Grasscatcher

Yep, You're right! ............Forgot that one......

Go to the waypoint page and hit menu. There are two options for listing waypoints.....By "Nearest" will show list of 50 nearest. by "Name" will show all....and you can count'em. Easiest way is to download to Mapsource and count them there

YES it works, and it's absolutely worth it.! Several folks here in western Colorado were able to be rescued as a direct result of them this Winter. Two tower maintenance workers with a stuck snowmobile 20 mile from the nearest road, a family of 8 with stuck machines in a deep canyon.....end results were, all at home in their own warm beds before the night was over. Easily could have been life threatening, definitely saved a miserably cold night in the snow, which could have turned out the other way. ......and you can send an "OK" check-in message so that your wife, girlfriend,or ??? etc is not worried. (and you don't get reamed when you get back)

Not JUST waypoints...... Saved tracks, Routes and up to 1000 waypoints are saved to internal memory.( x number of Tracks,x number of Routes, and x number of Waypoints) separate and distinct amounts, independent of each other. If the user desires, Tracks can also be logged the the card, if that option is chosen. Otherwise, only maps go on the card.

The elevation profile will be of the contour lines that the straight line "route" segments cross, not the actual change in elevation that a profile of the Track or Actual trail would show.

I think the OP, and others, are confusing Routes & Tracks.........

Have you noticed that NO ONE above has said "NO, don't do it because it hurts reception" ? Use an external antenna, and use velcro to stick it where ever you want, stealth placement or geeky obvious. There is no downside (including any noticeable shorter battery life) and the convenience alone of being able to have both hands free is worth it. I map snowmobile and ATV and hiking trails and can have the GPS protected in an inside warm pocket, or deep down in the pack, or just anywhere out of my hands leaving them both free for driving, use of poles, or "4 point motivation", hanging on for dear life, or whatever. The new high sensitivity chips will usually even maintain a good lock inside the upper portion af a pack or case. However, an externa antenna is a very convenient "insurance policy"

Go here- http://www.findmespot.com/Home.aspx Several of the SAR orgs around here in Western Colorado recommend these. Just in the past Winter they have literally saved several lives (or devinitely several miserably cold nights in the snow that could have turned out the other way) The SAR members all have GPS and APRS radio

Apparently,lots of them are moving. According to Topo 2008, several of the 54 Fourteeners (Mtns over 14,000 ft elev) in Colorado are now less than 14,000 ft. due to inaccurate elevation information. Older Topo is correct and BM elevations and USGS Topos all show correctly but I guess that Topo2008 is smarter........

Google earth is mostly designed/ slanted toward the "Oh Looky, there's my house" crowd. Don't bet on it's coordinate accuracy. Let your GPS "settle in" and get a good lock and "average" before saving a point. Then save a second point at the same location. Compare ...and if they agree then you should be OK. If not, save a third one and it will probably agree with the 2nd. This is assuming of course that you have a good clear view of the sky. Generally, the most inaccurate coordinates are the first ones you save after turning your unit on.

Also, the GPS must be held VERY close to level, and not close to belt buckles, or your magnetic compass or anything else metal...to be accurate. Do an experiment.....calibrate your GPS compass and lay it flat on the floor. Now lay your magnetic compass on the floor right next to it. Neither will read correctly until they are separated by about a foot. If your magnetic compass has a declination adjustment, set that for the correct declination for your area and then it will read the same (point the same direction) as your GPS when that is set to True North

You are getting both good information and bad information..... For changing the coordinates of waypoints already in your unit from Lat/Lon to UTM, doing it by just changing the device setup is definitely the easiest way. All you are really doing is changing the way they are DISPLAYED to you. Internally, ALL GPSrs work, or think, in WGS 84 datum. What you choose to have it "show" you is up to you, depending on your needs, and your NEEDS change based on what you are doing with the information. Don't assume that you need WGS 84 datum. You mentioned plotting the points.....If you are plotting the points on a paper map, then you MUST have the GPSr set to the same datum as the paper map.(controlled by whatever the Datum the paper map is) Most USGS Topo maps were made in NAD 27 Datum. so to plot a point on one of those maps, you would need to change your unit to NAD 27 Datum , read the coordinates for the point and plot them on the map. The reverse is also true. If you are taking coordinates off of a paper map to put into your unit, then you must be sure that your unit is set to the same datum (as the map) WHEN YOU ENTER THEM into your unit. It's just when you are crossing different types of "mediums" that you have to be careful. That is true whether it be Map to GPS, or GPS to Map, or GPS to GPS (someone else's), or GPS to software.etc. Just remember apples to apples..... The same applies to coordinate Format, Degrees minutes seconds,or Decimal Deg,or Deg minutes decimal minutes..... If you get coordinates from ANYWHERE, the first and most important question to ask are "What datum (and format) are they in ?" Enter them into your unit with it set on the same as they are "coming from" , and you are good to go.

