thefiveofus

thanks for posting this.. just loaded topo 24k west and knew I had to turn off the city nav maps, but could not figure out how to do it in one step (vs. uncheck each tile .. impossible). did not think to hit menu again in the setup but searched and found your post - really appreciate it!

I use a case from Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), which I think meets your requirements, except for the 4th (UK shipping direct from EMS). http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_...D=1162479553935 have a look online, and if you like it, you could paypal me the money ($8, so around 4 pounds) and I could send to you. It's a soft sided case which has a belt loop on the back, which allows it to be vertical on a horizontal belt. It then has a very sturdy plastic quick release (but secure) clip on that loop which adds 90 degress more so that it can be horzontal on a horizontal belt (or vica versa). I like it becuase it protects the GPSr, yet still allows the signal in, and is not expensive. It also has a very handy zippered pocket for batteries. I leave the belt clip nub on the unit, and then use either the soft case or the belt clip, depending on what I am doing at the time.

how important are the voice prompts to you? I use the 60csx for both, and I think it's excellent..very usable for driving and very good form factor / durability for outdoor use. I take it everywhere and it's indispensible. pure auto units will do more - voice, bluetooth connection to phone, landscape / larger display, but I've had no issues with the 60csx, and when I go hiking / camping / geocaching, or just walking around in a new town, it's superberb. auto routing is good, lots of POIs, find by address, etc. just a suggestion.

EMS - black soft case hanging near where the GPSr's are ... generic case .. $8 .. .black with grey and a little zippered pocket on the outside that holds a few batteries very nicely... perfect fit and soft inside to protect, belt loop and plastic clip for your backpack strap... at $8 it's hard to beat.

if you find a way to change this I'd be interested, but also surprised. in the query, you so specify distance from your origin, however that is used to identify the caches, but not necessarily to sort the list. the prc files are in my experience, sorted the way you describe. but you can use your gprs to identify the one you want, then do a find in mobipocket to get to the right page (cache). this is fairly straightforward, even if not perfectly efficient. I haven't tried cachemate, but that may help you (I run mobipocket reader on my blackberry where I don't think the cachemate can run).

I find I need to recalibrate my compass multiple times during batter life (and don't have the contacts problem). I especially do this when I get out of the car or about to go on trail. takes 15 seconds - of course would be better if this weren't necessary as often but not the end of the world to do esp. if I want to get back to where I came from. I carry a regular compass just in case and so far so good.

is the software from garmin or a different vendor? you'll need garmin maps for the 60csx. also, did you install the garmin USB drivers on your laptop, or did you plug your gpsr into the PC and let windows install the drivers. if so, check the garmin web site for how to recover from that. you'll need to install the garmin software that came with the gpsr *first*, then plug the garmin into the PC and let the install finish.

oh, also, make sure you have the latest version avail. I see there's a new one for the blackberry..not sure if they released same for palmos or that was just a java version update.

hi, I'll try to give you a quick answer and I'm sure others can jump in..(and this thread may get moved by the mods, not sure). try a search in the forums for for the google earth KML and see if there's more detail. but, when I used the KML, which is the connector which lets GE talk to the Groundspeak servers, I can see the count..there's about 195 or maybe 200 views you have each day. each time you move the thing around and it sends a new query to the server to get the caches that would be in view, you use one click or count. when you use all that day, then you probably get what happened to you. it's most likely not a question of being a paid member, and isn't a 'problem' or bug, but is probably a limit set to limit the total traffic that the Groundspeak server can handle to process KML queries from GE worldwide each day. I found 200 to last me quite a while, so I wonder if a different planning approach would use the queries more efficiently (e.g. are you scrolling around alot?). Also, you can temporarily turn off the KML (there's a checkbox on the left side of GE..un check it and it won't query the server). perhaps doing your map planning without the KML running, and then when you know where you want to see caches, turn on the KML. thus, you'd use fewer clicks in just manipulating the map / earth. as a backup, if you do a query online on geocaching.com, and then click the 'map the results' icon at the top, then the 'show results in google maps (beta)', you can see and scroll in google maps similarly (no, it's not GE, but there's no click limit). And, it does similar functions (however, I've noticed that when there are more than a certain # of caches in view, it randomly displays a subset of them..haven't figured out yet how it selects them other than 'random'). anyway, this is some basic info, I'm sure others can validate or refute, but is my hunch, and hopefully gets you some info quick. good luck...

