the_wanderer

quote:My point is I didn't think this was possible (even with the quad helix). Nothing I've read led me to think I could recieve any real signal at all in a closed room, let alone enough to maintain virtually constant 3D Location. Congratulations.. You have observed completely normal behavior for a GPS Map 76S... Yep, that's the way it works.. Get used to it, 'cause that's the way it works most of the time, too....

When Garmin released the new 2.01 software for the GPSMAP 76s, they made some changes to the way that it handles NMEA output. Before it would just output a standard set of strings. Now, there is a menu option that allows you to control what the 76S sends. The big change, as near as I can tell is that BY DEFAULT, the 76S doesn't pass along GPS status. Which means that if you've been having a problem with the 76s showing NO LOCK when used with software that expects NMEA output, it's all due to the firmware upgrade. How to fix it: Go the the interface screen, where you select Garmin/NMEA/whatever and hit menu. This brings up a box that says "Setup NMEA output" Hit enter. Check the box that says GPS Status. This should fix any problems that anyone is having with NMEA software.

I'm up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA, so all I get is trees.. Trees, trees, and more trees. I've only had one time where the unit gave me a bit of trouble and wouldn't give me an accuracy of less than 30 feet.. This cache now has *4* DIFFERENT sets of coordinates for it posted. Personally, I think the unit rocks!

quote:Originally posted by Adventureguy:Thanks for the advice everyone... But, this is sort of interesting (I think). I went to a local store tonight and talked an employee into letting me get a side-by-side comparison of the vista and GPSmap76s. By the time I went there tonight I was already pretty convinced I was going to go with the 76s (mainly because it sounds like it has a stronger receiver and the capability to add an external antenna -- I plan to be in the woods A LOT). So, anyway, I turn both of the receivers on, and the vista gets a lock on our position before the 76s and maintains more sat's throughout our "field test" It's entirely possible that the 76s hasn't been initilized to your area yet. The initial setup can take 15 minutes or so to download all the almanic data. The vista was probably "Warm" and the 76S was probably "Cold..." On my 76s, I can get a 2D lock after about 30 seconds if the unit is "Kinda Warm" Did the 76S ever get a 3D lock after 5 minutes? If not, I'd be willing to bet that was the problem...

1) You can have different backlight settings for whether it's on DC power or the batteries. 2) If it's on DC power and it's removed, it offers to turn itself off for you! 3) After loading MapSource data, this unit freakin' rocks.. I still miss the auto routing of the V, but I'll trade it for the compass... 4) After you figure the unit out, geocaching is all about walking up to the cache... In all fairness, I do have 1 complaint about the unit.. It eats batteries for lunch!! Invest in rechargables....

1) You can have different backlight settings for whether it's on DC power or the batteries. 2) If it's on DC power and it's removed, it offers to turn itself off for you! 3) After loading MapSource data, this unit freakin' rocks.. I still miss the auto routing of the V, but I'll trade it for the compass... 4) After you figure the unit out, geocaching is all about walking up to the cache... In all fairness, I do have 1 complaint about the unit.. It eats batteries for lunch!! Invest in rechargables....

I think that any Garmin can do it, as long as it has MapSource data for that area loaded. Just recently, I was sure that something had gone horribly wrong with my GPSMAP 76S when it quit locking to roads.. I fiddled with it, turned lock to roads on and off, and it refused to lock. Then I kept zooming out, and realized that I was 3 miles outside the MapSource data that I had uploaded.. Once I drove back into the Mapsource data, everything was fine... But I was sweating there for a few minutes...

When I said I was getting down to 27-35 feet of accuracy, I mean I was getting that *THROUGH A CAR ROOF!* If the unit has any kind of view of the sky at all, I can expect accuracy readings in the 13-23 foot range, even under moderate tree cover.

For Geocaching.. Yep, it's worth it. The better antenna gets locks everywhere.. Under the roof of my car (no sunroof), I've had the accuracy reading down to about 27-35 feet. Even in HEAVY tree cover (I'm in the Blue Ridge Mountians..) about the worst accuracy I get (under heavy tree cover and on weak batteries) is around 45 feet. Not having to use the stick for navication rocks, too...

It seems like you're going to have a lot better luck looking out in the middle of nowhere instead of next to major roads, even if the roads haven't been changed in a while. I'm going to try my luck about 30 minutes out of town today and see what I come up with...

I went looking for three benchmarks today. One was on a bridge, one was 155 ft from a bridge, and one was close to an intersection. I was unable to find any of the three that I went looking for. The last time that they were located was 1964. The weird part is that two of the locations referenced utility poll numbers as a benchmark. I used the descriptions and checked all the utility poles in the area. I'm just not having any luck. I'm thinking about contacting the local utility company and seeing if I can get utility pole maps out of them. Does that sound reasonable to anyone?

I've gotten satelite lock under metal-roofed buildings before, so the reception is incredible.. I've never had any of the e-trex line to compare it to, but I'm planning on borrowing one to see how they stack up.. Everybody is talking about the neoprene case. I just went a got one of my palm-pilot plastic scratch shields and put that on the screen and cut it down. Works great at lowering the glare factor, and I don't have to worry about gouging a big scratch in the screen. My only complaint is that the manual is a little on the thin side... (Actually, it's a *LOT* on the thin side...) The GPS has worked perfectly for me..

I've gotten satelite lock under metal-roofed buildings before, so the reception is incredible.. I've never had any of the e-trex line to compare it to, but I'm planning on borrowing one to see how they stack up.. Everybody is talking about the neoprene case. I just went a got one of my palm-pilot plastic scratch shields and put that on the screen and cut it down. Works great at lowering the glare factor, and I don't have to worry about gouging a big scratch in the screen. My only complaint is that the manual is a little on the thin side... (Actually, it's a *LOT* on the thin side...) The GPS has worked perfectly for me..