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Explorist Updates

allory

By allory
in GPS technology and devices

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geognerd

+geognerd

Posted
Posted (edited)

Oooh! Oooh! And they gave us a list of changes this time! For the 400:

  1. BlueNav XL3 support for both North America and Europe

  2. Updated Tides & Currents algorythm

  3. Improved Language Support

  4. Added card utilities to Advance Features

  5. Improved alarm backlight functionality

  6. Added Save As to the Mark function

  7. Used same datum transformation as eXploristXL and MobileMapper

  8. Added waypoint projection

  9. Modified the default USB mode from Power Only to File Transfer Mode

  10. Updated text strings for localization issues

  11. Made GPS performance improvements

  12. Added option to turnoff geocache and waypoint names to MapSetup

  13. Find geocache by date\time stamping

  14. List “found” caches

  15. Added show / hide found caches option

  16. Added point-to-point routing option to the reroute menu when using Direct Route

  17. ID/Name Cache Sorting Ability

  18. Improved Keyword Search to handle new language support

Most curious to me is #11 - "Made GPS performance improvements." I also like that found caches are time stamped because I like to put the found time in my logs.

 

I'll sit back and watch for a couple weeks before installing this. :lol:

Edited by geognerd
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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

The file I got was eX500v2_03.exe. My 600 took it and seems happy. Compass, thermometer and barometer all still function so my guess is that it's a platform.

 

I like the card utilities menu -- wonder if bad data will still hang the unit on startup. They made some nice strides on waypoint/geocache sorting but not on the detail map POI sorting. Looking for a Tim Hortons using an alpha search still renders me the one 259km away before the one 1.2 km away. And there are a LOT of Tim Horton's entries in between that distance.

 

Some of the menus appear to be a bit cleaner (Active Setup menu comes to mind). I'm real curious to see if DirectRoute still insists on going to full brightness when prompting a turn - I'll try that out later tonight.

 

The 'keyboard' screen for entering waypoint names, etc now supports accent characters.

 

The 'projection' screen is there under Advanced.

 

I've figured out how to mark a cache as found, but not how to mark it as 'unfound' yet.

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gdps

+gdps

Posted
Posted

Update loaded just fine on my 500 and everything seems to be working great. I also downloaded the manager program. It seems to work fine, but doesn't do anything that I couldn't already do. Just puts it all in one place. I probably won't use it much if any.

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embra

+embra

Posted
Posted (edited)

This looks like an improvement...not all the way there, but nearer my God to Thee.

 

Let me pass along a suggestion that may merit carrying over from the Meridian updates: be liberal with your clear memory/all in the update process. The current directions say to do one to start the process off, but no mention about doing one at the end. At least one individual in another venue had some odd stuff happening on his that went away after another clear memory/all was performed.

 

Won't hurt, might help.

 

Edit: First a change list, and now an email notification in my inbox of a new firmware! They've got a long ways to go to woo me back into contentedness, but two marks for Magyllyn.

Edited by embra
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Jamie Z

+Jamie Z

Posted
Posted
Jamie, Mine is working, as well.

 

However what is not working is the option to switch from street route to point-to-point.

The second and subsequent times I tried to use the nearest/alphabetical switch, it worked fine. Strange.

 

The Street Route to Point-to-Point is a great feature. It's worked good for me 4 out of 5 tries. The first time I tried it on a POI I got to the last leg of the street route and attempted to change it to a point-to-point. Nothing happened. It simply returned me to the map screen with the street route highlighted. The other four times I've tried it with a POI, it switched as expected.

 

The "Found" geocache option looks nice... is there somewhere to see the list of found geocaches?

 

Jamie

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Jamie Z

+Jamie Z

Posted
Posted
So you where able to switch to a point-to-point with a POI? I will have to work on that. Any luck switching from a point-to-point to a street route?

Yes, I had a street route to my house and when I got close I was able to switch it to a point-to-point. Like I said, the first time I tried it, it didn't work... but it's worked ever since.

 

Point-to-point to street route doesn't seem to be an option.

 

Jamie

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gpsjeep

+gpsjeep

Posted
Posted
The XL update doesn't address anything about the projection or found caches. I wonder how long before they add these features?

