JanniCash

D = floor(deg) M = floor((deg - floor(deg)) * 60) S = (deg * 60 - floor(deg * 60)) * 60 (this conversion must be done with the absolute value of the decimal degrees) Or you could lookup in your GPSr's manual how to change the units datum representation to decimal degrees. Jan

I was looking into these as I am getting back into running these days - again. If I had to chose, I'd take a foretrex over a forerunner any time. However, I didn't chose to make that choice, I got one of the better pedometers instead. It measures exercise time, distance (pretty accurate) and calories burned. And it switches automatically between running and walking. I thought I'd miss the tracklog, but I actually don't. All I am really interested in is the distance I ran and the time it took me. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that all running is about? Jan

Judging by the problems I have installing Micro$oft products on top of Micro$oft operating systems ... and having been there since the early 80's ... yeah, it's Micro$loth. Not that what they sell these days is crap, not at all, it is the backward (in)compatibility layers they completely lost control of. Jan

Don't we all love Micro$oft? I try to hold on to Win2K as long as I can ... not that I think I can very long, but one can try, no? Jan

90% of all connectivity problems are cable/plugs. I have successfully used a Belkin USB Serial adaptor with a Legend. I didn't like speeds over 57600 but since those are only used for map transfer and anything else (waypoints, routes, tracks) is communicated at 9600 bps, that can't be related to your problems. Jan

Indeed, you can. There are several Tutorials out there that will teach you how. Jan

Indeed, the basemaps are totally useless for what you want. I am a hiker map+compass guy too. A single tile of the TOPO maps that I roll myself currently is about 2-4 MB in size. That contains 30x30 seconds of 20 ft elevation contours plus hydrography information (no roads or trails ... someday I might add the Tiger data to them). The same tiles from City Select are 1.5-2.5 MB, containing roads plus routing information. There are about 5200 (fivethousandtwohundred) of those tiles for the entire US. You can find my TOPO maps for free on MapCenter. The entire mapset of City Select (I didn't upgrade to CN yet) is about 1.6 GB. That still doesn't contain trails and the hydrography information on them is useless for hiking purposes (which is why I make TOPO maps). Now imagine how usefull the 8-24 MB basemap could be. And those two maps together can't even replace a good paper map. That is because the tiny screen of a GPSr will never give you the big picture. They will however help you to keep your paper maps in good shape, because you will only need to use the paper map to plan you route, for which you need the terrain overview. Once you have plotted your trail, the small display of the GPSr will be quite enough to see where you are and where you want to be. If you upgrade to a better GPSr but don't load it with any maps, you will not have much more than what you have now ... except for the color display. Jan

IMHO you're starting with the wrong question. This is like asking "which ATV has more cargo capacity?" without stating what you intend to transport. If your intention is to go on a wilderness camping trip, the question makes sense, but if your intention is to transport home appliances, it's kinda pointless. Yeah, I've seen pictures of people transporting a refrigerator on a moped somewhere in India ... but around here you're going to get pulled over if you try that stunt. Many people here have years of experience using all sorts of GPS receivers on and off the road. You will get much better advice if you explain what you intend to do, than if you ask about specific details, that seem to be important from a beginners point of view. Jan

That's a terrible idea. It would be far better to just turn off the auto-zoom. Yeah, you're right. I didn't think of that one. Jan

chandljl, in case you're still at it, the first 4 (new style) map segments completed compiling on mapcenter: http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/maplist.php?author=4639 It's only the top 4, the other 6 are still in the old format, but will get replaced soon. Jan

Don't disable single maps. Hit the MENU button again and select to "Hide/Show" all of CN (or whatever map product). Jan

Or you could try turning off the automatic zoom. Jan

On the map page <menu>->"Setup Map" In that menu on the leftmost tab set "Auto Zoom" to "Off" Jan

What I can think of using the GPSr in the field alone: 1) At point A take a waypoint (001) and project another waypoint about twice the estimated distance into the direction of your measured bearing (002). 2) At point B do the same, creating points 003 and 004. 3) Create a route 001->002->003->004 4) Select to navigate that route off-road. 5) Where the route segments 001->002 and 003->004 cross is your target. Now this all assumes that you can measure the bearing from A and B to your target precise enough. I didn't test this method (I will eventually some day). If you for example use a standard engineering compass, reading it to a single degree precision takes some practice. The next variable is if your GPSr will take the magnetic declination of your current location into account when you project 002 and 004, or if you have to compensate for that yourself. The reading error will affect the result least if you can get the crossing of the route segments to be 90 degrees. Jan

