Explorist GOTO question/problem

[microbmen]

Hello,

 

Today I was geocaching and using a goto point to find the geocache. When I got within 5 feet to my destination, I relized that my actual coordinates did not match the coordinates of the geocache, nor did they match the coords of my geocache goto point saved in the GPS.

When I found the geocache and the exact coordnates saved in my goto point it still said 50 feet to my destination?

In other words, the coords saved on my GPS and the actual coords my GPS was telling me matched... however dist. to next was over 50 feet...

 

I thought maybe it was my elevation being way off...

 

Is this normal? any suggestions? i am very confused!

[ossumguywill]

Make sure your map datum is set to WSG84. There is a map datum that is 50 ft. off, NAD29 or something. It could also be that the coordinates for the cache were just wrong.

[microbmen]

Make sure your map datum is set to WSG84. There is a map datum that is 50 ft. off, NAD29 or something. It could also be that the coordinates for the cache were just wrong.

 

yes, i have it set to WSG84.

 

the cache coordinates were correct, i guess what im trying to say is when I am 0 feet away the coordinates are not the same as the cache....

 

i guess this is hard to explain... when I get to the coordinates for the cache, its still says im 30-60 feet away... when i look at the info for the cache stored within my GPS they are not the same as when my GPS says im 0 feet away...

 

i would think that when I am at my goto points coords the GPS should reflect that by saying i am 0 feet away... or like 1 or 2 feet away...

 

logically i feel it is a 3 demensional issue....

[+Jamie Z]

Do you have the most recent firmware? (I have 5.2.03)

 

If I recall, there was a bug in the Explorist software. If you selected a geocache from the map screen, that is, you ran the cursor over the icon and hit goto, the goto would be made not for the coordinates of the saved cache, but for the coordinates where your map pointer was located.

 

If my memory is correct (and it's admittedly fuzzy about this), the bug was fixed.

 

Could that be the trouble?

 

Jamie

[+Prickley Pete & Snoopy]

Do you have the most recent firmware? (I have 5.2.03)

 

If I recall, there was a bug in the Explorist software. If you selected a geocache from the map screen, that is, you ran the cursor over the icon and hit goto, the goto would be made not for the coordinates of the saved cache, but for the coordinates where your map pointer was located.

 

If my memory is correct (and it's admittedly fuzzy about this), the bug was fixed.

 

Could that be the trouble?

 

Jamie

 

well that would make complete sense...

I will search around and look for newer firmware.

I have 3.1.75

update:

searched the internet through and through and cannot find a newer version of the firmware, where did you get 5.2.03 and can you emai l it over?

 

 

(sorry this is me... i must have logged onto the microbmen account at home.)

Edited October 16, 2006 by Prickley Pete & Snoopy

[+embra]

well that would make complete sense...

I will search around and look for newer firmware.

I have 3.1.75

update:

searched the internet through and through and cannot find a newer version of the firmware, where did you get 5.2.03 and can you emai l it over?

I don't recognize 3.1.75 as a firmware version...is this for a 100, 200 or 300? Those models can't have their firmware upgraded.

 

Bear in mind that your GPS is not accurate to within 1 or 2 feet. At its best, it may be within 6 to 10 feet under ideal conditions; in less than ideal conditions it could be 30 feet or more. Add this error to the person's GPS who placed the cache in the first place, and a 50 foot error may be normal operation.

 

Another thing to check: what country are you in? If you're in the US, then never mind. But I recall something like what JamieZ described coming into play for Australia downloads on the Explorist of waypoints from the gc.com boards (I'll explaim more if needed).

[+Prickley Pete & Snoopy]

oh wow... i never mentioned the model.. .

 

it is an explorist 210.

 

and yes embra, i understand all that, but when the GPS reads the same coords as a stored waypoint (geocache) why would it say i am ~50 feet away?

 

I am in the US.

[+embra]

The good news for the 210 is that the firmware is updatable.

 

The bad news is that there is no updatable firmware...so you will have to live with what you have for now.

