Scotman

I have the Legend cx which is the same as the Vista cx sans the compass and altimeter. I use LoadMyTracks to download tracks and waypoints. It works fine. G4, OSX 10.4.8

Hi all, I want to convert gpx files to dxf so that I can overlay track data on an existing map of our hunting lease. Last year I mapped all the trails on our lease with a Legend cx and converted the track data to dxf files, imported the dxfs into Adobe Illustrator to overlay them on an ariel photo and a contour map of the lease property. Last week I mapped some new trails with my gpsr, I used Load My Tracks to download the tracks and waypoints to my Mac (Dual 867 mhz, G4 Tower, OSX 10.4) but can't figure out, or remember, how to convert those files to dxf. I thought GPSBable would do it but I don't see a dxf file option. Any ideas? Thanks, Scott

Also consider the compass and altimeter on the Vista cx will tax your battery life. I bought my Legend cx last year before the Venture cx was available and I agonized over the extra features on the vista cx vs the longer battery life on the legend cx. The standard elevation feature on my legend cx is usually accurate to 100'-150' and if I really need to know which way north is all I have to do is move around a little and the gpsr will point to it. Also you have to set the altimeter at a known elevation for it to be accurate and weather changes can affect it. Finally, a regular compass is pretty easy to carry if you need one and it won't penalize your battery power. I'm sure a lot of people find the Vista's extra features useful. It wasn't worth the battery hit or the extra cost for me. If I had it to do all over again I'd probably get the Venture cx for reasons stated above. You don't need the software if you're going to buy a MapSource product. The usb cables are cheap (free if your digital camera uses the same type – most do). And if you do want extra maps (and you probably will) you'll certainly want a bigger memory card than 64mb. I really like my Legend cx and wonder now how I ever got along with out it. Have fun, Scott

+1

If you're getting one of the new intel-Macs you can still use your windows based programs via Bootcamp or Parallels.

That's what I use with my Legend cx and it works great. Scott

I believe Garmin is just pushing their preloaded memory cards in the advertising copy for the Venture cx. If memory serves, (my memory, that is) these preloaded cards weren't available when the Legend and Vista cx's came to market so their advertising copy didn't mention them. I bought my Legend cx when it first came out and the cards were promised but not available for a few months. If you load maps with autorouting features (such as City Navigator 8) on a memory card, the Venture cx should autoroute. It doesn't who loads it on the card (you or Garmin) – it should work. If the Venture cx ships with the same base map as the Legend cx (I believe it does) it will autoroute from the base map. The only problem is the base map only has major hiways and the interstate system. I was surprised by how many important roads in my area were not on the base map. However, it was good enough to autoroute me from Central Florida, to Bryson City, NC via Dublin, GA. I've since loaded City Nav 8 and love it. There's way more useful POI info and street detail is exceptional. Hope that helps some, Scott

I'm not a Geocacher and can't comment on the Magellan but I have a Legend cx and really like it. Being relatively new to the GPS world I've been very impressed with the Legend cx's robust feature set. I've grown to really like the auto routing capability when traveling. I've upgraded the memory to 1 gig and loaded City Navigator 8 on it. You can look up a restaurant, gas station, rest area, business or whatever and drive right to it. I've also used it for rerouting around interstate traffic jams. I mention this because I never even considered these things when shopping for my first GPSr earlier this year. I just wanted something with a color screen and expandable memory that would get me to and from my hunting stands if I got turned around in the woods. The more I've used it the more indespensible it's become and it's small enough to take anywhere. Some Legend cx owners have had problems with accuracy but mine seems fine and many others have also reported good results. There are a few threads on the subject here. The color screen is good although I find the back light is necessary in low light. City Nav 8 has good street detail and more POI info than I ever imagined. To me, it's like having Google maps in my hand everywhere I go. And I can find my truck when I'm lost in the Piney Woods of Georgia. Hope that helps some Scott

Hi all, I'm not a Geocacher but I have been lurking and learning a lot about GPSr's and related subjects from this board for few months now. Being a GPS newb and Legend cx owner I've followed this thread and others like it with considerable interest. I was intrigued by the idea of locating benchmarks and comparing my readings with other GPSr's. So, with a little help from my brother the surveyor, here's our readings for a benchmark in Central Florida. Its coordinates are N28 05 16.8688 – W081 45 40.51118 (adjusted). Legend cx N28 05 16.9 – W081 45 40.6 Yellow eTrex N28 05 16.9 – W081 45 40.5 eTrex Vista N28 05 16.9 – W081 45 40.5 As you can see my Legend cx is only off by one digit compared to the yellow eTrex and the Vista. Being a newb I don't really understand the significance of that one digit difference but in practical terms my unit had me off just 6 feet to the east. I don't have any experience using the compass page to loacate waypoints but using the map page and walking toward the waypoint for the benchmark put me 6 feet east of it. My brother hit it dead on with both of the other units. I wanted to post a photo of the thee units together showing the location numbers. But, I'm not sure how to do that since it ask for a complete URL. I guess you have to upload the file to another site and link to it? If anyone's that interested I'll be happy to email it and someone else can post it. Even though this is just one test I'm pretty pleased with the result. Scott

I bought the converter from the link in my original post since I couldn't find one locally. It arrived in just a couple days (suprise!). I tested it last night and it worked perfectly! All set for my trip out west now. Scott

How do you "hand edit" the KML files? I've tried converting them in GPSBable but I always get "Truncated Track" error message when I upload them to my Legend cx. Only a portion of the track shows up on the GPSr. Scott

Thanks guys. I'll give it a try. Scott

Is there any reason not to use a standard 12 volt usb converter to power a Legend cx in an automobile? Its a simple cigarette lighter plug on the front end with a usb port on the back. Here's the url http://www.styluscentral.com/12volusbcaba.html. It's a lot more reasonbly priced than Garmins cable and appears to do the same thing. Scott