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Beta Update for Colorado ver 2.51


cyber6

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Several things I noticed using 2.51.

 

The altimeter graph (altitude, ambient pressure and barometer) all seem to work much better. No big jumps down to 2mb on the pressure graph around the time the unit is turned on. More testing is needed but it seemed like a big improvement.

 

GO$Rs

 

The barometer still doesn't record data when the unit is off even thought the "Save Data Always" option is chosen.

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The 2.51 Beta software update seems to have made my GPS less sensitive. Normally on a warm startup the GPS would have a lock before the startup was even done. Basicall as soon as I could see the map I would have a lock. Now that does not happen. It doesn't take long but it is less sensitive. I also noticed that when indoors my signal struggles to maintain a lock.

 

Maybe the unit was too sensitive before and gave crappy signals too much creedance. If that is the case then I can understand it. Otherwise, not so much.

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I haven't noticed a change in acquisition time with mine... maybe we're just looking too hard for changes :laughing:

 

Plus, can we stop trying to make the Colorado a 60CSx? I for one bought it for what it is, not what I wish it was. If all they did in the future was enhance the current features I'd be one happy customer. (Might be the wrong thread for that statement, but I had to get that off my chest.)

Edited by XopherN71
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maybe we're just looking too hard for changes :laughing:

 

 

There is definately a change in time. Mine too used to lock on almost as soon as maps appear. Now I have even had cases where I lost sat. completely. Never had either one of these things happen before. We love our 400T, just hate to see it go backwards on an update.

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I just did some tests and the 2.51 still locks in the same amount of time. The only difference I see is that 2.40 had the first sats that locked up would flash blue and white for a few seconds and then lock up Blue. The 2.51 doesn't flash blue and white it just waits for lock and turns blue. So its the same time just looks different for me.

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Agreed...

 

As long as we remember it's a beta release and use the thread here to to that effect I think we'll be in good shape to have something to look back on and keep track of what is fixed and what isn't.

 

Guess I'm the odd man out since I updated mine to the beta release within 30 minutes of it being in my hands. Thanks for doing the time test, I've actually been quite impressed with the lock time (like some have mentioned, it occasionally gets a lock by the time the map is displayed).

Edited by XopherN71
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I just powered mine on in the basement, middle of the house with shades closed. Got a lock by the time the map displayed.

 

Basically short of wrapping it in tinfoil I put it in about the worst scenario I was comfortable with.

 

:laughing:

 

Maybe it's a location thing right now... did it just start today?

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Today I placed a new puzzle cache with just my 400t (my 76C should be up for sale as much as I have used it lately)...lots of waypoint marking was required, as well as a lot of turning on and off when driving between parks. I just upgraded to 2.51beta and it seems to boot up a bit slower than it did with 2.40. No complaints. Just an observation. Maybe on the order of 10-20 seconds longer. With careful waypoint marking I was getting really accurate waypoints. I marked some points, drove to work, carved and painted a few "puzzle pieces", drove back, and used my GPS to return to the exact spots I'd picked out earlier. I am really happy with it. Found the "move waypoint to current position" feature when checking my freshly marked waypoints. It was, overall, and great learning experience. I really love my 400t!

 

Sunspot activity peaks on an 11 year cycle. The sunspot activity was last peaked in 2000...you can tell because it has the effect of making an awesome aurora borealis that you can see further and further South (at least here in Michigan). My sister and I saw a great aurora borealis last in 2003, but nothing-not even a peep-since then. I am hoping to see a great a.b. during my hike to Isle Royale this year, but peak will be in 2011.

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To reposition a waypoint.

 

Move to the new location, WhereTo?->Waypoints->[select waypoint]->Options->Edit Waypoint->Reposition Here.

 

GO$Rs

 

Well, once again they were unclear on the concept. It is seldom that I have the luxury to update a position when I am exactly at new desired physical location. What was wrong with the 60CS method for relocating a Waypoint? What is so hard about duplicating an existing function? And, yes, as a matter of fact, I do want this thing to morph into a 60CSx on steroids. The 60 family is loaded with well-designed features. They have 'fixed' many features that that were not broken.

 

As long as I have the floor: battery life is better but not all that it could be. I put 'dead' batteries rejected by my CO into a 60CS-----the batteries show 3 bars on the older unit!! Only reason that I can see for this wastage on the CO is that Garmin saved some money on its CO power management circuitry.

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The 60C family allows a waypoint to be repositioned by 'dragging' it to a new location, such as the true trail intersection as noted on one's track log. The CO will allow one to reposition a waypoint (via an arcane series of button pushes) to one's current location. This is an improvement over earlier CO versions which required repositioning by entering an new lat/long, i.e., determine the new lat/long/altitude by multiple button pushes then record using paper + pencil then more button pushes to get to the waypoint page then some tedious rock 'n roller action and a fair amount of time, the waypoint is finally redefined at a new location. The other option is to mark a new waypoint, assign an interim name (more tedium on the wheel), delete the old waypoint, rename the new waypoint to the old waypoint's name (more wheel tedium).....kinda like the way it was 15 years ago.

