TeamCNJC

Probably a poor choice of words by the non-battery guy who wrote the readme file. There is indeed a new choice for battery type - Lithium - to go along with Alkaline and NiMH in the System Setup menu. This is probably intended for consumer LiMnO2 AA cells, not necessarily a Li-ion rechargable pack.

It's a theoretical fact. OK - based on the behavior of these units, when you do a hard reset, all data is gone. But if you select a "new location," you'll get a constellation that moves around a bit until the unit finds itself. If there were no baseline almanac, you wouldn't see anything on the satellite screen until a full almanac had been downloaded. So programming in a baseline almanac into the firmware, which is updated periodically, makes cold starts faster. I'm positive that Magellan units have this feature. I don't think that it's stupid, as there's really no downside to doing this, as the new almanac data will quickly overwrite the older data from the firmware. My guess here is that this way of speeding up a cold start doesn't jive with SiRF, and is simply a growing pain. There's probably some sort of error detection/correction that's preventing PRN 35 information from being used, except that the error "detection" prevents the data from being downloaded that provides the correction. Like I said earlier, it's my theory. I'm just trying to understand why my cool new toy won't use correction data at home (W93), but worked fine when I was in NYC and in Europe...

OK - here's my theory on the "x" series, WAAS corrections, and why sometimes it's in its old position, sometimes it's in it's new... Any input is welcomed. 1) WAAS SVs are not part of the "standard" GPS almanac. Doing hard resets to enable a new almanac will not make PRN 35 show up in the "west" as opposed to where it used to be in the "east." Save yourself the time of reloading waypoints and resetting preferences. 2) Since PRN 35 has moved, the "x" SiRF chip can't verify that the signal is "correct," since the SV isn't where it's supposed to be. Therefore, it ignores what it sees from PRN 35, including the WAAS almanac. 3) Since the SiRF chip doesn't have any expectations from the new WAAS SVs, or the older WAAS SVs are where they are supposed to be, it obtains information from them, including the WAAS almanac. 4) Once the WAAS almanac is obtained, the position of PRN 35 is updated, and you can then see it in the "west" where it's supposed to be. The SiRF chip is then happy receiving and utilizing signals and corrections from PRN 35. 5) If the unit is turned off, it the SiRF chip will revert back to expecting PRN 35 in the "east," and without a secondary WAAS lock, you won't be able to repeat the experience of PRN 35 offering correction. 6) If the firmware is updated with a new "baseline" WAAS almanac, showing PRN 35 in it's new position, we won't have this issue anymore. Also, if the firmware is updated to update the WAAS almanac despite not being able to find a WAAS SV in it's "proper" position, we won't have this problem anymore. This theory explains why PRN 35 can "jump" around on an x-series, and why you can get corrections one day, and not another day. In any event, WAAS behavior in the Garmin implementation of SiRF is not what we're expecting, based on our collective experience with non-SiRF Garmins or non-Garmin SiRFs... Thoughts?

I don't know if this is what you researched or not, but you may also want to try this link. I've currently got a project underway - small tests have worked well so far.

Do they show up on the map page? Make sure that under Setup Map-General, Detail is set to Normal, More, or Most, and User Waypoint, and under Setup Map-Points, User Waypoints is set to Auto. In the Find Waypoints screen, select Menu then Find by Name. That will list all the waypoints. Default is nearest to current location. Hope that helps.

Geognerd is 100% correct - I've used multiple models from different manufacturers in both the US and Europe. Getting a fix the first time takes a while (especially if you're on a moving train), both when you power up in Europe and when you get back to the US. Restarting or selecting a new location (depending on model) will speed up the first fix time. When I was using my Meridian Gold, I was able to change the basemap for US to Europe - I don't know if that's possible with the Explorist series or not...

When you "upload" to your x-branded Garmin, you're actually just writing the file to the SD card - there's no internal memory for user-initiated maps. I don't think that SendMap works with an SD card, but MapSource does - simply put your microSD card in a reader and you can write directly to the card. Try this - take an extra card and put it in your GPSr (if you've upgraded, you've got the original one floating around), then upload the custom map. If it doesn't work, you can just remove the card from the unit and format it with an external reader to returned it to baseline.

