Tomas4x4
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Posts posted by Tomas4x4
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YES it still works fine with NiMH and Alkalines. The issues is that I regularly use it in temps from -20F to 20F while mountaineering and NiMH and alakalines won't even last an hour in those conditions. The Lithiums worked fine until this upgrade.
It is not directly related to your questions but have you seen Ni-Zn Rechargeables?
Unlike NiMHs, these work quite well in freezing temperatures. Read my posts on that thread for more details.
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Tomas4x4, how are you liking these, a couple weeks on from your last report...?
I don't have anything new to report. I only use the GPS for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Unfortunately I didn't do any of those activities recently. When I have anything new to report, I will.
So finally I have something to report. We have just returned from our week long winter vacation in Eastern Sierra (Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, Bridgeport) where we did some snowshoeing and cross country skiing.
I was using the NiZN batteries for the whole time in my Colorado 300 and for the first time, I did not have to keep the unit or spare batteries in my pocket to keep them warm. I could do what I do in summer, i.e. keep the spares in my camera bag and keep the GPS in the side "fishnet" pocket of my backpack. Besides being a bit more comfortable, I could actually use the temperature reading which was anywhere between -8C and 20C (18F to 68F).
Batteries performed flawlessly and I even got warning when there were about to run out. With battery type set to Lithium, the meter would show in relative quick (~10-15 minutes) succession two bars, then one bar, then would beep and show low battery warning. It did not die on me because I would replace the batteries as soon as I noticed either one bar or got low battery warning.
We have spent some 8 to 10 hours outside every day and I had to replace the cells about every day and half. I powered the unit from the car adapter for some portion of that time but I think it was running on battery power for 6-8 hours a day for sure.
All in all, I am pretty happy my decision to try NiZN cells so far.
On temperature related note, I think (and my home thermometer seems to prove) that my GPS is showing 2-3C (4-6F) higher temperature than there is. Also it seems that MapSource is having trouble with the temperature recording. Track XML does contain the temperature information (<gpxtpx:atemp>1.5</gpxtpx:atemp>) but when you open it in MapSource, it does not show up ('Temperature' column is empty). If I save the track from MapSource, the temperature data is gone. I have also tried BaseCamp but with the same results. Both MapSource and GPS are set to Celsius scale.
A bit annoying...
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Tomas4x4, how are you liking these, a couple weeks on from your last report...?
I don't have anything new to report. I only use the GPS for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Unfortunately I didn't do any of those activities recently. When I have anything new to report, I will.
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So how long do NiMH batteries last in your Colorado 300?
I'd say that about the same. If you search my posts, one of the oldest ones contains my tests with NiMHs.
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Double post
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New batch of tests:
1) I have run my GPS without backlighting and it switched to 3 bars after 11h 33m, to 2 bars after 11h 40m, to 1 bar after 11h 44m, to red bar after 11h 54m and turned itself of after 11h 55m.
2 Much more interesting was my 'freezer' experiment where I put the Colorado to the freezer (at -10 degrees centigrade, 14 Fahrenheit). I have first checked several times during first hour to see if it would work at all, then after 4h 30m, it was showing 4 bars, when I checked again after 9h 26m (it was in the freezer overnight) and it was showing 1 bar, then it switched to red bar after about 3 minutes, I took it out of freezer expecting it to turn itself off soon but now, after another 30 minutes it is sitting on my desk still showing red bar and working (the unit died after 35 minutes of showing red bar).
I was a bit surpised by so little difference between running with and without backlight, without it it would only last 90 minutes longer. I was expecting more but it is consistent with my tests with NiMH from two years ago when I got my GPS. It seems like backlighting is not the most power hungry feature of the Colorado.
I am rather excited by the freezer test because NiMHs would probably not even work at those conditions (I'll try as soon as it turns itself off). I definitely know from experience that NiMHs have to be warmed up before use when cold otherwise they show one bar or less and die quickly. Also having to keep the spares somewhere near the body is not such a great thing either. It seems that I have found my holy grail of 'low temperature' rechargable.
