Hertzog

They take the accuracy number and multiply it by a factor of 3.5 or so to get the basic radius of the circle; this is probably to get from a confidence level of around 50% to one of around 99% (Garmin doesn't say exactly what they are doing, but this seems a reasonable assumption). Then they add an additional amount to the radius to account for the errors in the maps being used (if you switch to the basemap you will see a huge increase in the circle size, due to the large errors in the basemap).

I tried and it with zipped as well as unzipped GPX files, and I tried loading it into my eisting database, and in a new one, but nothing helps: The error is consistently the same. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks! Try opening the file in a text editor (I get the best results with WordPad). Once open go down to line 289 and see what you have. By looking at the structure of the data you will probably see some obvious problem that you can "fix". I've had occasional problems of "garbage" in the gpx track files created on the 60CSx that result in the type of error message you are seeing and have been able to get around it using this trick.

I didn't realize the Magellans had to be flipped during calibration, but it makes sense as they have a 3-axis compass. I wish Garmin would go that direction; I wouldn't mind the flipping if they would go with a 3-axis compass. I suspect a lot of the problems we discuss are caused by the lack of the third axis, which makes the Garmins very very sensitive to leveling. I've even thought of putting a bubble level on mine, but haven't found one I think would work.

Contact Garmin directly. I emailed them asking how I could get a replacement, and they had one in the mail to me free of charge the next day. I'm in the US, and that may make a difference, but it can't hurt to try.

No, the displays remain the barometric elevation. But the gps elevation is recorded in the active track log and in the gpx logs on the SD card, so you can have a record of your actual flight elevations when you get home. During the flight you can view the current elevation via a menu option on the satellite page, or by generating a waypoint and averaging it, but you can't get a continuous readout of the gps elevation. Why Garmin won't implement a GPS elevation option is a mystery to me. It **should** be a very simple software change (but this spoken by someone who has never seen their software, so who knows?). Normally I'm very satisfied with the barometric altitude, but flying in a pressurized plane is the one place where being able to use the GPS elevation would be nice. To reiterate, this works specifically for the 60CSx; the 60CS definitely does not have this "feature"; the 76CSx probably does, and maybe the other "x" models, but I don't have any direct knowledge other than for the 60CS and the 60CSx (well, for the original Vista - it doesn't have it either ) Just to elaborate a little further: In playing with it some more today, if you are in fixed elevation you don't have to average the waypoint to see the GPS elevation - it's the one recorded when you mark it if you are in fixed elevation. Also, if you have the elevation plot displayed on the Altimeter page, it appears to be the GPS elevation except for the right-most few points. The elevation read out at the bottom will still be the barometric elevation, but if you switch to pan by pushing the left arrow on toggle button it will display the GPS elevation (but at a slightly earlier time).

Sorry about the double post; I got a php error after a 45 second timeout, so hit reply agsin; evidently the reply had be posted before the error occurred.

My experience is that Garmin's published statements with regard to elevation data displayed and recorded in fixed elevation mode are just plain wrong. As you have said, the best way to find out what the unit does is to experiment with it. I think we can say that the 60CSx clearly records the barometric elevation in the active track log and in the gpx files on the SD card when in the variable elevation mode, and the gps elevation when in the fixed elevation mode; experiments you suggested clearly prove this. The 60CS by the way doesn't switch to gps elevation in the fixed mode, so I don't think there is any functional reason for them to have switched on the 60CSx - I think it's just something that slipped in while they were writing the software. I'm glad they did though; I hope they don't consider it a "bug" and change back in a future firmware update. I haven't heard of any other units having this "feature"; the 76CSx almost certainly has it, but I haven't heard of anybody checking on it or any of the newer Garmins. It would be interesting to get some feedback on that.

My experience is that Garmin's published statements with regard to elevation data displayed and recorded in fixed elevation mode are just plain wrong. As you have said, the best way to find out what the unit does is to experiment with it. I think we can say that the 60CSx clearly records the barometric elevation in the active track log and in the gpx files on the SD card when in the variable elevation mode, and the gps elevation when in the fixed elevation mode; experiments you suggested clearly prove this. The 60CS by the way doesn't switch to gps elevation in the fixed mode, so I don't think there is any functional reason for them to have switched on the 60CSx - I think it's just something that slipped in while they were writing the software. I'm glad they did though; I hope they don't consider it a "bug" and change back in a future firmware update. I haven't heard of any other units having this "feature"; the 76CSx almost certainly has it, but I haven't heard of anybody checking on it or any of the newer Garmins. It would be interesting to get some feedback on that.

I've looked there already and there was no time info....seems to be room for it but doesn't display it. I've looked in Preferences but can't figure out how to enable it: any ideas? Looks like you "saved" your tracks on the 60Cx; when you do that you loose time information. To avoid that download your active tracks and/or set the 60Cx to log tracks to the SD card and download the gpx files that are generated.

I've looked there already and there was no time info....seems to be room for it but doesn't display it. I've looked in Preferences but can't figure out how to enable it: any ideas? Looks like you "saved" your tracks on the 60Cx; when you do that you loose time information. To avoid that download your active tracks and/or set the 60Cx to log tracks to the SD card and download the gpx files that are generated.

