Gr8Scot

Another one from the T4A forum. Please contact seller directly if you are interested. "Nico Nel" <4x4nic@gmail.com> Sep 28 10:08AM +0200 ^ I have 2x Montana 650 and no longer need my Oregon 550. Will consider any reasonable offer off list. Nico Nel 0846082026

Spotted this on another forum. Please contact the seller directly if you are interested. Kinnie van Eeden <kinnieve@gmail.com> Sep 27 12:51PM +0200 ^ Good morning, Blatant advertising. I am selling my Garmin Oregon 550. Asking price R3,500.00. Upgraded to Montana and happy with it. If interested, please contact me off list. Regards, Kinnie Kinnie van Eeden Regional Security Advisor Current location: Home, Port Elizabeth, South Africa Mobile: +27 72 730 3271 (South Africa)

Got to scroll down a bit or zoom out.

Does anyone know what the structure shown by the green arrow at this link is? A friend asked me and I thought that this would be the best place to ask. http://maps.google.co.za/maps?q=-33.94275,18.432722&sll=-33.9375,18.425&sspn=0.018515,0.032015&num=1&t=h&vpsrc=0&z=19

Definitely a NAY from me. When I started out in the game is was quickly apparent to me who the "greybeards" were by their find counts. So those were the people I looked up to as a newbie, asked for advice and valued their logs. With a PT a newbie can rack up a high find count in a very short time, so devaluing smilies as a gauge of experience.

No, that was a once off event (or so Sue tells me) . But looking at the photos and reading the account of the two-wheeled decent by a "proper" 4x4, it was maybe just as well we couldn't make it or we could have seen a repeat performance!

Drat, can't make it after all. Have fun.

Drat, can't make it after all. Have fun.

I've seen your wife drive that thing into a ditch - and we got you out so I am sure it will be just fine! Trev

Sounds like fun. What date and will softroaders like my CR-V (4x4 but no low range) be able to cope with this one?

I tried this out on my Torch yesterday. Took me straight to a cache with no problem. It's a bit user unfriendly till you get the hang of it, but pretty good for spur of the moment caching if you've left the GPS at home I'd say. You have to have your pocket files sent to an email address at bcaching.com to make it work properly, but once that's done you have almost instant access to the 20 closest caches in your PQ. It will even route you via BB maps (but only on-screen - no voice or beeps when you need to turn). It can also create and store gpx tracks for mapping purposes. I'd say it's excellent value for money (free) and there's effectively no data charges if you have BIS!

Thanks for pointing that out - I hadn't noticed.

As far as I can make out the 62s is pretty much an Oregon 450 with buttons instead of a touchscreen and a quad helix antenna. I had a brief discussion with j4pos about his experiences with his 62s last week and he seemed happy with it. The firmware in the 62s and the Oregon seems very similar. Something to be aware of with both the units advertised on the iwarehouse site is that neither the Dakota or 62s come with preloaded maps (other than the base map which is VERY basic - no good for geocaching). You need to add another R 1000 for Garmin maps to the prices you see. Then there's the question of whether to buy the map on SD card (which can be moved to another unit if you later upgrade your GPSr) or on dvd (which can only be registered to one unit but can also be loaded onto your pc) Of course, you can always download and install the free routeable Open Streetmap, but even though I'm a contributor and big fan, I have to admit that in some areas it still needs development. In Cape Town it's probably better than the Garmin map, but in other areas it's short on detail.

The new eTrex is already available overseas. See details here: http://sites.garmin.com/etrex/ Looking at the cost of a Dakota 20 locally, my suggestion would be that you rather look at a second hand Oregon 300. They can be found in the R 2000 - R 2 500 range and will give you FAR more bang for your buck than either the eTrex or the Dakota. Firmware upgrades are still being released (although I don't think that there's much more that can be improved) so they are by no means out of date.

The Balrog shall face another foe. See you there.

If you are using a Garmin you can get free routable Open Street Maps for most countries (or create one map containing just the tiles from all you will be visiting) from this site: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

I've volunteered to take La Kedi round the Peninsula on Wednesday ending up at the Event Cache. If anyone would like to join us there are two free seats in the car, so let me know. Recommendations for caches en route (especially Earthcaches) will be gladly accepted.

