have noticed substantial variation with the barometric altimeter. Does it use the GPS altitude to automatically calibrate the pressure for the elevation?
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Same here, all my errors still exsist...I guess they must not have time to field them all...
I'll stick with my version 6 also. POI's are pretty hit and miss too unfortunatly...Not sure how they decide on what to include and what not to.
The errors that are in my 40 year old neighborhood are still there and I reported them a year ago. I think I'll just stick with CS6 for now.
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You can set it to show the actual course to the waypoint or the original bearing if, form some reason, it was important to follow the original path. So did you want the course or the bearing to your destination?
I think these are the definitions:
course is a line from where you originally began your navigation to the destination (not an option on garmin)
Bearing is a line from your current location to your destination
Heading is the way you are heading now
The mode your are in (course/bearing) makes a difference on how the compass works as well as the lin on the map.
Wondering if the Garmin 60csx allows for the display of a bearing line that indicates the direction of travel?
That would come in handy when flying a direct line route toward a particular destination.
if your going to a waypoint your have made, on the map screen it does have a line showing which way to go from your location. this can be turned off to I think.
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Yes this happened to me as well.
I did find that during runs/slow trails that I needed to turn on track point every second to get a good representation of my track..but I did loose a portion of my track at one point and I know I didn't loose lock.
It got sperated to two tracks and I had a gap in between
I was curious if anyone else noticed an issue relating to the trip computer page on the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx
I have noticed that if you are in an area where the accuracy reaches a certain point (approximately 100 feet) and/or the GPSr goes into 2D mode, the “Odometer” will no longer continue to “count up” even though you are still moving. The “Stopped” time will also begin counting up, in other words the unit thinks you are standing still even though you are still moving.
However if you go to the map page the present position icon will continue to show (fairly accurate) your movement along the map.
In other words, depending on which page you look at, your either moving or you’re stopped.
As an example I walked along a 4 mile trail last weekend and the unit, for a continuous period of time, entered 2D mode with an accuracy of approx. 100 feet (I had some fairly large mountains to my sides and front). At the end of the trail I only showed 3.06 miles traveled. When I was able to get back into 3D mode and 15 feet accuracy at the end of the trail, the unit began counting from 3.06 miles (i.e. it does not catch itself back up).
Both the map, hike description, and the track log confirm the trail at approximately 4.0 miles.
Can anyone else confirm this anomaly????
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Well, it costs more to get more memory so you have to draw the line someplace in features. That said, getting more memory than the 19meg my gps V had was one of my "must have to upgrade" features. I've got like 500 bucks in mine (60csx) so you have to rationalized what you really need.
Like geobc said, before you buy any maps, make sure it has small map segments or you will be very limited in that 24MB. My 19megs was OK with city select 6 but the new navigator would not be acceptable. I dont know, but there might even be some segments that are larger than 24meg and would be unlaodable to you.
You'be got a good unit there for what you paid..just be aware of its limitations so you dont waste money on something you cant use.
The colour screen makes a big difference if you're using maps on a GPS. No need to second guess that aspect of it.
If you're driving to Alaska from Florida...well, you might have problems. Last year, as a little experiment, I used Mapsource to plot a route from my city (Vancouver, BC, Canada) down to the southeastern most part of Florida, and then told it to select all the map segments on that route.
The 115MB of map storage in my 76C was big enough, but 24MB is DEFINITELY not going to be enough. Of course, your built-in base map might already have the main interstate hwys and then you'd just need to load more details maps for Alaska and/or British Columbia.
But before you buy any mapping products, definitely check to see what hwys your basemap contains. With luck, you might not need to buy anything else.
GeoBC
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go to the altimeter page...
or choose "elevation" for one of your information blocks on the map or trip computer page
Or, topo doesn't have elevation linked into the gps track so you only have it for viewing on the screen I believe..
Still don't see any elavations. What did I do wrong? GPS is a Garmin 76CSx. I have CS 6 and Topo maps installed.
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I've never lost any maps or settings updating firmwares on a csx version.
I have custom stuff saved in mapsource anyway for quick replacement. I think I would still have to redo my custom screens and such.
Good Luck...let us know if new firmware improves any issues.
Hey if I update the firmware will I lose the maps and waypoints in my 60cs? I'm gussing no but I want to make sure before I do it.
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I guess we could all just stick to a compass and map and not have these discussions at all :-)
GeoidPS, I see your a CS owner youself. Doesnt' the CS have all the cool functions like fishing times, sun and moon, tides, jumpmaster, area calculation, .......?
