Compass on the 60CSx

[+The Lavender Hill Mob]

Has anyone ever had a problem with the compass on the 60CSx i.e. pointing towards you when the cache is in front of you, turn right and walk, the arrow still points towards you, about face and walk and the arrow still points towards you. It was like it was stuck!

 

A couple of strange things happened yesterday with the 60. First, I did a find, selected a cache and by road. It took us to a road miles from the cache! I did the same again and it took us to a road near the cache!

 

Then, I did a find, selected the cache and off road and the compass arrow did as described above, it stuck. Then out of the blue it eventually worked, we found the cache. But later in the day it did the same, we were walking towards the cache (we could tell because of the map), the distance was going down but the pointer was pointing in the opposite direction so was the pointer on the map!

 

Batteries were about 3/4 full, there were overhead power lines a little way a way but I've had no problem with going near power lines before.

 

I've since changed the batteries and recalibrated the compass and it now seems to be OK.

 

Anyone got any ideas?

 

Thanks in advance

 

TLHM

[+Team XL5]

I haven't seen anything as extreme as that with my 60CSx, but never thought that the compass was as good as the previous 60CS. I had to recalibrate after doing a cache that was hidden below one of those transformers on a pole that you see in the countryside and being near large metal objects (car, fencing etc.) can affect it as well. I was hoping that the latest firmware upgrade would have a fix - but nothing yet.

 

You should always re-calibrate the compass after changing the batteries though.

[+Tizzie]

You've got the answer already, recalibrate each time you change the batteries.

 

When mine was new I had the problem for a while even after recalibrating. I thought I had spent a lot of money on a piece of junk, then after a while it all settled down, and now I don't have an issue with it. Other people have said the same thing, but no-one I've asked can tell me what causes it to behave oddly for a month or so.

 

I tend to leave the electronic compass tunred off (the one that is supposed to point the right way when you aren't moving). I don't use it, and it just eats battery power.

[+Pharisee]

You've got the answer already, recalibrate each time you change the batteries.

 

Not only that.... with th compass turned on, the 60CS(x) has to be held flat and as near to horizontal as possible. If you're holding it up at an angle, the compass will be wildly inaccurate.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Pharisee

[+Kryten]

I have occasionally seen a problem in which the compass arrow vanishes but the sigs are good and the distance continues to update. This can be cleared by switching off and on again but the compass cal then seems to be gone and a "garmin waltz" is required

[+Alibags]

This can be cleared by switching off and on again but the compass cal then seems to be gone and a "garmin waltz" is required

 

You know you can just rotate the GPS don't you?

 

I have found the compass on my VistaCx to be a bit weird at times. After reading McKryton's reply, I am now wondering if turning it off (when the whizzing makes me dizzy) means that I should then recalibrate afterwards. Hmmm.

[+Tiger-Eyes]

I have had simerlar problems with mine, i keep an eye on the distance to go counter to ensure that it is still going down and also recalibraate the compass.

[+jerryo]

I have occasionally seen a problem in which the compass arrow vanishes but the sigs are good and the distance continues to update.

If you're searching for a cache and you get near to it, the arrow sometimes vanishes after the GPSr thinks you've found the location. I thought mine was faulty last year but that was the reason.

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

I was in the Garmin store in Chicago earlier today and was amazed to see that the CSx costs in dollars less than what my 60CS cost in pounds ... at almost 2 dollars to the pound that puts it about half the price!

[+The Lavender Hill Mob]

I have had simerlar problems with mine, i keep an eye on the distance to go counter to ensure that it is still going down and also recalibraate the compass.

I used to us a Geko 201 which only has a compass, no map, so I'm use to using the compass and watching the distance to go counter. Admittedly you have to hold the 60CSx flat but it doesn’t take long to reset if you don’t.

 

How else do you use it? Surely the map isn’t that accurate.

[+Santaliki]

Oh good - I thought it was me doing something wrong. Sometimes I just have a compass face with no needle showing. And sometimes I just cannot get rid of the 'Hold Level'.

 

Yes, they are £ for $. Before I got mine I checked Amazon USA and saw how much cheaper they were; for some reason they cannot send them to UK. I was able to get an American colleague to get mine for me.

 

I am looking through the threads to see if I can find some advice about maps for the Garmin 60CSx. (I have been here for ages.... housework what housework?)

[+imajeep]

This can be cleared by switching off and on again but the compass cal then seems to be gone and a "garmin waltz" is required

You know you can just rotate the GPS don't you?

 

I used to simply rotate the GPSr, but switched over to the Garmin two-step, because it is much easier to keep the GPSr level while rotating. That has a significant effect on the quality of the calibration.

[+SidAndBob]

I've not had any of these problems.

As far as the compass goes.

1. Recalibrate as stated above.

2. Only use when stationary.

[+jerryo]

I am looking through the threads to see if I can find some advice about maps for the Garmin 60CSx.

Have you come across Garmin Mapsource TOPO Great Britain V2?

[+Santaliki]

I am looking through the threads to see if I can find some advice about maps for the Garmin 60CSx.

Have you come across Garmin Mapsource TOPO Great Britain V2?

Yes, I have - would you recommend it. I was just looking for opinions as to which folks here thought was the best. I am planning to go to the London event on the 10th and thought I could also get some advice there. I'm also learning that paperless is the way to go....as my dining room table is drowning in a sea of paper.

[+SidAndBob]

I am looking through the threads to see if I can find some advice about maps for the Garmin 60CSx.

Have you come across Garmin Mapsource TOPO Great Britain V2?

Yes, I have - would you recommend it. I was just looking for opinions as to which folks here thought was the best. I am planning to go to the London event on the 10th and thought I could also get some advice there. I'm also learning that paperless is the way to go....as my dining room table is drowning in a sea of paper.

This is a bit off topic for this thread and it's been covered here before. Personally I'd say it's excellent. Some people criticize it, though this tends to come from those who don't use it. Detail is almost, but not quite to OS Explorer level (1:25K), though once again on Friday I walked several paths marked on it which were not on the OS map and a couple on the OS map which were not on Topo. It also routes on the GPSr.

I recall a recent thread reporting a price slash too. As Donald Trump would say, "It's a no-brainer".

[+jerryo]

I am looking through the threads to see if I can find some advice about maps for the Garmin 60CSx.

Have you come across Garmin Mapsource TOPO Great Britain V2?

Yes, I have - would you recommend it. I was just looking for opinions as to which folks here thought was the best. I am planning to go to the London event on the 10th and thought I could also get some advice there. I'm also learning that paperless is the way to go....as my dining room table is drowning in a sea of paper.

I like Topo GB. You can get the whole of the UK on a micro SD card (2GB) and the mapping is quite accurate. When I first used it I thought the map detail for such as urban caches would be no good but it comes up with immense detail, footpaths, street names etc, and when you navigate to a cache you can get it to follow a road a la TomTom. One thing though: if you are navigating to a cache using a route, change the settings to off road when you get near the cache or it'll keep trying to get you to go back to the nearest road and look for another road to get you nearer. Patently this doesn't help!

[+Santaliki]

sorry to have gone off topic! Thanks for the advice. Now off to look for a good deal!