Seawind

That was it!!! I changed "Direct Routing" from "No" to "Yes" and just got back from testing. The unit performed flawlessly in open areas and heavy forest. Thank you Atlas Cached!! That change actually fixed all three issues: the erratic compass, the way-off Dist to Dest readings and the frequent chirping. It's pretty clear now the chirping was an alert to change course. I'm about 90% certain that I didn't change the Direct Routing setting to "No" at any point, although I suppose a different setting could have changed it automatically. Do the units ship with Direct Routing "No"? If so, anyone who buys a 66sr for geocaching or hiking must have all the same problems I went through. That setting does not exist on my 66st, so I wasn't familiar with it at all. In any case, it looks like I will be keeping it, thanks to the help from this forum! Cheers!

Thanks for the Garmin Express suggestion. I was able to update the 66sr to 3.80. Compass calibration worked, but the unit is just as squirrelly as before: Very slow satellite lock, readings of .2 miles when the cache is 500 feet away, and the distance doesn't change all the way to the site. The compass arrow never points to the destination and the unit issues some sort of alert tone every few minutes, without displaying any messages. I now see: Software Version 3.80, GPS Software Version 2.00.05 and CIQ 3.0.12. The only other Garmin Express update pending is for maps. I poked around in settings some more and found "Off Route Recalculation" was set to "Automatic". That sounded suspicious, so I turned it "Off" and tried again. MUCH better, and it took me correctly to the cache, and this time did not lock the "0" feet reading. It looked very promising, so I tried the next cache. Right back to the same problems. Distance to Destination jumps erratically and the compass has no idea of which direction to go. Darn! Thinking it might be the ggz geocache file itself, I tried a gpx waypoint, and it was no better. Are there any other routing, etc settings that might be causing this? Or maybe the unit itself is defective? I appreciate the suggestions!

When I run the Garmin WebUpdater, it correctly identifies the unit, but states that it already has the current version. Clicking "Reinstall" still only finds 3.30 as the latest. I'm not seeing any options for a 3.8 release.

A followup: I took the 66sr out again today, this time to the beach with no signal issues. Again, every time it is turned on, it takes about a minute to get a satellite lock, while the 66st is locked as soon as the powerup is complete. I chose a cache about 500 feet away and navigated there with both the 66sr and the 66st. The 66st provided reasonably correct readings all the way to the cache. But, the 66sr had a reading of .30 miles, and didn't change all the way to the cache, even standing next to it. I turned it off and back on - same thing. But, in the list of nearby caches, it showed 7 feet. The coordinates were correct. Even though the compass had been calibrated earlier, I gave that a try. But, when I clicked "Start" on the calibration screen, the unit locked up - completely frozen. I was one of the very early users of the 66 series, and was used to popping the battery out and in in the old days to fix lockups. That's not an option on the 66sr. Even holding the power button down would not reset or turn off the unit. Finally, after about two minutes, it did shut itself off. I was then able to repower and calibrate. But, the readings continued to be way off. I tried all sorts of setting changes - GPS only, etc., but nothing made any difference. I should call Garmin, but having made many such calls for previous models, I know they will blame it either on the release version (mine is current), on the battery (charged) or on the .ggz file (the same that worked okay yesterday, and the same as in the 66st). I gave the unit a try based on many good reviews, but it is utterly useless. Regarding the original post, when it is possible to navigate to a cache, it continues to lock the Distance to Destination when you are close. I noticed I'm on 3.0 on the 66sr, but 2.7 on the 66st. Could that be a change between the two versions? Any suggestions much appreciated!

I've been using a Garmin 66st for a few years, and hearing the advantages of the 66sr, decided to give it a try. I have taken both units out on hikes in heavily forested areas, and found a feature(?) of the 66sr that is very annoying: When arriving at a cache location, it often locks the Distance to Destination number, usually at 0 feet, but sometimes at 4 feet, etc, at the cache site. I assume that is to indicate a high confidence in that reading, but I much prefer the unit to keep updating, mainly so I can verify my posted coordinates after the unit is on site for a few minutes. Even when I leave the area, the unit stays locked on "0" at 500 feet or more away. At one point, I had a "0" lock, so did a re-navigation to the same cache, which I was standing next to. The unit then read 95 feet, and was still locked. I tried restarting navigation several times, always getting the "95", but finally it jumped back to "0", still locked. Is there a way to turn off this lock of the Distance to Destination? I'm running the latest firmware (3.30). As for comparing the 66st and 66sr, the sr did seem very slightly more accurate and less jumpy overall. And, I really like the improved buttons and long-life battery. But, the older st repeatedly gets a satellite lock much faster than the sr does. I had expected the newer one to be faster. It is going to be pretty hard to justify the $500 cost for some minor improvements. Thanks!

