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Garmin 60csx Or 60cx?


rich720

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I am looking to upgrade my GPSII+ (about time, right?) and am leaning toward the new 60 series. I am unsure if I really need the compass and altitude function of the 60CSx. Is that the only difference? What do you think? It seems to be a $50 feature, and maybe I should but that money towards a bigger micrsSD card? But then again, more bells and whistles means more fun, right!

Thanks for any opinions you might have.

 

Rich

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I have a 60CSx and the only use i have for the compass is when I'm closing in (<20m) on a cache, then its pretty neat. Just don't expect to get a replacement for your 'needle + water' compass, cause it really isn't anything like that. Not nearly as that responsive, actually I found it be be kind of sloppy.

 

The altimeter might be nice for hiking, but I don't really know what its good for.

 

Oh, and you forget the colors; the Cx is blue while the CSx is black.. (I prefer black). :D

 

Oh, oh, and if you get a CSx remember to turn off the compass when you're not relying on it because its really a power burner.

 

Have fun whichever you choose. - Its a great unit.

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Oh, oh, and if you get a CSx remember to turn off the compass when you're not relying on it because its really a power burner.

menu->menu->setup->heading

 

switch to compass when below N mph for more than T secs.

 

Just set the thresholds below your brisk walk and the compass will turn on after you've arrived and searched for T seconds.

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I'm not too interested in the magnetic compass sensor since I always carry a small mechanical compass anyway (just in case the magic smoke ever escapes from the electronic gadgets) and find it convenient enough to use when needed. And I've found that the GPS-based altitude is usually of sufficient accuracy except when reception is particularly poor (which should be rare with the higher sensitivity receiver).

 

But the main thing that would lead me to opt for an 'S' model are the additional altitude-related firmware features that Garmin chooses to only provide on those models. In particular, the ability to view the altitude profile and associated data for a hike or ride right on the unit instead of having to wait to download the data to a PC.

There's no real 'need' for this data in real-time, but it would be nice to have it right when one gets to a summit or high pass and there's some interest in seeing how it compares to other climbs that day or what the cumulative totals are so far.

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Hi,

 

I have the CSX, and the electronic compass is of good use only if you are standing still. If you move, the "other" compass will work better, since it is not sensitive to horizontality of the gps unit (the electronic compass is quite sensitive, hold the gps unit somehow not flat, and the electronic compass is not accurate anymore). Furthermore, as another user wrote, the electronic compass needs a lot of battery. I would urge all gps users to always have a normal small magnetic compass with them anyway, just in case the gps will not work.

 

As for the altimeter (barometer): The altimeter use of the barometric sensor is not really a great advantage, the gps altimeter is more than enough. Additionally, the barometric sensor is almost useless for weather observations, as it only records pressure when the gps is on. To make weather observations a longer recording time is needed. Ok, if you have had the gps on for several hours, you can estimate the weather by checking the pressure trend in the last 4-6 hours, but a longer time frame would be better. Theoretically plotting altitude profiles is possible as well with the normal gps altimeter (not the barometric), but garmin decided not to put this feature in the csx, well maybe a firmware update would help..

 

:laughing:

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Oh, oh, and if you get a CSx remember to turn off the compass when you're not relying on it because its really a power burner.

 

The new compass in 60CSx uses so little current, so that you do not need to turn it of.

If you look at the spesification for 60Cx and 60CSx, they both has the same battery time. (18 hour)

60CS has 30 and 60C 20 hour. This has been discussed here before.

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I recently upgraded from the Vista to the 60cx. I passed on the csx because I used the compass maybe once on the vista and it wasn't very good and never used the altimeter. Put the extra 50 towards new map software.

 

Both the 60CS and the CSx have a compass. What you gave up is a chipset that's about 10 times better than the CS.

Edited by jcc123
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I recently upgraded from the Vista to the 60cx. I passed on the csx because I used the compass maybe once on the vista and it wasn't very good and never used the altimeter. Put the extra 50 towards new map software.

