+feltsfarm Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I just sprung for the Explorist 600. I have a Garmin Quest and Legend you think I would have stayed with Garmin. But lets be honest the Legend SUX in any kind of cover (trees, cliffs, building etc...) The quest is better than it is but I dont like it for caching. The 60csx was too high and I wanted sd cards. I got the 600 ,case,TOPO,car charger and 512sd card all for less than a 60csx. I have used the legend for hiking and it was fine. I always had a map and new where I was anyway. But this Geocaching (which I have just started and love) is a diffrent story. In tree cover it is not very good. Anyway, I did't start this to bash the Legend. After reading about how good the explorist series was on holding a signal I got it. Now the problem, Every time I try and swich between internal mem and SD card it locks and I have to take the battery out to get it to even turn off. When I put it back in all is fine, try it again locks up. I also got the TOPO cd 1.0 and it will not load! Nothing. So I called Magellen and was on hold FOREVER, finally tech guy comes on. Tells me I can install 1.5 from the DVD that came with the 600 (he also gave me a unlock code) so far so good.(the locking up prob I had not incountered then) So I install it and go to unlock it and there is NOWHERE to put in the unlock code in. It wants to check my account on Magellen's site and when it does it comes back Failed! Any one know where to put the unlock code and have you had it freeze up on the com screen. Also this is the crazest cable hookup I have ever seen. One more question, is there not a option to use without GPS when you turn it on? TIA Quote Link to comment
+Old Sailor Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 As for the cable hookup, make sure the cable runs downward when connected. Topo, I'm not sure which your using ie: Canada or US. but I don't recall any unlock needed with Canada topo, have you tried formating SD card in the 600? Also, check to see if you have the latest firmware upgrade. Quote Link to comment
+D0T-C0M Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 (edited) Earlier firmwares 5.1.61 , 5.1.63 , 5.1.65 , 5.1.67 had lockup issues. Unfortunately magellan has pulled the e600 firmware link from their sites but the e500 is the same firmware. the latest firmware is 5.2.03 is you diffinately want to upgrade as it fixes many bugs and adds features to the geocaching features in the firmware Edited February 7, 2006 by D0T-C0M Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 (edited) From what you are saying, it sounds like you have a bad SD card (every time you try to read from the card it locks up?...this is the first time I've heard of this particular problem). Are you able to connect to the computer? When you are plugged in properly and turn the unit on, it should ask you if you want to stay in power only mode or data transfer. Choosing the latter should set the unit as an external hard drive. When you have a working SD card, it should also ask you which one to set up as the external drive. I'm not sure if the Topo3d 1.5 version off the DVD is different from 1.0. But with 1.0, you had to enter the serial number from the about screen when you generate a detailed map file (Regions/upload to GPS/[indicate destination]Next/Target GPS serial number) People did have a lot of unit freezes *after* data transfers, but I think the firmware upgrade took care of those. One more question, is there not a option to use without GPS when you turn it on? You mean like on the Quest where you could tell it to "use indoors" and not try to acquire sat lock? If so, no, the 600 will keep searching. That's usually not a problem, though after awhile it might say it's having a hard time and do you want to give it a hint where you are. Tell it no and it should leave you alone. Edited February 7, 2006 by embra Quote Link to comment
+feltsfarm Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 (edited) Thanks for the reply Old Sailor, The cable down hookup the tech guy set me stright on. The TOPO is US Mapsend TOPO 3D. I ask tech about a firmware upgrade as I have read (I thought) that there was one. I have a firmware cd that came with Mapsend, no 600 on it. I went to their website and no 600 firmware update there either . When I ask him about it he said they were working on it but that it was not yet ready? If there is one somewhere I would like to get it. I will try and format the card but it is brand new and should already be formated shoud it not. Just saw the other post when I replied. D0T-C0M: So I can download the 500 update and it should fix alot correct. I have 5.161 embra: I can connect to the computer fine and was able to send caches to the unit. I put the sd card in the reader on my desktop and it worked fine. Put it back in the 600 and it is now able to go to it (???) well at least thats working. I don't see a option to tell it no when it ask for location. I have to go through all these choices, ie country, state, etc.. before it gives up. Edited February 7, 2006 by feltsfarm Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Yeah, it should be formatted and good to go. But if you want to experiment a little, you could remove it from the unit and try to download a small topo map to internal memory (keep it less than, oh, 5 MB). Quote Link to comment