 

Beta testing the CO with seasoned trail users (before inflicting it on the public) would have revealed this shortcoming when it was cheap to fix. Does this sound like American carmaker behavior: let the new owner do beta testing, we'll fix it next year; let the new owner do post-delivery quality checks, he is highly motivated to find problems...and better yet, some owners aren't that fussy and we won't have to fix the problem at all; think of the money we'll save!

 

This same discussion applies to scrolling away from current position on the map page: the 60C family provides cursor position + distance + bearing from current position. This is missing from the CO too, the bandaid fix in 2.4? is to push the enter button and get STATIC lat/long/dist but no bearing.

 

But the CO screen is gorgeous and the elevation profile display is improved over the 60C family. However, it takes more than a pretty face.....................

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The 60C family allows a waypoint to be repositioned by 'dragging' it to a new location....

 

I am so incredibly happy they got rid of that useless feature. It was so easy to accidentally move a waypoint. There was no way to undo it and you could completely lose a Geocache because of it.

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The 60C family allows a waypoint to be repositioned by 'dragging' it to a new location....

 

I am so incredibly happy they got rid of that useless feature. It was so easy to accidentally move a waypoint. There was no way to undo it and you could completely lose a Geocache because of it.

I never "remembered" that until you just mentioned it. I was forever accidentally moving a geocache this way since I usually selected my next geocache on the map, clicked on it, etc.. That was bad, I hated it,.

 

However, since geocaches are now in GPX file and can't be edited, it'd be nice if regular waypoints could be moved the 60 series way.

 

edit : changed unit to until ( doh! )

Edited by nicolo
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The ability to move a waypoint or geocache isn't necessarily a bad idea its just the way Garmin implemented it on the 60csx which caused problems. You shouldn't be allowed to move a waypoint with a single key press, a simple dialog that asked "Do you really want to move this waypoint? Yes/No" would have fixed the issue.

 

I agree that it was a pain, I DNF'ed a cache because of it once and then was very careful to avoid it in the future.

 

GO$Rs

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Is it possible to revert to 2.40 after you upgrade to 2.51 BETA? if so, how?

 

thanks.

Manually download the 2.4 firmware and then install ( i.e. don't use Web Updater )? I think that you can do that.

 

... hmm, maybe not. It appears as if only the beta f/w is downloadable. The rest is via Web Updater. I could have sworn that the previous "production" firmware was downloadable. A link anyone?

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Thanks guys. My 400t was shipped with v2.40 and I have yet to run into any major problems... so I just wanted to make sure I had way to revert back to a 'stable' firmware should I need to...

 

Despite the "beta" tag on 2.51, it is much more stable than 2.40.

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Thanks guys. My 400t was shipped with v2.40 and I have yet to run into any major problems... so I just wanted to make sure I had way to revert back to a 'stable' firmware should I need to...

 

Despite the "beta" tag on 2.51, it is much more stable than 2.40.

 

Definitely. I can't think of any new issues that are directly attributable to 2.51, there were many that have been fixed.

 

GO$Rs

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The drivers installed for me when I plugged the 400T in, with spanner mode active. This was before I installed spanner. The PVT worked right away after the drivers were installed. Then I installed spanner and it let me use OZIExplorer which is great.

I don't have Ozi to verify but I'm pretty sure you don't need Spanner - I think Ozi supports native PVT.

 

GO$Rs

I am trying to use my Colorado together with Ozi, but have some problems. On my old PC (XP) it works fine both in "spanner mode" and PVT mode to get the position into Ozi and track where you are. BUT I can´t upload waypoints or routes from Ozi to Colorado. Has anybody succeded with this.

 

Furter more, on my new PC I have Vista and it seams that spanner doesn´t support that. Is that right, or am I searhing on the wrong place?

 

Sorry for any strange english, my native language is swedish.

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Well, I start my car a few times a day, and it seems that at least one of those times the Colorado hangs on start up. Unplugging does not do the trick; nor does holding the power button.....Anyone else???

 

Whenever I see the hang on startup (at the Garmin logo) it seems to be related to the time stops/slow to lock issue. After I pull the batteries and restart I see that the time is off and the unit takes a long time to lock.

 

GO$Rs

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I am trying to use my Colorado together with Ozi, but have some problems. On my old PC (XP) it works fine both in "spanner mode" and PVT mode to get the position into Ozi and track where you are. BUT I can´t upload waypoints or routes from Ozi to Colorado. Has anybody succeded with this.

