39_Steps

My thoughts on testing a specific handheld gps device are that a known accurate benchmark in an open area is as good a place to create a new Waypoint as any. Then ignore the "accurate" coordinates assigned to the BM by someone else and quickly test your own gps device with your own waypoint before the satellite constellation changes significantly.

Sorry guys, but if you had not noticed the Nobel Prize for Random Walk studies has already been awarded.

Things aren't all that bleak for Delorme PN-60 users who become familiar with the bundled Topo9/10 software on the computer. In Topo it is possible to import lines (tracks, trails, roads) in formats including text and gpx, convert those lines to the appropriate Draw Layer by mouse clicks, create Routes from the lines, and then send rasterized line overlay file layers and routes to the PN-60/40. Usually it's not worth the effort to go all the way with computer created trail routing for an afternoon hike in a small park, and besides using the routing feature shortens battery life. But the ability to accomplish the intent of what the OP desires with multi-colored trail overlays does exist with the basic PN-60/Topo9/10 bundle.

The answers to your question(s), in totality, are likely beyond that which the moderators of Groundspeak Forums will permit. PN-60 users will be better served on the Delorme Community Forums for Topo9 and/or Topo10 for information on transferring trail data and user drawn objects from the computer to the handheld gps devices. However it seems that Delorme has currently disabled even viewing Topo9 and Topo10 user forum comments without signing in. At a minimum, PN-60 users need to install Delorme Topo9 or Topo10 on a computer supporting the Windows Operating System and start climbing the learning curve to understand the power available as well as the limitation of not being able to easily transfer 3rd party scanned raster (jpg) map images with the only the bundled Topo software. But do be aware that detailed PN-60 Delorme topo maps of Canadian Provinces, US States, and Mexican roads are included on DVDs in a separate jewel case or in paper sleeves in the box.

In my simulated geocaching experience, which generally occurs only after Delorme has released new firmware for the PN-40 or PN-60 handheld gps devices, I get more understandable results by creating a new waypoint(geocache)in an open clearing on a clear day. (1) For instance, I first place a marker randomly on open ground and then stand still for a while before creating a new waypoint(geocache) at the coordinate point that will become ground zero. (2) Then I make certain that automatic recalculation is enabled in the (non-road vector) Direct (Hiking)routing mode. (3) Then I walk away from ground zero at least 15 meters (~50 feet) before selecting the waypoint(geocache)and Direct Routing to it. (4) From what I have read of Garmin device "sticky" issues, I would likely back off at least 100 meters to create a route to GZ and then plan on walking at least 30 meters on past GZ while observing the route pointer. (Not necessarily to be confused with any available compass needle). (5) Repeat as necessary from different angles to ground zero, with random deliberately erroneous parallel lines of travel. (6) Then I might wait few hours for the satellites to circle and the clouds to roll in before repeating the tests to GZ. Edit: (7) Forgot to mention calibrating any embedded 2 or 3 axis electronic compass before starting. Thanks to Bamboozle. Disclaimer: I do not have any of the modern handheld Garmin devices typically used by Groundspeak forum posters. Suggestions made above are made based on reading of Garmin "sticky" issues on these forums. I infer that the 60 foot stickiness (or whatever the radii distance may be with different Garmin firmware) is deliberately programmed in by Garmin to head off forum threads such as this one about "jumpiness". Last time I checked one of my Delorme units, the "stickiness" seemed to be limited to about a 20 foot (6 meter) radius past GZ in a straight line. I have absolutely no experience with devices designed for cell phone tower triangulation.

Notwithstanding the convenience and power of the little Nuvi 50's destination routing with a single optional additional waypoint insertion per route, you may wish to consider using a laptop computer application for advanced multi-stop routing as mentioned above. Delorme Street Atlas 2013, with a bundled USB GPS receiver, has the capability of creating, but not necessarily recalculating at every off road geocaching or sightseeing excursion, a route with up to 100 included Stops (shape points). A knowledgeable user can unzip and import multiple Groundspeak PQ files into a Win PC. Specialized single waypoint "EZNav" is available as well, for non-conflicting secondary geocache routing. The Nuvi 50 would still be available for routing between current position and one or two nearer waypoints as well.