The Message composing screen definitely defaults to "Press enter to send". This is a terrible change! I have sent about a dozen messages now that are just the greeting, since it sends when I hit Enter after the salutation. I've ended up composing messages in a text editor and then pasting them into the Message box. PLEASE change it back to not defaulted! Thanks! Seawind

I have found a tactic which seems to totally prevent crashes of the 66: During a long day of caching, turn the unit off and back on at least once an hour. That has worked for me several times now, including on a 10-hour trip yesterday, during which I had no problems whatsoever. To me, this pretty much proves the "garbage collection" idea - the assumption that the unit is building up data in memory or storage, and when that reaches capacity, it crashes. Turning off and on appears to initiate a clean start. All theory, but I have little doubt that it would have crashed multiple times yesterday otherwise. I plan to call Garmin soon and discuss this idea with them. Hope this helps other users!

I took the 66 out for an extensive test run yesterday - 18 caches and some waypoints in very challenging signal conditions (heavy tree cover and canyon walls). It went three hours of flawless operation and then crashed just minutes from the end. That was, by far, the longest it has gone without crashing in over a month of heavy use. Two things were different: First, the chipset update, and second, an operational change. With the 64, I'm used to flying over the buttons when moving from one cache to the next and never wait for the device. I was doing the same with the 66, but noticed there is a 2-3 second "Calculating" step with each new cache selection. This time, I gave it plenty of time to complete that step before continuing to the next screen (the Compass screen, which is what I navigate with). When it did finally crash, the "Calculating" message did not display. Rather, it froze and then the screen very slowly faded out until the unit was off. I turned it back on and was able to continue with no evident damage. As a programmer, this behavior looks to me very much like the unit is building up overhead, either in memory or a file, then reaches a point of capacity, and crashes. It has never crashed within the first hour of use, but only after one to three hours of heavy use. An encouraging session, in any case.

I ran the Garmin Updater this morning on the 66st. It showed a Chipset update to 2.70, which was not there two days ago. When I first got the unit a month ago, I ran a chipset update. I'm wondering if this is a new update, or if the last hard crash/factory reset of the unit erased the original update. Update applied and I plan to test the unit again today. Here's hoping! Regarding the GGZ files, I load the exact same files to the 64, which has never crashed that I can remember, and has many hundreds of hours of use.

I use GSAK. The exact same file in my 64 works great, in fact the 64 hasn't crashed for a very long time. Today, I saved a waypoint using the 66, then tried to select it to navigate back to on the return trip. Crash! The screen slowly dims and the power goes off. It comes right back up, though. Then, could select the point and navigate, no problem. It very routinely crashes about once an hour, but only after running for about that long - never early on during a session. It's the crashes where everything is wiped that are the worst, and those are rare, but can ruin an entire day!

I've had my new Garmin 66st for just over a month now and really like it...when it isn't crashing! I check for updates very often and it is running 3.1 and all the latest optional updates, including the chipset. But, it experiences a "soft crash" about once every hour. This is usually during a "Find" operation. The screen slowly fades away and then I have to turn the unit back on. Very annoying, but not too serious. Much worse are the "hard crashes". Yesterday, I powered the unit back on (after using it for about an hour). Nothing but a blank screen, and then some sort of "Resetting" message flashed by. Many minutes later, it came up, factory fresh. All my settings and files were gone. This was right in the middle of a cache run, which I had to cancel. Are these still common issues? A friend with the same unit is experiencing very similar problems. It's too late to send it back to Amazon! I'm sort of tempted to return to my solid 64 and try the 66 again in a few months to see if there have been any more updates. But...I really like it in almost every other respect! I'm using a Garmin rechargeable battery pack (new), which seems to hold the charge well. Any advice greatly appreciated.

I discovered the Garmin 66st adds an extra decimal digit of precision to coordinates, such as N 46 18.2386. Is there a way to prevent that extra fourth decimal digit from displaying? Thanks!!

The cache listing links in my Profile (original version) still seem to be problematic. Most do not respond at all when clicked. I modified "Zoom Lens" and it now brings up part of the cache listing embedded in a new Profile page, rather than linking right to the listing. This is true on two separate PCs that I have tried, and when I had a friend try, he had the same results. Same in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. The links in the New Profile, which are identical, work great. In the old Profile, under Chrome, I can right-click a link and "Open in a new page" and it works fine. The old Profile worked correctly until about a week or 10 days ago. It would be great to get this resolved! Thanks!

