BMW JEDI
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Posts posted by BMW JEDI
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I challenge any person who thinks Smartphones will replace dedicated GPS units to join me in the middle of:
A: the Grand Canyon National park
B: Yellowstone National park
C: Arches National park
D: Green River, Utah
E: etc., etc....
YOU bring only your smartphone, I'LL bring only my dedicated GPS. (No Paper Maps and Compass, this is between smartphones and dedicated GPS)
We'll see who can find their way out, and who needs emergency evac.
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YOU were the one saying that Colorados have bad reception. Lets see YOUR facts then.....
Actually, I never said (or typed) that. IF I had, I am sure you would have quoted it, but you did not, because I did not.
This is a perfect example of the empty and nonfactual posts I warn others about.
Edit: Oh, I see you have never found a Geocache...... So you have had vast experience comparing units side by side while navigating to the same location?Yes, I have (hundreds), and yes I do, thank you.
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The nice thing about the internet is that anyone and everyone is an expert.
BMW Jedi is completely wrong. If anything, they are better at accuracy than an Oregon.A very compelling argument. Allow me to retort.
First, I agree totally with Red90. The Colorado units get better signal than the Oregon units due to the helix antenna.The Colorado, the Oregon, the nuvi, the eXplorist ALL receive the exact same signals, from the exact same satellites. It is physically impossible for the Colorado to 'get a better signal' than any other GPS. Mostly just old timers and fools believe the antique external helix antenna is superior to newer internal antenna designs. If that were the case, do you think all new GPS units would be without the external helix antenna (as they are)?
Not to mention, newer GPS units also have access to 24 additional satellites (GLONASS) to more precisely and quickly pinpoint your exact location, all accomplished without external helix antenna.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the Oregon and most newer GPS have a 3-axis compass, which does not require you to hold the unit perfectly level for proper operation, such as the Colorado.
Of course, this thread will undoubtedly now be flooded with GPSMap 60 series users (very old technology) proclaiming the superiority if the external helix design over current technology.
Fortunately (for you), you can see for yourself the results of a field test comparing the two, and decide for yourself which better serves your interests.
And be careful whose advise you consider. Some of us like to use facts, others.... not so much.
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Realistically, your experience is about as good as you can probably do with the Colorado 300.
Newer GPS units have WAAS (digital signal correction) and GLONASS (additional 24 satellites to determine your locations with), as well as many improved functions/features for geocaching.
Garmin is about to release newt Oregon GPS units in the coming weeks, but at a hefty price tag.
Currently, the Oregon 450/550 are probably the best bang for the buck if you want a highly functional and mature GPS with firmware that has most of the bugs worked out. They can be had for US $200-$250 if you look around a little bit...
GPSFileDepot has tons of great maps for your Garmin GPS, some of them arguably better than Garmin maps.
so your advise is to upgrade? Maps look complicated. Do explorists come with preloaded street maps?
Maps are not complicated at all. Many GPS are pre-loaded with varying quality maps, depending on how much money you want to spend. Garmin GPS units with "t" suffix have topo maps pre-installed, but they are not very accurate.
I see you are in southern WA state. You would be best served by the Northwest Topo map available here. You can even put this map on your Colorado.
Follow the map installation guides here for step-by-step instructions.
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Realistically, your experience is about as good as you can probably do with the Colorado 300.
Newer GPS units have WAAS (digital signal correction) and GLONASS (additional 24 satellites to determine your locations with), as well as many improved functions/features for geocaching.
Garmin is about to release newt Oregon GPS units in the coming weeks, but at a hefty price tag.
Currently, the Oregon 450/550 are probably the best bang for the buck if you want a highly functional and mature GPS with firmware that has most of the bugs worked out. They can be had for US $200-$250 if you look around a little bit...
GPSFileDepot has tons of great maps for your Garmin GPS, some of them arguably better than Garmin maps.
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Same accuracy, but if weight is a factor, the Dakota is lighter. However, any GPS in the mountains could have problems because the mountain will block out close to one half of the sky. And if your a ridge with mountains on both sides, you'll be very lucky to get a fix at all.
ok...
I am new to Geocaching ...
As you already should have more experience in geocaching ... which I recommend? which you use?
I have both, and very much prefer the Oregon over the Dakota.
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and another misconception you DON"T need a celltower for the Gps to work.
None of my iPhones (3, 3Gs, 4, and 4s) have any GPS function outside of cell tower coverage. I have tested them all in many travel destinations outside of big cities and never have they been able to show my location without cell tower links. Newer phones may be different.
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No.
Smartphones require cell towers for accurate triangulation, and until cell towers cover every square inch of the Earth, stand alone GPS units will not be obsolete.
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Garmin does not think you need this option, and has repeatedly refused to add it, even after multiple requests from many users.
You don't think you know what you need more than Garmin, do you?
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Do you have any other maps installed?