Basic it may be, but getting decimals in the right places may not be all that easy for either the person in need of help or the typical person who answers an emergency call. Neither person may be a frequent reader and contributor to gps "technology" forums. In reviewing the comments on this thread yesterday, I followed one of the links to an explanation of the advantages of the USNG coordinate system. I had my favorite USA Topo map open on the computer while reading, and did try to walk through the necessary conversion steps with an open mind. The conversion process worked almost well enough for an experienced user with a little bit of mathematical background dabbling at leisure, but a nine one one operator could definitely use a more user friendly interface that contained separate windows, with examples, for inputting each of the different coordinate system possibilities. I did come away with an appreciation of the USNG alpha-numeric system vs the original UTM decimal system or vs. degree systems for ground level incident response. (Edited two user typos within first five minutes.)

Not wanting to rain on anybody's parade, but do note that the OP links to data obtained at coordinates on a not too grassy knoll with surrounding higher peaks not too far from a consistently foggy river bottom. On the other hand, those coordinates may provide a decent view of the source of the OP's bicycle.

As mentioned above, professional GIS apps will likely be required to convert CAD files of geometric shapes, although conversion to (track) lines or Way(points) in GPX format is supported on most of the geocaching grade gps units. As to Delorme apps, to avoid recreating the the closed shapes in bundled Topo consumer apps, user would need to purchase at least the mid-level XMap8 Pro Editor GIS version to get direct conversion at import. Then it would be necessary to down convert (copy) to Draw files compatible with the PN-40/60 GPS supported features.

"As I was going to St Ives.. ." Edit: Whom we may meet along the trail in Utah notwithstanding, I am seeing inconsistencies in importing and exporting the OP's Degree Minute Second coordinates in Delorme Topo9. The issue may be with the amount of theoretical precision the application is trying to carry forward. In short, pun intended, when exporting a coordinate with four integer numbers following the decimal point in the seconds field, the (") seconds character may be truncated off the end(not shown or exported) to Notepad or Wordpad. May be OK with OOO.org Calc import?? Suggestion: Try using a little less precision (fewer significant figures) with whatever conversion utility you are trying to use. Good luck.

Geocachers who are willing to drag along a Windows OS laptop for wide area large database gps geocaching in the US and Canada may wish to consider the Delorme Street Atlas 2013 application. Counter intuitively, the Street Atlas software with E-Z Nav single point routing, is much simpler for automobile Waypoint (Geocache) routing than the Delorme Topo software bundled with the PN-40 and PN-60 devices. The Delorme SA software should be as capable of combining or splitting stored Waypoint files(including Geocache symbolized waypoints as Topo, and combining geocaches is something that the PN-40/60 gps devices cannot do in the field with gpx files.

Hmm. Both my computer software and my gps would do the conversion on import, but what about Windows calculator, thought I. Nope, no automatic conversion. But Calc will do dd+mm/60+ss.ss/3600 pretty quickly.

I don't get many shots at Delorme routing any more, so here is another comment or two. 1) Creation of long looping Road routes with multiple Stops (caches)is best done on a computer with Topo8 or 9 maps. Up to 100 total Stops or Vias can be Added to the route in sequence, but only the first 25 converted points will be displayed on a route transferred (synched) to a PN-40/60 device. Deselection of automatic road route recalculation is usually preferable for routes transferred to the device. Note: An entire route containing up to 100 points can be shown on the devices, but points 26-100 will not be highlighted on the device. Those points will be treated as hidden vias. 2) Topo10 maps can also be used for easy routing of sequentially Added Stops on the computer. These Topo10 routes may also be transferred to the handheld pn-40/60 gps devices, with the caveat that recalculation should definitely be disabled when traveling. However the original long distance "read only" looping road route can be reselected after intermediate stops for caching, lunch or inadvertent "whatevers".