 

Both the 60CS and the CSx have a compass. What you gave up is a chipset that's about 10 times better than the CS.

 

We were discussing the difference between 60csx and 60cx not the 60cs. :)

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As for the altimeter (barometer): The altimeter use of the barometric sensor is not really a great advantage, the gps altimeter is more than enough. Additionally, the barometric sensor is almost useless for weather observations, as it only records pressure when the gps is on. To make weather observations a longer recording time is needed. Ok, if you have had the gps on for several hours, you can estimate the weather by checking the pressure trend in the last 4-6 hours, but a longer time frame would be better. Theoretically plotting altitude profiles is possible as well with the normal gps altimeter (not the barometric), but garmin decided not to put this feature in the csx, well maybe a firmware update would help..

 

:)

Saying that you can get altimeter readings with the cx vs csx is like asking a one legged man to run a race against a marathon runner.

GPS readings without the use of a barimter is like betting on the one legged man.

First,

The shape of the earth (geoid) does not exactly match the WGS84 theoreticaly elipsode. This causes most points in the USA to be about -125 ft below the GPS calculation. The built in barimter works with the GPS unit to establish a very good correction to give actual elevation. The barimter is constantly calculating the pressure variations to establish the correct elevation in conjunction with the GPS reading.

Second,

I agree that the compass falls short. Most people like to move or walk when using a compass. But like I said in my previous posts, if you can't get a true elevation vs. distance profile using DEM mapping, this makes the altitude capability good only for getting spot shots, not profiles.

Third,

I think the x series sucks, I'll pass on it and I'll wait till Garmin gets it right.

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Saying that you can get altimeter readings with the cx vs csx is like asking a one legged man to run a race against a marathon runner.

GPS readings without the use of a barimter is like betting on the one legged man.

First,

The shape of the earth (geoid) does not exactly match the WGS84 theoreticaly elipsode. This causes most points in the USA to be about -125 ft below the GPS calculation. The built in barimter works with the GPS unit to establish a very good correction to give actual elevation. The barimter is constantly calculating the pressure variations to establish the correct elevation in conjunction with the GPS reading.

Second,

I agree that the compass falls short. Most people like to move or walk when using a compass. But like I said in my previous posts, if you can't get a true elevation vs. distance profile using DEM mapping, this makes the altitude capability good only for getting spot shots, not profiles.

Third,

I think the x series sucks, I'll pass on it and I'll wait till Garmin gets it right.

 

Make sure to let us all know when you find a gps that provides route profiles. Since that seems to be your one sticking point, I guess all gpsers suck(not one gps has that feature currently), so why bother with one at all?! Also, this is like the second(or maybe third) time that you said you were done.

Edited by yeeoldcacher
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First,

The shape of the earth (geoid) does not exactly match the WGS84 theoreticaly elipsode. This causes most points in the USA to be about -125 ft below the GPS calculation. The built in barimter works with the GPS unit to establish a very good correction to give actual elevation. The barimter is constantly calculating the pressure variations to establish the correct elevation in conjunction with the GPS reading.

 

Why do you continue to repeat this fallacy? Peter already corrected you on this here.

 

I think the x series sucks, I'll pass on it and I'll wait till Garmin gets it right.

 

I really wish that you would live up to your promise. I get tired of continual yammering from people with an apparent axe to grind.

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Re-read his post. He got the 60Cx. That gets him the SiRFIII chipset. All he gave up was the compass of the 60CSx.

 

Right, sorry, I read too fast... :rolleyes:

 

Could someone explain the difference between the 'regular' compass on the CX and the 'special' compass on the CSX? :laughing:

 

Be happy to. The "compass" on the 60cx uses GPS derived position and motion to determine which way your are pointing. The 60csx is a real magnetic compass (not the floating dial kind, it is electronic) that uses the Earth's magnetic field to determing which way your are pointing. Unlike the compass on the 60cx, ithe one on the 60csx will determine which way you are pointing when you are standing still. Also, it will point independent of your motion. If you have it turned on, and walk backward, the pointer arrow on the screen will actually move backward. On the 60cx it will simply flip around and go the other way.