 

I see what you are saying about right coords and a discrepancy in distance...and that on the face of it things shouldn't be that way. What coord display do you have? Are you using the gc.com deault DD MM.MMM? If you have something else, it might not be precise enough to pick up the precision possible. I forget how much distance is covered in that thousandth of a minute is, but I think it's a matter of less than 10 feet.

[+nosinaround]

The good news for the 210 is that the firmware is updatable.

 

The bad news is that there is no updatable firmware...so you will have to live with what you have for now.

 

I see what you are saying about right coords and a discrepancy in distance...and that on the face of it things shouldn't be that way. What coord display do you have? Are you using the gc.com deault DD MM.MMM? If you have something else, it might not be precise enough to pick up the precision possible. I forget how much distance is covered in that thousandth of a minute is, but I think it's a matter of less than 10 feet.

 

I have noticed the same problem with my 210 also. The distance that the goto is off is dependent on the zoom level of the map. But, to make sure that you have the cache's coords as the goto:

 

Press the goto button without having a cursor showing and select the geocache from the list.

The coords used for the goto will then be loaded from the geocache.

 

This bug bit us several time before we figured it out.

[+Prickley Pete & Snoopy]

Thank you so much nosinaround! ... that makes sense, i will try that next time... it is quite annoying.

[+Roaming Empire]

I have a 210 also, what I will do when my #'s don't seem right, is walk about 50 feet away, and redo my goto location. I reselect the cache location as a goto and it normally works.

Edited October 17, 2006 by roaming_empire

[ossumguywill]

well that would make complete sense...

I will search around and look for newer firmware.

I have 3.1.75

update:

searched the internet through and through and cannot find a newer version of the firmware, where did you get 5.2.03 and can you emai l it over?

I don't recognize 3.1.75 as a firmware version...is this for a 100, 200 or 300? Those models can't have their firmware upgraded.

 

Bear in mind that your GPS is not accurate to within 1 or 2 feet. At its best, it may be within 6 to 10 feet under ideal conditions; in less than ideal conditions it could be 30 feet or more. Add this error to the person's GPS who placed the cache in the first place, and a 50 foot error may be normal operation.

 

Another thing to check: what country are you in? If you're in the US, then never mind. But I recall something like what JamieZ described coming into play for Australia downloads on the Explorist of waypoints from the gc.com boards (I'll explaim more if needed).

 

Off topic, but is there any difference in accuracy between 600 and 210? My 600 is usually acurate to two feet or less..... Do they have a different antenna?

[+Prickley Pete & Snoopy]

its not a matter of accuracy.. the 210 is accurate to two feet or less also... its a matter of the programming within the 210 and setting goto points...

 

the coords will be dead on, and you can be standing right on the coords... but the goto point will say you are 50 feet away.... get it?

 

its just like a software bug, ... or some feature that i dont quite understand :-P

[+GeekBoy.from.Illinois]

its not a matter of accuracy.. the 210 is accurate to two feet or less also... its a matter of the programming within the 210 and setting goto points...

 

the coords will be dead on, and you can be standing right on the coords... but the goto point will say you are 50 feet away.... get it?

 

its just like a software bug, ... or some feature that i dont quite understand :-P

 

Yeah, I have seen that with my eXplorist 600 as well. The location of the pointer on the map screen and the waypoint on the map screen do not necessarily coincide with the actual location (coordinates). I was using my 600 to go to geocaches, and I would select the cache from the "Points of Interest" screens, and the location on the map/screen were often far off from the coordinates of the cache. I had one a few months back where the map pointer/waypoint icon on the screen were over 100 feet from the actual cache. When I went to the "details" screen, the GPSr coordinates matched exactly to the ones on the geocache, but the map screen was telling me that I was still about 100 feet away. To be fair, I have also seen this with my Garmin GPSmap 60CSx, but not usually as bad as it is with the Magellan unit. The Magellan was so bad that I would get to within about 100 feet of where it thought the cache was and I would switch screens and "home in" based on coordinates, and that improved my find rate significantly.

 

As for the firmware, my 600 has the newest one from Magellan, I have done master resets, and I have even re-loaded the firmware with the update from their web site and it didn't solve the accuracy problem. I will admit that the "master reset" did fix the problem I had when my GPSr's clock would reset itself to be about 35 second slow every time it would connect to the satellites.

