Native20559

here you go: http://www.washingtonlakes.com/TopoMaps.aspx?id=11 looks to be ALOT of WA lakes for you here, enjoy fellow fish hunter! If you don't know what to do with this, save it, then use Moagu from Moagu.com to import it to your Etrex. The standard SOP for creating custom maps doen't apply with Etrex units. Let me know if you need more help. Have a good season! Be safe. N

Wasn't offered any kind of discount .. just free shipping with a $29.98 or bigger order. http://zaggdiscountcode.com/

Ask him if they'd mind overnighting it to you for your inconvenience? It's the least they can do for the lost time ... And it can't hurt to ask. Be safe. N

We think alike! It seems as though the feature set on the Endura series was an Lowrance after thought. I've been badgering Lowrance to get their act in gear and get these features added in their updates in, hopefully, the near future. Funny but their other previous units had these features so I think it's reasonable for us to DEMAND these features also. If you feel like harping on someone in a position to influence, PM the Endura Expert on these forums (Technology Forum mostly I think ...). Be Safe. N

Look at Cascadegps.com under mapping/lowrance. The cards are $69 per region. N

Might want to try something fairly basic. Could be as simple as using a Zagg screen shield. Clean screen carefully but extra well before installation. Then use a hair dryer on low to let the shield fill the cracks and scratches (the basis for their guarantee if you ask me), never allowing the material to get hot to the touch ; may require more than one effort. You may see very little of the remaining scratches when you're done and with use since, thru use of the touch screen, you'll be pushing the material into the scratches. Best of luck to you! N

For my money, the Lowrance Endura Sierra really rocks for verbal/audible navigation with the Turn by Turn card. calc's and recalcs are nearly instantaneous. Performance easily on par with dedicated auto units. Almost bought a Nuvi until this card came out for this unit. Love it. Be safe. N

Slight correction: while it's true that the PN series uses rasterized imagery for the stuff available through the subscription downloads, it comes with the vector-based TopoUSA maps. So people usually end up with a mix of data types. Thanks for the correction sir.

The PN-30 is Rastor based and lacks the 3-axis electronic compass or barometer and is paperless; The Vista HCX is vector based and has lower resolution based imagery (images can be imported to this unit with a third party software at Moagu.com) and NOT paperless. Both terrific units, I particularly like the Vista HCX because it's the one I bought my daughter and she loves it! If you're looking for low end value driven, please look at the Lowrance Out and Back for about $170, an excellent buy if you don't need 3-axis electronic compass or barometer or Turn by Turn Navigation and want the very best kind of paperless experience. The GPS accepts all the best optional Accuterra maps (retail is $99 but $70 per region at CascadeGPS.com) and the Mapselect imagery at $5 per quad or grid of USGS Topos, BLM maps, Satellite Aerial imagery at Mapselect.com. Check it out! Be safe. N

Still no word. I spoke with Lowrance and with Accuterra. No concrete information. The Tech support individual said "possibly in April". A trusted vendor told me that since it's not available for pre-order directly from Lowrance, that most likely we won't see it for 6 months or as late as some time in the last quarter '10. Wish I could tell you more. N

If you are considering a Colorado, look into the Colorado 400i, I've seen these NIB going for less than a Vista HCx online. You Can always backup and dump the inland waterways maps if they are of no interest to you and have more internal room for maps, and then replace them if you want to sell the unit. Have to agree with Coggins. The Colorado 400i is a great value at considerably less than half price. Picked up mine at RocketCamera.com for $239!!! It's everybit the GPS that the Oregon is (I also have the Oregon 200) and is considerably less. The "rock and roller" is like anything else that's new and different, it just takes time to get used to ... I really enjoy using mine, especially with the external antenna capability. Please try to avoid buying a used GPS, especially from eBay for god sakes. You'll easily get what you want, at the price you want if you continue to do what you've been doing: asking questions and comparison shopping. Try using Bizrate.com and Nextag.com to see what the best prices are and where they're selling them at those prices. Good luck on your quest. N

