mprindle

Good Idea's... These are questions that need to be thrown around a group. I am still needing one more person to join to make of the officers. Any takers? Thanks, JaM

Hey there, I have a Legend B&W and so far haven’t seen this problem with mine. A few things to try are enabling/disabling WAAS under Main Menu -> Setup -> System -> WAAS. In the same menu make sure you have the correct battery type set for the batteries you are using. Next Under Main Menu -> Setup -> Units -> Map Datum make sure you are set to WGS 84. This tends to be the default for most North America Maps. Last check to see if you are set to on or off road under Map -> Setup Map -> #. Lock On Road should be turned off. If you want you can also do some live testing. Go outside to a place with a clear view of the sky where you can place your GPS unit. Make sure you can place your unit back in the exact location. Turn on your unit and let it acquire and lock on to the sats with WAAS off. Once you are locked on wait about 5 - 10 mins to get a steady reading showing 15' or less then and then add a way point. With the waypoint added select GoTo and watch your receiver. It may walk a little, but should stay with in the error being reported. Mine was reporting about 7’ - 8' accuracy and my waypoint was walking 3' - 5' from the marked point. Turn off your unit, then turn it back on, and reacquire the sats. You can use this marked waypoint to reassure your self that your GPSr is doing its job correctly. With the waypoint marked check it with WAAS on and see how close it is reading. On my unit I was reading about the same 3' - 5' as before. Now with the waypoint marked you can do some tests to see if your directional pointer is pointing to the correct location. With your GPSr off walk away from your waypoint till you are about 200' or so feet away. You can aprox the distance by stepping it off. Now turn on your GPSr and let it acquire the sats and stabilize. Select your waypoint and select GoTo. Take a few steps towards the target and watch the pointer and distance. The pointer should now be pointing towards the target and your distance should be close to your estimate. Slowly start walking towards your target and see what your pointer does. If it is pointing behind you and the distance is increasing even though you are walking towards your target then you know there's an issue with your GPSr. If it's pointing in approximately the correct direction and the distance is approximately correct then it's working as it should. As stated in an earlier post the closer you get to ground zero the more the GPSr compass will wiggle. I personally like using the map to visually see where the waypoint is. Once you get back to your target place your unit in the exact location as you originally started with and see what you are reading. It should be close to the original reading you took. If your GPSr is reading way off then it could be a problem with your unit. You may want to repeat the test a few times since your readings may vary a little bit from the sat positions and WAAS correction. JaM Prindle

I would also call Garmin and let them know your unit was lost and request that you be added to there customer database with your serial number registered to you. If someone happends to call Garmin needing service on your unit then it will popup with you as the owner. Prindle

Hi everyone, I'm new to Geocaching and was able to pickup a used Etrex Legend for a great price, but it didn't come with the data cable or the lanyard. I was wondering if anyone has a spare cable, serial or USB, and a lanyard that they would care to part with for a little $$. I have searched eBay and I know I can get one there, but I thought I would start here since I hate messing w/ eBay unless I need to. Thanks, Prindle

It would be intersting to see if you could do the flag method that another poster mentioned earler and take a picture of it. If your units are pretty close to each other and you have the one odd ball and it happends to be the Cx then it would be very intersting to see the picture.