[+nudlez]

I've noticed this problem, too... it's the one complaint I have about my Explorist 600. It appears to take the position of your cursor, not the cache, to determine the coords. Had this happen on a couple of different caches before we realized what was happening... one was pointing us to the door of a firehall, and one was pointing us to someone's front porch. After looking suspicious for a while, we left, logged our DNF, and later asked the cache owners why some of their caches seemed to be on private property. They looked puzzled and told us where the caches actually were (each was about 150 feet from where our GPS was bringing us), and eventually went back, found the caches, and figured out what the problem was. Now, I always search by nearest geocache point, bring up the cache info screen, and hit "goto" from there. Never had the problem using that method. It is kind of lame to have to use that as a workaround, but oh well... it works.

 

Edit: BTW, just like GeekBoy.from.Illinois, I am running the most current firmware. You'd think they would fix this problem... should be a simple fix, programmatically.

Edited October 19, 2006 by nudlez

[+Prickley Pete & Snoopy]

That seems to be the solution that works for everyone. I don't know if Magellan did this intentionally or if its a bug. Either way at least we know a nice solution.

 

Thanks to all for your help and comments... I was about 1 step away from buying a new GPS unit..

[+parker313]

I have a 210 also, what I will do when my #'s don't seem right, is walk about 50 feet away, and redo my goto location. I reselect the cache location as a goto and it normally works.

That's what I had to do also. It was an irritation, but relatively painless.

[+geognerd]

If you are going to create a GOTO from the map screen, make sure the pop-up box says "Goto [Cache Name]?" and not "Goto current cursor position?" When scrolling around on the map screen, don't hit GOTO until you see the cache's name on the bottom of the screen. This lets you know your cursor is on top of the POI marker. If it says "Goto [Cache Name]?" after you hit the GOTO button, it should take you to the cache's coords. I don't usually create GOTOs on the map, but the few times I have, I haven't had any problems.

[+AZTech]

If you are going to create a GOTO from the map screen, make sure the pop-up box says "Goto [Cache Name]?" and not "Goto current cursor position?" When scrolling around on the map screen, don't hit GOTO until you see the cache's name on the bottom of the screen. This lets you know your cursor is on top of the POI marker. If it says "Goto [Cache Name]?" after you hit the GOTO button, it should take you to the cache's coords. I don't usually create GOTOs on the map, but the few times I have, I haven't had any problems.

I agree. This is the procedure I've used and it's worked fine for me as long as the cache name is what's shown.

[+GeekBoy.from.Illinois]

If you are going to create a GOTO from the map screen, make sure the pop-up box says "Goto [Cache Name]?" and not "Goto current cursor position?" When scrolling around on the map screen, don't hit GOTO until you see the cache's name on the bottom of the screen. This lets you know your cursor is on top of the POI marker. If it says "Goto [Cache Name]?" after you hit the GOTO button, it should take you to the cache's coords. I don't usually create GOTOs on the map, but the few times I have, I haven't had any problems.

I agree. This is the procedure I've used and it's worked fine for me as long as the cache name is what's shown.

 

That procedure doesn't work with my 600. I don't select the point using the icon on the map screen. I select the point using the "Points of Interest" -> "Geocache Points" and it still does not send me to the right place.

 

Example: I select cache "GCXXXXXX" from the list of nearest geocaches and go to that point. I go to the point on the screen where it tells me to go. I switch to the "coordinates" screen, and I am far off from the coordinates listed for the cache. In one case, I was over 100 feet away from the coordinates that I should have gone to (with a 13 foot WAAS accuracy at the time). I did not have the map in display until after I had already selected the GOTO point from the geocache list, so selecting from the map pointer is not the issue, it is that the unit can't map the data properly. According to the map, I was at the location of the cache, but the coordinates I was at were not the coordinates listed for the cache. The map had my pointer in the correct location for the topo data, but it had the cache icon in the wrong place, so it was sending me to the wrong place. When I switched to coordinates view, it took me right to the cache when I was at the cache coordinates, and then the map display showed me right were I was, but it still had the cache icon about 100 feet or more away...