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The x can't even pull in the waas corrections when the cs does that under tree cover (with a gilsson antenna).
I agree with Team Dublin. Magellan is better suited to mature audiences and keep the bells and busted readings for Garmin kids.
Conspiracy theory?? Who do you think started the Navigator V8 is released post? Garmin, of course.
I guess I'm a Garmin "Kid" as I like the feature set and have used many of them. I dont see where haveing a good featureset is a detraction to a gps unless it makes it difficult to use. Mine is no harder than any I have tried (lowrance and garmin and some limited magellan). One new feature I recently discovered was proximity detection. I can set a radius around a waypoint and the gps warns me when I enter and leave that radius. This is a function that my old lowrance aviation gps had and warned me when I was entering restricted airspace.
Why don't you jump out of a plane! I'd like to know how the jump master works.
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I've done some flying with my GPS and, in my experience, I can tell if I'm climbing or descending so rapid altitude changes can be felt. If the GPS indicates fairly rapid altitude changes when the altimeter on the plane indicates none then I belive the altimeter. I think the key here is rapid change (30 seconds). Certainly the pressure altimeter is subject to anything that causes a pressure change but those things happen gradually especially if your trying for level flight.
Not to take sides here but I've seen my GPS altitude vary by quite a bit when sitting still on the ground with pretty clear view of the sky. I dont trust GPS altitude for more than about 75 ft in my experience and gps altitude is way worse than horizontal position in my experience. That said, dont trust your planes altimeter for landing without first adjusting for local pressure conditions.
The new crop of gps's with pressure sensors only show pressure altitude so some folks have not seen a strictly GPS elevation displayed. Seems there's some confusion on GPS elevation and pressure altitude in some threads I've recently read when it comes to gps's with pressure sensors.
Just my two cents on this subject.
I am a pilot and can verify a GPS receiver's ability to derive altitude information from its 3D fix from satellites is marginal at best. I could be flying level but the altitude displayed on my GPS would bounce around +/- 500' to 750' so it's not accurate enough when you need the correct altitude.
Assuming that you've got a good 3D fix (preferably 5 or more satellites with decent geometry), then discrepancies of that magnitude are much more likely due to the inaccuracy of the plane's barometric altimeter than the GPS. The plane's altimeter reading depends on a standard model of the atmosphere - in particular making assumptions on the lapse rate or how rapidly the temperature falls with increasing altitude and also what the current sea-level pressure is at your current location. When landing at an airport you can get an update as to the current reading there and adjust the Kollman window on the altimeter so it'll be very accurate for the landing, but depending on how closely the atmosphere happens to coincide with the standard assumed model that day it can still be off by hundreds of feet once you're at an altitude of thousands of feet AGL. Despite this accuracy issue, pilots should still use the barometric altimeter to set their flight altitude since the idea is to maintain vertical separation from other planes that are flying in the same atmosphere and therefore subject to the same error. As long as everyone is off by the same amount the planes will stay separated.
BTW, I rarely see a discrepancy greater than about 40' when comparing a GPS altitude using at least 5 satellites while on an airport runway or other location with an accurate surveyed elevation.
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I think he's leaning towards lowrance.
So, where the doe H2O stand in this? Is it still the flagship for lowrance? If I didn't need autorouting (and already have maps from my old gpsV) I would have probably been using a different brand right now too.
The $100 unlock fee for Garmin quickly adds up. We spend a few weekends a year roadtripping to different places and usually bring a boat. With Lowrance I can get a Nautipath map of the entire US for $99. With Garmin I have to unlock each region as I go. Last year Chesapeake Bay and Boston. This year Maine and NY Canals. Next year North Channel/Georgian Bay. Plus the home area of Lake Ontario. That's $400 to $600 in unlock fees for Garmin.
I think you have your answer right there. Buy the Magellan. By the sounds of it, you could always buy a 60Cx or 76Cx just for heavy foliage if you're not satisfied with the Magellan's performance and still come out the same or ahead.
GeoBC
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Dont worry about starting a war...lowrance doesn't have the passion surrounding it like magellan.
I think any of the newer gps's will do what your wanting (H2O comes to mind) but generally you get what you pay for. Garmin has the largest following so most third party software works with it. You will get less options if you buy lowrance but the hardware is good.
You should make a list of your MUST HAVE features and options and then see what models fit the bill.
I find on the forums that most topics are about the Garmin GPS models, What about the Lowrance units?
What would be a good Lowrance model to own for Geocaching? and for traveling?
