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eaparks

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    Mapsource unlock codes

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    6.16.1 is the version of Mapsource, nothing to do with the map version or type of Map.

     

    The unlock codes come into play with Garmin's routeable street maps (City Navigator) and some marine maps (Blue Charts). On Garmin's website when looking at their maps it will say if it is locked, if it is then those locked maps can be installed on 1 and only 1 GPS. Even if you later get a different GPS the maps are forever tied to the GPS that they were "unlocked" to. Their are some exceptions to this where Garmin is involved, such as repairs.

    Mapsource unlock codes

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Hi - Can someone please explain how the unlock codes work with Mapsource Topo Software.

     

    Currently I have a version of the software that was bought probably 7 yrs ago. Through updates I have been able to keep it up to date and I currently use it on two Map 76CS units.

     

    I'm looking at upgrading to the Map 78 units and question if I can still use two units in the one software I have.

     

    My guess is the unlock codes would come into play if I bought new software but want to be sure. With the unlock codes how does it work if you own two GPS units?

     

    It would help to know exactly which Garmin Topo Software you are referring to but if you are referring to U.S. Topo, v3.02 with the 3 Cds then there aren't any unlock codes for the maps. You can load it to any/all of your Garmin units capable of loading maps to.

    New Garmin Oregon, Dakota and Colorado software

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Thanks.

     

    Now for another question. I have never had to regress to an older revision.

     

    How do I install it on my 300?

     

     

    I always download and save the software version to my PC, but that's just me. Then I update or downgrade to the version I want. To downgrade use the same procedure as an upgrade without using Webupdater... Download & save file, I just have to Dbl. click with GPS (Oregon 400t) hooked up and will start install.

     

    With a downgrade, GPS settings will go back to factory default. Backup anything on your GPS you want to keep... waypts., routes, tracks. Remove memory card as a safety precaution. Some individuals in the past I believe have reported having to do the install twice, I have always been successful with only 1 install when downgrading. Try putting your GPS in a Profile that you don't use before downgrading, I have seen where only that profile went back to the factory default and the ones I use regularly stayed the same, but no guarantees.

     

    Could you please send me the 3.70 file? I would really appreciate it :D

    Here's my mailadress: robin@bussel-av.nl

     

    I did not download 3.70 due to all of the reported problems of street names not appearing properly; I went from 3.60 to 3.80.

    New Garmin Oregon, Dakota and Colorado software

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Yes, it can be made to. I have done it on a lap top out in the wilderness when I had saved the Webupdater program and the Oregon software version ahead of time on a memory card, then installed both on a friends computer/laptop at camp and downgraded his Oregon's software. There was no internet connection we were so far in the boonies no cell phones would work.

    New Garmin Oregon, Dakota and Colorado software

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    Thanks.

     

    Now for another question. I have never had to regress to an older revision.

     

    How do I install it on my 300?

     

     

    I always download and save the software version to my PC, but that's just me. Then I update or downgrade to the version I want. To downgrade use the same procedure as an upgrade without using Webupdater... Download & save file, I just have to Dbl. click with GPS (Oregon 400t) hooked up and will start install.

     

    With a downgrade, GPS settings will go back to factory default. Backup anything on your GPS you want to keep... waypts., routes, tracks. Remove memory card as a safety precaution. Some individuals in the past I believe have reported having to do the install twice, I have always been successful with only 1 install when downgrading. Try putting your GPS in a Profile that you don't use before downgrading, I have seen where only that profile went back to the factory default and the ones I use regularly stayed the same, but no guarantees.

    Help.... Converting Tracks to Routes

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    Cheap, Easy, Fast, GDB.

     

    GPSBabel can convert tracks to routes, but it's up to you to know the limits of whatever route format you're converting to.

     

    (And to pay pennance to the greatness that GPSBabel is. :-)

     

    What route formats are there?

     

    What are the steps in GPSBabel? open file then

     

    Does it remain in a Garmin *.GDB file?

    Once you look at GPSBabel everything will make more sense. It is very intuitive to follow. Since you use Mapsource you will have to keep the file format .gdb or .gpx for Mapsource to recognize and send it to your GPS.

     

    You will also probably need and want to use the filters to reduce the number of track points for the track to route conversion.