 

Furter more, on my new PC I have Vista and it seams that spanner doesn´t support that. Is that right, or am I searhing on the wrong place?

 

 

Spanner mode allows you to get position only. If you want to get/put waypoints/tracks/routes you need to use file transfer. I'm assuming Ozi will read/write gpx files. If so these FAQs should help:

 

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Data+Transfer#toc2

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Data+Transfer#toc3

 

Spanner is not supported on Vista. From Garmin's Spanner page:

 

WARNING: Spanner will be updated to support Vista in the upcoming weeks. Right now the Spanner download does not support Windows Vista.

 

GO$Rs

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I am trying to use my Colorado together with Ozi, but have some problems. On my old PC (XP) it works fine both in "spanner mode" and PVT mode to get the position into Ozi and track where you are. BUT I can´t upload waypoints or routes from Ozi to Colorado. Has anybody succeded with this.

 

Furter more, on my new PC I have Vista and it seams that spanner doesn´t support that. Is that right, or am I searhing on the wrong place?

 

 

Spanner mode allows you to get position only. If you want to get/put waypoints/tracks/routes you need to use file transfer. I'm assuming Ozi will read/write gpx files. If so these FAQs should help:

 

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Data+Transfer#toc2

http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Data+Transfer#toc3

 

Spanner is not supported on Vista. From Garmin's Spanner page:

 

WARNING: Spanner will be updated to support Vista in the upcoming weeks. Right now the Spanner download does not support Windows Vista.

 

GO$Rs

Thank you for your reply.

 

There is a way to import and export gpx files but unfortunally, changing between "spanner mode" and "disk mode" in the Colorado by pulling cables and re-boots is not a convinient way of working. To be honnest, it sounds so inconvinient so I have not even tried if it works together with Ozi. With my old Garmin 12XL it works fine with PVT mode to upload and download routes and WPs. I just have to set the unit in Garmin mode instead of NMEA. PVT works fine for positioning so some support is there.

 

Regaring spanner to Vista it looks like Garmin has said that it will come in some weeks since February 8, 2007. It has at least been written like that since the last 3 weeks when I have been looking.

 

Vi hörs!

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I am trying to use my Colorado together with Ozi, but have some problems. On my old PC (XP) it works fine both in "spanner mode" and PVT mode to get the position into Ozi and track where you are. BUT I can´t upload waypoints or routes from Ozi to Colorado. Has anybody succeded with this.

 

Furter more, on my new PC I have Vista and it seams that spanner doesn´t support that. Is that right, or am I searhing on the wrong place?

 

Sorry for any strange english, my native language is swedish.

 

Colorados PVT supports up to now only Position (Moving Map in OZI).

Up- / downloads of routes waypoints and tracks are not working

 

With the Spanner SW, Virtual COM Port on a Windows XP it does not work reliable.

 

With gpsbabel ( http://www.gpsbabel.org/ ) reading the position form the Colorado and saving as track in a file works fine on Windows XP and Linux.

 

/usr/bin/gpsbabel -T -i garmin -f usb: -o kml -F track.kml

 

/usr/bin/gpsbabel -D2 -T -i garmin -f usb:

...

Capability A919:

Capability A1010:

Capability A918: D918

Link_type 1 Device_command 0

Waypoint: Transfer -1 Type -1

Route: Transfer -1 Header -1 Type -1

Track: Transfer -1 Type -1

Sat Apr 12 18:13:04 2008

47.366243N 8.545481E 471.899902

Sat Apr 12 18:13:05 2008

47.366243N 8.545481E 471.899902

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Colorados PVT supports up to now only Position (Moving Map in OZI).

Up- / downloads of routes waypoints and tracks are not working

 

With the Spanner SW, Virtual COM Port on a Windows XP it does not work reliable.

Thank you for confirming my observations.

I have looked further into this and not even course is supported corrctly. If I use GpsGate I get the course.

I hope that Garmin vill improve this soon!

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So where can you get it.... it is not in the "all downloads" list on the Garmin site yet. Is it through the garmin updater software? (at work and can't try it till I get on my home computer)

Hi, regarding beta 2.51 I updated both of my Colorado 300's through the web updater while on the phone with a trouble shooter at Garmin. The 2.51 does not yet appear on the drop downs. I was glad to have some handholding. :Dave

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After receiving my replacement 300 and now running v.2.51 beta all my clock issues are resolved. Another thing I noticed while my son and I were caching today with this new unit the battery life is vastly improved. I'm using Sanyo 2700 mAh NiMH rechargeables currently, and after 6 hrs of constant caching using auto navigating, WAAS enabled, compass off, 15 sec backlight, reading full descriptions etc, and switching thru various screens all the time, I still had 4 full bars indicated! Finally, a great operating 300!