+feltsfarm Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 embra I can't d/load a topo as the 1.5 will not unlock and the 1.0 is not even reconized on two computers. Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I misread your first post; you clearly stated that you can't find where to enter the unlock code for the program, and that your problem has nothing to do with entering the serial number of the gps. Sorry 'bout that. Unfortunately, there are few who have accessed the DVD program, so there aren't too many of us to give you advice from experience with that. However, at least a couple of people have and they might jump in here. You might try menu/advanced features/card utilities and either test and/or format the card to see what happens. Incidentally, a good alternative to taking the battery out--that *usually* works in case of a lockup--is to press the NAV + MENU + PWR buttons at the same time. That should force a power off. Quote Link to comment
+Old Sailor Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 (edited) not sure if this helps....on some other map programs, I registered it after install that way magellan site has my info....to unlock them it was under help?> unlock or once the site has gps serial you might be able to unlock on their website. Hope this will work for you...I only have cd version not dvd so can't know for sure. Edited February 7, 2006 by Old Sailor Quote Link to comment
+letmein Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 The firmware for the 600 was listed on the Magellan site a couple of weeks ago. The firmware for the 600 was listed as "eX500v2_03.exe" which had the exact same name as listed for the 500. I downloaded both and did a binary file comparison. They were the exact same file. I was a little nervous to install 500 firmware on my 600, but read about others doing it successfully. I did likewise and am very happy with the update. I suspect that Magellan pulled the firmware from the 600's web page so they can rename it "eX600v2_03.exe". I don't think they will post something with new features or bug fixes soon. Quote Link to comment
+feltsfarm Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Just got a email from magellen took less than 24 hrs to reply, pretty good I think. They gave me all I needed to unlock the 1.5 topo. I have it loading to the SD card on the desk top. Boy is that a slow process! I'm on the lap top now just to be able to do anything. Is it always real slow on the convert part (loading 300 megs). Unit locked again, used the nav, menu, power keys, Mush better than taking out the battery, Thanks EMBRA letmein: I am going to download the 500 firmware tomarrow unless someone replies not to before then. Downloaded some caches to the 600 today. I like the geocache feature. dosen't show all the info but enough for a quick cache run if you don't have the palm with you. After a bad start with the 600, I think I am going to really like it. There may be a Garmin Legend in the for sale near future . Thanks to all who have helped. I'm sure I will have more questions but will not drive you crazy with them. Just the ones that have me pulling my hair out Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 Trichotillomania-busters are us! You should be aware that there are a few reports of some kind of compass calibration issues with the new firmware on the 600 (I've got a 500, so I don't pay all that close attention). My impression is still that the firmware brings other stabilities that make it worth it, but you may want to check out the Magellan firmware bug thread so you know as best possible what you're getting into. Quote Link to comment
rmm200 Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I would be concerned that you transferred 300 megs from the topo map. That sounds like you are doing the entire country in one region. You might find better performance if you cut a region to match what you are actually using. Northern California, for me, runs 16-22 meg. I have it in a region folder on the GPS I named San Francisco. With a one gig SD card, capacity is not a problem, and I could download the entire country in similar sized regions. I just have not needed to. Robert Quote Link to comment
+feltsfarm Posted February 9, 2006 Author Share Posted February 9, 2006 I guess I will hold off on the firmware for awhile and see if Magellen dosen't get the 600 updat finished. rmm200: It was about 280 , I wanted to get all of KY, TN, MS, AL, GA, and most of NC, SC and AR. But I did get parts of IL, IN, OH, FL,MO, LA, WV, VA and some of the ocean. Quote Link to comment
rmm200 Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Great thing about the explorist is the file system is so flexible. Just for a test, you might try cutting a region to match your home state. Put it in a folder of that name. Make this one active and see if map loading and POI searches are faster. I would love to hear the results. Robert Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Just a comment about the detail map file size: although overly-large files exceeding the 64mb limit of most MapSend programs can introduce a slew of problems including performance hits and corruption of map data, Topo3D seems to be an exception. It appears to have been designed to employ large files--I forget if there is an inherent limit or not--so something getting to 300mb may work fine. *If* you see problems in performance, it would be prudent to trim it back to 100-200 mb or so. There is also an advantage when it comes to searches in working with smaller files...fewer false hits to wade through. Quote Link to comment
+D0T-C0M Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 D0T-C0M: So I can download the 500 update and it should fix alot correct. I have 5.161 yes the e500 firmware will work. Actually the link they previously had up for the e600 was the e500 link. It is a much better firmware by far from the 6.1.61 Quote Link to comment
+sherman9 Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 http://www.magellangps.com/en/support/prod...plorist_600.asp Here is a link to the eXplorist 600 Firmware Upload Instructions I just updated my 600 and it is working fine. Alot of geocaching updates! Quote Link to comment
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