Now all I can wish for is that people at Garmin would add profile for this type of battery into the next software update so that the battery indicator would be a bit more useful... and I wish I did not buy that many low discharge NiMHs and BC 9009 charger last year
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So the batteries and charger arrived yesterday
.My first observations:
1) It works with my Colorado 300
2) With fully charged batteries and backlight turned to maximum, it lasted 10 hours and 30 minutes showing 4 bars. Then the battery indicator dropped to one bar and after about 10 minutes, I got low battery warning and the GPS turned itself off in few seconds. This was with battery type set to Lithium. I also tried setting battery type to Alkaline but it would be showing 4 bars even when Lithium was showing only one. I am not 100% sure when the indicator went from 4 bars to 1 bar or whether there was any 3 or 2 bars stage, it could have been sooner than 10 hours 30 minutes but certainly not more than hour earlier.
I am now running it with fully charged batteries without backlight to see how long it would last that way. Next test I want to do is to put the GPS into the freezer to see how it works in cold/freezing temperatures.
When being charged, the batteries are cold.
I'd like to believe that backlighting is a bit brighter but I can't say for sure because I don't have two identical units to compare side by side. I might try to take a picture with each type of battery under controlled light conditions.
So far so good, if it works better in cold than NiMH and has reasonable lifespan, I am sold.
Tomas
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I have just ordered them from Amazon. I'll report as soon as I get anything to share.
I hope the higher voltage won't be a turnoff my Colorado (silently hoping it would make the backlighting brighter, closer to what it is with car adapter).
Regarding service life concern, they claim that recent advances allowed this chemistry to be practically used. They are claiming up to 1000 charges (I am charging batteries at most every two weeks so if they can survive 100 cycles, I am good for at least 4 years).
They are also claiming 'superior low temperature discharge behavior' which will come handy this time of year.
To Tomas4x4 : I'm willing to kick in $5 towards the purchase if you'll post the results of a scientific study
Does "West Coast" mean somewhere around Silicon Valley?West Coast used to mean Hillsboro, OR (hi lee_rimar) when I joined the forums and now it means Union City, CA so we are practically neighbors. Thanks for the offer to share the burden
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I have run into following information.
From what I have seen so far, it seems like great alternative to NiMH.
I am really tempted to get them. Has anyone tried them yet?
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The already mentioned tracklog line... its too big and cumbersome, keep it thin and black.
The other and its major is that putting the cursor on a waypoint (like a geocache) does not popup a tooltip box with the cache name.
I also noticed when putting the cursor over a waypoint, cache, OR feature like roadway, the popup ID ability is gone with 3.02 beta on my CO 300. This and the thick purple tracklog line are issues to be addressed.
I have also noticed that contour lines are painted rather differently in 3.02: they used to be thin dark red/brown lines intermixed with thin black lines for every 100ft. In 3.02 they are thick black lines only.
I liked the original ones way more, the bold ones are overpowering. I guess they work fine when you are in Kansas City but not so well in the mountains with 24k map. Map countours should not be THAT prominent. I have even went back to 3.0 because of this (and purple tracklog line). I hope they will either go back to how it used to be or introduce a choice for this (not holding my breath though
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I was wondering about the same thing for my Colorado (for use in winter and all). I was thinking about putting them in in parallel rather then in series (some piece of wire and thin insulation along with a bit of creativity should be enough).
I was also looking into using Li-Ion CRV3 rechargables.
They would not fit without 'adjustments' to either the battery or the unit (there is a 'ridge' in the middle of the battery compartment. It is probably a piece of plastic which could be 'removed' one way or other without affecting the unit's function. I have only tried with regular lithium CRV3 (didn't want to put too much money into it). Lithium battery I had could be easily taken appart and put into the unit (and work) - it is essentially two a bit shorter AA batteries connected on one end by metal in plastic wrapper. I have no idea how Li-Ions CRV3 are constructed and whether it would be possible to strip a bit off. My other concern would be the voltage, I have read somewhere on forums that Colorado has voltage protection and shuts down if the voltage is too high (it could shut down even with new lithium batteries according to it and you need to 'use' them a bit before they work).
I am hesitant to order battery and charger just to try it because I don't have any use for it otherwise. Anyone with rechargable Li-Ion CRV3 and Garmin GPS willing to give it a shot?
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It could really be the SD card, try taking it out and putting back in again or try starting without it first.
I have had similar problems when my Colorado fell on the ground. After that, it would keep fading out after start up. I though it was gone but then as a last ditch effort, I pulled the card out and put it back in and it started working again.