    Oregon 450 screen brightness

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    In direct sunlight is not where the real readability problem is with the Oregon series. The Oregon 200, 300, 400s are all readable in direct sunlight with the sun shining on the screen, granted not as good as the 450/550 but still very readable. The screen readability problem as I tried to describe earlier in this thread for the OP... exists when in bright ambient sunlight conditions, but the screen itself is shaded is where the real readability problem exists... the backlighting has no effect; and in this exact situation there is no appreciable difference in the 450/550s when compared to the 200,300, and 400s.

    Oregon 450 screen brightness

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Are these screens really more sunlight friendly/readable than the 300 series?

     

    Thanks

    What a coincidence you would ask today. Just 3 hours ago I was at my local Sportsmans Warehouse store and the sales clerk went outside with me. We compared their Oregon 450t to my Oregon 400t (both with same settings) side by side with bright sunshine outside but we were in a shaded area so that sunlight was not on the screen. I have made all the settings on my 400t to enhance the screen's readability plus I used the white backgrounds from the wiki. There was no appreciable difference in the 2 screens readability to either of us. We moved both units at all different angles trying to see if there was much difference. You can't really say the 2 are identical because you can notice a very very slight difference in the 450t but it is so minimal. From a practical users veiwpoint you can't say it is any better, if you really want to split hairs and talk miniscule amounts then Garmin can say it is better, but still not satisfactory in my above test situation. Don't expect the 450 to be much different than the 300 series if it has the settings and background set to maximize the readabilty

    Garmin Oregon 200 - any good?

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    I am thinking about getting a Garmin Oregon 200 for geocaching. Any advice out there? Does anybody have one? Basically I am looking to get a unit for under $300. Have geocached before using a car GPS...painful. Advice greatly appreciated!

     

    I would suggest the Oregon 450 instead of the 200. The 450 can be bought for around $290 after the Garmin $50 rebate. The 450 can do a lot of things that the 200 can't; compare the 2 on Garmin's site. Plus the 450 screen is suppose to be a little easier to view in some situations.

    Oregon 300 - disabling barometric altimeter..

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    No known way to disable the altimeter, that I have read about. I don't have an Oregon, but on a 60CSx, one can go to the Sat Page>Menu>GPS Elevation, for a snapshot of that moments elevation.

     

    I wonder if this is the same for an Oregon?

     

    Yes, it appears to be. I was curious about this myself, on my Oregon 400t, software 3.80. On the satellite page it displays the elevation about midway on the screen, on the far right hand side. I did not know if this was satellite elevation or barometric elevation so I set the Map Page to display elevation in one of my Data Field blocks. The map's displayed elevation and the satellite page elevation are not the same and vary in elevation by about 45' so from this the satellite page elevation must be showing the satellite derived elevation the same as the 60CSx. Unlike the 60CSx being a snapshot, if the satellite page is left displayed the satellite elevation will update without refreashing the screen.

     

    edit: Holding both my 60CSx and 400t side by side and letting them settle in for a few minutes the satellite elevation on both units was within 1' of each other. Also see: Oregon wiki item A2 http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Altimeter#FAQ-A6.) How does altimeter auto calibration work? How long does auto calibration take?

    Birdseye

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    P4-1.4 GHz. 1 GB RAM. XP Pro. I have not found Basecamp to be a RAM hog. IME, as long as you do not use up all the physical RAM there should be no RAM caused slowness in any program.

     

    These guys with crashing, freezing problems have something else wrong. Hopefully the developers can figure out the common reason. It is best to comment WITH DETAILED FACTS on the Garmin forums. The actual programmers are there reading and responding. You need to see it from their viewpoint. They run it on the machines that the company provides and it works..... It is tough to troubleshoot a machine specific problem.

    Thank you for the quick reply. I've held off downloading Base Camp due to my 512 Mb of RAM.

    Birdseye

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    It is a slowish program, but I'm running it on my home desktop, which was purchased in 1997 as it works fine...

     

    Hi Red90, How many Mbs of RAM are you using? I also am running an older desktop (only 512 Mb of RAM; Windows XP Pro) and I've seen where Garmin recommends at least 1 Gb of RAM for Birdseye. I also gave Garmin a call and they said I would not be able to run Birdseye. I question whether this is 100% correct and wondered if any other actual users are able to run Birdseye with 512 Mb of RAM. Thanks.

    Thinking of getting an Oregon 450

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    One last thing, is the screen as dark as people make out? do you really need to use the backlight on full most of the time?

