salmon_run

Ordered the Gilsson Monday, arrived via USPS today. Following is my FIRST IMPRESSION: Unit appears well made. The 9' cable is smaller (diameter) than I expected. Magnet strength appears more than adequate for the small profile. There are two small round outlines on the backing which I assume are for screw mounting (no instructions so screw size would be trial and error). I did a quick test in the middle of the house (single story, wood frame, high ceiling, 12 and 12 pitched roof with composite shingles). STOCK 60C found three satellites. With the Gilsson attached three additional satellites, plus the indicated strength on the original three doubled. Similar results in the back yard with an improvement from 14 to 4 in position accuracy. One huge improvement is in maintaining signal strength while turning in a 360 degree circle and moving the GPS from a horizontal to vertical position. During this test the Gilsson remained pointed up while also being rotated the 360 degrees. Other than having another device connected to the GPS the only negative I discovered is the connector. I ordered the unit with the 90 degree connector thinking the GPS would fit better in my case and sit flat on the dash. The antenna connector on the 60C is recessed in a curved portion of the case. The Gilsson connector will ONLY fully seat at one specific angle where the curved case is at it's lowest. Will have to wait until the weekend for some practical outdoor testing. I realize that no amout of additional gain will help when there is NO signal to boost. My hope is that the external antenna will improve signal strength in marginal conditions. Thanks again to all.

Thanks to all for the replies. A Gilsson is in the mail for my 'old' 60C. I'll do some testing in the house, Bidwell Park and the canyons of upper park. msmurfy, later today I'll download the Trimble planning software and play with it...thanks for the pointer. More fun things to play with!

In a few weeks I plan to hike to a site containing a number of 100+ year old mines. The purpose is to GPS map old equipment, structures, dams, etc. These sites are at the bottom of a moderately steep canyon and at least 75% is under tree cover (at least it was in 1983). My current handheld is a Garmin 60C with color TFT display. I am very concerned about not being able to get signal. I've read dozens of reviews and almost settled on the 60CSx until I discovered the SiRFSTARIII chipset was replaced with MTK. I cannot seem to find anything on the sensitivity of the MTK chipset. First, would an external antenna (e.g. Gilsson) significantly help my 60C in this situation? For this one trip I could live with an extra cable. If I need to purchase another GPS, what units will give the best reception in these conditions? Even with periodic signal loss, the 60C has been fine for all my outdoor activities. I really have tried to research this, but find more subjective rather than objective material. Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks again....need to spend more time checking ALL the MENUs. Wayne

Thanks to all! That was the problem, the downloaded POI contained all the objects that were lost when a added the topo maps. I got brave and downloaded the 60C Ver 4.04 software to try out. One last question. I cannot locate anything on the GPS itself that shows what unit level software is installed, only the basemap version. Is it displayed anywhere? Thanks again. Wayne

SEARCH has not worked for several days so I could not look for an answer. Purchased the 60C this summer and traveled to the coast (Fort Bragg, CA) and along the Columbia River. Using only the basemap that came with the GPS I was able to locate marine objects such as tidal stations (that would yield a neat tidal graph) and navigation markers in, and along, the Columbia. This past weekend I was at the coast and could not locate any marine information. When I change the map to Fort Bragg and the Columbia, none of the prior objects appear. I have tried all the menu options and cannot bring them back, including restoring all the map defaults. The only difference is that now I have a number of topo 'maps' loaded for portions of Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington. I have loaded nothing for the original areas that had the marine objects. I also suspect that other basemap objects are not being displayed. I realize I probably changed something in the unit to cause the problem. Any assistance on how to get it back will be appreciated. Basemap is V2 2.00 Thanks, Wayne

I just purchased MapSend Topo ( NOT the newer 3D ) from Radio Shack for $29.99. They are discontinuing the software and want to get rid of it. Call the local stores first, not all carry it. Wayne

I don't mean to hijack the original thread, but I have a related question. I have a MAP 330 with MapSend Streets V 1.0. My son has a Meridian Platinum and MapSend TOPO ( not 3D). We would like to share waypoints and tracks via the net. He sent me a .wpt file that I tried to load into my map software...no go. The error said it was an incorrect file or corrupted data. I just sent him .wpt and .trk files from my software and have not heard if he was able to load them. Is there any reason why these two older Magellan software packages cannot share data directly? We have just started working with G7toWin (I use to exchange data between the 330 and Garmin 60C) and can exchange data, but it a complex process on both ends. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Wayne PS My son has no problem loading the topo data into the Meridian, however the software came with the unit (purchased at COSTCO).

Garmin rebate status can be viewed at www.wheresmyrebate.com. However this vendor is NO LONGER processing the rebates for Garmin, this is now being done by Garmin directly. Anything received by the rebate center by the last valid submission date should be posted. I went through all of this because one of my rebates was returned by the Post Office due to an address error. Good luck. Wayne

Brian, with your help I finally got a log entry for Freddy. On the log page there was a pre-checked box indicating the TB was rertieved from Bennington2 by m--------. At first I thought that the bug had ALREADY been picked up. However, I now understand that this was to indicate that I had picked it up. Everything is now ok on the TB log and cache page. Thanks again. P.S. I live near a large lake in Northern CA. I was thinking of doing a multi-cache with boat access only...would this be ok??

Brian, thanks for the reply. Feel dumb about the #, but since I used the tag # to reach the screen I ASSUMED this was a different #. URL is:http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=6105c50c-ee39-457c-aad4-653034954d73 Tag # = ?????? I am still confused about the checked box indicating the TB was retreived by the same person who placed it there. I will NOT try the Log again until I hear back. Thanks [This message was edited by salmon_run on July 08, 2003 at 02:51 PM.]

Help, first time with a TB. When I attempt to log it, the screen requests a Tracking Number/ID which I do NOT have. Also on the page it says Bennington2 retrieved by memphis69 with a checkmark. Does this mean someone logged taking the TB but left it behind? I have the TB but do not know what to do next....remember this is my first TB encounter. Thanks in advance