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Could someone explain the difference between the 'regular' compass on the CX and the 'special' compass on the CSX? :laughing:

 

The compass on the CSx is an actual electronic compass. It can sense which direction the receiver is facing even when not moving.

 

There is no true compass on the non-S models, meaning that they cannot sense what direction the unit is facing. These units can only report movement. If standing still, you will see the directional indicator swing about on these units as it picks up small variances in reported position.

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...Could someone explain the difference between the 'regular' compass on the CX and the 'special' compass on the CSX? :laughing:

 

To expand a bit on the other answers.

 

A standard GPS without an electronic GPS uses your last position and your present position to know which way you are facing. That's how it knows which direction to point. When you stand still the small errors in reception that your GPS has will make it seem to the GPS that you are moving in random directions and the pointer will point every which way. When you start moving once you are over a certain speed (fairly low) you overcome these random position changes and the GPS works normally. Typically it takes two or three steps and your GPS is pointing you the right way.

 

Those same small errors are why when you are too close to ground zero your GPS can't point at it accuratly. Where the GPS calculates you are jumps around the waypoint and as it tries to point the way where you are relative to the waypoint changes and it ends up pointing every which way.

 

Of course I could be wrong. I mostly just make all this stuff up.

Edited by Renegade Knight
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You all forget that 60CSx also contain a barometric pressure sensor that gives you more accurate height.

A bad thing is that it can not be turned off, so you get wrong height in an airplane with pressure cabin.

I don't believe that is true. I know you are talking about the 60CSx which I am looking to pick up but, on my Etrex Vista it has a pressure reading maybe not the same as the 60CSx but when I went across country with it, it recorded a speed of 595 MPH and an altitude to 40000 feet. The exact altitude that the pilot said we were at.

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You all forget that 60CSx also contain a barometric pressure sensor that gives you more accurate height.

A bad thing is that it can not be turned off, so you get wrong height in an airplane with pressure cabin.

I don't believe that is true. I know you are talking about the 60CSx which I am looking to pick up but, on my Etrex Vista it has a pressure reading maybe not the same as the 60CSx but when I went across country with it, it recorded a speed of 595 MPH and an altitude to 40000 feet. The exact altitude that the pilot said we were at.

 

This is true.

Last week when i was out flying, the altitude was around 2200m all the time. I have the track log as a proof.

This has also been discussed here many times before. On the satellite page i can select Menu, GPS height. It showed maximum 9500m. There is no way to turn of the pressure sensor.

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So here's a question then, if you were using either the 60Cx or 60CSx mostly for mapping on the computer, would the 60CSx be better because it would give you more accurate elevation readings?

 

DT

 

I think that the pressure sensor does minimize the elevation noise quite a bit, and the best GPS I ever owned, is the Map76S, and I still have it, and as long as I average a waypoint now and then, and take that elevation reading to calibrate with, the GPS gives me excellent Tracklogs. I had bought the 60C and 60Cx, and both of them tend to have elevation noise in the Tracklogs.

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Don't listen to Renegade because well he's a renegade! :blink:

 

but "renegade" is right!!!

those sensors will need more attetion for settings and care for proper use.

compass must be calibrated after changing batteries. useful only when slowing under a certain speed, or standing still.

altimeter is actualy measuring atmosferic presure (like all traditional altimeters), so you must calibrate it often, and presure might change with weather, not only when climbing/descending.

 

so , my advice: if you ur not comfortable to take care of calibration and settings...., you can save those 50$ for better use.

 

altimeter is not usefull for most geocaches. compass will replace the traditional one, but must be calibrated each time you change batteries.

 

you can download user manual for S model, and see the functions of compass and altimeter.

 

best regards,

Dan

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