Don't forget to try the comparison shopping utility in Bizrate.com and Nextag.com. They will tell you what the best prices are and where you can get them as well as buyers seller ratings to evaluate risk with doing business with that seller. That's why I pretty much avoid eBay and Amazon unless it's a last resort. I've found that CascadeGPS pretty much has the best prices around. I start with them then look for better. Usually end up finishing with them because of they're pricing and very, very low shipping costs. Good luck. N

What he said. Personally I prefer to set miner to .5 to .25 which allows me to quickly go to the area then zoom to the specific location and get the lay of the land. To each his own but it's a great way of working with the settings to eliminate clutter. Be safe. N

Sounds like a software problem. The Colorado 400t had a similar problem with one of their software updates and it was later corrected. Have you tried an earlier version of the software to see how it responds? No worries Brian. Your file sizes are too big, that's why the Endura isn't seeing them but you can. Reduce the file size to 500 geocaches or less ( example i.e. 2000 geocache file, broken up into 4, 500 geocaches works like a top!). Check out the macros on GSAK. There is one or two that will kick out multiple files in smaller bites for larger size files (distance.gsk, Export250GPX.gsk I edited this one to 500 geocaches, easy to do, GPXbyDistance-Children.gsk). Let me know if I can be of further help. Be safe. N

The best I've used is either Delorme's Street Atlas package or their Topo USA package both offer tremendous flexibility. Give 'em a look see. Street Atlas : http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtp...;minisite=10020, Topo USA : http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtp...p?section=10050 N

Congrats on the new Toy! You'll find Mapsource on the disk called "Trip and Waypoint Manager". Be safe. N

To the best of my knowledge, the NOAA maps do not have topographic maps of inland lakes and rivers which I believe he's looking for ... The Garmin Inland lake units or the Navionics chip is the very best option for many of the most significant lakes in your area (I use both: Garmin Inland lake on my Oregon 200 and Colorado 400i units; Navionics Premium HotMaps 2010 chip: Delorme PN-40, and Lowrance Endura Sierra). A close second is importing a scanned topographic paper map as a .kmz file to a Dakota, Oregon, or Colorado type Garmin GPS. It's fast, it's easy, and it's a productive way to scout a lake for the best fishing. It's really easy to do with the BingMaps program (www.mad-prof.co.uk), G-Rastor (Moagu.com) or using the Garmin Custom Map method. Either way, it's worth having it on your GPS in addition to having the paper maps in hand as you always should. Please PM me if you have questions, I'd love to help if I can ... Be safe. N

It's always wise to take multiple "samples" of location coordinates over several days just to be sure the location coordinates are accurate. What you are looking for, obviously, is someone else being able to reproduce your coordinates, with reasonable accuracy, on any given day. Everyone has found a cache or two where they literally found a cache exactly to the foot (meter?) of the coordinates provided. That's ultimately what you're looking for but I don't think it HAS to be that dead on, though it sure would be nice! Personally, I think when they are that close, it gives the cache that WOW factor when you can find it that way. If you have a feature called "waypoint averaging" on your GPS, that's the best way of dealing with getting the best possible location "fix" of a cache. Ideally , 4-8 samples, several each day, over several days, each sample 7-10 minutes and a spacing of each sample of 90 min. apart will give you the best accuracy. Yea, I know, sounds nuts! You can reduce that possibly, to a couple averaged samples say, twice a day (taken on good days when you're GPS is giving you the best accuracy you're accustomed to) over 2-3 days should get you reasonably good coordinates. Experiment with it a bit, even consider using a buddies GPS if that's possible, after you've placed your cache, to spot check its location on another's equipment. Remember, an inaccurate set of coordinates invariably contributes to the dreaded "Drunken Bee Dance", lol. Good luck with your efforts. Be safe. N