David - I'm using mobipocket reader on the blackberry, but it works as advertized. I had 2 different PRC files from two PQ's that I ran and also had 2 news feeds (RSS) on there for a total of 4 items in my reader and they all seemed to work. I know this doesn't really help other than to say I have seen it work right. I did watch the xfer status .. only thing I can think of is if the PRC files have the same name, it is overwriting one with another in some way?

hey all, just a tip that you can load mobireader on your blackberry and sync the PRC files you get from premium PQ's onto your BB and do paperless caching w/ the BB! (which was great news when my wife's palm pilot died and we went back to paper :-( ). I dunno..maybe this is old news or maybe no BB users here, but if you have one already and didn't know about the reader version for the BB (java) then it's good to know! Life is good again!!

had a very similar experience w/ ordering an extra vehicle mount adapter (in fact looks very much like your order problems above). (and btw, I ordered my GPSr from them and had *no* trouble). just keep hammering away at them at cust. service until they get it to you..they will update the shipping to overnight for free... they showed 5 units in stock when I ordered, and then they could not ship it to me..said they were getting it from a supplier and I asked why then they show it in stock as shipping from amazon..never answered... in any case, they will honor the order and give you free shipping..call them and fill in on the email survey that the problem is not resovled and it will get escalated to someone who will write you a very apologetic email but who can call the fulfillment center to try to put some heat on it. I was hoping to take advantage of a loophole and cancel my order on the system but still have it fulfulled (yes, I was really mad at them), but that didn't take place (thought I still had a 'cancel' link even though the order had moved to the next status..systems out of sync, you know). anyway, I've ordered plenty from them and this was the first bad experience, but boy was it frustrating!! good luck - keep hammering away at them...

puddlewalkers - when you were looking for exits, did you ever find the 60csx to report exits from a highway other than the one you were on? that has happened to me several times, on some fairly major highways (not 6 or 8 lane major interstates, but on 4 lane farly important highways - ny/nj/ct area). I know the gpsr knows where I am so that's not the question, and I attributed it to lack of basemap data (e.g. if we don't have exit data for the highway they are on, show them exit data from a nearby highway). In addition to the basemap data seeming to be a bit older than CN, I can't imagine they'd have every highway exit data in the basemap, even for what I consider to be 'important' highways. Did this ever happen to you? When this happened to me, we tried to use the find nearby for a food category, and while somewhat successful, it was harder to correlate the exit to the food establishment.

wow, that's bizarre... do any images work in positions 21-23 or just not those. for example, if you take the ones you had at 21-23 and name them 0-2 and then take all the others and shift them down by 3 (so the old 0 becomes 3, etc.) do all icons work? if not, which ones don't work, the bad icons in good positions, or the good icons now in bad positions. at least you can try to narrow down a problem with the bitmap itself. do the bad icons have the same transparency as all the others? process of elimination is your friend here... also, using ximage can you download back to your PC whatever the 60csx currently has as 21-23? what's in those? can you save those back to a different position on the 60csx?

on my 60csx, when I load map data to the card, it did not overwrite the tide data (or was sent w/ the maps)..in any case, I dind't do anything special to keep the tide data in there when I load maps.

they're already there on the 60csx, were just a little hard to find.. from the map, do 'find' then 'marine points' (at the bottom of the list) then the only option that comes up under that is 'tide stations' ... press enter on that and pick one and you'll see it..use can use the menu button on that page to change the display format to tabular, etc. (looks like they come from data sent with the map?)

garmin does make a 60 series bike mount and there are after market mounts too (ram mount, e.g.). also, I had thought that the csx processor was faster than the cs ... e.g. can do real time pan on the map, faster calcs, etc. you'd have to weigh the costs and other factors. I did a comparison of my friends cx to the csx and there was a clear difference..his is probalby about a year old, so unless they updated the processor on the cx when the csx came out, I'd still think there's a difference also, the 76 series is basically the same unit, mostly a different form factor, and does actually float (if that's a concern, e.g. mostly for boating). take a look in there, there are a lot of posts on both of those units.

