-NigHTHAWK-

Hello ALL. I just thought I would start this post because of the recent gas prices. How much has the recent gas prices effected you and specifically your geocaching travels? Do you find yourself going less now that gas is through the roof? I can definitely tell you I have become more acustom to using GoogleEarth to build routes and pocket query caches on the route when I go to run errands or know I will be in a certain location on a given day. What tips can you provide to other geocachers on managing their trips and geocaching hunts to conserve gas that might be cost effective or helpful? Cheers!!!

Also, make sure you have the latest firmware updates installed on the GPS. If there is a US TOPO update then make sure you installed that as well. After you install the firmware and new software update. Do a hard reset. It will erase everything and all your settings will be lost but it will correct your problems. Then don't forget to turn road lock off and make battey saver mode is off and the 60CSx is set to WGS84 datum. This was my post about the same problem. After the firmware update and the hard reset its deadly accurate!!!! Garmin GPS Way Off

Paul is right, he suggested this hard reset because my 60CSx was doing some weird things. It worked!!! Thanks Paul. My issues were different though.

Thank you for the advice. I performed a hard restart. I cached with it all day today and it was 100% accurate. I can't thank you enough.

Thank you Patty, I will keep that in mind.

Thanks Paul, I'll try that this afternoon.

After you did the hard restart, did you reload the firmware back on the GPS system?

Checked the Garmin 60CSx with a Benchmark. I was 22ft off. I never could get the GPS to correctly lock on to the coords. I had to change the datum from WGS84 to NAD83. The accuracy of the GPS was -+15 feet so that was still a difference of 7ft. I looked into the battery saver mode in was not set to battery saver mode. The Magellan got a little closer, the close as it got was 11ft. No WAAS satellite either, 11ft with no WAAS satellite was kinda of odd. Usually its not that close. Both GPS had good satellite signals. How about holding the GPS, with the Magellan it specifcally says to point the GPS at the sky (ie uphold upright). The Garmin doesn't say, but I noticed it does say when using the electronic compass to hold the GPS level with the ground. Does this mean when not using the GPS to hold the GPS upright? Just wondering. So would the true north or magentic north make a difference? Both GPS are set to true north.

Yes, I received the Garmin GPS on Monday. I installed the WebUpdater software, and immediately updated the GPS using the auto updater. It upgraded the GPS to version 2.60 and Chipset Type G version 2.90. The only thing I did not update was the USB driver because they work fine.

I will do that this afternoon. Thanks!!!

Should the "battery saver" mode be on or off?

1) Downloaded the coords from GSAK 2) WGS84 is set but I will recheck that. 3) Lock on road is turned off. 4) I am calm, just disappointed.

I recently bought a Garmin 60 CSx with US TOPO 2008. Before I was using a Magellan Meridian Color with US TOPO 3D loaded on it, so I am no stranger to a GPS unit. Last night I was hunting for a cache with both the units. When I found the cache I rested both of the GPS's for approximately 5 minutes. This was a urban micro and both of the GPS's were getting good signals on the satellites. Garmin had a accuracy of -+10 ft. Meridian had a lock on a WAAS satellite which is unusual and full signals from 9 others. After averaging for the 5 minutes the Magellan distance from the cache read 11ft. However the Garmin's read 53 ft away. I thought at first I needed to move and reposition both the GPS's units. So I did. The Magellan GPS actually got closer and read 8ft. Still the Garmin receiver had a reading of 45ft. This is terrible!!! I have used this Magellan GPS since 2005 and was looking for a good upgrade, but this Garmin receiver doesn't seem to have the accuracy that the Magellan did. I am by no means a Magellan fan, I think their customer service is the worst in the world. That is partly the reason I bought the Garmin as to not support Magellan again. I have been reading on the Garmin website about accuracy and below is what it says: Question: Why is my position on the map screen not accurate? Answer: The basemap in your unit has been drawn from a map with a scale of 1:1,000,000. You can expect an accuracy of .25 miles (1,320 feet) from a map of this scale. Additionally, when you view your position on the GPS map page, you will notice that a circle displays around your current position. This circle shows the area you can expect your actual position to fall within. The less accuracy the unit has at the time, the larger the circle will be. The diameter of this circle considers both your GPS accuracy and the accuracy of the map to which you are trying to plot your position. City Navigator, which is a more detailed mapping program, has an accuracy of about 40 feet. Therefore, you would see a smaller circle around your actual position (assuming you have a good GPS position fix), than you would using a basemap. Last modified on: 08/31/2007 40 FOOT ACCURACY for city navigator that's horrible, it reminds me of the commercial with the guy crashing his car into a coffee shop because the GPS said "turn right". We pay for these upgraded maps and they aren't anymore accurate, I am sorry but that is BS. Has anybody else out there experienced this problem?? Does anybody have any suggestions to try? How about true and magentic north, would these affect accuracy that much? Both the units were set to true north. I do not think it should matter, maybe a couple feet plus or minus. Does anybody think Garmin's maps could be off? Off topic question, what is the proper setting for taking GPS readings magnetic or true north? Thank you, any suugestion will be much appreciated.

Hello all. I am having some trouble. I got the Magellan TOPO 3D software, and when I download a .loc file or a GPX Exchange file the software will not let me upload it. I tried using the GSAK and it works but I cannot seem to get my user ID to load the caches I have found into the system nor can I view the cache listing. Does anybody have any suggestions for converting .loc or GPX files to .WPT file that the GPS and the software uses???? Could someone also help me in getting my user ID loaded in to GSAK?? Thank you very much.