In addition to getting seller ratings also look to Bizrate.com and Nextag.com for the best comparison prices. I've always used CascadeGPS.com and RocketCamera.com with great success. Amazon is always hit or miss for me. I will avoid buying from them unless it's a last resort. The Endura base maps are very simple but the optional Accuterra maps absolutely rock! And CascadeGPS.com has some of the best prices for those products as well. Sample current prices are Sierra $335, Safari is $252, Out and Back $175, and the regional Lowrance Accuterra "Advanced Outdoor Content" maps are $69.49 ea. Go ahead and contact me via PM if either of you have ANY questions about the Lowrance Endura's. I have most of the comparable GPSr's on the market and would love to discuss them with you on the phone (preferable). Just leave me your phone number in your PM. The Endura's are well worth the buck. Most of the issues which initially plagued these products, like most early release products, have pretty much evaporated. If you have doubts, do a forum search for "Endura" and I'm sure you'll agree. Best of luck. N

BizRate.com and Nextag.com are excellent price comparison product search tools. Give 'em a look see just to make ceratin you're getting the best prices possible. Best of luck. N

Man you are going to love this site: http://www.fishweb.com/recreation/fishing/lakes/index.html, and this one also http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-3...2340---,00.html Be safe. N

Congrats on the new toy! Stay patient just a tad longer my friend the fun is just around the corner! First and most importantly, please make sure you've updated the GPS from the Lowrance website, then get the premium Geocaching membership so that you can get Pocket Queries. (Pocket Queries provide complete packets of geocache information and provide a method to get that information to you.) Then, click on your name in the upper right hand corner and look for the "Premium Features" heading, go down to "Build Pocket Queries" follow the directions to have the pocket queries e-mailed to you. Now, assuming you've got PQ's ready to be loaded to the unit, insert a BLANK MicroSD into your reader, drag and drop the PQ to the MicroSD in the reader. When it's done dumping the PQ to the card in the reader, remove it from the reader and and insert it in the GPS. Turn the GPS on and wait for a message to come up asking you if you want to import the files from the card to the GPS, answer "yes". The GPS will then import the geocache PQ files to the GPS ( a window will open with a loading indication). When it's done, shut the GPS down, remove that MicroSD that had the PQ's on it, and insert the mapping card in the GPS, if you have one, then restart the GPS. That should be all there is to it. The following thread has additional info you may need for the other standard way of loading the files which is a tad more complicated but still very important to know how to do to import other files as well: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...6&hl=endura Please feel free to PM me if you have additional questions or need any other help with this procedure or anything else that might come up while you're learning how to use your new toy! Be safe. N

Only problem is the site won't work with Internet Explorer. Set up for Firefox. Mine appears to be loaded fine. Now how do I get it to load from my computer to the gps unit. I actually had it on the disk--the garmin rep told me that the disk was only for backing up my waypoints. Thanks for the input! Assuming you've already loaded the map file into Mapsource, you have to select the map from the window with the drop down in the upper left corner so it opens in the main window, then select the polygon shaped icon which when highlighted gives you "map tool". This tool allows you to selct the area of interest on the map which you want to send to your GPS. Select the entire map which will be confirmed by all the squares turning pink, then press the send to device (gps) icon. Should be that simple. If you have other problems, gpsfiledepot has tutorials that make this process even more simple than I've described. Be safe. N

It may be easier still if you have Xmap since you could then export the map file as a GPX file. Be safe. N

Hiya Indy, I know you're very experienced in this regard so accept my apologies in advance if "you've been there done that". I've encountered this same issue and sometimes I've been able to go to the GPX folder and just remove the entire file. I've also found for "quick down and dirty" identification of trails that do do that, I dump the file to EasyGPS and it shows me very quickly if i have a true trail (few to several waypoints) or a track converted to a trail (many waypoints). Saves having to go thru the calisthenic you've described. Be safe. N