Here's the one for the pioneers - Oregon x00 owners http://www8.garmin.com/software/Oregon_WebUpdater__420.gcd Changes made from version 4.10 to 4.20: Updated magnetic Earth data Improved GPS performance Improved support for BirdsEye™ Satellite Imagery (each provider's imagery can be configured independently) Increased the maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200 Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS Fixed issue with track navigation sometimes not adding waypoints to the Active Route list Fixed issue with MPC map labels disappearing Fixed shutdown on the map page when you have a geocache dashboard active and return after pressing the geocache name Fixed issue with photo viewer not displaying correctly Fixed issue with 3D view Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point Fixed shutdown when the device had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field Fixed an issue related to adding a geocache as a point in a route Fixed an issue with magnetic north reference and waypoint headings Modified the 'Arriving at Destination' message banner so that it no longer appears when navigating to a geocache

Try this to improve screen readability: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#FAQ-M5.%29%20Are%20there%20any%20tips%20to%20improve%20the%20Oregon%27s%20screen%20readability?

1. The reason that the address search doesn't work properly is that Garmin won't share the information on how their address indexing works with the OSM community. So when Mkgmap compiles the OSM data into a map that can be used on a Garmin, it doesn't know how to create the address index. The address data is there in the OSM database, it just that due to propriety secrecy, it can't be compiled. I know that the Mkgmap developers are continually trying to improve the situation, so maybe it'll improve in time. There are some solutions suggested here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mkgmap/known_issues the best one being "For newer Garmin devices, address search works only if the gmapsupp.img is created by MapSource. The map must first be installed in MapSource and then uploaded to the GPS device with MapSource." 2. There is a way to change the background colour. I'll see if I can find it and pass it on, but I've just got used to it. 3. You must have used the Garmap Topo & Rec map before. There are OSM derived topo maps around. OpenCyclingMap and OpenTrailsMap spring to mind, but they are more focused on cycling & hiking respectively. If you're really interested, there are processes whereby you can set up your own styles and compile your own Garmin compatible map from raw OSM data, but it takes some serious effort!

That's easy - as it's like a Wiki, ANYONE can update the map. The whole idea is that local people know their areas best and can add to or change the map if they find something wrong or missing. Here's a link to the Beginner's Guide. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Beginners%27_Guide A warning though, it can get strangely addictive. I'm working on adding mountain bike trails at the moment and find myself having to ride increasingly further just to record new traces with the GPS. A happy by-product has been losing 13kg and getting much fitter though

Here's the direct link to the latest routeable OSM map for SA and Lesotho. http://planetosm.oxilion.nl/~lambertus/garmin/routable/30-04-2011/70a8cbc9138db1baae0d2d7c7f44cb15/ You just need to download the gamapsupp.zip file, extract it, RENAME IT TO OSM.img (or something similar) and copy it directly to the \Garmin\ directory on the Oregon. Then on the Oregon just go Setup>Map>Map Information> and enable the OSM map that should appear on the list. Disable all the other maps (except the basemap if there is one) as any Garmin maps will appear "on top" of the OSM map so it won't be visible. Download the Mapsource installer file as well if you want to install the map on your PC, but you don't have to. I can't speak for the detail of OSM maps outside of the Western Cape, as I've only experience of using it here. In Cape Town I don't use anything else, as it's much more up to date than the 2009 Garmap I have loaded. The only problem is that the address search doesn't work very well. If you'd like to take a look at the detail for SA, the following link takes you to the OSM slippy map on the web where you can zoom and pan around to take a look. http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=-29.4&lon=25.3&zoom=5&layers=M You've nothing to lose by trying it, as the price can't be beaten!

Not a pleasant situation, but if I were in your place, I'd take their offer. Realistically, what are your alternatives? It seems to be their policy not to repair, but to replace. And as it's more than six months old (and second hand), the Consumer Protection Act won't help you. If you don't take their offer you'll probably have to fork out more than R 1024 for another GPS anyway, probably also second hand. Whereas for R 1024 you get a brand new OR550 (insist on a full guarantee)that will do you for many years.

If you hold in the power button while connecting to the computer, you MAY be able to force the OR into mass storage mode. It depends on what version of the firmware was loaded. If you can get it into mass storage mode there are various ways to try and reload the firmware listed here: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Miscellaneous#FAQ-M3.%29%20Is%20there%20any%20way%20to%20recover%20a%20corrupted%20Oregon%20without%20sending%20it%20back%20to%20Garmin? Also see the information in this link: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/message/view/home/24762997 Good luck

If you do find a supplier, I'd be interested as well.