8mmag

Aha! Thank you. So there is a way to do exactly what I want to do, I just have to get my maps in the right format. Thanks for pointing out the differences in coverage between the cards & the DVD's.

So from the feedback it sounds like I'm SOL wanting to load 24K topos along with CN as a single mapset, as long as the Great Lakes region I want isn't available on DVD, right? If I want 24K topos, I'll need to be swapping cards back & forth, right? Garmin 24K Maps

There is a card for sale locally. My question is, can these maps be uploaded into MapSource from the card like maps on CD/DVD so they can be included with other (City Navigator) maps in a mapset for transfer to a big microSD card, subject to the 2025 map tile limit? I'm using a 60CSx and 4Gb microSD now. Thanks for the input...

In spite of its obvious disadvantage...must be removed from case to use...I like the standard old Garmin zippered belt case. It provides security from losing it as it slips through your belt/backpack strap and the GPS is securely zipped inside. Reception is fine inside and I get good tracks hiking & biking with it on my belt. The main inconvenience is unzipping it prior to use.

I gotta say one of the most spectacular demonstrations of a GPS's value was on a boat. We were salmon fishing in British Columbia. If you've never been there, it's LOADED with islands, reefs & other nav obstacles. One morning we were going out right at dawn, with a group of 5 other boats in fog you couldn't see 50 feet in. We took off and followed the evening before's tracks through the islands, reefs, etc, some channels only 30 ft wide, to our ocean fishing spot...at full speed of about 25 MPH. Nav. was perfect to our fishing spot. The other 5 boats, all w/o GPS...well 3 of them turned around and didn't fish that day, and the other two showed up to fish about 2 hours later, just as we were landing the fish that put us at the limit! This was all with an antique GPS45 no less.

Maybe I'm over-simplifying, but it seems to me the GPSR ought to be able to switch to the local time zone automatically once it determines its position. All that would be needed is where the time zone boundaries are. What am I missing?

The good news is they load fine into the 60CSx The bad news is the 60CSx won't route from them...just the basemap You'll need CS or CN (NT or non-NT) to autoroute on your new unit.

That is AWESOME !!! Thanks for the belated Xmas present !!!!

You sure can!

20 map segments totaling 101.8Mb... thanks. how wide a segment capture is it on the route to and from the cities...and what are the sizes of the two metro areas individually? i really appreciate your help. i dont use mine for door to door nav but i thought it would be nice to be able to. i would buy the older and smaller seg map software but it doesnt even have my home address so the rest of the country might have voids as well. Just Orlando+ the DFW area was around 58Mb if I remember right.

20 map segments totaling 101.8Mb...

DO NOT use this case with the Invisible Shield installed. After a set of batteries worth of use, the Garmin case sticks to the I.S. incredibly tightly. It's nearly impossible to seperate them at this point, even using a credit card between the case & the shield. Someone suggested coating the Shield with something to prevent this but I forget what it was. I thought I was going to ruin the case it took so much effort to unstick the two. I too am afraid to cut out the plastic on the case, I feel pretty confident the result will be unsatisfactory.

This isn't right...the only difference between the 12 & the 12XL is the ability to hook up an external antenna to the MCX connector on the back of the XL. Both can hook up to a computer to upload/download Waypoints, Tracks, etc.

I'd try reloading 2.90 again and see if that resolves your issues... EDIT: For hard reset instructions see the FAQ

This is exactly what I've noticed. I jumped from 2.7 to 2.9 and have noticed the same change but it would also seem that in my area waas 51 is now my new favourite... locks quickly and I'm getting waas averaging in my basement. Before the 2.9 upgrade I rarely saw 51 (48 was the norm) and I could only get averaging in fairly open areas. Yup, I noticed the same thing over the weekend...strong 51 (SE Michigan) and WAAS D's in the house where I never got WAAS before. Didn't try the basement...

I've had this on for a day or so now so I have nothing definitive, but... It seems like with 2.70 the unit would initially lock to 3 satellites (even if 6-9 were showing decent signal and visible) then search for another group. Even when strong lock was obtained on the initial 3, until a fourth lock was obtained the unit was still reporting searching for satellites, even though a 2D lock is possible w/ 3 birds. Now with 2.90 I'm beginning to notice that the initial lock is occurring on 4, 5 & 6 birds, not just 3, thus eliminating that secondary waiting period (20-30 sec) in 2.70 where the unit was acquiring the 4th plus sat lock and begin reporting a position. Anyone else noticing this or anything else???

Try putting it in a card reader and see if they're there. Or...put the unit in USB mass storage mode and try to read it that way. You may want to reformat it and try again before sending it back to Sandisk. And it is the plain microSD card right, not the Ultra II or whatever? The Ultra's have been known to toast themselves in Garmin GPSr's.

I've seen this before on my 60CSx...check that the microSD card i properly inserted. Mine came loose once and all I had was the basemap until I reinserted it properly. Good luck.

So, at least on the iQue, this is a 'smart' setting, adjusted by the GPSr based on historical driving speeds? Pretty cool! I wonder if the C(S)x's do that too. Does anyone have a suggestion for a way to find out (hopefully w/o doing a master reset and starting from scratch)?

I'm curious about this too...I just completed a 420 mile each way round trip. Didn't check on Mapsource, but the GPS calculations for arrival times at waypoints and final destination seemed pretty well spot on. This was a combination of 250 Mi of interstate and 160 Mi of 2 lane highway with a few miles of city streets at each end. I usually drive a little faster than most, about 65 on the highway and 78 on the interstates. On the return, the initial ETA home was 17 minutes sooner than the actual arrival time, but we ended up parked for 10 minutes while a paving crew worked on a road in front of us, and stopped for fuel once along the way. I can't understand how the unit didn't know about that stuff . Has anyone figured out how the unit calculates ETA's?

To elaborate a little further, to solve the mathematics involved in determining your position in 3 dimensions requires 4 equations and 3 unknowns. One satellite is used to form each equation, the 3 unknowns are latitude, longitude, and elevation. The sumultaneous solution of these equations determines your position. That is the minumum number of satellites needed to determine a 3D fix. I know at least Garmin, and probably all the others too, will use as many satellites as the receiver has available to 'overcalculate' the solution to increase precision, since atmospheric condition variables result in inexact solutions. So in reality, the more the merrier.

The realtime tracking disappeared after MapSource v6.5. It is NOT a function of CN v.8. I found the older v6.5 online at, I think, GPSINFORMATION.NET a few months ago if you really have to have it. nRoute actually seems to work better for realtime tracking anyway. Why are you thinking it's better if included in MapSource? EDIT : Here you go...MapSource v6.5

Hmmm...I have 55.x Mb loaded on my 60C, consisting of Topo & MG4.02 (autorouting). Transferred without incident and works great.

Can someone translate the readme file to English?

OK, I admit I haven't tried Spanner yet myself, so this is just my interpretation of what I've read... Spanner takes the Garmin data stream broadcast by your GPSr through the USB port and converts that data stream to NMEA format. So for Spanner to work as it should, it NEEDS TO RECEIVE ITS DATA VIA THE USB PORT ON THE GPSr IN GARMIN FORMAT. From what I think I gathered from your post, you're taking native NMEA data over the serial port, plugging it into a serial to USB converter then running that through Spanner. So Spanner thinks it is getting Garmin data stream data, which it isn't (its already NMEA), and is trying to 'convert' it to NMEA. Also, if you use the straight USB cable, the laptop will power the GPSr. Let us know if this works.