Native20559

Congrats on the new toy!!! First make sure the unit is fully updated with updates 1.1, and 1.2 in the download section on the Lowrance site. Make sure you've signed up as a Premium Member on Geocaching.com. There's no difference here between the Windows vs. Mac procedure. Follow the instructions in the "getting started" option on Geocaching.com http://www.geocaching.com/about/default.aspx. There is no difference in setting up your Pocket Queries. The size of the queries needs to be less than 500 EACH (no problem here, that's the limitation on each querie). Loading your Pocket Queries into your Safari: Option 1.) Once they've been sent to you, remove the microSD card from your Safari(can't load caches while the card is in), then connect your Safari to the USB cable. Once the Safari goes into the Mass Storage mode of operation a window will open up with a GPX folder on it. Download all your PQ's to this folder (drag and drop, cut and paste, your choice). When your done, disconnect, put your map microSD in (if you have one) and restart. (Optional) When it's done I like to shut it off again and restart to allow the GPS to fully index the geocaches, especially if I had a lot of them to load (what can I say, better safe than sorry). Option 2.) Once they've been sent to you, remove the microSD card from your Safari, insert a blank card of at least 2gb or better into a reader, then connect your reader to the USB cable. Download all your files to your microSD card. When your done, disconnect the microSD card from the reader, put your microSD in the GPS and restart. A window will open asking you if you want to import your GPX files on the GPS, say YES. You should be good to go when it's done loading. (Optional) When it's done I like to shut it off and restart to allow the GPS to fully index the geocaches, especially if I had a lot of them to load (what can I say, better safe than sorry). Logging Finds: Back at the "getting started" option on Geocaching.com http://www.geocaching.com/about/default.aspx, go to the bottom of the page, "How to log your find", http://www.geocaching.com/about/logging.aspx. OR After logging in, press the "My Profile" under your greeting and name. On the right side of the page that comes up, go to "Access your field notes". Follow the instructions for the "Lowrance - Endura GPS Receivers" at the bottom of the page and you should be good to go. Be safe. N

+1. The PN-40 will be your best choice based on your criteria. The map package will make it very easy for you to deal with the topo issue and you may be able to purchase the XMap package (for your custom GIS imagery needs) at a reduced price after the PN-40 purchase (PN-40 buyers get price reductions based on repeat business on many products). There are others I prefer for regular "woodsbumming" but for your needs, the level of sophistication of this product is as yet unparalleled in this market at this price point, and should impress you. Be safe. N

Based on your criteria, without question, the 60CSX ( I have the 76CSX which basically the same and floats). Get your maps from gpsfiledepot.com, free and the 1:24k maps are more accurate than the outdated 1:100k "T" maps that come with those series' of Garmin GPSr's. Be safe. N

Congrats on the new Oregon 200!!! Excellent choice! When I can "peel" it out of my wife's hands long enough to use it, I really enjoy using it. Definitely one of the "best of the bests" in the value for the buck category. +1 for the new 1:24K Garmin Topos with autorouting and 3D capabilities! Very, very nice maps and does away with City Navigator. Shop for the best price at Bizrate.com and NexTag.com (don't necessarily have to pay $99 for the maps). Get the free topo maps and Ibycus US streetmap (nonrouteable) for outside your primary state from gpsfiledepot.com. They are very, very good maps, actually superb for shareware! Be safe. N

From the website: "GSAK is FREE to download and use, but after 21 days of unrestricted use you get a nag screen. You can keep using GSAK after the 21 days, but if you want to remove the nag screen you will need to register the program ( Note: PayPal will now accept credit cards directly - you DON'T have to set up a PayPal account.) . To register GSAK or see the benefits of registration click here." "It's not free software." Sorry Robert, the website says differently. You can argue the semantics of it but there it, is plain as day. The Nagg box has no bearing on whether your geocaches are showing up. All you have to do is to wait for the nagg box to time out and the application is still yours to use without charge. The time out period of the Nagg box increases the longer you use it without paying so when it's comfortable for you to do so, you should consider paying for it to get rid of the nagg box. The nagg box is the incentive to pay for it if you intend to use it after the free trial period has ended. It's definitely worth it so plan on ponying up if you like it, the developers have certainly earned it. Be safe. N

I think he's talking about getting his PQ's into his GPS from geocaching.com. Basically you have to set up your pocket query requests first at geocaching.com. You can then import those into GSAK or download them directly to your GPS after they're sent to you via e-mail. You can learn more about doing these things from http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/. The "Getting Started" option at geocaching.com will familiarize you with setting up pocket queries. Please let us know if you need more specific help after you're up to speed on that info and the Oregon Wiki site. Be safe. N

