+Cape_Gypsy Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Just bought the new garmin colorado today at Due South in Canal Walk shopping centre. I'm very impressed so far... Can't wait to try out the new Wherigo modules. I'll be making my own module for all you other garmin colorado owner's soon... Quote Link to comment
+the pooks Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Lucky sod. I'm trying very hard but haven't yet managed to justify dumping a working unit to blow megabucks on a new toy. I'll have to make do with sitting on the sidelines and watching! Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Price on the unit - R6400? What mapping does that include. Looks like preloaded SD cards to me, or does it come with Garmap? We need a run down on it's accuracy.... GPS Wars here we go again. Does it match up to the Vista HCx and the GPSMap 60 CSx under cover? Down gorges and the like? Keep us informed.... Quote Link to comment
+Cape_Gypsy Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 The price is R6400. It comes with the GARMAP African Series 2007 DVD. No SD Card included, but there's enough space to transfer maps to the unit using mapsource. I can't compare to Vista HCx and the GPSMap 60 CSx because i have never owned any of those units. Looking on the net i see that there is a battery performance issue with the colorado. USB cable to connect to pc, no ac adapter. I like the one handed operation capability using the rock 'n roller wheel. the display is very nice with shading capability when drawing mountains. All i can think of at the moment... Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Find someone with the other two units and maybe try a test with them. Great way to test the units is all head for the same caches following the same route and then comparing accuracy at the cache. Try for heavy cover and gorges. I like the one handed ability of the Colorado but the price, eish! Quote Link to comment
+Cape_Gypsy Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 Whats interesting is that outdoors the colorado has a gps accuracy of 3 meters with WAAS, and i'm able to get a weak signal indoors with an accuracy of about 20 meters... Quote Link to comment
+Wazat Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 (edited) I get the same on my Etrex Vista HCx although indoors it varies. I have been down to 6 meters. Right now I get between 25-32 meters though. But it is raining and heavily overcast. The WAAS bit involves a set transmitter that the satellite communicates back and forth with to keep an accurate reading of the position of a set co-ordinate on land. I am not aware if the one in South Africa is up yet. I recall it was supposed to be in the Bronkhorstspruit area. So aside from the satellite triangulating your position, it also makes sure that the triangulation of the WAAS tower corresponds to what it should be, therefore it makes the accuracy of your position better. That is why you get the 3 meter accuracy on the GPS. I guess that the WAAS must be functioning in SA as I go back to some far away caches and get spot on each time. Does anyone know if the WAAS reference point is up in SA. I did training with Avnic back in 2005 and they mentioned it been in the pipeline. What is the battery life like? Edited March 15, 2008 by Wazat Quote Link to comment
+cincol Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Intersting reading about the Colorado on this thread. I was looking at one recently but the price is way over the top - even here where GPSr's are relatively cheap. As a comparison, the Vista HCx is R2350 and the GPS60 CSx is R3000. The Colorado 300 is R4200, the 400 at R4600 and 400i at R4800. That is a huge difference in price in my book. However I see on the Garmin SA site that the Vista HCx is priced at R5100 and the 60CSx at R6800. It is beyond me why the huge price difference between the Vista HCx and 60CSx in SA!! At R6400 the Colorado doesn't look like such a bad buy in SA, especially against the background that the 60CSx is supposedly "old" technology versus the Vista HCx and the Colorado.. On the other hand a Colorado would be almost useless here given the topography of Qatar and the general lack of caches and other uses for the GPSr. Essentially it is used for safety here in that it provides a "way out" of the desert should you lose your way. I certinly don't need to Colorado to give me a 3-D view of the sand dunes! Looking forward to some more comparisons and discussion around the use of the Colorado. All in all it is an interesting piece of equipment, albeit of novelty value for me right now! Happy caching cincol Quote Link to comment
+Cape_Gypsy Posted April 12, 2008 Author Share Posted April 12, 2008 I see that cape union mart has also finally got the Garmin Colorado 300 for the same price as aother stores (could expect no less ). I see the price of the 60Csx has come down a bit... think they are about R4500 now. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Does anyone know if the WAAS reference point is up in SA. I did training with Avnic back in 2005 and they mentioned it been in the pipeline. In January 2007 there were supposedly 30 active stations. Quote Link to comment
+LeonW Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 (edited) WAAS-like stations in South Africa is not available to our consumer GPS'r. They are for high end paying customers. Here is a quote from Trignet: " Hi Johan,Currently there are 44 stations within the TrigNet network of which 34 are realtime stations. These stations form part of the DGPS network of South Africa. The DGPS network is base on a network solution and is not a WAAS network. Users can receive corrections via the Internet by using the NTRIP protocol. The service is free to all users and if a user can connect to the Internet he/she can receive the DGPS corrections.If you are interested in receiving these corrections I would suggest that you contact your receivers vendor in SA to assist you setting you receiver up to receive the DGPS corrections.Please feel free to contact me if you need more info.Regards Stephan KochControl Industrial TechnicianDirectorate: Survey ServicesT: +27 (0)21 658 4362F: +27 (0)21 658 4357" as could be found from this link: Link on WAAS. Bottom line: No WAAS yet, probably ever... Edited April 14, 2008 by LeonW Quote Link to comment
