Grasscatcher

"Maps can be off, gps can be inaccurate at times. Lock on roads does its best to help in your navagating. Everything has its limitations. As long as you have a good understanding of the limitations any tool is more usefull." Sorry I "wound so many springs" or "came on a little strong" . IMO Era Seek really has the best comment (above). GPSrs, along with ALL of their features, capabilities,and limitations are only Navigational Tools and should always be used IN CONJUNCTION WITH a giant dose of common sense and logic. That's what seems to be missing a lot of the time. Never stop questioning what information your GPSr is telling you, or at least be aware that it can be the "truth" or it can be a "lie". In both cases, my "common sense & logic" or as Era Seek said " good understanding of the limitations", AND USE is the key to understanding your preference settings, on your unit, the way YOU use it.

In other words , even when you know you are in a bad reception area (your GPSr will show you), or if the maps of an area are bad, or when you know that you haven't changed streets (read the street signs) or jumped two blocks over (200 ft=2 blocks (5th to 7th??)) you would rather see a pretty picture ? I believe I can rest my case.....

Can someone please explain why anyone in their right mind would intentionally make a setting on their GPSr where it would show them to be in an incorrect position where it KNOWS that they ARE NOT ?????(Lock on Road)Then question why their GPSr "Doesn't seem to be working right". DUH !!! Understand that "Lock on Road" and "Follow road" are not the same. Use Follow Road when you want to navigate to a location using roads/streets. Use Off Road to identify a straight line navigation bearing. Leave "Lock on Road" turned OFF. PERIOD ! If you turn it on, what you are doing is saying that you do NOT want your GPSr to tell you where you actually are, but you just want it to make a pretty picture! ....and then you can complain about your GPSr not being accurate, when it is doing exactly what you told it to do! What you will find is that most, if not all, maps are not perfect and that your GPSr is more correct. Surely you don't really want to "Dummy it down" to match the maps.

Ah Ha! See, now the rest of the story comes out! Yes, Navigationally speaking, magnetic vs true makes a difference., but the "end" coordinates of a specific point will not be affected. However, on navigation caches, the original placer definitely should specify whether the directions are in Mag or True, not just make the cacher guess. If the instructions are done correctly, the final location will have the same coordinates either way, but the path (bearing) you took to get there will be different. (Compass Angle of the path from A to B to C)

Surely you jest.....! Coordinates of a specific location are not influenced by whether you have your GPSr set on Magnetic or True..... Maybe you had tomaatoes in your ears and couldn't hear what your GPSr was telling you.....

Mapsource doesn't "live track" any more but go to Garmins website and download (free) N Route. Does the same as you did before but with more features now.

Turn the compass OFF- Hold down"Page" for a few seconds Select your "GoTo" point.....also be sure to select Off Road On the "Compass page" press menu>bearing pointer( as one of the choices, you will see either Course pointer or Bearing pointer) When the menu comes up if you "see" "Course Pointer" then that means you are already on "Bearing Pointer" and vice versa. Does that make sense? You want "Bearing Pointer" Back back out of there and then go to the Compass page. Start walking and the arrow will be pointing at your desired destination. The Bearing Pointer will always be pointing to your selected destination point. On Garmin GPSrs the compass is probably the most misunderstood feature/function. IMHO you should only turn on the compass when you are standing still and can hold the unit flat and level. When using the Go To function ,you need to hold the unit nearly vertically for best signal reception. Then use only the bearing pointer and follow the arrow. With the near vertical/horizontal "holding"problem, the compass only confuses the issue. When using only the bearing pointer and you walk "past" a cache by only a few feet, the arrow will flip around and "say" "Hey dummie, it's now behind you!"

Excuse me, but IMO this post shows extreme arrogance and the total lack of knowledge of the poster. In many areas of the country Google Earth lacks the capability to show ANYWHERE NEAR enough detail to be able to identify a specific address. In my area , GE is totally worthless.

I've got about 13 opinions on Maptech.....none of them any good. I had TNP for several years and listened to every excuse under the sun for why this or that didn't work or why aerial photos weren't available,etc,etc,etc It's always someone else's problem or it can't be done for proprietary reasons or...... I solved the problem permanently by not even loading their software on my next computer. Expert GPS, or Natl Geo TOPO is much better software and you won't have to put up with the BS. I hope this is not beating around the bush too much.....

