eaparks
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Posts posted by eaparks
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When I first got my Oregon 400C and later a 400t I ran into a similar type problem 3 or 4 times where I had a GPX track file that was all jibberish for the file name (all types of strange characters). Mine was probably self inflicted due to some odd things I was attempting to do with it and maps. I tried all sorts of the more common ways of deleting the files (2 files that were tracks, but could not be viewed). The only way short of a Master Reset that I could delete the file was doing it using DOS commands.
Deleting Files with Syntax Errors (strange char. Names) using DOS in Windows XP
Start > Run > type "cmd" and enter Ok.
For Gamin Oregon type: "your Gamin drive letter:" and enter
For Garmin Oregon GPX Files type: "cd\Garmin\GPX" and enter
Type: "del *.gpx" and enter
Last command line should read: "your Garmin drive letter:\Garmin\GPX>del *.gpx" this will delete all GPX files in the Garmin GPX folder.
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You may be charting unknown territory. I don't recall anyone posting that they have loaded 170,000 custom POIs. I assume you have checked to be sure you are not exceeding the available memory size of your memory card. On a 4Gb card I only get about 3.7Gb of available memory.
I'll be interested in hearing what the culprit is.
edited: to remove internal memory comment, since etrexes only store custom POIs on memory card
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To add more info. to the above post. I have loaded 1.7 Gb, about 1,900 mapsegments of various maps (some Metroguide, Topo, Blue Charts, Inland Lakes, & custom maps) and using a 1.? card reader it took 17 hours. Same maps with a 2.0 card reader later took 14 hours. CN does load quicker than Metroguide but then I was only loading 1.7Gb. So utilizing all 4 Gb (3.5 Gb) can take quite a long time and you will have to do this every time you want to add any additional maps to the GPS, as snowfleurys mentioned.
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Yes, that is the whole purpose of having different profiles. Each of the standard Profiles or custom profiles you add can be individually customized to show / enable or disable / any of the settings on your GPS just by changing profiles. This includes but is not limited to just maps, compass settings, tracking settings, which categories will appear, etc.
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So my Oregon 400t can record my tracks, which is really useful when hiking through a park. I basically get an accurate trail system recorded.
However, there is only so much memory it appears to allocate to tracks.
What I'd like to do is download the tracks, turn them into a (transparent) map layer, then load them back into the Oregon and turn on the layer when I'm back in that park. Then repeat this for each of the various parks.
Is this possible? Or, is there a better way to accomplish this end goal, of savng my tracks information and loading it up when I need it?
Thanks!
Yes, you can take all of your tracks and turn them into a Custom Map that you can Hide or Display as you wish, This Custom Map can be made transparent so it will appear with other maps such as CN or Topo. There is a learning curve at first, but if the instructions are followed verbatim you should be ok. My instructions from 3 years ago are here. http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/Creating...pSetToolKit.pdf
There are other sets of intstructions on the internet, but they all require basically the same procedures.
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Just tried it. My HCx doesn't directly support showing custom POI's on the map screen then. I cleared out all the goecache's from the GPS and have about 2000 custom POI's remaining. None of the custom POI's show on the map screen.
The only way to see them on the map screen is search for a custom POI, hit SAVE, then it'll appear on the screen.
As Bob Morphew metioned, your Custom POIs can be made to appear at what ever zoom level you want them to. You have to specify at what zoom level you want them to appear. The only downside to this is that all POIs will also appear at this zoom level and if you are in an urban enviroment your screen can become very cluttered if you also have a map displaying that has POIs in it such as CN. Sometimes I have to zoom out beyond the zoom level I specified and then zoom back in to activate it.
Menu / Menu / Setup / Map / Map Setup-Points (the blue flag) / Map Points / and scroll down to change the "Max Zoom" level and enter.
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I would like to create my own POIs for my Garmin Oregon 550 and 300, but cant seem to find any info on how to do it. I want some simple program that will enable me to put the coordinates and a name and have it sendt to POIs in the Oregon.
I would also like to create my own POI category as well.
Anyone hva any ideas?
Labb
2 options for a poi file. They can be either a .gpx file or .csv file.
