Jump to content

eaparks

Members
  • Posts

    821
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by eaparks

  1. Since it sounds like you like to create quite a few waypoints, you will quickly appreciate the touch screen models for how quick you can create and name new waypoints, add comments, and assign a symbol as compared to your 60CSx. Been there done that, still have my 60CSx but only as a back up. After having used a touch screen model (Oregon) for about 6 years now, I would never go back to one with buttons, but then I'm always creating a lot of waypoints and saving tracks for my custom vector maps.
  2. The problem your faced with in the used Oregon 400t is that most people looking for a handheld either have researched them pretty well or know someone they are taking advice from. Most users that have kept up with them know that when the Oregon 450 was discontinued Cabelas had them for sale, new not refurbished, on line for $149.99. Just 3 weeks ago Cabelas and REI both had the Oregon 600 on sale, new not refurbished, for $229 and 219 respectively. Topos can now be had for free for the U.S. so it's hard to put much value on that map on it even though when it was bought new the topo made it quite a bit more expensive.
  3. Watch one on ebay and see what it actually sells for, not the "Buy It Know" price nor the asking price and you will have a good idea of what people are willing to pay for them. My guess is under $100 but then I haven't researched them either. If you have additional Garmin maps to go with it that might make it bring more. Having original box, all manuals, belt clips, cables, etc. will also make it worth more. Here's one on ebay currently up for auction that ends in 5 days, see what it sells for. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-Oregon-400t-Handheld-GPS-Receiver-Tested-Working-/221804406097?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a492a551
  4. Sounds to me like the perfect need for a custom vector map, made transparent so the street areas you are contracted to plow are custom colored using a .typ file. This custom map with, let's say... The color of your choice is used for your areas to plow are overlaid on top of a regular GPS street map... Thus using a regular street map with your specific area made to really stand out. If your somewhat computer savy, not to hard to do, once you get past the learning curve. You can find a lot of information on gpsfiledepot on how to do it. All of this will only work on Garmin gpses - Nuvi or handhelds and does best on handhelds. You can see some of my custom ATV maps on gpsfiledepot.com to get an idea, they are all made to be used in conjunction with another map at the same time. You can PM me if you want more information. Edit - something else to consider is using a $100 tablet and a GPS app with your streets as .GPX tracks color coded.
  5. With my Zagg screen protector on mine I have always used my fingernail, is a lot easier and more accurate, with a little practice. I don't use the center of my fingernail but the end of the nail about half way between the center and outside edge (with index finger on about a 45 degree angle). I keep my fingernails very short and never have a problem doing it this way as long as I always drag my finger and don't push my finger.
  6. This is what is probably happening with your Blue colored trails. You've said your utilizing a Typ file to be able to color code various trails. The Typ file designates which polylines such as Major Hwy., Principal hwy., Other hwy., etc. (there are about 13 different types of street/hwy. designations that are polylines, more if you count the non-street ones available) are to be which color. The polyline that is desginated to be the Blue color is probably a very low level street type, such as Roundabout, Unpaved Road, Highway Ramp, Alleyway, etc. and is not designed to appear until your zoomed in a lot. When a custom vector map is made, the above situation is not an issue on handheld units but when the same custom vector map is used on the NUVI GPSes then the low level street polylines will not appear until you zoom in a lot, like you say sometimes to zoom level of 200m. The programs your using to combine and transfer are probably causing this to happen with your Oregon, like in the NUVIs. Experiment with using different colors instead of Blue and see which colors will appear at all zoom levels. You may already be doing this, I wasn't going back to read the entire thread to see, be sure your GPS detail level is set to "Most".
  7. If Zagg made one that fit the odd shape of the front of the Oregon 6xx, which is all glass (the entire surface of which, IMHO, needs protected), I would buy one in a heartbeat. The only screen protector listed on the Zagg site for any Oregon is labelled "Garmin Oregon Series Screen Protector." That can and does fit my Oregon 550t, it won't fit my Oregon 650. --Larry You can buy one for some other device that is larger than your 600 screen and cut it to fit yourself. I have bought several Zagg screen protectors off of ebay for discontinued smart phones and have cut them down to size to fit my Oregon 450, various LED gauges, and other devices. Some of them I have been able to buy off of ebay for a little as $3.00. Zagg makes one for the Garmin Nuvi 50LM which is a 5" screen for $14.99 which is the same price as the one that is made for the Oregon earlier series.
  8. A Zagg Screen Protector would have probably prevented that. If the Zagg Screen protector was damaged then Zagg would replace it free of charge.
  9. If your considering the Oregon I would recommend either the Oregon 450 or 550 series over the 300 or 400 due to the improvement in being able to see the screen in indirect bright sunlight. There is a noticeable difference in the screens of the Oregon 300 and 400s as to the improved screens of the 450s and 550s. The just released Oregon 600 is suppose to be even better, but it sounds like it would probably be more than what your wanting to spend.
  10. Another option you can consider is to create additional customized "Profiles" that displays the particular topo you want to use... change profiles and you get a different topo with the settings already saved you want for that state. Not perfect, but another option.
  11. If your wanting a compact waterproof then go with the Nikon AW100, have been very pleased with mine. It has some of the best specs. for compact cameras to be used in extreme enviroments... underwater, dropping, cold, etc. Some advantages of it over some of the others not counting it's better specs. are the battery door locking mechanism and the 3" high resolution screen display.
  12. Go with the Oregon 450 for it's bigger screen, but then I'm partial to it since that is what I have. Look at the 2 side by side and put a data field at the top of the map page on both units and you'll quickly see how noticeable the smaller screen size is. You won't always want a data field on your map page, but for that occasional time you do you'll be glad for the bigger screen. We all have our own opinions but to me the only time the Dakotas would be advantagous over an Oregon would be if it was going to be used for nothing but hiking on extended trips. Dakota owners will certainly have a different opinoin.
