SAPD

I will send out pictures tomorrow. Thanks for looking

My wife says I have too many GPS' (as if that were possible) and I need to trim down. I have already sent my 76CSx off to my dad and now I must give up my B&W Legend, since I have a Legend Cx. I am offering my well taken care of Legend, with Garmin neoprene case, PC download cable, lanyard and quick start guide. In additon I will include an instructional DVD for the Legend and a copy of Trip & Waypoint Manager v2.01. I will also throw in the serial to USB cable that I used for my laptop. I know it is close to the holidays and money is tight this time of year but I would like $100.00 for the whole package, plus shipping. I will only ship to the US address because I have had bad experiences shipping outside the US (sorry). To sweeten the deal I will include Topo 3.1 (not the current version) for an additional $40.00. Let me know if anyone is interested. Jon

I would look at Bass Pro Shop, or one of the two Sportsman Warehouses. There is one at Loop 1604 and Redland, the other is at Loop 410 and Hwy 151.

But none of the current Edge or Forerunner series have the ability to upload maps. The new 705 series will have that ability but is not due out for sometime.

I ride with a Legend CX on my Stumpjumper and Rockhopper. I have no problems reading the screen even in bright sunlight and its small size is not obtrusive. It has not yet lost a signal but the woods are not that thick around here. I have to agree though, if you are looking at getting a new GPS get one of the "H" models; the high sensitivity chip is definately a plus. My only complaint is that I would prefer to mount my GPS on the stem instead of the handlebar and no one makes a good stem mount.

Actually Mapsource is just the base program that everything else runs from. You cannot download Mapsource maps to your GPS and will need either City Navigator or Metroguide (with the work around program) if you want to download maps or auto route. There is mountains of reading on these programs here, just scan through the last few days of posts and I'm sure you will find the answers you need.

Nick, Still looking for a belt clip? I was cleaning out my GPS stuff today and found one. Let me know.

I have four, although I really only use two: - Garmin 76CSx - Use for driving, rafting, kayaking - Garmin Legend Cx - Use for biking, hiking and caching - Garmin 60CS - My backup for whenever I need it - Garmin Legend - My first GPS, it has traveled the world with me so I still have it I really could do with just two but what the heck, never know when the kids will want to use one.

I have maps segments from City Nav 8, Topo 2008 and Inland Lakes loaded on 1 GB cards in my 76CSx and Legend Cx. It is just a matter of switching to the right map when you need it. I use the CN for driving, Topo for hiking and Inland Lakes for kayaking and never have to change cards or GPSs.

So if I buy this on sd card it plugs right into my Map 60 csx and it's ready to go? If I get it on DVD I still have to buy a new sd card to load it on? That's like another $30? If you buy the pre programmed card you should be able to place the card in the GPS and be ready to go. You will have to do all your route planning on your GPS though since the maps will not be on your computer. You will not be able to add any additional maps to your GPS such as Topo 2008 without changing to another card, or use the card as an external storage device should you have tracks which exceed you GPSs internal storage. You will however be able to use the pre programmed card in different units just by moving it from one to the other. This is good if you have multiple GPSs or intend to upgrade your current model soon; you do not have the unlock code to worry about. With the DVD you can only unlock one GPS, according to the new policy dated 7 Jun 2007 (which I believe applies starting with CN 2008) and chances are you will need a new MicroSD card if you want to download any sizeable number of maps. Not sure what the 60CSx comes with but my 76CSx came with a 128MB card which was good for the entire state of Texas (CN and Topo). I bought a couple of 1GB cards online for $8.00 ea and on one card was able to put the entire states of TX, NM, AZ, CO, and WA (CN8, Topo 2008 and Inland Lakes) and still had room on the card. Nice thing is I can always change my mapsets for my destination if I need to. If you find yourself traveling from one end of the country to the other on a regular basis then loading the entire US on one card might be for you; but if you are like most people who travel within their home state or surrounding states I think you will find having the entire US is a waste of space. Just my thoughts, your mileage may vary.

You do not specify but it sounds like your MicroSD is the one that came with the unit or you bought later and downloaded maps on to. If that is the case then the maps were downloaded from your computer and were unlocked for your old GPS. You should be able to call Garmin and let them know your GPS had been returned and they will supply you with a new unlock code for CN. The pre programmed cards come with CN fully loaded and the card already unlocked. I was not aware that they could be transfered from GPS to GPS though. That would in some small way make up for the recent changes which only allow one unlock code for the DVD version but not enough for me to want to switch from DVD to pre programmed. I like having the maps on my computer for route planning but more importantly my mapsets normally contain several different kinds of maps, ie CN, Topo and Inland Lakes.

Nice of them to do this after I threw the package with the UPC code away.

Try Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Office Depot, any camera store. I would think any place that sold volume computers or digital camera would carry it.

I found 6 caches while deployed to Iraq. The only reason found out there were caches on the installation was because one got called into my office as a possible bomb. All the more reason to take a GPS when you deploy.