In Mapsource you can save your waypoints in a .gpx file format; a lot of other programs will also save as a .gpx file.
Excel will allow you to save a file as a .csv file (proper order of data is a must in the 4 columns for it to be recognized).
Once you have your .gpx or .csv file saved use Garmin's POI Loader to easily intstall it to your GPS
Whatever you name your .gpx or .csv file name will appear in the GPS as a category Custom POIs are listed in the "Extras" category of the "Where To" button..
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Try taking the memory card out and turning unit on. Defective memory cards have had a way of causing strange problems. This may not be your problem at all, but can't hurt to try it.
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All of the older Garmin units that did not have high sensitivty do not come close to comparing to any of the newer units that do have high sensitivity, in being able to hold a satellite lock in tough conditions. The days of loosing satellite lock, like with your Legend, will be history in most conditions.
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While reading the Oregon vs. Hcx accuracy thread, I noticed that Searching_ut said newer units (like the Oregon?) perform differently in canyons. I'm interested in this because my 60CSX loses signal whenever the going gets tight. I'd love to get decent traces of Angels Landing and Observation Point in Zion, but the satellites don't cooperate, and the tracklogs I find afterward look like I was wearing a jet pack.
If the Oregon or other newer units perform better in canyons, I'd love to hear about it. My test would be that the 60CSX stops working in Refrigerator and Echo Canyons.
The 60CSx's ability to acquire and hold a satellite lock is probably the best of any recreational hand held unit. Some others may be equally as good, just not better. I have never seen any reports by anyone with any handheld in the recreational price range that outperforms the 60CSx''s ability to acquire and hold a satellite lock in tough conditions. You may go another time when the satellite constellations are more favorable and get a satellite lock.
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The Oregon wiki offers a lot of very valuable information. Under the Knowledge base in the left column take a look in the various categories for detailed information. Tracks: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Tracks#toc7
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Don't go through the Mapsource transfer process for the tracks when sending tracks from unit to Mapsource. Connect unit to PC and open the Garmin Drive and open your saved track that is in the GPX folder with Mapsource: Garmin[drive]/Garmin/GPX/your saved GPX track file
edit: Mapsource transfer process will transfer the file track in the Current GPX folder. It sounds like you saved the track and cleared the Current track log (which is what I do) therefore no track info. in the Current.gpx folder to transfer.
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Looks Good!
I have stayed with the white backgrounds with custom colored borders as on the Oregon wiki, but added the profile name at top & bottom such as Automotive, ATV, Flying, Hunting, Marine, Recreational, etc. And put a lot of contact information on the Automotive background just in case I lose it and an honest person finds it, again like the wiki watermark but I made it black instead of light gray so it would show up better. With a little trial and error you can perfectly center your name in the white space between the category boxes of the main menu.
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I've removed all maps except for the one Topo. It still looks the same whether it's selected and the Basemap is turned on or off.
Leave the basemap (that came on the unit) turned on all the time, no need to hide it. This way you will at least no where you are panning to, since the topo is not appearing.
Try panning to an area several hundred miles away that you know the topo map segment was loaded for... try viewing an entirely different topo segment. Zoom out to a large area, say 50 - 125 mile range and see if the outline of any map segments are appearing. I've seen the same screen you are talking about when I thought I had the screen in a part of the country that I had that particular map segment loaded for and come to find out I would be outside of the map segment... thus no map to view.
If none of these work remvoe the micro sd card and verify everything seems to work normal. If yes, try a different memory card if you have another and just put a few sample map segments on for testing.
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What you are seeing is normal. All Garmin maps have a display hierarchy, only 1 map can be viewed at a time. Inorder to view maps lower in the pecking order the maps higher in the pecking order first must be disabled in the Map Setup Menu (will want it to say "Display"... what ever map you are wanting to hide). The wording is as if it is asking you the question.
There are a lot of old theards discussing the dispaly hierarchy order. Street maps are always at the top. Generally, the more detailed the map the higher in the display hierarchy.