The XL, according to magellan web site, has area calculation to find the distance between three or more points of interest. Is that the same as projection?

-Jeff

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Jhwk

+Jhwk

Posted
Posted (edited)
The XL update doesn't address anything about the projection or found caches. I wonder how long before they add these features?

The XL, according to magellan web site, has area calculation to find the distance between three or more points of interest. Is that the same as projection?

-Jeff

nope :P

 

my upload went well, but I had to switch over to the wife's notebook. Couldn't find the 600 via usb on my desktop. Seemed to get a sat lock (3d) in under a minute?

Edited by Jhwk
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Jamie Z

+Jamie Z

Posted
Posted
anyone notice a change to the max number of caches? (200)

 

please, oh please, oh please, oh please.......

Robert Lipe posted in another thread which was discussing the probable features of the firmware update before it was formally released. RL got his hands on some data from an Explorist 400 which had the new firmware. He confirmed that it rejected waypoints beyond +200. If I recall, he did mention that the GPS gives a error message just so you know.

 

Jamie

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Fathergoose

+Fathergoose

Posted
Posted
anyone notice a change to the max number of caches? (200)

 

please, oh please, oh please, oh please.......

Robert Lipe posted in another thread which was discussing the probable features of the firmware update before it was formally released. RL got his hands on some data from an Explorist 400 which had the new firmware. He confirmed that it rejected waypoints beyond +200. If I recall, he did mention that the GPS gives a error message just so you know.

 

Jamie

I can confirm that. It looks like 200 still.

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Fathergoose

+Fathergoose

Posted
Posted

Yes, I had a street route to my house and when I got close I was able to switch it to a point-to-point. Like I said, the first time I tried it, it didn't work... but it's worked ever since.

 

OK it will switch from Street Route to Point-to-Point either with POI or Caches, Only if they are active. I was "going to" a POI that was not in the active file.

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Jamie Z

+Jamie Z

Posted
Posted
OK it will switch from Street Route to Point-to-Point either with POI or Caches, Only if they are active. I was "going to" a POI that was not in the active file.

Ah.. That explains it. I was going to a POI which was not in the active POI file. You know, that's a stupid limitation.

 

I guess I shouldn't complain about limitations of a feature I think otherwise quite useful.

 

Jamie

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flir67

flir67

Posted
Posted
Edit: First a change list, and now an email notification in my inbox of a new firmware! They've got a long ways to go to woo me back into contentedness, but two marks for Magyllyn.

I was thinking the same thing, I was impressed with the e-mail , wonder how they got it, off here? or from techsupport e-mail.. who's cares they sent one out...

 

they seem to be trying.

 

hum..

 

can't wait. going to upload mine tomorrow night...

 

flir67----

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gconner

+gconner

Posted
Posted

A note to Mac users -- I was able to update my Explorist 500 using Virtual PC 7.02 under Mac OS 10.4.3. It failed to see the explorist the first 5 or 6 times I tried, but once it found it everything went swimmingly. The problem with recognizing the explorist comes down to (I think) a timing issue between VPC grabbing the USB port from OS X and the updater doing a hardware scan (which seems to cause VPC to drop the port and then regrab it). Anyway, a big YIPEE here! I wish Lowrance and Garmin made their gpsr software as Mac friendly as Magellan. :P

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EScout

+EScout

Posted
Posted

The update for my 500 worked very smoothly and quickly. First impression is very good on the improvements. Seems to switch between screens quicker. Also seems to scroll between waypoints quicker.

 

You can mark caches as found. They then do not show on the list when you search, and are displayed on the screen with a check marked icon. When you have activated a GOTO to a geocache, and press GOTO again, you can get the info on the geocache or mark it as found.

 

Happy to see the projection function, and it allows you to set it to one-hundredths of a degree.

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Jamie Z

+Jamie Z

Posted
Posted
You can mark caches as found. They then do not show on the list when you search, and are displayed on the screen with a check marked icon.

Unfortunately, I sent off my 500 for repair a few hours ago. I couldn't find a place to list my found caches. I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. You say they are removed from the list (I've observed this) and then they are displayed on the screen with a checkmark. Those statements seem to be contradictory.

 

How can I find this list of found caches?

 

Jamie

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