I wouldn't think it's the compass 'going bad'..you never know, but it would be pretty surprising. The compass should be solid state, e.g. no moving parts, so chances are either it never worked or something else is at play. why can't you recalibrate the compass under heavy tree cover? the compass has nothing to do w/ the gps signals, so I would try that first. also, when you say 'locked up', exactly what happens? what are you doing when this happens and what are you seeing? what is your setting for when the gps switches to electronic compass? are you navigating or just looking at the map / compass? etc. also, are you near high power lines, bridges, etc.? I did have one occurrence where I was crossing the george washington bridge (NY) and the bridge knocked my GPS for a big loop (no pun intended) but it did recover on its own, although it took at least 5 mins and some distance away from the bridge. maybe more info would be useful here.

don't worry about the receipt..just give them a call..they'll know the approx. age from the serial #..

btw, I picked those 2 units kinda arbitrarily...so, comment away at will for the vista, legends, etc. (not sure why I'm sticking to Garmin, maybe just b/c that's what I know).

mine's older than that, but every now and then, the stick won't 'select' e.g. when I depress it straight in, it's as if I didn't do anything...I find that if I give it a knock, that usually fixes it or if I try several times, sometimes that fixes it... but I have had that problem... infrequent but does happen. if yours is always doing that, I'd call Garmin and see if they will exchange it for you...

well, as much as I really, really like my Garmin 60csx (and I do!! it's pretty incredible), the geocache function that's advertised, doesn't really do all that much, IMO. granted, what was included may have been the bare minimum possible to do before the unit's launch, but now I am sure there must be a working list of updates they want to do / are doing w/ the firmware. so, given that there are a lot of opinions out there, and maybe if anyone from garmin lurks here on this board, perhaps if they got some 'customer input' on what it should do, then they could bring that forward to the powers that be and see if they can develop any of it (e.g. priorities from people out there using the product, not just what the developers would think is cool). so, post away. (and no, I don't work for garmin or have anything to do w/ them or even know anyone there). suggested assumptions: - Assume garmin 60 /76 series (same software for the most part, I believe) - gpsr units as they currently exist (e.g. changes enabled by firmware update only - exclude manufacturing changes) - Current s/w releases are 2.7 for gps chipset and 3.0 for garmin s/w (e.g. if there's a function you wish for that exists as of those releases, don't list it). - suggestions must be reasonably possible to do with the unit (hard to define cleanly, but you know what I mean). a few starter ideas: - preload more geocaching icons into the unit (e.g. virtual cache, etc.). I know (and have) downloaded them myself, but it would save some research and a few steps. - allow the unit to display html (or other, maybe plain) formatted cache text, logs, hints, etc. from geocaching.com web site..put a link in the waypoint that when clicked would pull up an info page for the cache, stored and downloaded to the microsd card. this could enable paperless caching, but all on the garmin form factor, rugged device, which already has plenty of memory if you buy a bigger chip. - enable 'profiles', such as geocaching, driving, etc. that make numerous changes to the unit settings (e.g. lock on road, route follow road vs. not, track on /off, etc) (I know this has been discussed before in other topics .. is a great idea that to me would make it easier to switch from driving mode to geocaching/ hiking mode).

fyi, what it's trying to do when auto zoom is on is to keep the next leg displayed..so if the next leg is long (many miles), then it will zoom way out..if it's not long, it won't zoom out as far... but, if you do turn it off, then the zoom should remain fixed as you set it.

Been there..done that....any other ideas floating around? well, you might have indicated what you've tried when you posted. similar sounding thing as you describe happened to me once (not sure what caused it) and the recalibrate fixed it. good luck...

next time it happens, see if a recalibration helps fix it (in the compass menu.. you have to hold the unit outside, away from strong magentic forces, e.g. power lines, and turn two full 360 degree revolutions while the unit figures out which way is north again)..