+colinaly Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 As a comparison, the Vista HCx is R2350 and the GPS60 CSx is R3000. The Colorado 300 is R4200, the 400 at R4600 and 400i at R4800. That is a huge difference in price in my book. However I see on the Garmin SA site that the Vista HCx is priced at R5100 and the 60CSx at R6800. It is beyond me why the huge price difference between the Vista HCx and 60CSx in SA!! The price difference may be because you are not comparing the same thing. The models sold in SA generally include the South African map set software. I have checked prices in the US in the past which also looked a lot cheaper at first glance, but by the time you add the software to the price there is not a significant difference. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Bottom line: No WAAS yet, probably ever... Interesting. I usually keep my WAAS/EGNOS disabled. Switched it on today and according to the GPSr it is receiving WAAS correction. The EPE and position remained the same. Typically get an EPE between 2-4m in Gauteng. Quote Link to comment
+GlobalRat Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 (edited) The price difference may be because you are not comparing the same thing. The models sold in SA generally include the South African map set software. I have checked prices in the US in the past which also looked a lot cheaper at first glance, but by the time you add the software to the price there is not a significant difference. Yep, when I purchased my unit, purchasing it overseas (chepest I could find in the EU: Atlantic basemap)and then still having to buy the SA mapset vs. buying it locally (cheapest I could find), ended up being exactly the same, to the cent in fact. Edited April 15, 2008 by GlobalRat Quote Link to comment
+Cape_Gypsy Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Bottom line: No WAAS yet, probably ever... Interesting. I usually keep my WAAS/EGNOS disabled. Switched it on today and according to the GPSr it is receiving WAAS correction. The EPE and position remained the same. Typically get an EPE between 2-4m in Gauteng. I also get those little 'D' letters in the bars on the satellite screen on my colorado 300? Wonder if that means waas is working? Quote Link to comment
+LeonW Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Wonderlike nuus daardie GlobalRat. I also used to keep my WAAS OFF and after reading your post and that of Cape_Gypsy I switched it ON and I could not stop dancing of joy! WAAS is enabled through that satellite Number 39 - the Inmarsat IOR-W (III-F5)(Indian Ocean Region West) (PRN 126; ID 39) located over the Kongo. My Estimated Accuracy on the 60CSx is 1 (one) meter!!!!! Never thought we will see WAAS in South Africa. I request all Geocachers to go and average their caches coordinates again with WAAS enabled to make it easier for me to find. Thanks again GlobalRat and Cape_Gypsy for spotting that huge announcement for us. Quote Link to comment
+george_k Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I also get those little 'D' letters in the bars on the satellite screen on my colorado 300? Wonder if that means waas is working? This is just a guess, but maybe it means that the measurements from those particular satellites have Differential corrections applied to them. George Quote Link to comment
+Bouts777 Posted August 16, 2008 Share Posted August 16, 2008 I recently received my Colorado 300. I won it in a competition from Garmin. It's great and everything but I just cannot figure out how to load co ordinates onto it. To load caches from the pc is no problem but I had to give up on multi caches as I don't know how to manually upload co-ords. Please help. Bouts. Quote Link to comment
+Ysbeer Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I recently received my Colorado 300. I won it in a competition from Garmin. It's great and everything but I just cannot figure out how to load co ordinates onto it. To load caches from the pc is no problem but I had to give up on multi caches as I don't know how to manually upload co-ords. Please help. Bouts. Hallo Bouts. I've got my Colorado about 2 months ago, and i love it! The way i work with multi's is to generate a new waypoint, and then edit the coords for the multi. As far as i know you cannot edit a geocache waypoints if you downloaded it as a gpx file. Hope this helps, Cheers for now, Willem Quote Link to comment
+Bouts777 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hi Willem. Thank you for responding. I got more or less the same answer from Garmin but still have to try it. Did you get your month free premium subscription? Bouts. Quote Link to comment
+Bosveldklong Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 I also get those little 'D' letters in the bars on the satellite screen on my colorado 300? Wonder if that means waas is working? This is just a guess, but maybe it means that the measurements from those particular satellites have Differential corrections applied to them. George Wow,I always wondered what that little "D" stands for!Thanks for giving at least some good ideas! Quote Link to comment
+Ysbeer Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 Hi Willem. Thank you for responding. I got more or less the same answer from Garmin but still have to try it. Did you get your month free premium subscription? Bouts. Haai Bouts, I'm a premium member already... Till later, Willem Quote Link to comment
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