geotrouvetout

Same problem for me with Direct Route V2.0. I'll install it on my 8 years old laptop with Win98 at least I know it worked before. Seems like although Magellan was purchased they still live up to their reputation of not standing behind their products, i.e still no firmware update on Explorist 500-600 since 2005 and it's not that we have not been continuousely asking for it, so I have little hope about a vista patch before a while .

Try re-taping the thread: Prepare some 10 min Epoxy glue and liquefy half of it with a little rubbing alcohol and fill the thread hole. With the non-liquefied glue, apply it and around the plastic to strengthen it (outside). Wait it dries for about 15 min and insert the screw again just enough to mark the hole and remove. Wait 24 hours it dries hard. Then use a tiny drill bit (smaller than your screw), drill down the hole and then screw your cover on again. If you do not drill before, you may break it for good.

It must be sthg to do with the hardware from a unit to another. I tested my e600 at -4 F (-20C) and it was working fine. It slowed down just a little and the battery decreased faster but once warm again the battery recovered some juice. I would consider your unit defective then (one more).

I did a test today on my eX600. It's pretty new I only charged it about 3 or 4 times. It lasted about 11 hours with compass off, light at the lowest setting and stand still for 90% of the test. Pretty desapointing when you see that Magellan states it should last 17 hours. I sent them a complaint tonight.

Tried on my eX600. I set the size to 1024000 and I uploaded a 132MB region, basically from Illinois to Montana. I did a goto from Chicago to Glacier NP (our next vacation destination), it took about 3 minutes to compute the route but woked perfectly (that's 2,300 Km away). Then I created a goto just 10 miles away and is was as fast as it used to be (or as slow I should say) to compute the route. I don't think it slows down the unit other than when computing long distances away. Just try it, there is nothing to loose, you can always change it back to the original value. I'm very pleased with it.

Let us know how it goes

Did you go for it?

I kayak with my meridian gold and in a couple occations I capsized with the GPS mounted on RAM on the deck and it was fine. I now use an explorist and the door closes much better than the meridian, I would not be worried about rain at all, even pooring, unless the unit was droped and the case cracked.

It depends on where you go and how long. For hydration I like Camelbak, I have 3 of them. I found $15 hiking shoes at Payless, surpisignly they do the job very well. If you go in deep woods or wetlands with high plants, I would recommand NOT to bring a polartec fleece or similar because they catch sticky seeds and it's a nightmare to remove them, trust me, I tested.

Could be that the government was conducting a bird jamming that day in this area.

look here for yourself

I switched from a meridian gold to the e600 and I am very happy with the unit. Lots of people complain but in my case it does the job perfectly, however complaints are helping Magellan to make it better see DOT COM's bug list on this forum, he is doing a terrific job. I am not thrilled with the battery choice versus AA, it seems to last much less than my Rayovac rechargeable AA, but needs to be verified. Reception is excellent but the merigold was very good too. There is a comparison between the e600 and 60Csx on this site, the e600 seem to take the lead in THIS test, it might not in other situations; they are probably very close, equal maybe. Garmin has a better routing software though. Edit: I don't think the triaxial compass is a real advantage and a good reason to buy another GPS because even with the triaxial compass, it's a lot off course when not held flat. Also it's not as precise as a good Silva or else, even after several calibrations, mine is about 5° off.

I also used a home made system like that before. It has an advantage and a disadvantage: - it's safer if you fall, the unit is protected by the handlebar, - it takes all the front wheel vibrations in the face, especially in mountain bike, and that's why I personnally opted out, but in road bike that's certainly the best and cheapest way to go

I would think V3 will work but the best is asking them. They should respond within 4 days, at least that has been my experience with them.

edit: deleted, duplicate with above post, posted in the same time

I use RAM for about a year and 1/2, they are not cheap indeed but very good quality and you can stick with them for many applications. I have one in my car, one on my mountain bike and one on my kayak. With the new quick release system you can just move the cradle around or if you want to save money you can move the arm around between your application. The advantage of the quick release is that you don't have to re-adjust the arm position every time, just snap the cradle in and your good to go.

Hmmm...could be true or could be a scam . For excellent researches on Meridian files check this yahoo group, mabye they can help.

compUplus.com has pretty good prices usually. I recently purchased topo 3D for $59 plus shipping.

Lowrence? I use Magellan. Had a Meridian Gold and switched to the Explorist (600). The Meridian was well compatible with USAPotoMaps but the Explorist isn't anymore. I managed to import waypoints in Mapsend and the Explorist from USAPhotoMaps but when I convert routes from gpx to Mapsend it does not work.

I am trying to get routes in my explorist from USAPhotoMaps. Can create txt, csv and gpx files but when I use GPSBabel to convert to MapSend wpt file it does not work. I can do it with waypoints from UPM but I need to do routes as well. Do you know how to do it?

Yeah that's what I do actually, but it's just more work than it should be. Say, you go on a trek and have a file with 15 routes saved of several miles each, that's many points to delete and a lot of files to play with. I like making permanant trails in MapSend from my routes and it only works well one route at a time, but I don't think there is a way around indeed. Thanks anyway.

When importing routes from an Explorist to MapSend (top or DR), MapSend imports the wpt (or rte) file. If that file contains several routes it will import all routes from that file. Is it possible to select 1 or several routes from the file instead of having to import all routes?

I have a 256MB, I think it's enough. It all depends how far you are regularely going with your GPS and then how many 64MB regions you need to keep on the card at all time. I live in Chicago area and go to Dallas regularely. I then have these 2 regions loaded, DirectRoute and Topo and still have about 30% free on the SD. My home area includes part of Illinois, part of Wisconsin, part of Michigan, part of Indiana and Iowa on about 63MB. You can always remove and add maps from the SD when you travel in a new area, the SD is very easy to remove from the Meridian (not so easy on the Exlporist that I now also have), and you need an SD card reader. I don't know how high you can go but I think it was successfully tested up to 2GB.

I did not use anything yet, that's what I saw from compUplus web site but that's good to know !

I agree too GSAK is much better and Magellan Geocache Manager is pretty much worthless. Here's how I do it with GSAK: 1. select the caches to export 2. "export to explorist" = create a 'batch file' on your HD with all the selected caches in a file such as "YourArea.gs". 3. with e600 in file transfer mode and Conversion Manager, upload the YourArea.gs file to the Geocache folder of the internal memory (not sure if it works on the SD card). Then, when you go in that folder you should see see the "YourArea" file, select it, push Enter and it should display the caches.