  13. I can't tell you if the Oregon 450 will be better or worse in the rain but I can tell you about my personal experiences with my Oregon 450. I use it all the time on long distant jetski trips both on freash water rivers and on salt water; also use it on all of my ATV rides. In all instances it is mounted in the open on a RAM Mount. On all of the jetski trips it will get very wet and on an ATV trip just 2 weeks ago I was in a horrific rain storm and I still used the touchscreen without any problems. I have a Zagg screen protector on it and I use the tip or edge of my fingernail to pan or navigate from screen to screen. I find using my fingernail is a lot easier than using the pad of my finger and the fingernail gives more accuracy to panning the map page or positioning the cursor on the GPS screen.
  14. I would use the lithium setting, but no battery setting is going to give a good indication of life left in them since when they start to die one minute they look good and the next minute they're dead, figuratively speaking. I have used them with good success in 20 degree weather when out ATVing all day. Am interested in hearing back your comments on them.
  15. Yes, the La Crosse BC-700 is a good charger. What you want to look for in a good charger is the ability to charge individual batteries. The cheaper chargers require you to charge batteries in pairs, so the battery charging cycle/condition is based on the pair and not what each individual battery needs. Also, the better chargers allow you to manually select the charging current.... lower current less heat the battery generates, but longer the charging time. High charging temperatures can prematurely destroy a batteries ability to hold a charge.
  16. Sconnie Cache, I hope your mention of the Oregon 400 was a type-o since your thread pertains to the Oregon 450, just in case be sure to go with the Oregon 450 and not the Oregon 400 that is discontinued. There is quite a bit of difference in the 450 vs 400. And to 2nd what seldon_sn said, in my own comparisons of using the Oregon 450 side by side with my 60Csx with the Sirf III chip (once considered the gold standard for accuracy for GPSs); when the Oregon 450 first came out I would get significant variations between track comparisons of the 60CSx and the 450. My track with the 450, making several turns around a 2 acre area and coming back to the starting point, would vary as much as 30-40 ft. from the 60CSx track when both units were held side by side. As time went on a Garmin updated the 450 software many many times. Comparing the tracks of the 60CSx and the 450 now are practically the same. My test tracking area was mostly open sky excepf for (1) 350 ft. leg that had heavy tree cover and included (2) 90 degree turns, (1) 30 ft. radius in another turn and (1) 450 ft. leg was a continuous arc; so I had a pretty good comparison in all aspects, excluding multi-pathing/bounced signals.
  17. Both are great units. It really comes down to personal preference whether you prefer a touch screen or buttons. Personally I enter a whole lot of field notes (not from caching) so I much prefer the 450's touchscreen having come from a 60CSx, but you do have to live with not being able to view the touchscreen in 1 specific lighting condition as well as the 62... still viewable just not as well. (There are numerous threads discussing this)
  18. I had trouble updating using Dashboard, also. It seemed to download the update ok, but when I disconnected the GPS from the pc and turned it on it did not go through the normal install process for new software; just turned on as normal. So I checked the software version on the GPS and it had not changed. Then I used Webudater and all worked fine and installed without any problems. I have a hunch that the unsuccessful install using Dashboard may be when the .lpt file was created but have no way of knowing for sure.
  19. Updated without any problems and after updating my Oregon 450 I noticed that I now had a new file in the units internal memory in folder C:/Garmin Oregon/Garmin/GPX/Current/3819983149.lpt. Does anyone know what this .lpt folder is? It may be just a coincidence that it appeared right after I updated to v5.80, but it had never been there before. What does it do and can it be deleted since it hadn't been there before?
  20. So, you're saying you can load geocaches in the unit as POI's? So, how does that work when you're out in the field geocaching? Do you access the POI's the same way you would geocaches being loaded? Do they all show up on the map? Or are they limited to the 'information/details' that come along with them? Trying to understand the difference......what you can or can't do with the POI's as you would uploading them as geocaches. I use POI's on my Nuvi... This may answer some of your questions. http://garminoregon....nd+POIs#POIs-P2.) It is for the Oregon but it should be the same for your 62.
  21. Don't know the answer to your question but as an alternative you can make waypoints into custom POIs very easily (1 step) on your pc and transfer to your GPS with POI Loader. Then you can have virtually unlimited number of custom POIs. I have over 160,000 on my Oregon 450 and growing. You can always create a waypoint on your GPS from any exisiting custom POI on your GPS.
  22. I emailed Garmin about the above problem and got this for a reply, "Hi, Thanks for letting us know about this. We have fixed this issue, and the fix will be in the next software release. Oregon Software Team"
  23. Downloaded without problems but the route activity types are not being saved Profile specific. When the settings for the route activity types such as "Activity", "Calculation Method", "Avoidance Setup", and "Off Route Recalculation" are changed in one Profile it makes the change in your other profiles, too.
  24. 1st thing to do as soon as you get it is to back up EVERYTHING on it to your PC. In the event something gets deleted you can easily copy and paste files from your PC to the GPS to get it back to it's original condition without having to possibly send the unit off to Garmin. There is no need to remove the Blue Chart maps from the unit, unless you just don't want them on it. There is some memory room left on the unit itself and you will have the memory card where you can put any new topo maps, POIs, or .jpgs that you want to add.
  25. You might want to take a look at the reviews and specifications of the Panasonic DMC-TS3 (was last years model; for 2012 replaced by the DMC-TS4) and the Nikon AW100. Both are rated at the top for waterproof, shockproof, point & shoot cameras, that are GPS geo-tag capable. The Nikon includes a Basemap.
×
×
  • Create New...