Perhaps we can respectfully agree to disagree slightly on the subject of precluding recalculation, if we realize that even the simplest geocaching with an arrow pointing to a ground zero involves "routing". Therefore in my occasional sessions of simulated geocaching the latest firmware of the PN-60 devices for "geocaching" it seemed that the recalculation feature needed to be enabled to make the arrow rapidly swing toward GZ (outside a 20 feet or so radius as determined by downloaded coordinates) as one meanders. If the PN-40 firmware operates differently, please accept my apologies, as I may not have simulated geocaching - or finding my car after a hike in the woods - with the PN-40 lately. Note: If the gps device happens to be within a small radius of GZ (perhaps 20 foot min radius with PN-60 in auto recalc mode) the arrow may not immediately swing back to GZ after walking past the target a short distace. If not sure of the pointer activity, try walking out a considerable distance from GZ... say 30 feet. (Applicable to Delorme PNs only. Garmins and others circle of confusion is not in my realm of experience.)

Maybe this will help. The Delorme N-60 and PN-40 device firmware is designed to road route to only a single geocache symbolized waypoint per route. Not even a child parking spot symbolized waypoint may be added to a geocache road route on the device in normal operation. But once you hit the ground running and switch to "Hike" direct mode, the result to ground zero should be satisfactory - but still do not try to add an intermediate point. For convenience, a single point geocache route should self-delete as you create a new route to the next geocache. If you desire to create multipoint routes on the device (up to the 25 Stop per route maximum) use either waypoint symbolized waypoints of else click on a named street or other object or found POI on the map. Another hint: Don't bother checking on my total number of finds, that number is zero.

On topic: At a cruise speed of 10 mph, on wide, level boulevards with no excessive tree cover to interfere with the gps signal, a Delorme PN-60 may produce a one point per second track that agrees very closely, with city road vector lengths as shown in Profile View and/or Routing Views in Delorme Topo9 computer app. That's the best case scenario in post processing. Off Topic: That bicycle is intriguing, and by scaling the wheels and extrapolating the measurements it appears the OP is taller than I had imagined all these years.

IIRC, Delorme has designed the Delorme PN-60 to manage Waypoints (including the subset of geocache symbolized points) from GPX formatted files copied to either an SD card or to the EM_User partition of internal device bulk memory. Whether 'plugin' is the correct term for this gpx file copying process on the PN-60 I know not, but I thought that 'plugin' was a term previously used on earlier firmware versions of the Delorme PN-40 for waypoint transfer to internal hidden memory in Delorme proprietary format. There were occasional reports of geocache overwriting issues with the original PN-40s, particularly for event caching with numerous similar long names exceeding the 31 character name field. Other users above in this have pointed out potential problems in the filtering process, even if the PQ gpx file format is properly used. One additional issue that may be overlooked is to keep adequate battery power reserves in the PN-40/60 devices at the end of the day to support converting the cache data into GPX format as the devices are powered OFF.

This is more mind boggling than usual. Yesterday afternoon I pulled my raft out of its box and took it down to the seashore to inflate it. One chamber leaked. If I had two automatically calibrating gps devices, and if the plastic raft material was transparent instead of opaque, could I have placed one device inside and one device outside the leaking chamber and pumped it up again, and then determined the depth to which the boat would have sunk in the ocean if I did not eat lunch before paddling out to sea?

Delorme is marketing only the Topo 10 map sets as new at this point in time. The latest released PN-60 firmware does support the new multiple DVD Topo 10 map sets. The PN-60 can address 3.5GB of internal memory, plus 32GB of Class 6 or Class 10 SDHC memory at one time, with some limitations. So, yes, Delorme vectorized routable map data for the entire contiguous 48 States of the USA can be stored on PN-40/60 flash memory for viewing purposes. However the OS seems to bog down on being able to consistently search for and find all POIs and all layers of road/street vectors with more than 22GB total on board. Routing recalculation also seems to become inconsistent at about the same 22GB mark. So you will need to selectively swap out SD cards on occasion if you are traveling great distances. You might want to read existing threads on the Delorme forum for user reports on the perceived pros and cons of the two Topo mapset versions that are designed to work with the PN-60, T9 or T10. Note that both road routing calculation and planned reinstatement of geocaching download support broken by GC.com for security reasons is somewhat different in the two Delorme Topo versions, but for the purposes of active geocachers, new Topo10 will be preferable.