After you used them in the flashlight for just a very few minutes, put them back into your GPSr and they will work there too.....(just slightly too high starting voltage) So I need to burn off some voltage from the LI batteries? Any idea how much? Literally just a very few minutes, try them as they are right now,after they have been in the flashlight. It may have already been long enough.

After you used them in the flashlight for just a very few minutes, put them back into your GPSr and they will work there too.....(just slightly too high starting voltage)

I use an external antenna and keep the GPSr in my jacket. The GPSr stays locked on for quick / accurate readings , and warm for extended battery life, and hands stay warm too. Works great for snowmobiling around 0 F

NO.....read my lips....THE STANDARD SIZE SD CARD WILL NOT FIT IN GARMIN GPSrs

I'm working with Topo 4.2.4 so it may be slightly different, but in the software go to view >preferences >receiver type...be sure you have the proper model selected......and back under preferences go to connections and be sure the USB radio button has been selected, not serial. These GPS setup selections may be under Handhelds> chg GPS settings also, I can't remember.

The problem was the difference between NAD 83 and WGS 84? Wrong! I won't argue, but to prove it to yourself, select one of your waypoints saved in your GPSr. With the GPSr set on WGS 84,write down the coordinates. Now change the GPSr to NAD 83 and select the same waypoint and compare the coordinate numbers. Maybe between NAD27 and NAD 83/WGS 84, but not between NAD83 and WGS 84. Those two are so close to being identical that they are generally interchangeable.

When you go to the NGS pages or to the Benchmark info on GC.com, be sure to look for coordinates that are "Adjusted" not "Scaled". "Adjusted" coordinates are "as" accurate, or possibly more accurate, than your consumer grade GPSr is capable of. "Scaled" coordinates are ones that have been scaled from paper maps, and can be significantly in error. Locate the data for a nearby BM and verify that it's horizontal coordinates are "adjusted" and use it to see how close your GPSr "agrees". The same principal applies for elevation data. (adjusted/scaled)

Much older..... Well,....DUH !......how much do ground contours (topographical data) change from year to year????? In some aspects it has more data than CN 7,or 8, and even v9 to come.... No autorouting for streets,and not all the latest streets, but also less cluttered (than 1:24000 maps). not "locked", ....several good points also. Perfect if you need topographical data on small screens (on most GPSrs) , but if you need to have your hand held and guided to a cache with turn by turn instructions, get something else (CN)

I just took a map with three separate tracks on it that made up a trail system. I moved two of the tracks to separate places on the map. Each track moved as a unit. The third was left in it's original location. If I could attach two jpg images then You could see the before and after. It took approximately 30 sec to do the whole process!

Why make a process so simple into something difficult.????? Use Expert GPS and the "Move Selected" tool.

My .02 worth... NG TOPO are the absolute BEST 1:24000 digitized topos available and considering that when they first came out with the State Series, they were $249/ state, it's sure not a bad deal at $99 /state now. The next step after getting a state would be to invest in TOPO streets and 3D Views. (about $20)That's ver 4 and then you can download the latest Tiger Street information and the latest TOPO map updates available from USGS off of the internet .......free.

Or get a PCI card for your computer to add Serial port(s) Probably $10.00 or so

Put up with the grief, because if the antenna is attached to the machine and rider and machine go different ways.....(intentionally or otherwise)....get my drift? Been there, done that ... Really, if it's on your helmet or cap visor, and the extra cable length in your jacket, you are "self-contained" and don't have to worry about forgetting when you get off to get an obstruction or check your machine.etc. "They'll " probably just call you "E T" of "phone home" fame Good Riding this season, and keep the rubber side down!

Unless I missed it, everybody above totally missed the most important feature.....the capability for an external antenna . The 60CSx does not need it for reception but YOU need it to be able to have two free hands. Also No GPS that I'm aware of can be operated with snowmobile gloves on, and YOU don't want to ride WITHOUT them on . You can put a small piece of velcro on your helmet or cap for the antenna ,and keep the unit in your coat pocket. That keeps the unit/batteries warm in extreme cold , your hands free, and the GPSr doesn't get vibrated to pieces. I've got a Map76CS with several thousand miles of mapping both types of trails. Have had "0" problems. In a good snowmobiling season, I'll ride 2500-3000 miles. And just FYI, groomed trails are just necessary evils to get to the untracked deep and soft play areas! I'm afraid to total up the ATV miles during the rest of the year.

Me thinks this one falls in the category of 98% operator error & 2% GPSr error

Did you try the menu>stop navigation from the map page?