garmin ique

[+ssbn598]

Anyone out there using a Garmin Ique to geocache? What model and how does it work? Did you load extra streetmaps on it? How much memory did you need to do so? thanks for the help. ssbn 598

[Clan Riffster]

Last year I mentioned to my wife that I would like to get a PDA so I could go paperless. I read in the forums that I'd only need a small amount of memory to hold Cachemate, (which was going to be the only program I put on my PDA), and that I could acquire an old Palm on Ebay for next to nothing, that would suit my needs.

 

She took it upon herself to buy me the Garmin iQue 3600, along with MapSource, for about $500, at the time. Brother, there is absolutely nothing good I can say about it. If you use it as a GPSr, it'll suck down the battery faster than you can imagine. It is far to delicate to have on hand at all times, whilst tromping through the swamp. Take a 60CSx and an iQue 3600, and drop them both from 10', onto rocks. You'll have a scratched GPSr and a paperweight.

 

I can't even give it good ratings as an in-car navigation device, since it is top heavy in it's bean bag mount, and tends to slide off the dashboard at inoportune moments.

 

I had to send mine back to Garmin due to a battery failure within my first two months of ownership. They replaced it, and the "new" one serves only as a PDA.

 

On a side note, I bought a Palm Zire 21 on Ebay for $20, that works just as well as my $500 iQue.

[Keystone]

Moving from Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS Units and Software forum.

[Bugnerd]

Mine failed also and was replaced by Garmin. Yes it sucks down batteries, but the way I'm using it from car to short sites with kids it is recharged and fine. But I had it on a trip without the charger and it used up it's battery in under 4 hours. I love it for around town. It has an optional card to expand memory; I don't have the card and I find that it holds enough street maps for my purposes. I just started using the bean bag mount and I agree that it slides on the dash; on the passenger seat is OK. I had advice from a tech support guy not to use it in the woods and I have ignored that (what good is it otherwise).

 

Has anyone found a good way to download waypoints to it other than typing them in?

[+Hynr]

I have gone through several iQue 3600. They are pretty fine units, but not for geocaching. They are not rugged enough and will only go about an hour or two on a battery charge. For software, you should use Cachemate ($8) and Wayque. When you export waypoints from cachemate, keep the number that show on the map under 400, otherwise the unit tends to hang up. SD cards are so cheap that its silly not to use them; you can get a 1 gig card for under $20 and smaller ones are even cheaper. This unit does voice navigation and comes with a map set; this combination is one of the least expensive ways to get this. The display is great even outdoors (unlike laptops). It's an excellent tool. But, as I pointed out, not to find geocaches. If it slips out of the hand and falls any distance, it is broken. I try to keep mine in the car where I have it charging most of the time. I do use it regularly as my main PDA.

[+apersson850]

I use the 3600a, not the 3600, as the aviation model has better support for off-road routes (of course), better battery capacity, better screen, more memory, compass screen etc.

 

But it's not an ideal unit for geocaching, that's true. I used to use it for driving near the cache, then I took out the eTrex Vista for the last part.

Nowadays I use the Zumo 550 in the car and the GPSmap 60 CSx to the cache.

[+rlridgeway]

I use a PDA to GPS with but I would not recommend the Garmin Ique.

 

If you bought a PDA and the GPS receiver separately, you could get a better quality setup. Actually a much better quality setup.

[+Geomancers of the Coast]

I got my iQue 3600 last Christmas as my first GPS as I started out geocaching as a hobby. I absolutely love the iQue, and highly recommend it. However, this recommendation comes with a *significant* caveat.

 

One of my main motivations in getting the iQue was that I needed a new PDA, and had a preference for PalmOS devices already. You'll do fine with the iQue if you can keep in mind that it is a *PDA* first and foremost. It just happens to have a GPSr built in to it. It's a delicate piece of equipment that was not in any way, shape or form designed to have its name spoken in the same sentence as words like "bushwhacking".

 

That said, it makes a fantastic PDA, has effectively unlimited storage for waypoints (since your address book *is* the waypoint database), and the integration between PDA apps and the GPSr functions is so seamless. I can have my address book full of my contacts, and if I want to navigate to one of them, I just tap a couple of buttons in the address book, it searches the street maps to find their address, and gets the coordinates, then routes to it.

 

And paperless geocaching is great when your GPSr *is* running CacheMate and you can track your finds on one unit.

 

On the other hand, the battery works well for normal PDA use and *occasional* *brief* GPS use. (Or, more commonly, navigating as long as you like in the car while it's happily cradled in the car charger unit.) But it doesn't have the capacity to last for long excursions with the GPSr on without a recharge. And the delicate nature of the unit really scared me away from using it more than to get my feet wet in the geocaching hobby. Once I'd used it for my first finds and realized I was seriously interested in caching, we decided to get a 76csx for taking out into the woods. But I still continue to use the iQue a lot, just not in "rugged" settings.

[+pearle]

Anyone out there using a Garmin Ique to geocache? What model and how does it work? Did you load extra streetmaps on it? How much memory did you need to do so? thanks for the help. ssbn 598

I have probably found about 1700 caches with my Ique 3200. I have the Streetmaps loaded but generally just use the in-car C330 to navigate to the location. I use Cachemate and the CacheNav plugin to get me to the cache. It seems to get me as close as my other cacing buddies units. I used to use an external antenna but the external port broke. It is not as durable as some of the outdoor units. The battery life is horrible. I have an external battey pack I made to help keep me in the field long after the internal battery is gone. I have seem battery replacements offered on the brighthand forum but did not really want to crack open the unit. Besides...I could not find the right tool yet. I think it may ship with the replacement battery.

[+doublebk]

Could anyone tell me how to export from cachemate to the address book on the ique 3600 for road navigation?

[+TrailGators]

I have a iQue 3600 as well but mainly use it as a PDA. But if I'm traveling I can use it if something pops up. As was mentioned they are not very rugged and the battery life is not very good to use as a dedicated GPS.

[+archeangelsk2002]

Anyone out there using a Garmin Ique to geocache? What model and how does it work? Did you load extra streetmaps on it? How much memory did you need to do so? thanks for the help. ssbn 598

 

first dowload cachemate to your ique

second goto www.smittyware.com and download cachenav and Garmin gps query/upload.

 

i use a 2 gigabyte sd card to extend my memory on the ique. right now i have 1.8 gigs of maps downloaded from mapsource to this card. in particular, i downloaded all of the maps from map source city guide. i mapped the entire united states on that card, and as of now i can do a search for just about any place in the U.S.

 

garmin gps query/upload converts your cachemate info into an address file. once converted the aps export from cachemate to address file to garmin ique mapping.

 

regards

archie

[+SWA Cachers]

Has anyone found a good way to download waypoints to it other than typing them in?

Use GSAK on your PC and cachemate on your iQue.