It will be 12 years next month since I was in Eastern Oklahoma for the tornado season. My memories of the event were as follows: 1) While trying to watch a National Basketball Association playoff game on TV, I called the local TV station and asked if they would please remove the tornado warning overlay on the screen because the diminished size of the display on the screen was getting annoying. The TV station phone answerer stated that they were required by regulation to post the radar reports constantly. 2) The next day, as I drove to Dallas, I did pass through an area less than 100 miles south that had been hit by a twister, but I did not stop to ogle as the turnpike was not seriously affected. 3) As to topographic maps for the Oklahoma City area, they won't be of much use because the plains are essentially flat. I therefore suggested the cheaper Delorme Street Atlas version over Topo. Even so, the conventional wisdom is that is is better NOT to hide in bar ditches, creek beds, and highway underpasses due to the vortex effect of the wind blowing through what is essentially a nozzle throat. Good luck with the tour from downunder OZ. Incidentally Dorothy and Toto got blown away from Kansas, which is North of Oklahoma as I recall. As to the naming of the Drama, according to one legend when the author had finished writing "The Wizard of OZ" he wondered what the name should be. Thereupon he gazed at his bookshelf and saw a volume of an Encyclopedia set with the range of "O to Z".

Let me get this straight. You are planning to deliberately travel to the middle of Oklahoma (OKC) in the first week of May to try to find a tornado? And they have tours for that now? Sounds like you need a larger routable map on a PC laptop than you will get with any pocketable GPS device. May I suggest that you purchase and download a copy of Delorme Street Atlas 2013 (USA) through the Delorme dot com Tech Support menu? The gps routing will not work in Australia, but will work in the USA when you arrive if you have a compatable GPSr to plug into the USB port of the laptop. Street Atlas will also handily support routing to waypoints (geocaches). Good luck with your trip and any other gps devices that you may purchase as well. http://support.delorme.com/questions.php?questionid=19

Roger that, most of the problem reports regarding faulty cards were from those who purchased counterfeit name brand cards, such as Lexmark, on Ebay. Outside of that, I've never had a problem with a name brand, Transcend, card from Fry's including a 32GB SDHC card for $20. Lexmark cards do not necessarily need to be "counterfeit" to barely meet the Class 10 write requirements of 10Mb/sec. I have one 32GB Lexmark card that was a freebie with a recent camera purchase that tested at 11Mb/sec write speed from the camera buffer.

SD cards are not an issue with the Delorme PN devices. Many brands of Class 6-Class 10 SDHC cards from 4GB-32GB have worked well for me. Older 1-4GB SD cards should work as well, but there was a time when some manufacturers were doing funny things in the 4GB range. There is no need for the currently available faster "30-90" Mb/s cards for digital cameras, and the really fast cards might have issues of their own with compatibility.

From reading these threads I have inferred that the lithium cells, either rechargeable or primary, may provide a more constant voltage curve until nearly depleted than alkaline or NiMH cells. Therefore require fewer compass recalibrations may be required. Battery chemistry magnetism, the ability to recharge without (re)moving the lithium ion cells, and shorter run times when unplugged from a 12v power supply in the car may also contribute to more consistent voltage and thus more consistent compass performance with li-ion rechargeable batteries in Delorme gps devices.

I was very interested in your issues and compared your Garmin GPS experiences with my Delorme GPS experiences over the last few years. But I was not interested enough to go out and buy a handheld Garmin for a test. I might however drive over to the Mojave Desert just for the memories of that being the first trip I took with my then new Magellan GPS over 15 years ago. I pulled off the highway and drove the car back and forth in a Rest Stop just to compare the GPS compass with a magnetic one with a suction cup mount. Then two days later, I bought a "real" car compass with adjustable magnetic compensation screws as well as a suction cup.