gitarmac
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Posts posted by gitarmac
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OK, I found that I can download a version of easygps for the oregeon so at least that issue is resolved.
I still would like to figure out basecamp. On easy gps I can open it, then open files I've saved, all without hooking up my gps.
On basecamp, I get nothing. I have to hook up my gps to see stuff. I cannot seem to filter my data. When I go into view, then data filter, everything is grayed out except "all data".
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Okay, I figured out the BaseCamp -> 62st part:
Create a new list under 'On My Computer'
Show 'My Collection' and select pieces of data from that list
Copy the selected data to 'New List'
Transfer 'New List' data to device
Piece of cake. Unless you forget a waypoint or track - which I did, of course. What I did then was: made a new list, added the missing data, copied to device, deleted the new list, added the missing data to the correct list. I did it this way because I had edited some of the originally transferred data on the 62st and I didn't know if sending the whole corrected list would replace or add to the list I had already transferred.
Still wondering about sending a subset of data in the opposite direction: 62st -> BaseCamp...
Just as a test I made a list of tracks at the hunt club and added teh tracks. Is it copying the data or simply making a database? If I delete a track out of that list do I lose it on in my collection?
Just trying to understand.
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Basecamp and Mapsource are mainly for working with and installing maps on your unit. You can also deal with waypoints but the 2 programs are not made to work with GPX files. Stick with GSAK and EasyGPS for sorting and dealing with your GPX files.
Easy gps doesn't really work with the oregon. I found an "add gps" in the program when I was on my netbook but for some reason I can't make it work with my netbook.
gsak seems to treat everything like a geocache so I am hesitant to use it on my oregon since it keeps a file of all caches loaded.
I must be the only person that tries to manage my waypoints and tracks.
I made several "region files" so that I can clear (after backing up if needed) my gps and load it with just the data I will need for that area. Why do you do that? you ask. Well for one thing it makes it easier to use the same names. Lets say I frequent more than one huntclub or park. YOu can only use the word "stand" or "trail" once, then you have to make it unique. As long as there is only one area in the gps it doesn't matter as much.
I might have to designate between 50 or more deerstand. Some of them dont' have names, I just use the icon and let it use it's own number.
This worked fine until I used basecamp to manage my files. A lot of my waypoints are named very similar names which for a reason I don't fully understand, became duplicate files with even more similar names.
But the main issue is I have read warnings about using programs other then basecamp to load files. I am told you can't send to the unit on mapsource. THere is even a warning, I think in the wiki article, about using other programs.
So I already have a problem with duplicate names for the same waypoint, not sure what program did it. I don't want to chance more problems.
I'm glad I got my oregon on sale. In many ways it seems like a step backward from my vista. The paperless caching thing is pretty cool but I use my gpsr's for uses other than geocaching. The birdseye satelite images are nice at first but they don't display very will on the screen, they look rather washed out. You don't really get any useful information, believe it or not, from the sat images, just busy screen.
One nice thing though is the SEUSA map from gpsfilesdepot - it's absolutly beautiful when shading is turned off! Another useless feature, who uses shading anyway, everyone complains about it.
It's nice that it holds 5000 waypoints and 200 tracks. THere seems to be no way to organize them.
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So what use is the total odometer reading? Does anyone actually use that statistic? For instance, mine says 550 miles.
But what does it tell me. I've driven some of it, but not all of it because I"ve turned my gps on and off. I've walked some of it,who knows how much.
It seems like a meaningless feature, I can't figure out why garmin put it there. All it seems to have done is confuse people. I've already searched the threads. People dont' seem to know the differance between trip odometer and total odometer.
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back to top. I am also interested in this before I mess up my new oregon. I am having a lot of trouble trying to figure out the purpose of basecamp. Is the purpose to install maps and make backups? Cause that's not really useful.
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wow. I just tried to save a file from basecamp and it can't open it. It's its own file and it still can't open it.