Thanks
Dave
Please no one reply to this message. I have read some earlier posts and I do not want to start a war.
thanks
Dave
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In my gpsV I was able to load a route from mapsource...You need to turn OFF auto recalculation or it will hose it up for you. With autorecalculation off it should keep your old route I think.
I'll try this tonight in my 60csx and see what happens.
This has been discussed before ..... As I understand it .... Garmin autorouting GPS units will not take routes from another source ... they want to do it themselves.
ImpalaBob -
I dont have first hand experience with a new lowrance or magellan but it really think it would be very hard to beat a new garmin X series for recpetion...I'm constantly amazed at where it gets a lock. Maybe they are all this good now adays though......Seems like the sensitivity is so good now that if it got any better the error would just keep getting larger now due to multipath.
Anyone else care to comment on this.....we need some guy to stick a magellan/lowrance on one shoulder and a garmin on the other and find some caches and compare the two/three.
I don't want to start a firestorm like the "What a Mistake" thread. But I have to ask:
Does anyone have good knowledge about which would be better under foliage?
The guy at REI said the Garmin x series unit. The sparse comments I hear on Lowrance indicated they have "better antenna". I'm not sure the REI guy used a Lowrance much.
I want to use the unit in the woods and as a backup on my boat.
Each unit has its pluses and minuses. I wish Garmin or Lowrance would make a model with a large screen like the Magellan XL. I also wish Garmin would unlock the whole country like Lowrance's nautipath marine charts. I think the deciding factor for me will the performance under foliage and cost of marine charts. My problem is I haven't seen any direct comparisons of the units under foliage.
Thanks for your input.
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I agree, it seems the only one who hasn't really added any info to this thread is the OP. I would like to know more about his issues and what firmware he is running and all of that but I really think his post was more for venting and he wasn't interested in opions or fix's.
How about it OP....what was your purpose in starting this thread??
Actually you can learn quite a bit from those threads.
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Another difference is that magellan has elevation info in their topo so you get accurate elevations (unlike garmin who relies on external methods). This helps if you make a route across terrain the magellan can give you altitude profile before you actually make a track. That would be a nice feature.
...From here forward I resign myself to NEVER read another G vs M thread, and permanently place those who start such threads in my ignore list... waste of time........
Actually you can learn quite a bit from those threads.
For example. Magellans have some type of averaging that Garmins don't. It causes the boomerange effect, but also makes them more stable under tree cover. The ST's (newer ones don't seem to do this) would neglect to let you know they don't have a lock and use some form of dead reconing to guess your position. Handy when you walk up to the bottom of a cliff when the cache is on top and the tree cover prevents reception, a PITA on a twisty mountain road where there is turn you need to make.
Garmin on the other hand doesn't average, which lets you walk right up to the cache but also has you bounce around in the woods. It will tell you to the point of annoyance when it has lost lock, but won't take you down the wrong road from it's dead reconing. When they have a compass it's not a Tri axis so you will get annoyed at the "hold level" warning when trying to use it.
Magellan Topo has a leg up on Garmin topo since the info is about the same for topo but Magellan also includes road names. Meanwhile Garmin wins when it comes to auto routing in a hand held.
There are other differences like the SD cards Magellans had first. Plus how they use the SD cards is different.
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Roads are notoriously off when you zoom way in. I'm thinking more like 100 ft but I have seen worse.
I'm not sure who lorance uses for its mapping but I have heard that exact road loactions are worse in thier product as lowrance is more of a boating and hiking gps. In any case, you will likely have to live with this inaccuracy. We all do.
I can't seem to find any topic where this has been discussed already. I am learning to use a Lowrance Expedition C with the Mapcreate 6.3 maps in the SF Bay Area. I took the unit in the car with me today, had good signal and traced my route as I went. I immediately noticed that the traced route was tracking anywhere from 50 - 200 feet away from the roads on the map, so I dropped some waypoints at specific locations (intersections, overpasses). When I got home I checked to coord's of these against Google Earth and they were dead on, so I know the GPS was accurately showing my location, the problem is, the map doesn't seem to be lining up. In one place the GPS traced a very nice smooth route parallel to the road on the map - but 250 feet away from the road (which is a major road that has not changed in 50 years). I'm really frustrated, any help?
On my Garmin unit, there is a feature called Lock on Road, which snaps your present position to road on the map, which is useful when traveling, annoying when on the trail.
Perhaps your GPSr has something like this?
ImpalaBob
How Long Has The 60csx Been On The Market?
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
You wont regret it as long as you can afford it. The thing is pretty high dollar after you get your RAM mount, city select maps and auto power cord and new 1 gig transflash card....just dont let your wife see the credit card bill!!!!