Grasscatcher

I would guess that it's a plus /minus (east/west)problem with the longitude......

Verify that, in fact, all are still set to "show on map". Sometimes, when a new version is installed, it changes that setting.

With information backup from Garmin, I stand by my original statement, but you are free to hold yours however you want. End of subject.

Very little that I can tell. And it doesn't affect precision or accuracy at all. Do testing on your own and you will prove yourself to be incorrect.

No, you're establishing where the GPS thinks the coordinates are. This has nothing to do with "true coordinate location" and is in no way different than using a distance and bearing method as a geocacher usually does. Well, DUH...that's true for navigating to any point with a GPS. However,by "coming at it" from multiple different directions,and with the compass off, you are eliminating several errors and other "possible" errors. In essence, you are helping to clear up it's "thought process".

Well the bench mark at 4 corners is multi hundreds of feet off sooooooooooooooooooooooo go figure That's incorrect.......find out for yourself ...Google "Four Corners Monument" and then scroll down to "Why Four Corners Monument is exactly in the right place. www.ngs.noaa.gov/INFO/fourcorners.shtml

ECA, Replying to your first point.. you should be "drawing" the first of those "mental lines" while you are moving to the target. Then when the bearing line reverses (telling you that you passed the target), do the same thing from a different direction. It's a "concept" not a matter of hard fast rules. moving on to your second point...I agree about the terrain and because of that, would you agree that it would be impossible to walk a circle around a BM on the edge of a cliff or at the base of a vertical wall where one of your steps, while walking in a circle, would have to be 500 ft down or up? Again....concept,not rule. Third point....I'm talking about BMs with "adjusted" coordinates. Their coordinates are more accurate than the accuracy your (and mine)GPS is capable of. Yes, some of the "scaled" monuments can be "fun", with descriptions referring to fence corners, that are now "long gone", 10" aspen tree (in 1934...what size now!), X ft from the NW corner of the (Family name)house....etc. X ft from the C/L of the road....NO not the present road, the Old road..... DUH !

That's not true either. You may get the highest sensitivity with the antenna vertical, but certainly not the highest accuracy or precision. The 60 and 62 work great laid out horizontally, that doesn't affect accuracy or precision at all. Are you just making this stuff up as you go along? Your reply is so inaccurate that it really doesn't warrant a response.

Yes, I miss-spoke on the 2 axis not working while standing still. (that's the politically correct way of saying I screwed up). Really, that's when it (the compass) works the most accurately..... but then on the 60-76 series with the QH antenna,which needed to be held vertically for GPS accuracy, the 2 axis compass wasn't accurate in that position. Catch 22..... and DFX ...don't guess I remember ever seeing a GPS without a "compass" screen. I've seen lots of GPSs without a compass per se. That's just my personal experience going back to my old Eagle, 12XL, Map76, Map76S, Map76CS, Map76CSx, Oregon550, Map78S. Personal opinion only....yes I do believe it improves accuracy, or at least it's less confusing, with the compass "off". What cardinal "compass" direction it is, is not important. When you are moving, the bearing pointer is pointing the direction to a specific coordinate location. If you are not moving,(stopping to take a compass bearing) then you are not getting any closer to the target anyway. It's just my opinion that the line needs to be established while moving and without any conflict caused by magnetic variation, or other errors. My main point was that with the described procedure, anyone, with any GPS, 2axis compass or 3axis or NO compass can easily establish the true coordinate location. I don't geocache, but hunt a lot of BMs and pins plotted from old plats and legal descriptions. Seldom do I find a pin or marker outside of a 3ft dia circle around a location established that way. Many are buried and not found since the early 1900s. .....but of course I dont' have to worry about the original cache owners placing errors. Anyway, it works for me.

I'm with you on that technique. It's one of the reasons I have always appreciated having the compass chip in my GPS units. Being able to back up, stand still, shoot a bearing, and eyeball a line across a target area from a couple of different angles has helped quite a number of times. It's especially useful when GZ is up against a building, canyon wall or whatever and you need to back away anyway just to get decent readings. Finally!.....but only partially..... ECA, your method only works with a 3 axis compass. With a 2 axis compass the user can't "stand still" because the compass will no longer be accurate with no direction of travel detected. ...and what about all the GPSs without a compass? If you have a compass, TURN IT OFF. Use only the Bearing pointer. Establish a line of travel (moving) to the coordinates (or maybe project a point onto a building wall). Back off and come at it from a different direction/starting point. Do it again....the intersection point of those lines established from different directions is "the point". Really, it's DB simple......works every time.

You Go get'em sic'em guy! That EVIL Garmin company needs to be PUNISHED !! (That Evil company that fixed the GPS for FREE) I really love the logic.........

All this extremely informative information is moot anyway, since Michaelnel unequivocally said that he is now going to return the GPS to where he purchased it. See Post # 4 this thread.

Instead of just describing, and naming a normal GPS action, why don't you "more experienced types" simply explain to the OP how easy it is to nullify it's effects.......where it no longer is a factor in finding the actual coordinate location? And as has been stated, it is precision that's being discussed, not accuracy. Accuracy can be determined by comparison with an accurately surveyed "known location" like a Benchmark.

I don't believe you can do "subsets" from GPS to (whatever) software.....it downloads "ALL". In some SW you can designate what "type" of data you want to move/receive (waypoints,or tracks,or routes) but even in that case it downloads "all" of that type from GPS to SW. Then you can just delete whatever data is unwanted in the "desired subset"

Give the GPS to the horse to use......they are easier to train than wives.....