I did a "backup" and named it oregonbackup. Maybe I can open it going to basecamp and doing a restore but I can't open it by simply importing the waypoints.
I used to backup my gps's by hooking it up to my compouter and opening easygps, or even mapsource, importing the data and saving it by using the date as the name, with not sybols.
I'm not sure how to back it up using basecamp.
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I have easygps, gsak, mapsource, and basecamp.
I like to do things like import waypoints from gps, delete all but certain groups, then save them as a file. That way I can reload them only when I need them. I can have sets of files for certain places.
I like this because I can have more waypoints than what the gps will hold, and I can use them as I need.
I cannot figure out the purpose of basecamp. You can't organize by symbol, you can't import just certain data. . . and it makes duplicate files apparently. I thought I deleted them but when I hook up my gps - there they are. I don't see them on my device but somehow basecamp pulls them out of there.
I used basecamp to make my birdseye maps but I used mapsource to load a gpsfilesdepot map on a card - then loaded that card on my gps.
It would really be nice to find a simple program like easygps that works with my oregon. I don't understand why basecamp doesn't do that.
Am I missing something with basecamp? When I tell it to back up my gps is it backing up the whole thing or just the section I am in? I'm afraid to test it too much because of duplicate files.
I can actually get easygps to work with my oregon on my netbook, but can't on my regular laptop. A dialogue screen popped up on my netbook which enabled me to select oregon 550 from a menu, which works on my 450 as well. I don't know what I did to make the screen appear.
Am I stuck with basecamp?
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I have and love the camelbak alpine explorer, the older model with the nice hipbelt. Those maxpeditions look pretty nice though.
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I would like to change the color of the navigation beam but can't find it. I could have sworn I could change it on my vista. I can change current track, and each individual track.
I went to a lot of trouble getting the track colors to stand out from the map attributes, then I picked a current track color to make it stand out. Only problem is now the tracks match the goto beam. So I had to pick each track one by one and change the color. That will only get worse when I have more tracks.
Also, I want to be able to clear the total odometer. Not the trip odometer, it's easy enough to clear trip data. The total odometer. I don't care the total number my gps has traveled and that's all that data indicates if I can't clear it to reflect something specific.
Is there a way to change the map pointer? It seems kind of big.
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setup -> reset -> reset trip data.
yup I do it everytime we go hiking
That's only the trip odometer, not the total odometer. There are two odometers on the oregon. Not really sure what significance of the total odometer is. It would be nice to be able to reset it. That why I could derive some meaningful significance out of that feature.
For instance, lets say we were going on a trip, we could reset the odometer (the total one) at the beginning. Then we could reset the trip odometers at each hike. We could know how far each hike was, plus the total distance of our trip.
As for now, yes I have the two odometers on my gps. What on earth is the sigificance of the one I can't clear?!? All it shows is the total distance I've had on my gps, which includes trips to the store, driving back and forth to the hunt club. Who cares?!?!? If it was a reading that reflected miles driven on a machine it would be useful information, who cares how far my gps has travled? Will it need the oil changed at 50K miles?!??
Stupid feature.
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But what about the total odometer? Do you have to do a factory reset to reset it? Since I do several things with my gpsr, a total odometer that can't be reset is a meaningless number.
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I just got the 450 myself. Stepping up from the vista hcx.
Actually stepping up isn't the right word, both units have their pros and cons. It took me awhile to get used to the oregon interface, after having gotten used to the vista. Now that I am used to it all it good.
I spurged for the birdseye maps, which are pretty cool but not really that useful. Probably more useful in the city. I'm still working with it.
I have the free SE usa from gpsfilesdepot, it's great but you can't navigate. I have a separte nav unit so it's not that important to me. I set the map preferances to turn the shading off and I get a nice bright colorful map!
I really really hate basecamp. I can't figure out what it's purpose is, aside from installing birds eye maps. YOu can't sort your waypoints as easy as mapquest. I like easygps for backing up and adding files. I finally got it to work with my oregon. I had to tell teh program I had an oregon 550 but it seems to work.