Interesting post! I have gathered from this board, that while civilian GPS is not as rugged, or jam resistant as Military GPS, a lot of soldiers (I am strictly speaking anecdotaly, I do not have actual data) prefer civilian units due to ease of use. Just curious what is FUD? FUD is "Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt" which is a marketing term used to say your product is better then someone else. Someone please correct me if I am off track on this. While there may be something to the ease of use part I believe most soliders prefer the civilian models simply for availibility. There are not enough military GPS units to go around and even then not everyone who wants one is likely to be authorized one.

Interesting video. While I agree that the DAGR is a better suited GPS for the combat zone, with its accuracy unaffected by Selective Availibility and its resistance to electronic jamming, their availibility to the average airman/solider/sailor/marine is extremely limited. I would rather have a GPS that "may" be affected by electronic jamming then to have nothing at all. In addition, knowing that my commercial GPS is limited by SA I certainly would not use it to call in artillery on a position, especially where the risk of collateral damage exists.

I found the caches, using my GPS, just like everyone else does. I just did not know they were there until EOD nearly blew one up.

While deployed to Iraq the base Security Forces were dispatched to a suspicious object, wrapped in green duct tape, under a building. As the SF Operations Superintendent I was notified of the response. The area around the building was secured and EOD sent in their robot to check out the package. The on scene supervisor notified me that the package had a sticker on it that said "Geocache" and did not appear to contain any explosives. Once EOD deemed the package safe I had the package returned to my office and contacted the cache owner. The owner came by, picked up the cache and let me know that it was just one of six hidden around the installation. He replaced the cache in a new location and I never got any more calls. I did however manage to log six new caches while in the middle of a war zone.

Ajacobs makes some excellent points, especially the screen protectors. Sand gets in places you never though it could; I am still finding desert sand in things and I have been back almost 18 months. I will also second on the the compass, not needed as they consume precious battery power and the standard military lensatic compass is good. I did some checking and the City Navigator Middle East does not cover Iraq or Afganistan although there is a third party source that makes maps that do, and they work on the Garmin. TeamCypherX called it when commenting that Garmin does not have a Mapsource BFE edition. Worldmap would be your best bet if you got a mapping GPS.

Steve, I used my personel Garmin Legend when I was there. I used it primarily to mark positions of unexploded ordinance (UXO) found following attacks on the installation. The positions were then called in to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) folks who would come out and do their thing. The Legend was much easier to carry then the military issues GPS, and while it did not have the pinpoint accuracy the EOD guys never had a problem finding the UXO. The Garmins were so much easier to use that I ordered 12 for the base installation patrols and the military units sat in the armory. We did not have any maps, which would have been nice, but we spent our time on base so it did not matter. There is now a Metroguide (or City Navigator) Middle East which has downloadable maps and those should be great, depending on where your son is going. IMO the Legend or the Vista in CX or better yet, HCX, would be the ideal unit. They are small enough to fit into a tac vest pocket, are a neutral color, and you can store more then enough maps on the MicroSD card. They use easy to obtain AA batteries and have a good battery life. Loaded with the Middle East map program I think that would be an ideal combination. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

I used an Aquapac for my 60CS during several whitewater rafting and kayaking trips. Never had a problem with the GPS getting wet even when the boat got turned upside down. I also used the GPS in the Aquapac on over 50 dives in Hawaii. It stayed connected to the outside of my dive bag, on the deck of the boat and in full exposure to salt spray and rain. I would just rinse the Aquapac off in fresh water once we got back home before removing the GPS. There are several dry bags made specifically for your GPS, they are definately a good investment if you plan to spend a lot of time around the water. I know they have the IPX7 rating but I like the added protection the Aquapac provided. Just my opinion...

Asking prices?????

Stacey, Mapsource is the base program that all the other mapping program run from. If you have to unlock maps then you either have City Select or City Navigator, both of which need to be unlocked to the GPS. Both CS and CN used to provide 2 unlock codes but that was changed on/about 7 Jun 07. I would try to unlock the program to the GPS and see is it will allow it. If not you could try calling Garmin and see if they will honor the second unlock code. Just to let you know the Legend does not autoroute and with only 8 MB you will not be able to put many maps segments on it anyway. You might want to look at Metroguide or Topo 2008 for the Legend.

I thought I had seen this once before but I cannot locate it now; I have done all the changes to allow for custom icons but when I send the caches from GSAK to Mapsource the Trad caches all show as airports and I even have a bowling alley. These caches are all in the Sandia Mountain foothills so I know that is not what they are supposed to be. Anyone seen this or have a fix? Found the answer - I needed to use the macro for the 60 CSx.

Anytime you load a new mapset to your GPS the existing mapset already on the GPS is erased. You need to make a mapset which contains the City Select maps you want and also the Topo 2008 maps. I loaded 967 MB of City Navigator and Topo 2008 last night and it took almost 2 hrs. Next time I am going to load directly to the card instead of through the GPS.