Looking at page 17 of the manual, this should do: http://www.naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=naco/online/compsys It's all in google ... one just needs to know the keywords Jan

From the main menu hit "Setup" hit "Interface", there is a "USB Mass Storage" button on the bottom of the page. The chip in your unit will become just a regular USB jump drive. Yes, you can store whatever you want on it just like on every other Jump drive. No, your GPS will not play MP3's or transmit them to the satellites. Jan

Just to clarify: "Last time" meant "today". I am for quite some time in the process of creating custom TOPO maps, and since I don't want to reload my 1GB chip every time I try out another map compilation, I swap in the original 64MB chip during development. That way I can simply put back the 1GB card with the stable map set for using the GPS. Jan

I had that happen and thought it was just something to do with Garmin not recommending the 2gig card and a software limit written in the mapsource program. So i just loaded the maps in smaller sections and got the whole thing on piece by piece,,, Are you sure you have the "whole thing"? Because last time I used it, MapSource "replaced" the existing mapset with the current selection, instead of "adding to it". Jan

Just for the record, the usual AA "Lithium" batteries, like the Energizer e2 you can get at W*Mart, are NOT Lithium Ion. They have a Lithium / Iron Disulfide chemistry and are disposable batteries, as opposed to the Lithium Iodine ones that are rechargeable. Due to the difference in cell voltage, there isn't any single LiIon 1.5V AA battery I know of. I think I have seen packs that within limits can be used instead of 2 AA's, but I can't find them online right now. Jan

Instant KRAZY Glue (purple bottle with brush) fixed my old Legend pretty good. Jan

For clarity, the last poster was correct in that the basemap will not get deleted...but when he says SD he meant SD card which the plain legend does not have so it does not apply here. Right, I think there actually isn't any way to erase or overwrite the basemap on the Legend. I was talking about the factory preloaded data in the 8MB. Now the Marine POI recovery thing seems to have vanished from the Garmin site. I do have a Garmin_Marine.exe in my old "Garmin Legend" download folder. If I run that it wants to install "Marine POI Database Recovery", so I wasn't dreaming about that one either - just that I can't find it on the Garmin site any more. canuck travellers, let me know if you want to have a copy of that installer just in case. Jan

The eTrex Legend (blue) does not have any memory card, but just the built in 8 MB. If (my) memory serves, the standard loaded Marine POI data will be lost if you load any map at all on that unit. There is a download on the Garmin website that allows you to restore that Marine POI data. So it is safe to go ahead and replace it with TOPO data. Jan

If you go to the Garmin product page for the Topo 24K and click on the link in the little MapSource Map Viewer box in the top-right corner, you can see what those maps include. As it looks to me they have the elevation contour lines, streams and waterbodies (with names) as well some trails (who knows how up-to-date or accurate). However, those map sets do not cover the entire U.S., but only selected regions like State Parks. I don't have that product, so I can only speculate from that preview. The maps I am currently trying to produce will be composed of the USGS 1/3 Arc NED elevation model together with the High-Res hydrography data on subbasin level. So it will only have elevation contour plus streams and waterbodies (with names too, where the NHD shape files contain them). There will be no trails, roads or POI's. However, since trails change quite often, my personal opinion is that they should not be on a topo map anyway but on a separate transparent map with a higher draw priority so that it displays on top of the topo map. Note that one single 30'x30' square topo map tile like I currently compose will take about 2-3 hours to compile with cGPSmapper, and I'm doing that with an Intel E6400 (not that cGPSmapper takes advantage of multiple cores, but one can do other stuff like preparing the next compile while one is running). My maps will be available for free from Mapcenter. I currently have a little problem with cropping the polygons from NHDArea and NHDWaterbody shapefiles. As soon as I can figure that out I will roll a couple of maps for discussion on the map author group. Jan

That one is extremely useful since it shows the next 3 turns ahead so you know in advance if after the next turn, you should keep left or right. I have the pages on my 60CSx set up so that "PAGE" will switch from map view to that turn-by-turn list and "QUIT" switches back. When on the turn-by-turn list page, you can use the cursor to highlight one entry and with "ENTER" you'll see the intersection close up. Jan

That'll do. Jan