I save separate waypoint and track groups depending on where I'm going to go. Basecamp makes duplicate files making it so you can have more than one waypoint with slightly differant names. Why would someone want that?!?!?
I would suggest looking into GSAK for caching, works great on my oregon, and easy gps for other stull.
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Congrats on your new unit! I am just getting started and am considering the Venture HC bundle. I saw that you used to own one, and would appreciate your feedback. Thanks
Nothing wrong with the venture. I really like the electronic compass of the vista adn the slot for a card. I would use the venture more as a backup if the battery life wasn't so bad. I use rechargable eneloops which helps. I load chunks of the free seusa map for areas I frequent. I think the trip meter data is a little more accurate on my venture than the others.
I'm not sure what they are going for now but you might be able to get something with more capacity of you look around, maybe you can find some refurbished unit.
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Wierd, I downloaded a couple of sections, the maximum size for the best defninition, and in some places this is 7000 images and only takes several minutes to download, and others have over 15000 images and is taking hours.
I've been selecting the best resolution, then making the square as big as I can. You would think they would be similar sized files.
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I got my gps in 2 days! I've been messing with it non stop, it's getting easier and easier. I subscribed to birdseye. Not sure what I'm doing though.
High images wasn't that great so I am trying highest. I am somewhat confused as to the limit I can have. There is a download limit for each file but I guess I can do this up to 200 times?!? It would seem like you don't get as many files if your files are highest definitioin. What determines the limit? If you keep some unactivated will that keep the gps from having problems? I hear too many files makes it lock up.
I am going to save pieces of map that I might need someday somewhere on my computer. That way I can easily update my gps if needed. Hopefully easy.
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That's seems to have done the trick. I think, it's really hard to tell.
I loaded a PQ as well, right after I got the unit. That seemed to go well, at first I was unsure of how to view the hints but I figured it out. Paperless geocaching is going to be fun I think!
There are a bunch of waypoints that I did not make that I think came from the pocket Q. They look like blue flags and I think they go with caches. Not sure though.
I cannot figure out how it is possible to have duplicate waypoints?!? I think it happened when I loaded a birdseye map. It seems like the unit would reject files with the same name.
I am assuming I can make several birdseye maps and load them as I need them.
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Welp, that was like pulling teeth! And as suspected, the detail isn't very useful. When I made the detail "most" I could only download a tiny bit. I still have to experiment.
My new problem is that I now have double waypoints.
I'm not sure how that happened, I was using basecamp and I guess the file I downloaded contained files that were already there or something. What does this program do, make a new database file everytime I connect?!?!?!?!? It makes no sense?!?!?So I am going to delete what I put on the card, that's where I saved something. I think. I'm getting really confused.
Luckily I just got it, the oregon I mean, so I can restore it to factory defaults if I have to and nothing is lost. I still have my backups I made before from my vista using easygps.
Will that get rid of my duplicate data? In my readings I have gleaned information alluding to super secret files the oregon makes, concerning geocaching. Not sure how to get rid of super secret log files.
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I got my oregon yesterday!!!!!!!! It only took 2 days to get here!!!!!!!! With free shipping!!!
So I got to fiddle with it most of the day yesterday, and so far most of the day today.
I can see why some folks do not like it, its so differant from the etrex series. At first it doesnt' seem very intuitive but after fiddling with it I find it a differant kind of intuitive.
It's wierd that it doesn't do some of the things my vista does, like find an exit. You would think they had similar basemaps and POI's.
The topo map I got from gpsfilesdepot shows up completely differant than on my others. It seems I can select a white background or a washed out background, so I pick white.
I'm not sure what advantage the shadowing adds. The usual programs I use with my gps's don't seem to work as well. easygps will only recognize my oregon on my little netbook. I don't understand the purpose of basecamp. I like to have my waypoints in a separate tab then tracks, so I can edit them more easily. I don't see where basecamp does that. One of my icons is differant in the oregon, it would be nice to be able to select that icon, then change it for all of them.
