ergomaniac

I cache with my sons and they both use Sportraks (Sportrak Color and Sportrak Map). I use a Garmin GPSMAP60cx and without question the Garmin is better under heavy tree cover. If I hear "wait, let ours "catch-up"" one more time... I'm going to scream!!! The Magellan's are really good GPSr and are half the price of the Garmin but the Magellan's definitely hide their signal loss and will send you wondering off well past a cache if you are moving at more than a snails pace... If signal hauling power is important to you then you should have sprung for the newer 60cx model.

It's taken me a while to get back to this and give it a try (work keeps getting in the way). I now have custom Icons showing up which is great! (Thank you). I can't say that I love the "non-transparency" but it's still progress. The odd thing is that the "Found" buttons are now gone from the compass page. I suspect the buttons were there because I created a GPX file with a symbol definition (<sym>) named "geocache" in the GPX file that I created in GSAK. Now that I've used a different symbol name the geocaching buttons on the compass page have gone away.

This topic has been popping up on various threads for a while and I thought that maybe we could gather some recent POI info in a single thread. I'll list what I have found and would ask others to correct my findings or add to them. I have 925 waypoints (geocaches) loaded on my GPSMap60cx (using custom geocaching icons) and 1500 geocache POI's loaded as well. All loaded from GSAK (GPX). I'm running 2.71 beta but have also tried most of this with 2.70 Here's what I've found: When the waypoints display in Map Setup is turned "ON" the name of the POI's won't display unless I do a search. Moving the cursor to a POI won't display the name when the waypoints are on. When the waypoints display is turned "OFF" I can move the cursor to a POI and the POI name WILL display. Turning "Map Points" OFF in the Map Setup doesn't shut them off. Changing the display scale doesn't seem to do anything. POI's won't display if your map scale is more than 800 ft. The POI's display is affected by the "Detail" setting in Map Setup (ie. "MOST" will display POI's at 800 ft but "Normal" displays them at 300 ft.) If you "GoTO" a POI the compass page will display "Found" "Note" "Stop" like a normal waypoint but selecting "Found" shuts off my GPS. Selecting "Note" changes the screen and leaves it blank at the top and the word "Note" is changed to "Data"... not sure what it's doing but I have noticed that after about 5 min. "My Documents" pops up on my PC when my GPS is connected to the PC and I hit "Data"... weird! Can't change the POI icon... have tried hacking the GPX file but doesn't seem to make any difference. I suspect the fact that GSAK writes the symbol as "<sym>Geocache</sym>" (GEOCACHE) is not a good thing for a POI but I haven't been able to find anything that works any better. I'll keep poking around but I hope to see some more observations that might help me figure out this POI mess and if nothing else will make a good collection of info to pass on to Garmin.

I'll list the "family" inventory: Magellan Sportrak Map Magellan Sportrak Color Garmin Etrex (Yellow) GPSMap60cx Interesting thread!

Not me (60CSx, 2.71, using GPX file created from Mapsource, after loading GPX file from GSAK, CS NA). If I move my cursor over the POI and press enter, I only get the address of the POI based on the underlying street address and not the name of the POI itself. GeoBC I've noticed some differences depending on how you create the GPX file for the POI load. GSAK to Mapsource format -- then creating the GPX file from mapsource seems to produce slightly different behaviour although I haven't tested all the combinations. Gsak --> GPX Gsak GPX --> Mapsource --> GPX Gsak MApsource Format --> GPX I'd be interested in a controlled test (I've not had time)

I had a similar problem with my 60cx after upgrading to 2.70. I had a clear view of the sky, was waiting to acquire (3 solid bars showing), then nothing... all bars disappeared and I got the "Weak Signal" message! I waited and it eventually seemed to start acquiring again. I haven't seen behaviour like that since using my old Etrex in heavy tree cover! I notice the bars seem to jump around (come and go) more often than they did with ver. 2.62. Anybody else notice this behaviour? I've switched back to the beta because I miss the track to card option... but it wiped all my waypoints and my custom icons when I reloaded the beta!!

In GSAK File->Export->Mapsource: In the export dialog there is a "Change" GPS Symbols button. In the "Change waypoint/icons..." menu the "icon" drop-down list will show the "custom" entries that you set up in the file. Play with the "Cache type only", "Status only" or "combined" radio button until you get what you like. I like the combined setting because I like to display all icons with either a found or not found symbol (that's why I have the "traditional" and "traditional found" custom icons.

You can bulk load waypoints with custom icons via GSAK to Mapsource and your GPS. A bit fiddly but you only have to set it up once. For a Garmin you have to put the xxx.bmp icons in the "...\My Garmin\Custom Waypoint Symbols" folder. You have to upload the custom icons to the GPS. Unfortunately, Garmin named them differently on the GPS... the icons must be named "Waypoint Symbol xxx.bmp" before uploading them to the GPS. To make the icons available in GSAK you have to list them in the GSAK program dir in a file named "GarminOther.txt". Sample: Custom 0 ; traditional Custom 1 ; traditionalFound Custom 3 ; multi Custom 4 ; multiFound Once this is done you just have to map the icons to the GSAK symbols during the export (you can save the config) and all will be good!

I received my new Map60cx a few days back and have run a few "unscientific" tests. The 60cx does maintain a fix in our basement regardless of where I stand but the tracks can wander as much as 100 feet. This is still good news because as long as you have a fix you can plot a course. Before leaving the basement I stuffed the 60cx into my pack sack (wrapped up in my clothes) and rode to work. A fairly accurate track was recorded (no fade outs or spikes) until I rode into the underground parking garage at work. In our office building we compared the reception of a GPSMap60 with the 60cx. I got a weak lock with the 60cx and the GPSMap60 got nothing. We tried an external antennae on both units and the results were the same - no lock for the GPSMap60 and a no change for the GPSMap60cx (still maintained the same weak lock). I went geocaching on the weekend in heavy wet tree cover (Douglas fir) and I was really impressed with the 60cx. I bought the unit with the hope that it would "track" well in heavy cover (fishing, hiking) and this unit is amazing! I had the unit in my pocket much of the time (over several hours) and never missed a track. My sons have Magellan's and they tracked very well too (I overlayed the tracks when we got home) but they had a few (minor) spikes that didn't show on the 60cx track. They did however, have to keep their units in their hands to keep the signal. This is an important difference to me since sometimes you need both hands when you are hiking in rougher areas and I want to be able to toss mine into my pocket or pack without losing the lock. My previous unit was an etrex and it wouldn't have given me results anywhere near this good. By-the-way -- for the cachers... the final score was a tie! We all found two caches each!