When you see someone talking about displaying multiple maps they are referring to one of the maps being a custom made map and was made to be transparent with other maps inorder for both to display, but this only applies to custom made maps that are Garmin compatible.
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Your unit will show all Garmin compatible maps nicely, even custom made maps.
1. Were maps loaded using Mapsource?
2. If you have a card reader verify that the file is on the card correctly... Should be a file called gmapsupp.img in the Garmin folder. Verify that the micro sd card is inserted properly... locks in.
3. On the map display menu the wording can be somewhat confusing at first; it reads as if it is asking you a question. It should read "Hide (whatever map you want)" inorder for it to be displayed.
4. What other maps do you have loaded? Map display hierarchy comes into play with Garmin maps... CN, Blue Charts, Inland Lakes, Topo, etc.
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The unit lets me Enable or Disable maps via menu selection. Could I have multiple maps on the device and just enable/disable to only keep one Enabled at a time? Too bad the device doesn't have any file management features so I could rename using the device and not need a laptop or whatever.
You could only use the Enable or Disable function if you don't exceed the map segment limit of all maps combined, that the unit is recognizing. Any maps with a .img extension will be recognized; with this in mind it might suit your needs better to have the U.S. broken up into 4 smaller groups so to not max. out your map segment limit, thus allowing you to Enable / Disable additional maps as needed.
Yes, it would be sooooooo nice if Garmin would incorporate a file management system for renaming files or just increase the map segment limit to some number that would not likely be exceeded.
I don't know first hand what the unit will do if the map segment limit is exceeded on the unit. I believe others have reported that it just won't load to the memory card. So if you loaded more maps to the internal memory exceeding the map segment limit of all maps (internal + card) my guess would be unit would not recognize any maps, but I've never tried it or seen reports from others. Maybe someone else can add some first hand information.
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The smaller file is a subset of what is on the larger file. Is my gps'r trying to load both? Can I just delete the one on the internal memory?
Yes, you can delete the one on the internal memory.
You are probably already aware of it, but just in case you aren't, you can rename your 2.1 Gb gmapsupp.img file to something like Topo West.img and then load all of the Eastern half of the U.S. Topo and it will be written to the memory card as gmapsupp.img, not affecting your Topo West.img file. Then go in and rename the new gmapsupp.img file to "Topo East" (note I purposely left off the .img so the file would not be recognized and exceed your map segment limit and crash). This new Topo East file you will be available for you to use just by changing the file name to Topo East.img and renaming the Topo West.img to just "Topo West" You can then use a PDA, some phones will, or your laptop to rename the files when away from home. Same type thing is possible with any other maps. With an 8 Gb card you can put a whole lot of maps on it as long as you have a way to change the file extension.
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In all the threads/websites discussing the Oregon map segment capacity I don't ever remember seeing an exact number of map segements that can be loaded per Oregon model unit. I do remember seeing quite some time back the number of map segments on the 400t, 400i, and 400c. Some reports state 4,000-5,000, some state ~4,000, others state ~4,200. It will also depend on which Oregon model one is referring to. CN NT has ~1 map segment / state generally, so I would speculate somewhere around 50 or less on the basemap, but that is strictly a guess.
There is free software available that you could open the gmapbmap.img file in and would list the map segements. GPSMapEdit may - I'm not sure if it will actually list them all. I believe GMapTool will list all the individual .img files. Are probably others that will, I'm just not familiar with them.
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When I first posted to upgrade to 3.15 beta I was not aware that Garnin had just released software version 3.20 yesterday, which is a non-beta version. So I edited my post acknowledging that the latest unit's software version is 3.20 which is the version that should be upgraded to. Sorry for the confusion.
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There have been several software updates from your 2.90. The latest software version is 3.20 and the latest firmware version is 3.7. The firmware is automatically updated, if need be, when the software is updated. The non-beta versions require Webupdater.
edit: 3.20 is not a beta version. See this thread - http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=230731
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The startup message was added to the Oregon series several months ago in one of the many software updates for the unit. For best GPS performance / tracking I would suggest you update the software to 3.15 beta on Garmin's site. http://www8.garmin.com/support/collection....ct=010-00697-01 Garmin has greatly improved some of the units troublesome areas in the recent updates.