And just to complete my experience with fading out after startup:
I have also seen similar problem with my previous GPS (76GSx) at a specific location (Cavel Pond near Jasper in Alberta). Unit would sudenly die and would keep dying soon after start up and it would keep doing that until we moved away from the place. I have no idea what was causing it but it really seemed to have been related to a specific place because it started when we drove into the area and stopped when we drove out. Some glitch in the map? (Topo Canada)
I thought I would never see this again but I had similar experience with my Colorado 300 recently (near N37 07.274 W121 23.152). I would replace bateries, pull out the SD card and put it back in with no results but then it started working again.
Maybe those places were haunted
I wonder if anyone else had similar experience.
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Probably unrelated but I had similar problem when my Colorado fell on the ground, it would start but soon turn itself off again. It started looking desperate for a while, it was second day of my vacation in Utah's Canynloands (Maze district for experts) and my GPS just gave up on me. I pulled bateries out and put them back in. No change. It started looking like my new hobby (geocoding pictures) would have to be suspended as I won't have any GPS log. Then I realised that I can try to pull out SD card and put it back in... and to my great relief it worked. The impact must have shifted the card and it lost contact with the unit.
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YES and NO
It does all I need from it and I am not worried to rely on it but some features are annoing:
- when using in car, whenever I turn off the engine, I have to keep telling it to stay ON (there should be simple option somewhere in setup letting me to choose what should happen when external power is lost, I'd like the unit to stay ON untill I turn it off myself)
- entering or changing text is cumbersome and slow
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I absolutely agree, Up and Down on the rock-n-roller are currenty unused and I have found myself trying to use them to toggle between lower case and upper case several times. Left and Right are actually used for moving cursor to the previous or next letter so these are not available.
It could behave like this: when on a letter, Up/Down would jump directly to the letter with opposite case, when on number, Up/Down would go to 'corresponding' special character. The order of items on the 'wheel' would remain unchanged for backward compatibility, Up/Down would act as kind of shortcut.
Alternatively the mapping could be also:
A <=> a <=> 0
B <=> b <=> 1
...
...
Z <=> z <=> 'some special character'
Other option would be to use only Up for 'shortcut' feature (if they choose to have 3 sets, it would have to be cyclical: A => a => 0 => A again) and use Down to delete current character.
I am not holding my breath that it gets implemented
but it would definitely make entering or editing names much less frustrating experience.I also agree about animation, it is slowing things down.
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I can't believe there hasn't been a new firmware release since the 2.51 beta.
Come on Garmin!
/rant
Absolutely agree, it has been a LONG time since last update and there are definitely some improvements to be done.
It would be great if there was SDK (software develpment kit) for the unit. I am sure that we would see an explosion of mods and customizations for it.
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So far all my daytime use has been very adequate without the back-light.
I wish I could say that. It is ok in direct sunlight but when there are clouds or you are in dense forest, it could be quite hard to read. Worst part in such condition is that backlight is too weak to help either so you are left with strugling to find good angle. This is when you are on foot.
When you are riding the bike, this is even worse, it is further away from your eyes and much harder to adjust its position so that you can actually read it. Worst case is when your ride direction is so that your body casts a shadow over the unit, forget about reading it.
It seems that polarized glasses help a little bit.
The only place where I don't have any problem with reading the unit is in the car, backlight with external power source is good enough. If only the unit would remember separate setting for backlight level when on external power (I really hate when I have to set it every time I put the unit back into car).
I wish Garmin would change roads from gray to white to make them stand out more. A bit more contrast could go a long way. Maybe have an option to switch from regular map colors to more contrast map colors.
I used to have GPSMap 76CSx before and it was definitely much easier to read. I really like the high resolution graphics on Colorado but I think that there is definitely a lot of room for improvement.
I wonder if it would be possible to use light conducting glass 'wires' and 'channel' light from other surfaces of the unit to be used as a backlight. It is probably far fetched idea but it would make the backlight directly proportional to the outside light.
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Two things:
1) Minor improvement: make GPS elevation available field for Trip Computer and other places where fields are customizable. I have had my unit showing me elevation over 2000m above see level when it should have been in order of magnitude less (~200). Of course calibration using GPS elevation fixed it but I'd rather be able to just see GPS elevation instead of having to calibrate every so often.
2) Observation: I often see my Colorado 300 crash when I switch to Trip Computer page after longer time. I'd say the chance of it crashing is some 25%, maybe a bit more.