Please forgive me for intercepting EE's response but I'd like to help until he can respond. I have the Sierra and find the screen refreshes quite fast. This is due in part to the 4GB memory being available for a technology called "write ahead caching" which allows the unit to load more map detail into memory until you need it which causes the map screen detail refreshes to appear seamless. The Canadian maps will no doubt have the same level of detail coming from Acuterra as the US maps have. So the short answer to one of your questions is yes it will be worth having the extra memory. Also, the 4gb allows more features to be loaded directly into memory. This is important because the maps are on preloaded memory cards and do not have space for loading additional data like the MapSelect Map files, GPX files for geocaches, POI's, trails, waypoints, routes, etc (These can be loaded via usb cable or imported from a microSD card with the data on it). This doesn't take into consideration the video, pictures or music you might also care to put on the unit which would use that memory as well. In a nutshell the additional memory adds to the flexibility of the unit in REALLY BIG ways. Hopes this helps a bit. It might also help to hear from someone who has the Safari to get their impressions of the units screen refreshes. Either way you'll be getting a good product. Good luck with your decision. N

The 1:24k maps from gpsfiledepot.com are in most cases extraordinary and easily rival any of the Garmin commercially produced maps sold for $100 or so and they're free. I use them on my Oregon 200, Colorado 400i and my 76CSX and have not had problem one with any of the maps. Oh and yes you can print out your maps, routes, waypoints etc. The only features they lack, for the most part, is the ability to be visualized in 3D with relief shading for which the Oregon/Colorado/Dakota series have the alternate ability to present a map. These are the only areas for which the Garmin 1:24k maps excel. If you don't care about these features then it's a done deal, just get the gpsfiledepots maps and you're set. BTW, you'll love the Oregons. Just make sure you're familiar with the features for the various models and don't buy features you don't want or need. And I agree with the speaker who mentioned not to get a "T" model with the on-board 100k topo's, they're just not adequate, and for free you can do better while saving yourself $100 right off the top. Good luck. N

Short answer is yes you can. If it takes the Gramin micro SD or SD (micro SD with SD adaptor) it will accept your map card.

Congrats on your new toy! First update your unit to current Garmin software if you haven't done so. Get familiar with the maps from GPSfiledepot.com. Their free and excellent. Use GSAK for your geocaching needs and keep it up to date. It's great for your PQ's, reviewing, filtering and dumping them to your unit. Best advice is to spend time with the unit to get used to it. It's mighty powerful. I've certainly enjoyed mine. Check out GarminColorado.wikispaces.com for additional info on the Colorado unit. Enjoy! N

How about using the Garmin instructions to make a custom map from the HD .pdf they have available for download and viewing at the address I gave you??? That'd be my first choice if I were you. It's not that difficult. Consider it if you haven't. N

I would think this would do nicely for you, lol. http://www.skitaos.org/contents/view/trail_map ... even has a Garmin map download capability. Have a nice trip! N

Seems the most logical place for a date/time display is the sat page. Would also make a nice option to display it on the map page. The only place I really felt the need for it was the time/date stamp on the geocache logs. But since you asked, I'd like to see it as a fixed data field on the sat page and as discretionary data fields for the computer page (especially with the new 6 field format that will be added), and the page data fields. That should cover the bases! N

76CSX has it

I'd be curious as to people's thoughts on this as well. I just got my first unit the other day and I am looking forward to testing it out soon. Any insight not only on if you find it to be helpful, but what specific maps you find to be the best would be great! You can check out this thread in addition to what follows: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=238971 The microSD "Advanced Outdoor Content" Acuterra Mapping cards from Lowrance are extremely nice. They are superior to everything I've tried commercially as well as third party for mapping from the other manufacturers. The topographic maps use a digitized relief shading and "color blending" that lets you see the topography in imagery form like in satellite CDOQQ imagery or when in hybrid mode, with contour lines. You don't need it for geocahing but for everything else, I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't want to use it. They are available for significantly less than the retail price of $99 from CascadeGPS.com at $69.49 and they cover a very sizable chunk of the US on each card. Please let me know if you need any other info. Be safe. N

Yes, version 1.21 seems to have solved this issue. I have only tried to load 5 different PQ's, either by copying them directly to the internal memory or using the microSD card, and they will show up on the map page. I hope this helps. Was that a duplication issue? ( i.e. Two different GPX files dl'ed to the Endura unit with a common geocache and pq still do show up in the geocache category as duplicate geocaches). N I have not seen a duplication issue, where the same caches show up twice. This was an issue where if you imported more the 2 PQ's they would sometimes not show up on the map page, but would be listed in the cache listings. I have posted on this issue of duplicate caches. While they do not show up as dups on the map, they do in the list of caches. At times when travelling, I like to run more than one pocket query to cover a larger area. The dups take up space and make it harder to scroll as well. I have tried using a program such as watcher or GSAK (both linked to on the geocaching.com site) to merge the queries into one list and one file. When I export this file from the above programs with say 700 caches or so into the endura unit it does not show up in the list on the unit. It gives me the initial "loading caches" screen when I power up, but when I go to FIND and the Geocaches, there is nothing there. It lists a file in Windows Explorer as being present when the unit is connected to the computer. Any thoughts? Lanko21, I have noticed the duplication issue and have reported it as a bug to the programmers. It looks like if your have PQ's with overlapping areas the caches will show up twice. We are working on getting the software to filter out duplicates. Regarding the problem that you are seeing in trying to import a GPX file with 700 caches, there may be a problem with 700 caches. I have talked to another user that was having issues with a 1000 cache file. When he trimed the number down to less than 500 caches and it worked. I have reported this as a know issue as well. EE, any word on this issue? We're all hoping it's resolved in the next update. It would be foolish of them to release an update that didn't have this issue corrected in it. I spoke with CS yesterday and they claim it's due "anyday" now which has been since the beginning of January. Guess time will tell. N