Also, you can customize your backgrounds in 1 or all of your various profiles to improve screen viewability and also include any information you want on the background, it can be made to appear as a watermark so to speak. Instructions can be found in the Oregon wiki site. http://www.gpsfix.net/making-the-oregon-an...ew-backgrounds/
edit: my bad I did not realize that software version 3.20 was out. The latest firmware is still 3.7
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Go with the 300 (not the 200)
Why do you say that? Is the electronic compass worth it? Any other reasons?
You have some good points, especially because you own both. That's a good idea to find a store comparing both and see the screens outside to compare.
The 300 has 850 Mb of internal memory, the 200 only 24 Mb; 24Mb is hardly enough to say it has internal memory other than using it for saving Custom POIs to. With the size of most map segments today you could only put a very few map segments in the internal memory. With the abiiltiy to rename the gmapsupp.img file so that you can load new maps without having to reload all maps is nice especially with the 2 memory locations (internal memory - 850Mb & micro sd card - 4Gb). Ex. - You can use one location for maps you'll never change such as all of CN, 1/2 of U.S. in topo, etc, on the memory card and use the internal memory for adding additional maps such as a 24K topo for a single trip. Or whatever method of map storage best suits your needs. My point is that the additional memory I find vey useful.
The 300 will transfer waypts., routes, & tracks wirelessly to other Oregons: models 300-550, Colorados, and Dakota 20. Not a big selling point but is usefule if your wanting to give someone coordinates in the field and they have a unit capable of wireless transfer.
As far as the compass, I agree with Rockin Roddy that it is not a big selling point, but is nice to have for generic direction pointing. I find it most useful when hunting unlike caching in which your moving more. Ex. Say it's overcast (no sun) dreary or dusk and you know to walk out you need to go walk in a Southernly direction. With the compass you can start walking in the correct general direction and not accidentially be going in the opposite direction... waiting to see what direction the satellites tell you, you are walking. I don't try to use the compass as a super accurate navigational aid but more as a very general directional finder of which it does a great job in that capacity. If your moving at a steady pace you don't need a compass anyway; the satellites will give you your heading.
If you don't won't the compass then you should consider comparing the 60Cx ($219 on sale at Costco) but I'd sitll compare to the Oregon 300 for the above mentioned reasons.
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If you haven't already, go to a store that has both the 60CSx and the 300 and compare them side by side. Then see if a store clerk will go outside with you and compare both side by side in the sun, just so there won't be any surprises, go during a time of day they aren't likely to be as busy. I have both a 60CSx and Oregon 400t.
Now my opinoin: the 60CSx is the most stable and consistently accurate handheld in all terrain conditions ever produced by Garnin. 60CSx - Pros - excellent screen viewability outside; very few hardware or software problems for # of units sold; good battery life. Cons as compared to the 300 - not paperless; less resolution; to add a new map must reload all maps; won't get into the storage of waypts, tracks, and routes since those are easily compared side by side on Garnin's site.
Oregon - Pros - with the software updates the Oregon has gotten very close to being as good as the 60CSx in it's tracking cabability and accuracy. In most situations you would probably never hardly notice a difference. Touch Screen is fantastic, resolution is great, the custom backgrounds, and other various screen and profile customizations are nice. Can add a single map withouth having to reload all maps (a huge, very huge time saver). Cons - shorter battery life; screen is not as easy to see in indirect sunlight (very likely will use backlight all the time and just carry spare batteries); Note: in direct sunlight no backlight is needed, there are a lot of varying opinoins on the screen viewablility issue... all depends on what you are comparing it to.
Conclusion: I always use my 400t instead of my 60CSx now, was not the case before all the software upgrades. Touchscreen, custom profiles, and other customizations will spoil you. Go with the 300 (not the 200) but see for yourself what the screen looks like outside in bright conditions without the sun on the screen before you spend your money.
I'm sure I've left out a lot of other pros & cons... others can add.
Garmin Oregon 200
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
I would consider getting the Oregon 300 instead of the Oregon 200 also, for it's internal memory.