Am I missing something?

[Team Fera]

Hi all- Brand new Geocacher here with a question that makes me feel utterly stupid.

 

I just purchased Garmin Legend HCX because of the geocache feature on it. When I turned it on, the basemap seemed non-existent- hardly any information or detail at all, and I can't see how this unit would help me navigate to a cache.

 

I loaded the MapSource program onto my computer, but it doesn't have any more detail or information.

 

Am I missing something here? This feels very bare-bones and without any real mapping detail, it seems pretty useless to me.

 

I have a Nuvi 650 that has City Select already loaded on it, which is great to get around in the car, but not what I want for the trails. My suspicion is that I'll have to purchase and load City Navigator onto the Legend to get any street detail, and TOPO to get any trail detail- am I right?

 

If this is the case, then isn't the Legend hardly useable "out of the box?"

 

Any clarity would be greatly appreciated. I have a couple of days before I have to decide whether the Legend is going back to where I purchased it from.

 

Thanks!

[+Jeff in Pa]

What you see is what you get unless you fork over the money and purchase other maps.

[+fratermus]

Geocaching mode is not dependant on (or even necessarily related to) maps that may or map not be loaded on the GPS. It works on waypoints, not maps.

 

The GPS points to the cache. This makes it useful for geocaching. The Geocaching mode helps you by remembering what you find and pulling up the next one. That's about it.

 

Beyond that, if you want to see topographical detail you can buy topo maps. If you want street routing you can buy CN or similar. The basemap is free and minimal; all of the US fits in the unit's internal memory. This is quite a feat, and does entail some tradeoffs (like minimal detail)

 

I have written some notes on one's first GPS that may help.

 

Perhaps your decision now is "do I return the Legend for something simpler, or pony up for maps". The legend HCX without maps is not necessarily the best bang-for-buck proposition.

[+Renegade Knight]

....I have a Nuvi 650 that has City Select already loaded on it, which is great to get around in the car, but not what I want for the trails. My suspicion is that I'll have to purchase and load City Navigator onto the Legend to get any street detail, and TOPO to get any trail detail- am I right?...

 

You have it. That doesn't mean that the GPS can't lead you to the cache. You just won't have fancy schmancy maps to help.

[jmundinger]

I just purchased Garmin Legend HCX because of the geocache feature on it. When I turned it on, the basemap seemed non-existent- hardly any information or detail at all, and I can't see how this unit would help me navigate to a cache. I loaded the MapSource program onto my computer, but it doesn't have any more detail or information.

 

MapSource allows you to transfer data back and forth between your computer and your GPS. If you have GoogleEarth loaded on your computer, you can also view data displayed in MapSource in GoogleEarth. Under most situations it is helpful to have basic map information about the location of the cache - which you can view from the description of the cache. You don't really need the map to locate caches once your search actually begins.

[Team Fera]

I have written some notes on one's first GPS that may help.

 

Perhaps your decision now is "do I return the Legend for something simpler, or pony up for maps". The legend HCX without maps is not necessarily the best bang-for-buck proposition.

 

Thank you so much for the link. I've done a lot of reading on it- I guess I was expecting to have a similar experience to the one I have with my Nuvi, but obviously I was wrong.

 

I guess the next question, other than "do I return it" is what maps I should focus on first to get the most "bang for my buck." Or whether there is another GPSr I should be looking at instead. I do like the features of the Legend, and the reception that I've gotten, so I suppose the remaining questions are the maps.

[+asromzek]

I purchased a Vista HCx recently and picked up the Topo maps for around $70 on amazon, and a 2GB micro SD card from bestbuy for $35. They have quite a few roads on the map, but you can't autoroute to a destination like you can with the city navigator maps. I was more concerned having my unit show the correct location of waterways, instead of displaying that I was in the middle of a river at work. I use a nuvi 200 for getting me there by vehicle, and the vista finishes the job. Oh, and the topo maps don't have an unlock code, so you can use them on multiple units. The city navigator maps are limited to a single GPSr.

[Team Fera]

I purchased a Vista HCx recently and picked up the Topo maps for around $70 on amazon, and a 2GB micro SD card from bestbuy for $35. They have quite a few roads on the map, but you can't autoroute to a destination like you can with the city navigator maps. I was more concerned having my unit show the correct location of waterways, instead of displaying that I was in the middle of a river at work. I use a nuvi 200 for getting me there by vehicle, and the vista finishes the job. Oh, and the topo maps don't have an unlock code, so you can use them on multiple units. The city navigator maps are limited to a single GPSr.

You bring up another good noob question for me: will the Topo map show where trail heads are located? I'm fine with using my nuvi to get to the trail head, but once I venture out, I want something more rugged. If I load Topo onto my Legend, will that show streams, creeks, and trails?

[+embra]

Topo 2008 will have some trail data, but it will not be complete. Topo map programs are rather notorious for being incomplete in this regard. Your best bet for trail data is to check some of the online trail libraries.

 

Streams and creeks--you can expect pretty good coverage on those. The Garmin web site should have a web viewer of any area you specify so you can see how detailed the maps are.

[+Cacheoholic]

Since you have a nuvi I would recommend buying the Topo Maps. I have City Navigator and Topo on my 60SCx but don’t hardly ever use the City Navigator since I've bought an auto navigation GPS. I only use the 60CSx while walking so the Topo map work better for me.

[+LECTRAGLIDE]

[From one newbie to another .

You have a better unit than I . At least i think so . Mine came with a basemap that has some topo and some roads .

Im gonna ask a stupid question have you zoomed in and out on it You my be all the way zoomed in to the point that there is no detail to show .

 

I have a gpsmap 60 . MINE IS A MAPPING GPSR .So maybe this will not help you .But I had a similar

experience after downloading waypoints I saw nothing till I zoomed out .{ Newbie experience .}

 

Ps I have a geko 101 that you can only manual put in co-ords and to be honest once you get to near where the cache is, none of the other stuff matters . I navigated to my 1st 3 caches with the geko

No roads, no topo, no city nav, or mapsouce .

 

I bought topo I have no use for it so far but I only have been caching for a few mnths.

Edited January 16, 2008 by LECTRAGLIDE