As mentioned above......Google is a "dummied down" version of a mapping program. It's designed more for the "Oh looky, I can see my house! " crowd. So, don't depend on it for accuracy......unless you just want to see your house.......

I've got 9 individually saved tracks showing on the screen simultaneously on my 76CSx right now. PDOP's post above is correct........ The new Colorado will only display one (hopefully to be changed by future update) and you cannot access the tracks on the card if that's the only place you have them saved.

Bill, You are receiving some, at best, very unclear information above. Logging tracks to the card on the 60csx saves exactly the same total data as is saved on the Colorado, which saves the data to internal memory. HOWEVER, the Colorado does not do "Trackback" (for the return trip that evening) and in the field the operator cannot access the complete data on the card of the 60CSx, so that can't be used for trackback either. Kinda SOL either way. If you take the complete track data downloaded from the card to your PC and put it back into your unit for your next trip, when it goes into the unit it is reduced to 500 tp. You can kinda trick the unit by naming the track "Active Log" but you really don't want to get into that. The only accurate way to do what you want to do (trip down and accurately guided trip back) is to SAVE the "Down" (or first direction) trip in segments of approx. 500 TP . Each track saved and then recalled and used in sequence on the return trip. Now, on how to log points, the most efficient way is to use Auto instead of specifying a time or distance. Going straight it logs fewer points, in a curve it logs more . Use "More often" or "Most often" . You will need to play with those settings along with the speed that you are traveling to achieve the accuracy you desire. I map snowmobile trails at 15-20mpg avg using Auto and More Often, and use as rule of thumb that I need to "Save" after traveling about 6-7 miles on very twisty turning trails. Pick out an intersection or landmark within 1/2 mile or so and "Save". You will not be able to notice any difference in track accuracy. It's when you try to save a 30 mile trip into one track which is divided into only 500 segments that the accuracy is visibly apparent due to "corner cutting" etc. Just know as fact that a "Saved" track is EXACTLY the same in plotted accuracy as a "card saved, active log" track UNTIL you reach the 500 TP limit. The "stripped" data is just speed and elevation , which you can't use on the unit anyway. The difference is that you can recall and use the saved track(s) for "trackback." On either unit, you can zoom in and VISUALLY follow the "breadcrumb trail" you recorded on the trip in the first direction. That would be kind of a Visual Trackback, but without screen directions except for seeing how accurately you're following your first track. That doesn't help for the next trip.

Change your unit to list waypoints "By Name" instead of "Nearest". Then they will all show.

http://www.easygps.com/windows98.asp

GPSr = GPS Receiver

K & TBM, You are right....my bad. I had been there, and was checking here also , and forgot where I was when I made the post. I just duplicated the post over there. Thanks

I'd suggest just finding/using the older version of Topo......since you are not going to be sending maps back and forth and AFAIK the data transfer is the same. If you were in Colorado or Wyoming or ..... ,soon to be others.... see http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...opic=185855/url] this would work great.

I'm trying to connect an APRS rig.....a Kenwood D7A (G) radio and a Garmin 76CSx (or 76CS) I can find a cable (Gilsson) to connect the radio to the GPSr (2 way data transfer thru the 4 pin plug) and also to a 12v power supply. However, the 12v only supplies power to the GPS , NOT also to the radio. I want to also power the radio from the 12v supply. Anyone know of a cable?

In Expert GPS, create a waypoint and on the page that comes up, click on the symbol pulldown tab. It should show you a list of the symbols that are correct for the GPS you have identified. Those are the only ones that are applicable and can be used on your GPS anyway. The Mapsource program and other units may show more / others. Symbol lists are "model specific".

That's the beauty of the "auto" setting......it's not a fixed distance. If you're going in a straight line, it logs fewer than going around a curve. Sharper curve, more points are logged than traveling around a gradual curve. About half smart ! and conserves trackpoints... Hey ! where did you go to HS? ......TX?

Well put , Got GPS ......however, when Poster after Poster chimes in with "GPS laying inside", "Cold Start", "Sitting on my desk",etc., while complaining about perceived problems, I don't know that there is much hope. I wonder if a person could hear and see perfectly if they wore noise canceling headphones and had a tub over their head? There are numerous posts in this forum and elsewhere (Manual) covering the correct procedures for assuring the best satellite reception and GPS operating instructions. Your way is the absolute best, Experiment for yourself, and Learn.

"Should we lump all of the 60csx threads into one as well? " It may not be proper to answer a question with a question, but ..... Why not? Is there a downside to doing it? I can definitely see the benefits...as the OP and others have suggested?