Straight from the Catalog: Dakota and Oregon: 1000 waypoints/2000 geocaches (Oregon 550/550T: 2000/5000) Colorado: 1000 waypoints/1000 geocaches N

Congrats on the new toy Indy! Not to worry Indy, despite the fact that you don't see a (date) field for it, you do get date stamped field logs for your cache activity. There's an option now where you can upload your field logs directly to the geocaching site with the Endura which really makes it easy (just like with the Delorme and Garmin Colorado and Oregon GPSr's). Give a holler if you need more help. Be safe. N

I know your not considering this model but I don't miss the compass when I use my Oregon 200 and I think I'd miss the higher resolution if I had the choice. But the smaller package of the Dakota certainly has it's endearing qualities especially where weight is important (i.e. climbing and ultralight hiking). I wouldn't buy any of the "T" models because they're the 1:100k maps not the 7.5 min 1:24k maps (which you can get for free from gpsfiledepot.com and are MUCH more accurate when hiking). Long story short buy the one with the best price of the Oregon and Dakota series. If you really want to save money and only compromise on the touch screen you might want to look at the Colorado series, especially the 400's; I bought one for $239 and I really love it. Get one in your hands and try it. I doubt you'll leave the store without one at that price. (http://www.rocketcamera.com/garmin-colorado-400i.html, http://www.rocketcamera.com/gps/garmin-gps...regon-300.html). Hope this helps. Be safe. N

Your jumping to conclusions without knowing all the facts. They are "frontending" another companies satellite imagery (i.e. making it available) for use on their products. The imagery is very similar to the content in the NG "superquads" and configured in much the same way. Garmin is providing an additional way to take advantage of their products and their technology by making additional imagery available to some of their very best products. You'll continue to be able to do all of your planning on basecamp while also doing all of the importing and exporting of maps and imagery there as well. basically giving you more powerful choices, not limiting you or changing the way you wish to use your Garmin GPS. If you're an outdoorsmen it will blow you away with the ability to see actual ground cover, and trail networks with or without contour lines representing changes in the "lay of the land". It has totally changed the way I plan to hunt or go on an extended hike because now I can "see" the actual topography before I leave and can make more informed choices about the difficulty of the area I'm going to hunt or hike. I select the maps and imagery on my computer, plan my routes and select waypoints on my computer BEFORE I leave and transfer them to the GPS AFTER I've laid it all out to my satisfaction. It's a truley amazing way to plan your outdoor experience. Give it a look see before you discount it altogether. Be safe. N

In addition, with the USGS maps you are in control of "the age" or how current the maps are. When the maps are updated you can add them. With the Garmin Topo's you have to wait until they update them and in some cases the updates may be already out of date when released. This is probably the biggest driver for me to use the actual USGS maps. Helps prevent locating a potential hunting spot on the topos and when you get there, find out developers have built a subdivision on it. N

Some of my favorites, and best in terms of accuracy are from Backpacker.com, Trimbleoutdoors.com, GPSTrailsource.com, Redtrails.com, Everytrail.com and the Natgeo map site Topo.com Be Safe. N

Best thing you can do is to update it with the two current updates from the Lowrance.com website. Follow the instructions and it should be a very easy update. I'm confident you should see improved performance then. N Just tried after I posted, 1.1 then 1.2. No Recognition of anything when SD is in. Same locked Out and Back logo. Do you know the hard reset for the unit. Lowrance.com doesn't have the enduras on their support page. PMing you my phone number. Call me for more help.

Best thing you can do is to update it with the two current updates from the Lowrance.com website. Follow the instructions and it should be a very easy update. I'm confident you should see improved performance then. N

The gpscentral.com in Alberta is selling all three of them so I'd be surprised if that's universally true in all of Canada. It's quite possible that the mapping content simply hasn't become available from Acuterra yet for that area resulting in Lowrance delaying release of the Safari and Sierra products in Canada. Obviously all speculation on my part but still reasonable to suggest nonetheless. The real person to ask is a person who goes by the name of EnduraExpert here on the forum who is an employee with Lowrance USA. He should be able to answer your questions here next week or you can PM him for something a bit faster perhaps. For the time being hang in there. I'd be very surprised if they didn't release those products in Canada because it would be inconsistant with other previously released products which had Canadian maps (i.e. Freedom Maps). N