Jerry Bransford

I'm always surprised by just how many non-essential retail businesses are listed. Car dealerships, 4x4 shops, churches, etc.. I can't think of many places I've done a search for that didn't come up. By the way, my new 60CSX is sure a LOT faster at finding places when I'm just searching for any containing a particular word than my 60CS was.

They'll handle up to 2gb from what Garmin's tech support guy told me. And hey, I just noticed that the 64mb microSD card I removed (to go to 1gb) from my new 60CSX is a Sandisk! I'm surprised, I figured they would have it re-branded as a Garmin microSD so they could justify charging more for their optional larger capacity SD and microSD cards!

Me too, having owned Magellan and switched to Garmin I could never go back to Magellan either. My sole reason was nothing more than Magellan's klutzy user interface that forced me to keep the owner's manual handy.

I didn't go for their credit card offer but I bought my 1GB Sandisk microSD card from Amazon for $$44.95 too last week and they had the best delivered price by far of anyone else I found (that was reputable) using Froogle.

Garmin allows two units for mapping software. Twice they have removed (once for a stolen unit after I sent them a copy of the police report, then recently for a sold unit) units off my "list" and allowed me to add a new replacement unit. They last did this for me two weeks ago when I got my new 60CSX.

When I bought my 60csx I did a lot of research, and it is not compatible with any version of City Select NA. All I have ever used on my 60CS, 76CS, and now my 60CSX is City Select. I just checked my Garmin box and CD-ROM and verified that it is definitely City Select I've been using for several years now... and that it definitely works on the models I listed. It's what I just loaded into my new 60CSX just received last week.

That means that the receiver is getting a WAAS signal and applying a differential signal to that satellite. Awesome, thanks for the information and the quick response!

That is correct. It won't do anything in New Zealand... It is quite helpful for Geocaching in North America though..... If you are in the desert under clear sky, accuracy is already below 10 feet, so WAAS again doesn't help you. I live and go offroading in the Southern California desert and enabling WAAS definitely improves the accuracy down to as much as 8-9'. I've turned WAAS off and on and the accuracy definitely degrades substantially. It's never even close to being below 10' with WAAS off. The desert is all I ever go offroading in and is mainly where I use my GPS.

What does that 'D' mean on the top of the satellite signal bars? I have poured through the owner's manual and can't find the answer... and you guys have me curious since you keep referring to that 'D'!

The unit is sold!

RAIM is not required, my GPS receiver does not have it and WAAS is not available in all locations. Any pilot who has never seen their GPS indicated altitude jumping up and down during level flight doesn't have many hours PIC. I take it from your response that you have essentially no idea how good (or bad) your reception was at the time that you observed anomalous altitude readings. No, RAIM is not required, but it would both automate and improve the process of determining how reliable the GPS data is. In its absence it becomes that much more important to use other available means of checking such as looking at the number and positions of the satellites being received. I'll take it from your repeated lack of response to my questions that you are NOT a pilot and thus have no personal knowledge of flying with GPS other than what you read and what you cut and paste from various information sites. If you are not a pilot, then where do you get off on stating how GPS is used on approaches unless all you're doing is Cutting and Pasting information? You have dodged my repeated questions on what your PERSONAL experience is with flying with GPS each time. I'll take it you are thus unqualified to provide input on flying with GPS as a pilot and thus can only provide secondary information based only on what you read. At any rate, you should realize that at altitude, 8-12 satellites is a minimum that will be received so good 3D locks are the norm. Generally speaking, you always get superb GPS reception at altitude. One last time... are YOU a rated pilot and do YOU PERSONALLY fly with GPS so you are qualified to comment on what happens at altitude? Otherwise, stop implying you are a pilot and know anything about how a GPS operates at altitude. Knowing GPS as you do is one thing but implying you are an expert on them in the cockpit too is a bit much.

I just ordered a new Garmin 60CSX and don't need two GPS receivers.

How many satellite signals were you receiving at the time, approximately what did the geometry look like, and are you using a WAAS/RAIM equipped GPS receiver? I have never observed such rapid jumps in indicated altitude *when getting good GPS reception*. It certainly happens at times, but in my experience only when there are clear indications that the reception is questionable. OTOH, I have frequently seen situations where the indicated altitude given by a properly functioning barometric altimeter is off by hundreds or even a thousand feet or more because of atmospheric conditions that differed markedly from the standard model. No, those variations are not nearly instantaneous - especially not in conditions that are conducive to a smooth flight. As to the FAA rules, I already indicated why those call for continued use of barometric altimeters. Absolute accuracy is less important that consistency when the goal is to keep aircraft separated vertically. What do you fly, what ratings do you have, and how often have you been PIC flying an aircraft with a GPS system? RAIM is not required, my GPS receiver does not have it and WAAS is not available in all locations. Any pilot who has never seen their GPS indicated altitude jumping up and down during level flight doesn't have many hours PIC.

Assuming that you've got a good 3D fix (preferably 5 or more satellites with decent geometry), then discrepancies of that magnitude are much more likely due to the inaccuracy of the plane's barometric altimeter than the GPS. Are you a pilot by any chance? I'm betting you are not and would bet you certainly have never flown as a PIC using a GPS to navigate by. Trust me on this, I know the aircraft was not gaining and losing 500' of altitude as the GPS indicated I was. These were fairly instantaneous GPS indications of altitude variation in calm weather and in smooth level flight. As a pilot, I can dadgum sure tell if I'm gaining and losing 500' in altitude... the stomach is infallible in those situations. In other words, it "ain't" me or my altimeter that is causing those GPS indicated altitude variations. And it's also well known by both pilots and the FAA that GPS derived altitudes are inherently unreliable and because of that, are illegal to use for determining altitude. It is the GPS indicating those inaccurate altitude changes, not the aircraft, not the weather, and not my flying. It's a well known issue with GPS receivers and flying... trust me.

This unit has the box and all accessories that came with it. It's in excellent condition and has the latest software revision. I will pre-load as much as possible of any area of the U.S. you want in case you don't yet own Garmin's street navigation software needed to auto-route you to an address or other destination in its database. Best offer over $200.

I am a pilot and can verify a GPS receiver's ability to derive altitude information from its 3D fix from satellites is marginal at best. I could be flying level but the altitude displayed on my GPS would bounce around +/- 500' to 750' so it's not accurate enough when you need the correct altitude. Only those GPS receivers that actually measure the barometric pressure can be relied on for accurate altitude indications.

I just ordered a Garmin 60CSX (giving my 76CS to my wife unless someone wants to buy it) and I'll be maxing out its memory asap. The 60CSX uses microsd memory and I'm just now learning that 1GB may be as big as is available in microsd. Bummer, since I calculated it takes just less than 1.6GB to store the entire U.S. Anyone making 2GB microsd yet? I'm trying to stay with the Sandisk brand as a tech at Garmin recommended it and he said not all microsd memory brands work properly with their GPS receivers. So my questions are: 1) Does anyone have another brand name recommendation beside Sandisk microsd that is proven to work ok in a Garmin? 2) Is 1GB the current max memory size in microsd? I know you can get 2GB in standard SD memory but Sandisk only makes 1gb microsd. 3) Is there anything about some variations of microsd cards that would make them not work in the Garmin I should be wary of? Thanks! P.S. I will enjoy getting back to the 60CSX as I had my 60CS stolen out of my Jeep earlier this year. I bought the 76CS as a replacement because it had more memory but I never liked it nearly as well as the 60CS and the added memory wasn't enough to make much of a difference. The 60CS has a better case design and ergonomics... like its rubberized case and its keys located at the bottom for less "wiggle" while operating it than with the 76CS!