I've used the 60 models for about the past 4 years and never noticed that! You are right; it doesn't make sense to do it that way; it doesn't even make sense to treat them differently. Try sending Garmin a bug report; maybe they will correct it in an upcoming firmware update.

What do you mean by......"some 60CSx's don't like them." The voltage level of fresh Lithiums is too high for the Map60CSx, where each battery can be above 1.7 volts each. From what I've heard on other forums it has only been a problem on 60CSx's and maybe 60Cx's, and it may not be a problem on newer units (mine was one of the first). To see if you have a problem, just insert a pair. If the unit comes on and stays on, you are good to go (I would try more than one pair just to make sure). If it comes on momentarily and fades, you have a sensitive unit. The GPSr won't be damaged by this test, and the battery setting options don't make a difference for this problem.

That's a bit optimistic for GPSr use; they actually last only about 50% longer. The 5-7X claim is presumably for high current drain devices, where alkalines are a really lousy choice to start with. Still, the lithiums are a good choice for backpacking, particularly under extreme temperature conditions. Also, they are lighter. The only downside is some 60CSx's (mine included ) don't like them.

In my OPINION. Take a reading. Come back many hours later. Take another. Come back many hours later. Take another. Repeat a few times. Average those by hand. OR Leave your GPS there overnight and use that average. I have not seen much difference between just walking up and taking a coordiante and averaging over the 5 min that I'm there placing a cache. This is with a Garmin. The magellans did have some other type of moving average that you needed to get out of the system to have accurate coordinates. Walking up and taking a coord. never seemed to work well with a Magellan. Newer Magellans may be different. I personally like to average a little, but it's pretty much a "feel good" action. You are correct; the variations over a 24 hour period can be larger than the short term variations.

Do a search of the archives for "battery saver mode" (or something like that). We had a nice long discussion on the subject a few months ago, and you will find all you want to know about it there (too lazy to go back and find it myself )

I actually figured out the zoom AFTER selection playing around with it again last night; before I was zooming and then doing a lot of manipulation to get to what I wanted to select. Much easier the other way. I still crash Adobe Reader with large images, so the next time I want to do something like this I'll try Ergomanic's approach. Thanks to both John

I didn't realize that photoshop imported pdf files (but it makes since since both are "Adobe". I'll give that a try the next time I want to do that; thanks. John

I would be interested in how you got the PDF data to BMP. I've done something similar in the past (using the Snapshot Tool), but needed large magnifications to get the bit densities I wanted, and got system crashes when I tried to select large areas.

For the sensor models this is "almost" always the barometric value; I think the non-sensor models do record the GPX elevations in the tracklog. I say "almost", because I accidently on purpose discovered that on the 60CSx putting the altimeter in the "fixed elevation" mode caused it to record the GPS elevation instead. This is definitely not documented, and I don't think it was really intended; I live in fear that Garmin will consider this a bug and "fix" it in a firmware update. The 60CS definitely doesn't have this "feature", and it may not have gotten into the HCx models either. To check it on your GPSr, just use the manual calibration function to some large offset, say 1000 feet, then switch between fixed and variable elevation and see what gets recorded in the tracklog.

When I posted this I was thinking that the manual said something about this, but it was just buried. After reading the other concurrent thread and going back to the manual I have to concur with IndianaDan; there's no mention of the loss of data at all. I guess most of us learned the hard way - by losing some data

Probably a number of programs will do it, but MapSource has everything you need, at least to assemble the tracks. Basically you open two "instances" of MapSource (one for the master file you are creating and the second for the current track files). Then you just copy and paste the desired tracks into the master file; once there you can edit them, join them, rename them, etc. One thing to remember is that the timestamps are always carried as UTC regardless of the GPSr settings. When you display them in MapSource or other programs they will be displayed in the "local" time of your choice, but the actual data will remain UTC. The one exception to this is Garmin uses the GPSr's local time setting to determine the date when naming the gpx files written to the data card (but the date and time written in the file will always be UTC). MapSource won't work directly with the pictures though. Once you've edited the tracks you can export them as a gpx file and use other programs to insert location data into the pictures. It sounds like you want to link pictures and tracks into some sort of "map with pictures" document. I'm not that familiar with all the available programs for doing that, but Google Earth has some capabilities along those lines.

That's great! I hadn't even thought of that. At the very least I've got to change the "lost satellite reception" phrase

I think the big problem is the confusion of having three different "animals" on the GPSr that are called "tracks" - the internal active log, the tracks "saved" to the card and the internal "saved" tracks. The manuals don't make a really clear distinction (arguably), and people generally don't read the manuals anyway, they prefer to learn by playing with the GPSr (I'm no exception). They usually learn the hard way, by saving an important track thinking they have everything.

There are two sensors on two axis at right angles that measure magnetic field strengths. I'm guessing that when you rotate the GPS is looking for the peak outputs of the sensors and remembers the values. The peak values would change with battery strength. You are right, the SATs won't give you a direction. It can guess that you went in a straight line from the last point it measured, but is just a guess. I think you are right; I would guess they use the peak excursions to adjust for the relative amplitudes between the two sensors, and for any offsets in each sensor.

I can't speak for the H models, but can confirm it for the 60CSx. On the 60CS the current drain is increased by about 50% when the compass is turned on; on the 60CSx the current drain is minimal (possibly 5%, but certainly no more).