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I just upgraded to 2.51 for my 4 day trip through MA, RI, an CT. Prior to the upgrade I was targetting in to 1 foot, after the upgrade my distance is way off and it jumps all over. I was going to stick with 2.4 but let the hype of improvements get to me. Now I regret it completely and had a miserable day of getting 1 cache. I will give it a little more time, but if it doesnt settle down I will go back to 2.4

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yes, I calibrate quite often. I the case of the last two catches I went after I calibrated the compass while standing close by the caches. In one case my distance jumped from 4 feet to 35 feet with me only taking 2 steps. Again, with 2.4 I had dead on numbers and now it does nothing but jump when I get close to the cache.

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yes, I calibrate quite often. I the case of the last two catches I went after I calibrated the compass while standing close by the caches. In one case my distance jumped from 4 feet to 35 feet with me only taking 2 steps. Again, with 2.4 I had dead on numbers and now it does nothing but jump when I get close to the cache.

Calibrating or not calibrating the compass is not going to have any effect on the distance to the cache reported by the unit. The only thing that a properly calibrated compass buys you is the ability to see the "red arrow" (relative direction to the cache) when you are standing still or moving slowly. When you are moving faster, the unit determines the direction of travel (and hence the direction of the red arrow) from satellite data, not the compass.

 

Likely, what you are seeing here is random twitches in the apparent location computed by the unit. This is inherent in high-sensitivity receivers, although some cachers do think it is worse with the Colorado. The effect is most prominent in any situation where multi-path reception is possible. Good examples include dense urban areas, indoor locations (even near a window) and areas near bluffs or steep hills. To see this effect, stand still, dial your map display up so you can see very small details, and watch the track accumulate on the display. You will see a gradually building web of track around your current location.

 

That said, calibrate early and often if you are going to use the compass at all. You must calibrate it at least every time you change the batteries. You might also want to recalibrate it when you travel far enough for the declination in your new location to differ significantly from that in your old location. (In theory, I think the Colorado has enough information to correct for this since it can give you true north or magnetic bearings. On the other hand, I don't see a setting for turning auto magnetic variation on and off, such as what you saw on older Garmin receivers. So I'm not sure.) Can't hurt to recalibrate when in doubt.

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That is my frustration. Before 2.51 my readout brought me to the 1 foot mark without a jump on my caches, after 2.51 the thing jumps like a rabbit and never states I am closer than 4 feet. I may end up reverting back to 2.4 and see if it stops jumping.

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That is my frustration. Before 2.51 my readout brought me to the 1 foot mark without a jump on my caches, after 2.51 the thing jumps like a rabbit and never states I am closer than 4 feet. I may end up reverting back to 2.4 and see if it stops jumping.

There are an awful lot of factors that influence the position jumps. These include characteristics of the location, satellite constellation at the time, and so forth. And 2.51 did not replace the chip set code, which is still 2.60. Please post your experience if you do revert to 2.40 -- but it's going to be hard to compare apples to apples.

 

I have not loaded 2.51, so I can't comment directly. (I do software for a living. I don't touch beta code if I can help it.)

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Just getting my feet wet with the Colorado 400t - first foray to the dark side, so I have nothing Garmin-wise to compare it to...

 

However, I did notice that while routing with CN 2009 that the zoom level (scale) is not shown on the screen. Is this a bug, or a trait that CN has on all units?

 

In addition, my hearing is about as good as it gets, and boy is that routing beep a quiet one! I would also like to see key pad tones be a different option from alarms/proximity/routing tones - do I really have to have keypad tones on to hear routing tone?

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Hi Dosido!

 

This zoom scale doesn't have anything to do with the maps - just the map orientation setting. In automotive view there is no visible zoom scale. In north up/track up orientation you will get a zoom level (scale) no matter which maps you are using. Originally I thought that this was intentional since automotive view is a perspective view, there really isn't a scale, but now I believe this is a bug. If you have automotive view enabled and you autoroute to a destination far away (>1000 miles) while the route is calculating you'll see a little zoom level display show up between the soft key tags. It disappears once the route is calculated. It isn't a scale but it does show you relative zoom level.

 

There is no way to control audio level or have control over which audio tones you want to hear (or not). Right now it is all or nothing, particularly frustrating since the alarm clock tones are disabled when the beeps are turned off.

 

GO$Rs

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you can turn all tones on or off

no keytone and a alarmtone or routing tone is not possible.

 

But there are a lot of guys who are happy with this feature --> http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...p;#entry3464162

 

if you want no key tones you have to:

use the display of the colorado (without tones) :D

take a vista hcx with you to get the routing tones :D

and take a clock with alarm function with you to get a alarm :D

 

wake up garmin

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=192938

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