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The Montana wiki has all the information you need to load maps to your Oregon as well. Look through the Maps section and see if there is something there that helps?
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As WaltsHunting points out, if you want current city street info, you will need to purchase CityNav from Garmin. If you do so, choose the DVD option, and for a one time fee, you will receive quarterly updates for your device. No other option is more functional or up to date with your Garmin Oregon GPS.
I have multiple Profiles I use on my Oregon 450, Automotive has the CityNav maps enabled to guide me close to the cache I seek, then when I get out of my car, I switch to my Geocaching Profile which enables only topo maps with trail to get me the rest of the way.
You can get much better topop maps than Garmin 100k for your Oregon 450 at GPSFileDepot.
More info about loading maps and creating profiles is available at the Garmin Oregon wiki.
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I purchased a Garmin Montana 600 last night and I am waiting for it to arrive. Before I start purchasing memory cards and maps I want to ascertain what would be the best set up for me. I will be primarily using the unit for geocaching and hiking; in the past I have typically stored up to 3000 to 4000 caches on my gpsr. I would like a 24k topo map, but was trying to decide between microSD card or DVD version. I also understand GPSFiledepot has a topo of Florida (where I live); does anyone have experience with this and how much memory space do I need? I also am considering a birdseye view subscription as well, but need to read more feedback on it. I really don't want to be switching out multiple cards. I was thinking the internal memory should easily handle the cache volume I indicated and then get a microSD card to load the 24k topo map (DVD or Florida download) onto the card along with birdseye view. Any thoughts??? Recommended memory card size?
Can anyone recommend a good brand for a microSD USB card reader that is reliable or a good SD/microSD card reader? My MacPro has USB or Express card slot option.
Most of (if not all) the answers you seek can be found at the Montana Wiki.
I also use the GPSFileDepot maps almost exclusively, with Garmin City Nav for automotive routing, when desired.
Always buy the DVD version, never download or uSD card version of Garmin maps. (Why?) is explained at the wiki I linked to above.
Also, ALWAYS put your custom maps and geocaches and other files on the uSD card, never internal memory. (Why?) is also explained at the link above, if you do some reading.
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Thanks guys, based on the replies been doing a bit more researching and the Dakota 20 looks like definite maybe. Not quite as bulky as the the Oregon but bigger screen than the Etrex. Only concern is that I've seen a number of posts that mention the display can be hard to read, does anyone have any realtime experience of the Dakota when attached to a bike and could comment on this issue ?
Just for clarification I intend to keep my Edge 200 for data logging etc so the odometer issue is a non-issue, the extra unit will be for navigtion only.
Thanks
I also have a Dakota, and find the smaller screen much harder to see and/or use even a arms length. It would be a matter of personal preference, but the Oregon has bigger screen, easier to touch interface, and more pixels of data to display.
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The eTrex 20 is not the GPS you are looking for....
For bike riding, I would highly recommend considering a Garmin Oregon 450 or 550 -> the scrreen is much larger and easier to read and with touchscreen interface much easier to manipulate while riding.
The Oregon 450/550 are very mature products with very stable software, and many options exist to mount them to your bike, etc.
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Thanks for replies.
Unfortunately the Oregon 300 has gone 18 month ago ... probably else I hadn't posted here at all :-)
Well then, I do not think you will be able to confirm any of your theories about your Oregon 300. I still have my Oregon 300 and will try to replicate them for you.
But today I have a folder full of gpx tracks copied from my Oregon 300 before departure - something what I can't repeat with my new Oregon 550 any more.
I remember the process of selecting the track, when the start and end point were often close to each other, there was an option to move cursor over the track point and then the point time was displayed, that's how I separated overlapping the start and end points.
It was 2 years ago and may be that I don't remember correctly and this track part selection was on the earlier Garmin eTrex Legend HCx?
Very likely you are remembering another unit, as I have owned multiple Oregon GPS and never seen the function as you describe it.
But in other hand I can't imagine that there were any other chance except direct map editing in device, how I could do my Oregon 300 gpx folder onto my PC full of tracks.
With Oregon 550 I have saved only 1 track, because the 550 unit IMO isn't capable to save partial track.
Your opinion is misguided and incorrect.
May it be that this function depends on map loaded into unit?
Because 2 years ago I different, older map versions.
Track logs have nothing to do with maps loaded, they are handled seperately, and do not require any maps to function, only a GPS signal.
Below is the track header from from one of my Oregon 300 gpx files - looks like firmware version 1.1?