The managing tracks tab seems a little unwieldy. I can't tell what colors they are unless I simply select a color. I only have 23 tracks, 200 tracks is going to be even more confusing. And apparently I have to reset them for each profile. I might be missing something here.
I really like how easy it is to rename and add notes. I didn't think I would like a touchscreen but it has it's advantages with small devices.
I'm going to attempt to load some birdseye images today. Wish me luck!
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The first GPSr that I was satisfied with was the venture HC. The high sensitivity chip makes a big differance. Plus, some of the older models use an obsolete connection. I found this out when I paid good money against a broken old venture.
It doesn't have an external card but I have the SE map from gpsfiledepot.com and its pretty quick and easy to load differant segments of the map when I need to.
The battery life isn't that great, and the only rechargeable it likes are eneloops.
For some reason my venture HC is more accurate than my vista and oregon, at least according to the satilite page. It doesn't have the odometer glitches that the vista has either.
Check around for refurbished units, they are cheaper and have the origional warrenty. You might could get a vista for cheap.
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I was researching birdseye for when I get my oregon and found this thread. As a test I renamed the map on my card for my vista and I could not chose and display it on my device. I named it back and it worked fine.
Also, am I supposed to be able to access the internal storage in my vista? Because I can't, it doesn't show up on the computer.
I am actaully asking these questions in preparation for setting up my new oregon (that I don't have yet). I want to get the most out of it, it's a big step up! I am thinking of subscribing to birdseye and I want to make sure I can do what I intend before I subscribe. I don't want to overwright my gpsdepot SEUSA map! I would like to be able to display them both. I understand I can only get limited images but there are a few places where that would work fine for me.
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Can you switch them on and off, like the other maps that are loaded? Or do they simply replace the garmin background?
Will it overaly my topo maps so I have to choose beteen a map with names and stuff on it and a sat image? I only see screen shots of the garmin screen with the image, I never see it with a map as well.
Does it write the birdseye maps to the sd card or the unit? Because if it's the SD card then I think I need to reload the seusa map that is already on there each time I want a new map cause it overwrites it all. Is that correct?
Sorry for all the questions. I don't have my oregon yet, some of this will probably be obvious when I start fiddling with it. It sure as heck isn't obvious from the pdf documentation.
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That would be so cool! I could have my hunt club stuff, and down town images for geocaching! Is there a way to save sets of images on your computer? So you can swap the images around if you are not online? I used to do this on my venture, cause it doesn't hold as much. I would load parts of the seus map on it depending on where I was when on vacation.
I will probably try it, I've spend 30 bucks and gotten less.
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Wow! Thanks for all the tips and links! I might start with some easy ones. If I can find them.
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Is it like rhapsody? Do people generally like it? How does it know I have the subscription? Can you overlay other maps on top of the images?
I made several "region files" so that I can clear (after backing up if needed) my gps and load it with just the data I will need for that area. 
I'm not sure how that happened, I was using basecamp and I guess the file I downloaded contained files that were already there or something. What does this program do, make a new database file everytime I connect?!?!?!?!? It makes no sense?!?!?
I'm not sure what advantage the shadowing adds.
what software to use.
in GPS technology and devices
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I guess I'm all set then. I thought I read somewhere that one of those programs either can't send waypoints to the oregon or can't recieve them from the oregon. Now that I found the easy gps version for the oregon I seem to be able to do both.
I have also read about the problem of duplicate waypoints which is a more serious problem. I would hate to have 1000 waypoints, then have them duplicated.
I am using both my gps's, the vista and oregon, and want to be able to exchange data. I know the vista has more limits as to how long a waypoint name can be, and maybe the comment but I'm not sure.
Thanks for all the info. Eventually I will settle on the best way to manage my data.