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It is not drawing street names and other labels; tooltips are broken as well: you get only tiny little square with '-' inside. When I installed it, it worked for a short while but then I tried to change font and I have not seen a single label ever since (tried to uninstall and reinstall). Software obviously knows about names because when you right click, you get them. From Red90's screenshot it is obvious that this problem is not specific to my computer.
There are also problems with screen repainting in many cases and you have to zoom in and out to get screen to refresh. Painting is rather slow as well, definitely slower than it used to be and I'd say that Google maps are faster. My computer is few years old but definitely still quite capable.
It seems like painting labels is major problem for Garmin lately, first Colorado (it is still not 100% working in current firmware version) and now even MapSource is affected.
One feature I would love to see in next non-beta version would be elevation depicted by color like it is on Colorado (green-yellow-brown) and ability to see terrain shading even on maps without DEM (City Navigator), it would probably require new basemap but that could be good marketing strategy to promote Colorado.
I am rather disappointed with Garmin. This should be called ALPHA when such a major feature is not working. On the positive side, it gets installed along side current MapSource so you are not really risking anything by trying it.
UPDATE: I have tried to install the software on my work computer and it did not show any label from the beginning.
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At last, someone else is reporting the problem!
We have to wait for new firmware and hope it will be fixed in it.
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I don't think it is special feature of the TOPO US.
You can try download free maps by IndyJpr and try to load them to the unit and see if you will get POI to show up.
Also try to post your problem as new topic, this way you will get much greater exposure and I am sure you will get help.
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I have bought it a year ago and it is definitely more up-to-date with reality (although still maybe 10 years behind, but that is good compared to probably 20 for 3.02).
Road offsets could be real pain, check this thread, scroll to the bottom for some screenshots.
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It is just regular US TOPO 2008.
You might need to enable POIs, go to Setup, Map, Select Options, Advanced and make sure that you have Zoom Levels and Text Size set up properly: in my case I have Map Points set to 2km (Auto should work too) and Text Size set to Small.
I have latest firmware but this feature actually worked with older versions too.
Hope it helps
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I am back from my trip to Bay Area. I was paying closer attention to what the Colorado is doing with street labels on the way back. This is what I have seen:
1) There seems to be some link to the speed of movement. Once you get to the freeway and go over 40mph, the street labels quickly disappear. This is by no means exact but I have seen street labels often reappear after exiting the freeway and slowing down. It could also be related to change of direction. I have also seen the street labels suddenly reappear while still driving on the freeway at 60-70mph, they would disappear soon after that (see 3rd comment).
2) The elevation labels keep showing up even when street labels stopped doing that. As far as I can tell, elevation numbers are always displayed.
3) Street labels don't disappear all at once, it is more like that roads entering the view are shown without the label while streets already displayed with the label keep showing with it until they leave the view. On one occasion, street labels disappeared after zooming out one level (they were still supposed to show at that level), zooming back in did not cause them to reappear. You can see 'labeled' street being taken over by 'unlabeled' street on attached screenshots.
4) For most parts of the trip, the roads were shown without the street labels.
I have had one incident of unit turning itself off after pressing rock-n-roller select button (I was switching from trip computer to map view).
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Birdseye support for Oregon (3.30) and Colorado (3.30)
in GPS technology and devices
Posted · Edited by Tomas4x4
My Colorado 300 is not showing street names either, no matter what map or what settings.
I have tried using Birdseye imagery for the first time today and it worked quite well. Satelite images definitely add many useful details.
The only problem are washed out colors. There should be option to control contrast, brightness and perhaps saturation and gama like you can with every photo editing software. One-size-fits-all approach chosen by Garmin is producing inferior results.
In ideal case it would be possible to control these settings ad hoc on the unit but that would probably slow the painting too much. Second option would be a setting in BaseCamp which would control this. The images would have to be adjusted before being sent to the unit and optionally also when displayed on computer (not sure if basecamp is using any hardware acceleration).
Download speed is also pretty horrible (at least without subscription).
All in all, $30 for year subscription seems well worth it and I am going to buy (if only to support further development). There is definitely room for improvement though.
Btw. it raises question of available memory. I currently have 4GB card in my Colorado topped up with City Navigator, National Parks Topo, 24K West, 24K SouthWest and Topo 2008, is there anyone out there successfully using bigger SD card?
This raises another issue: I wonder if MapSource will ever support multiple img files or at the very least allow saving .img files to the harddrive.