Anyone has this Firmware version?
xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1"'>http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1" xmlns:gpxx="http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/GpxExtensions/v3"'>http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/GpxExtensions/v3" xmlns:gpxtpx="http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/TrackPointExtension/v1"'>http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/TrackPointExtension/v1" creator="Oregon 300" version="1.1" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/1/gpx.xsd http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/GpxExtensions/v3 http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/GpxExtensionsv3.xsd http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/TrackPointExtension/v1 http://www.garmin.com/xmlschemas/TrackPointExtensionv1.xsd"><metadata><link href="http://www.garmin.com"><text>Garmin International</text></link><time>2011-08-22T12:59:09Z</time></metadata><trk><name>
That is GPX version 1.1 - not teh firmware version of your device.
Unfortunately Oregon 550 save portion of track function is not usable IMO.
Still misguided, and incorrect.
For example now when trying to save current track, the following action on 550:
Track Manager
Current track
Save Portion
Select the first Track Segment to Save
and there are 2 choices displayed on screen:
111m 00:00 FEB 18 17:15
9.9km 05:14 FEB 18 17:18
exactly the same repeats in Select thye Last track segment to save
The actual current test track is now 10 km long, driven by car in 50 minutes, with stop in the shop, track displays correctly on Oregon display
but these save portion numeric option are not understandable.
And this doesn't make much of sense to me, when I'm trying to find the start point but not any segment ...
Each time you stop and restart the track log recording on your Oregon GPS, you will have another Track segment to select in this menu relative to those points. Try stopping the track log recording at each destination, and restart immediately a new track log recording (that is, turn track log recording off and back on - very quick and simple), and at the end of your journey you will have many track segments to choose from to edit your track.
Oregon 550 is:
Software version 4.40
GPS Software version 4.52
Current firmware version for your Oregon 550 is 6.10 - maybe you should consider a complete backup and run Garmin WebUpdater to update your device.
GPX file header from Oregon 550
<?xml version="1.0"?><gpx version="1.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0"'>http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0 http://www.topografix.com/GPX/1/0/gpx.xsd"
Again, simple header information for the GPX file format.
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Wow, do the moderators here have an axe to grind, or what?
I just checked the Garmin website and found exactly what user13371 and Red90 suggest; The Oregon is limited to four million caches.
Perhaps the Groundspeak moderators should consider using facts before their next clearly obvious biased rant about nothing....
Correct me if I am wrong, but Groundspeaks limit of 1000 caches per PQ, and only 6000 caches per day, seems to be the real limiting factor in getting current and useful geocache data on your GPS.
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I do not see any function on my Oregon 300 to select the portion of a track to be saved on the Map Screen. I am offered a selection of track segments to choose from to be the beginning and the end of the saved 'portion' of the track.
What firmware are you running on your Oregon 300?
Can you PLEASE provide screen captures?
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Wow, great information, thank you very much for sharing these tips. Can you elaborate a bit on how to copy the XML file from the GPS on the SD card? I'm not seeing the XML file in the GPS for some reason? (not sure really how to find it actually)
Oh yes, by the way, that little compass I was referencing earlier is actually in the upper left hand corner, OOOPS. LOL
See also this page for more information on cloning your GPSr.
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What is the purpose of the second compass in the upper right corner? I'm not getting that. Thank you. : )
If you have the geocaching dashboard active, that compass always points to the NEAREST geocache.
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Are you running the latest firmware for your 62s?
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So how can I get some topos without losing the city navigator map that's already on there?
That is only if you are using MapSource, which is the wrong software for your Oregon 300 anyway.
You should be using BaseCamp with the Oregon 300. For more complete information on this subject, try this link.
I'll check that link later when I get a minute but that quote I posted was from a tutorial on using Basecamp to transfer the map files, not mapsource.
the GPSFileDepot tutorials are very old, very out dated, and largely incomplete.
Using any recent version of BaseCamp will not result in older maps being deleted, exactly as the tutorial I linked to will explain.
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So how can I get some topos without losing the city navigator map that's already on there?
That is only if you are using MapSource, which is the wrong software for your Oregon 300 anyway.
You should be using BaseCamp with the Oregon 300. For more complete information on this subject, try this link.
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You have to set the draw order for your Garmin Custom Map just like all other Garmin maps.
I suspect your KMZ file has a draw order lower than the topo map, thus the topo map is drawn over the KMZ.
I disabled the Custom map and then enabled the Garmin topo map , however , the Garmin topo would show it was "Disabled" and would not display again . Eventually I went to Mapinstall and removed the Garmin map and reinstalled it again. Now it works OK so I removed the Custom map from the Micro sd card and put the empty card back in the unit. I read the link you posted and will put in a draw order and adjust the transparency .
Draw order is important, but the transparency is only to allow you to see the google earth map under your custom map, for editing purposes. The final custom map will always be fully opaque, never transparent.
New Garmin Montana ~ map/memory options?
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
I missed the part where you slid the metal retaining plate into the 'Lock' position?
If you are not doing this, I can understand:
The uSD card is not supposed to move when you 'slide' the metal retainer between 'Lock' and 'Unlock'.
Is the tape moving the card when the retainer is slid either way?