Current: GPSMap60CSx Retiring: Meridian Gold (may leave it in the boat) SporTrak Color (won in Magellan contest) Had: eTrex Venture

Interesting observation - I wonder how many caches were placed with a Lowrence? I'm guessing the vast majority were placed with a Garmin or Magellan, and I would doubt any signficant difference between placing and finding a cache, at least in terms of GPSr accuracy. Then again, there's averaging... FWIW.

Anyone notice that the SporTraks and Meridians (except MeriColor) are no longer listed on the Magellan software update page? http://www.magellangps.com/en/support/software.asp

Just to add my few cents to this thread... I've been a loyal Magellan owner since 2002 - started with a Garmin Venture, bought a MeriGold as an upgrade. Like the interface, the reception was great, mapping was just "OK." Won a SporTrak Color in a Magellan contest, but the screen and the slow interface made it impractical to do anything but load a map once and let it sit in the car. Adding autorouting via a software/firmware update was a real plus, then the disappointment sent in... I don't have anything to add that hasn't been mentioned above. Actually, I do. My Gold is on it's second screen, and is showng blue spots yet again... I'll be upgrading - my decision is between the 60CSx and the 76CSx.

www.geocaching.com/wap will get you to a WAP-friendly search page. I used to have bookmarks for a WAP portal that would allow you to log, but I lost it after I upgraded to an unlimited data plan. -Craig/TeamCNJC

YES - I did this with my STColor, but it's all for naught if you're using DirectRoute maps. The DR maps invoke a different "lawyer" screen. I believe that there are people who successfully changed that screen, but not with MyMeridian. You need to modify the MyMeridian.ini file to recognize the ever-so-slight differences between the Meridian-series and the ST-series firmware. My .ini file looks like this:

Reason 1: Because you need to send me $375 so I can get the 60C. Reason 2: ... Reason 3: ... Oh, heck, go ahead.

It's not you - it's Magellan. Both the SporTrak and Meridian series have a 200 waypoint limit - 200 with comments, and an additional 300 without. Found this out the hard way - DirectRoute needs 50 empty waypoints (with empty comments) in order to tell you the name of the next turn.

SporTrak Color, DC 2503 - no cracks or problems. I kinda wish it did have the cracks - I could use a mount and some accessories.

Yes. It's a separate setting in the eTrex line. I wasn't aware that they combined the settings in the Geko.

... and make sure that your not in "battery saver" mode. You have to be in full power consumption mode for WAAS to work in Garmin units.

I would recommend a Legend, if you want something a bit cheaper and a bit sooner. Otherwise, the 60/60CS would be the best bet in the spring.

1) Meridian Gold w/256mB SD card, SporTrak Color, DirectRoute software 2) Palm Tungsten T (GPXSpinner and iSilo) 3) I'm eyeing the 60cs, but it would be hard to change brands with the current level of investment (software, cradle in boat, cables in car, etc.) Would have to come down in price significantly.

ST Color firmware version 4.10 is available in the Magellan SporTrak Yahoo group files section. You may have to join the group to get access, then click here.

Actually, if you're only receiving corrections for 4 sats, you'll only be calculating a position based on those 4 sats, no matter how many sats are visible. That implemention of WAAS seems to be particular to Garmin units, and may have been corrected in later firmware versions. There's also a concern that Magellan units may continue to use "stale" WAAS corrections, so it's unclear if any manufacturer has figured out WAAS completely. There's a lot of good WAAS information at gpsinformation.net. If you don't agree with them, please don't flame the messenger.

I'd have to agree with you - I'm not very impressed, but the difference between the STColor and non-color units is impressive. You may not know what you're getting until you miss it. I just got DirectRoute, which seems to use color better than previous maps. Make sure you're running the latest firmware (5.01), too.

M-Class, Did you reflash with 5.12? You may have an FLB (funny little bit) that accidentally got changed during the upload process. -Craig/TeamCNJC ... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took off through the thorns, chest high, ...

Yeah, I just picked up on that. It looks like we'll get one .img file with DirectRoute information on it, which will allow autorouting, but we'll need to switch to a different .img map to get topo data. Not a big problem with my new 256MB SD card in my MeriGold , but what about a unit with fixed memory, like the SporTrak series? I'm guessing that the new firmware will allow detail map switching (the current firmware does now, but I haven't figured out how to upload map files with different names). -Craig/TeamCNJC ... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took off through the thorns, chest high, ...