Magellan Roadmate 2200 Help! Is it possible?

[Sizzlator]

I went on my first Geocaching the other day and was pretty disappointed. I was disappointed in the fact that I don't know how to use my GPS for the Geocaching. I've got the screen where it says Lat and Long, but it's not the same as everyone else. I found a cache called The Old Homestead by the Peapod Hobbits. The Lat and Long read, N41' 35.186" W71' 32.869". But my GPS reads different. It reads N41' 35'60" See my problem? The last four digits are not the same. Mine won't go three digits and only goes to 60", then to zero. So say I keep going North and instead of going to N41' 35'61" it goes to N41' 36'1", What gives? how do I read this thing?

[albertbowen]

I went on my first Geocaching the other day and was pretty disappointed. I was disappointed in the fact that I don't know how to use my GPS for the Geocaching. I've got the screen where it says Lat and Long, but it's not the same as everyone else. I found a cache called The Old Homestead by the Peapod Hobbits. The Lat and Long read, N41' 35.186" W71' 32.869". But my GPS reads different. It reads N41' 35'60" See my problem? The last four digits are not the same. Mine won't go three digits and only goes to 60", then to zero. So say I keep going North and instead of going to N41' 35'61" it goes to N41' 36'1", What gives? how do I read this thing?

 

I have a Roadmate 2000, so I feel your pain! My solution was to spend the $$ for a good handheld, something I can add maps to, i.e. the Garmin Vista HCX.

 

As far as the coordinates, our models display degrees-minutes-seconds. The coords for the cache example you cite above are in decimal format, degrees and thousandths of a degree. I believe in the cache listings there's a way to have the site change the display to the format you need.

 

60 sec to a minute, 60 min to a degree.. the roadmate series lat-long readout isn't all that precise, you'll only get accuracy to the nearest second, whereas decimal readouts can get 1/1000th of a minute, or 1/6000th of a degree, if my math is right. Our road boxes only give us 1/3600 of a degree, so decimal systems give almost twice the accuracy (if ya got a good chip, that is). So divide 60 seconds into 1000 pieces, and you can do the conversion.. N41' 35.186 W71' 32.869 should work out to N41 35' 11" W71 32' 52" I'm guessing.. something like that.

 

Happy hunting!

 

I found my Vista on Amazon for around $210.. looks like it's worth that much, anyway.

[sanramonhunter]

You can't change the format on the 2200. If you update the unit to a crossover about $100 after tax and shipping. You could then change the format to the standard xxx xx.xxx format when in the outdoor mode. The map update gets you the newest street maps and "unlocks" the crossover function of the 2200.

 

I have a 2200 and I had a crossover. You really can't geocache with the 2200 and I found the crossover very difficult to cache with. The unit would continually stop navigating me to the cache when I got within 100 ft of the destination. Got very annoying. If you were finding the maps in your area outdated then you might want to update the maps and give it a try yourself. If the street maps are fine for you then I would go buy a non-mapping handheld, you can get these for $100 or less. Use the 2200 to get driving directions so you are near the cache then bust out the handheld to get to ground zero. The etrex H would be a great option if you went this route. It's got the High sensativity receiver.

[sanramonhunter]

Also the new map update will make the driving side of the unit look much better. The graphics improve dramatically with the update.

[Sizzlator]

Also the new map update will make the driving side of the unit look much better. The graphics improve dramatically with the update.

 

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I have a Mac and I see that Magellan only does updates in PC formate. I'll have to run it by school to get the update. Know the most inexpensive GPS unit that is compatible w/ Geocaching to send it right to the unit?