     

    Coming from a Vista HCx you will probably think the screen is hard to read in certain circumstances compared to your Vista HCx. I would suggest going to a retailer where the sales rep will go with you and let you take the unit outside on a bright sunny day and see for yourself before buying. The Oregon series are great units but the screen's visibility in some circumstances could stand improvement.

     

    Here is the condition where most users find it harder to view the screen easily. Outside on a bright sunny day when the unit is not in direct sunlight but in the shade with a lot of bright ambient light around. In this situation the backlight makes little difference; best thing is to just be aware and see for yourself before buying.

    my new Garmin Oregon 450

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    This link http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Miscell...0readability%3F is for the 300, 400s but will also apply to the 450. Look at item M5. Creating custom backgrounds that utilize an all white background definitely helps, see item M4 and follow links. Some custom backgrounds with colored borders are provided on the Oregon wiki; adding the profile name in the background's top and bottom border works well as a reminder as to which one of your profiles you are in.

    Garmin 550 or 450T? The 550 is cheaper!

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    So I went to REI and played wit both and settled on the 450. My reason is that the 450 has these "custom" dashboards that combine like Compass with Altitude Profile in one page or Driving Computer with compass, or compass with Altitude Profile, etc.

     

    They look like hybrid pages that combined two individual pages into one. This actually helps me have more visually available information for paragliding. I am not sure this is a software thing or something exclusive to the 450 series but the 550 did not have the hybrid screens as an option.

     

    These "custom" dashboards were added to all the Oregons (not sure about the Oregon 200) with some of the recent software updates. The 550 you were looking at in the store just had an older version of software on it that had not been updated.

    working with tracklogs

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    What I had hoped for was the ability to selectively erase tracklogs (as I get the updated maps with the trails included in OSM) not globally delete them all.

     

    Here is some good informative information pertaining to tracks on the 60CSx, the Vista HCx has the same screen menus and does the same functions as the 60CSx, just different buttons to push to accomplish the same results. http://www.gpsfaqs.org/faqs/garmin/xseries...csx/tracks.html

     

    soooooo to gain the functionality I am looking for I need to select the day's logs and save them to a file at the end of each day. That would move the points from the active file to the named file. True?
    Yes, but the track will still be in and part of the active track log, so if you want to remove the saved track from the Active Track Log you will need to clear the Active Track Log and start saving a new Active Track Log. I believe what most users do, at least me, is once a trail is hiked is to save that trail and name it in the GPS and then clear the Active Track Log and do the next trail (again save track/rename) and again clear the Active Track Log and repeat for all trails. If you are going to exceed the 20 limit track capacity then don't clear the last Active Track Log and always save all tracks to the memory card, also. When you clear the Active Track Log it will not delete the tracks you have saved and renamed as your new saved tracks.

     

    That would move the points from the active file to the named file. True? I thoiught the saved logs had a limit on the number of points.
    No, it does not move them as your refer to but it resaves the track. It is more like a copy & paste instead of a cut & paste. You can take this one step further in the saving track feature if you want to, by actually specifying a starting point and ending point of the track to save. The saved track logs do have a maximum number of 10,000 points that can be saved, this is split across the 20 track maximum capacity = 500 points per track. Unless you are doing a whole lot of turning in your hikes / tracks the filtered 500 track point limit usually does not cause a problem.

     

    If the 500 filtered saved track points do not have the detail of the hike that you are wanting, then keep in mind that the tracks saved to the memory card are not filtered and you can split, join, and edit them on your PC or whatever else you want to do to them without any loss of detail or filtering. Mapsource is actually very good at track manipulation.

    working with tracklogs

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by eaparks

    1. The tracks saved to the memory card can only be viewed and/or edited on your PC; they can not be viewed on your GPS unless you transfer them back to your GPS with Mapsource.

     

    2. You can delete 1 "saved" track at a time (this does not apply to tracks on your memory card due to item 1 above): Go to your "Main Menu" then "Tracks" and enter a saved track and you will have a choice to delete that track.

     

    "saved" tracklogs=0... sounds like you are not saving individual tracks and all tracks are being combined in your "Active" track log. So yes, if this is the case you won't see any individual tracks to delete and deleting the "Active" track log would delete all of your tracks, because they are in effect all in 1 file.

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