A very good summary, with one exception : If you are curious, you can find out which chipset your unit has by looking at the suffix of the firmware version. So, back to the original question. Does the 60csx have a more advanced / reliable chipset than the 62s? Answer is : As far as we can tell, no. Earlier versions of the 60csx does have a different chipset. However, the firmware of the 60csx is much more mature than the 62s. Because Garmin has had much more time to work on the bugs. And it is also less complicated (no paperless, for starters). No, NO exceptions...I only addressed the P Contest about the different chipsets available on the 60 series. Now,considering the fact that overall GPS performance is not "just" about chipsets, your point about firmware gets to what the OP really needs to know. The firmware has to consider the different chipsets, different antenna types and the working relationship between both and ALL the other variables to reach the end result performance. I have a 76CSx (same innards and QH antenna as a 60CSx), an Oregon 550, and a 78S (same chipset as 62 but different antenna type (non QH)). At times, I have carried all three simultaneously on single track hiking trails in canyons and under canopy. With all three set with identical settings, I have found the 78S to actually be the most stable overall for logging trails. I also use UTM coordinates and ALL the above will REGULARLY read within 2-3 meters when standing over a Benchmark of KNOWN coordinates. Not a scientific test but an accurate ACTUAL one.

Very little substantive information and lousy entertainment. A dog is chasing a bus.....round and round.... Yep- the 60 has two possible chipsets. Nope- no one can factually prove that one is better than the other. Yep- if you have a 60 then you have one of the two varieties of chipsets Which ever chipset you have is the one you have...duh... you can't change it and Garmin won't. If you didn't know there were two possibilities, then you couldn't tell by any performance std. etc,etc,etc,etc Moral of this story... The dog caught the bus....now what does he do with it?......NOTHING !

Same cable. I've got a TH-D7A, then a combination 3.5mm headphone jack cable and Garmin NMEA cable (010-11131-00). 62 tells Kenwood where we are, and Kenwood tells GPS where everyone else is. http://garmin.blogs.com/softwareupdates/2009/06/aprs-support-in-colorado-and-oregon.html But you have to run strictly on internal battery power..... correct? When you receive a "second" report from a specific station, does your hookup create a totally NEW waypoint or does the GPS just UPDATE the coordinates for that callsign and display it's new location? Everytime there is a software update, be sure and check to see if it still works correctly after updating. My old 76CS originally worked correctly,(updating coordinates) then it changed and Garmin says SOL, discontinued model. The 76CSx originally only created NEW points, but then it was changed to UPDATE.....which reminds me, I need to check the 78S. Creating new points everytime, you can quickly run out of waypoint capacity. "They" may not even mention it in the "changes" for a new version, because "they" don't even have a clue how it affects APRS operation so APRS users have to be vigilant.

No round 4 pin plug on the 62 is there? Garmin screwed up IMHO.

Doesn't it make you wish that you had a 78 instead of a 62? I run APRS on a 78S (and also a 76CSx and a 76CS before that) all(data & power) done thru one single Garmin round 4 pin plug. Powered from Snowmobile,ATV,car battery, or for hiking. a 12 volt separate sealed LA battery, and hooked to my Kenwood D7. Started off using an old 4 pin serial cable from my 12XL.

FF, Maybe you have a bad unit??? maybe a bad screen? I have a 78S and a 76CSx (plus an Oregon 550)and my 78S is the clearest,sharpest,brightest,etc... Literally the exact reverse of everything you describe.....and the battery compartment cover comes off easily for access, and batteries last longer than in the other two! I don't have CN installed on the 78 so can't comment on that. Very strange indeed... I've always been very satisfied with mine

Question: Doesn't having a 3 axis compass require having an accelerometer? That was my initial thought anyway....

Myotis, Yeah, Expert GPS uses only "True"....but try Mapsource or NG TOPO or others. I don't know about Basecamp.....and Yep, I know how to use'em....both software and a mag compass. OP, When your "Electronic Device" fails in the field and you need your declination number to use with your map......how you gonna read the invisible number on the failed screen ? My original (and only) real point is / was that if you get into the field with an unknown declination map and "really need" your actual declination, it can easily be determined with your GPS........(hopefully before the electronic device fails).....however, Murphy's Law says that you won't remember to do it until JUST AFTER it fails.......

The OP said he wants his GPS to display declination to be used with his compass and HIS maps. HIS maps that HE printed. If HE printed them then that must mean that he has mapping software on his computer. If that is true then that software has "preferences" to be set that will define whether bearings are "magnetic" or "true" on displayed maps. If the OP is printing the maps, then the OP MUST DECIDE.....which is it? Mag or True? Only the OP knows for sure which way it was set when HE printed the map. Moral: OP, just print them the way you want them. Or just get a compass that you can set the declination on and always use "true"

Sorry 'bout that if it sounded harsh. It wasn't meant to be harsh, it was meant to cause you (and others)to THINK.....like.... why would I want my GPS to DISPLAY useless (to it) information if I can use it's present capabilities to easily determine that info.....for whatever unknown reason. My point was that it took 25 posts to get the answer......and I hope that this doesn't sound harsh again, but you still didn't "get" the solution......it is not as you described. What about if your location is on "the other side" of the 0 declination line? Would you still subtract True from Magnetic? This is NOT difficult.....it is purely the DIFFERENCE between the numbers and your GPS will show you whether you should add or subtract from True. Just look at the (true)bearing to any saved waypoint in your unit.....now, change the unit's setting to magnetic, and look at the bearing to the same waypoint. Did it increase.... or did it decrease ....and by how much....