I've noticed for a few days now that the links (mostly to cache listings) on my Profile page no longer work in the original Profile. They seem to work fine in the new Profile. From the original Profile, either nothing happens upon clicking, a blank Profile page comes up, or the listing is displayed within a copy of my Profile page. Very weird. Is this a known issue? I couldn't find any references to it. I'm referring to the lists of caches in my Profile, not the links at the top that are supposed to be bookmarks to areas within the Profile. Thanks!

It is working again for me. Many thanks! Seawind

I haven't received any email alerts from Messages for several days. I accidentally discovered a bunch of unread messages, including some from folks who were visiting and had questions on a puzzle, but have now left. All my notifications are set. Hope this one can be fixed soon! Thanks!

It's back and works great, as before. Many thanks!

THANK YOU for the great news, Moun10Bike. I have looked into quite a variety of ways of remedying this problem for my situation, and none were acceptable. For many of us it IS the right tool, or at least the tool that is established, familiar and works very well. I will watch for the return of the wonderful pencil! Thanks for listening!

Thanks for the replies. My normal procedure, for years, for my owned puzzle caches, is to click on the pen icon next to the POSTED coordinates and enter the FINAL coordinates. Then, when the cache pulls into GSAK and my GPS receiver, I can easily navigate to the final for maintenance. Today, I moved a puzzle cache final and used the usual method for updating the FINAL waypoint - no problem. But, the cache listing still points to the old final location (the old corrected coordinates) that I originally corrected, which is useless. No way to edit that that I can see. In fact, the original, POSTED coordinates can't even be viewed any more, as they could using the pen icon. I know there are other ways of maintaining final coordinates in GSAK, but this is the method that I have become accustomed to, and changing all my listings would be a big job. I hope that clarifies the problem, and thanks again!

Thanks for the info, unwelcome though it is! So on my hundreds of owned puzzle caches, I now have coordinates that can't be changed, even if the final is moved, it appears. A method for correcting the coordinates other than the confusing way is very much needed!

I attempted to correct the coordinates for a puzzle cache that I own (enter corrected coordinates), but the pen icon for editing does not appear. It does appear for anyone else's caches that I view. But not for any of mine. I have always used this feature to enter the final location for my puzzle caches. What gives?? Secondly, for well over a week, I have not received an alert email when someone Messages me. That has always worked well in the past, but is not working at all now. I discovered about 10 unseen messages that never generated alerts. I sure hope that feature hasn't gone away! Any suggestions? (I am still receiving alerts when my caches are logged) Many Thanks! Seawind

I was quite disappointed after trying the release candidate a few weeks ago and submitted some feedback detailing the problems. All of the same problems seem to exist in the production release. Specifically, keyword searches do not work at all. No matter what parameters I try, it always yields the very useless "DNF" message. The distance box is totally inoperative. Sometimes it defaults to "10" and sometimes to blank. Regardless, I can't even get a cursor in that box in any browser I have tried. I have heard from other users as well and all are frustrated. The old search was extremely limited, but at least it worked!

Thanks for the great explanation! I have implemented your suggestion and so far so good. Hopefully that will resolve the problem. Much appreciated!

My Garmin GPSMAP 64s has generally been very good, but charging the NiMH batteries is an exception. I am using the Garmin plugin (wall outlet) charger that connects to the USB port. For the first few charges, as soon as I plugged it in, it displayed a charging screen with a very large icon of a battery showing the charging progress. However, I have not seen that screen again since the first charges. Now, I get a plug icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Briefly pressing the power button will then display the backlight screen with a much smaller battery icon showing the charging progress. That's OK, but the problem is that after two or three charges, when I plug in for a new charge and go to the backlight screen, it simply states "Battery" with a plug icon and no progress bar. When it is in this mode, it does NOT charge, even if left overnight. The only way to fix it and get back to a chargeable state is to remove and reinstall the NiMH batteries. Any suggestions on how to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated!

I have submitted this question to Groundspeak, but with the long holiday it may take a while for a response. Maybe someone here knows. I tried changing my username to "Seawind". Before attempting it, I went to "Find Another Player" and searched for that name. It came up with similar names: Seawind Cacher seawind0721 seawind36 Seawind77 seawindak seawindbavaria Seawinder Seawinds seawinds4 But no just plain "Seawind" seems to exist. However, when I go to the name change form, I get the "not available" message. What does that mean? Was there at one time a user with that exact name who no longer shows as "Another Player" and the name is still unavailable? Do I have any chance of getting it? Thanks!