60csx or pn-40

[+Tigerz]

I asked before, but it wasn't answered....what is the need for an external antenna? I have seen people complain the PN-40 doesn't support this and am curious.

You don't say what type of GPSr you're currently using. With my old 60C, I needed an external antenna while traveling in a vehicle. Current GPSrs with the newer chipsets don't require such an antenna. Although it has happened, it's rare I lose signal in a vehicle with either my 60CSx or PN-40. In terms of acquiring and holding a signal, both units are capable of picking up a signal in the middle of the first floor of my two story home.

[+Rockin Roddy]

I asked before, but it wasn't answered....what is the need for an external antenna? I have seen people complain the PN-40 doesn't support this and am curious.

You don't say what type of GPSr you're currently using. With my old 60C, I needed an external antenna while traveling in a vehicle. Current GPSrs with the newer chipsets don't require such an antenna. Although it has happened, it's rare I lose signal in a vehicle with either my 60CSx or PN-40. In terms of acquiring and holding a signal, both units are capable of picking up a signal in the middle of the first floor of my two story home.

 

PN-40 as I said more in my following comment in that post.

 

Sorry to hear all the troubles you're having with your PN-40, wow! I am knocking on wood when I say I've not seen any problems to speak of and I'm still happy doing the send to GPS loading for caches (gives me a reason to pre-screen them as I load them anyway). Briansnat had troubles, you're having troubles....I hope DeLorme finds the fix!

[+TotemLake]

we really need a mod to close this thread. i have been reading pages of people blasting each other. i bought both a 60csx and a pn-40 yesterday and today and i will try them both out to see which i prefer.

It shows how passionate some people are about their opinions. Mod has already been in and put folks in their respective corners. This thread needs no forced closure.

[+Tigerz]

For what it's worth, my wife and I are in the process of returning our PN-40. While caching/hiking in the mountains of western NC over the weekend, I noticed two yellow bars on my battery. Before I could get my backpack off, much less get replacement batteries installed, the unit went dead. At the time I was using Cabonay's LiI rechargeables. I tried alkalines and regular Li batteries I had with me ... it would not come back to life. When I returned to my vehicle, I plugged it in a USB port off the cigarette lighter with the same results.

 

This is the third time I've had a PN-40 lock up like this. My first unit was repaired ("replaced back plastic") and then ultimately replaced altogether. This latest issue was on the replacement unit. I have shared my frustration with Chip Noble of DeLorme and offered to help with their testing/troubleshooting ... no response other than promises of inconsequential upgrades down the road. In my discussions with both Matt and Kevin (DeLorme tech support), they still do not appear to have a grip on what is happening. From my perspective, this power problem has become a no-brainer deal breaker. I can not be out on a trail somewhere and have this thing strand me like it did this weekend. It's one thing to shut down abruptly. It's an altogether different story to lock up and not come back to life.

 

Even ignoring their power problems for a moment ... given the other problems acquiring WAAS, not recovering from a loss of signal, corrupt cache pages, and kludges to get caches in to the unit, I personally just don't see the current PN-40 release as practical for any type of routine to serious geocaching.

 

I'm in the process of compiling my observations regarding the PN-40 and will lilkely post them. At last check, I had over a dozen pages of both strengths and opportunities.

 

Needless to say, I'm back to my old, but reliable 60CSx ...

[+embra]

I've seen just one drawback with Cab's battery (for those who may not know what it is, this is a third-party rechargeable Li-Ion available on eBay; it has higher capacity than the official Delorme Li-Ion and therefore longer life). When it runs out of power, it sinks like a stone. There's something like 30 seconds from the low power warning to bye-bye.

 

That I can live with, but it's a reasonable expectation when you put in new batteries the PN-40 should come back to life. FWIW, I gather that in some situations there is a capacitor that has to dissipate its charge before it will start up again. I've heard (not had occasion to try it myself) that 5 minutes without a battery in it may be enough to do that.

 

Reportedly the key combination of Page+Mark+Enter+Power at the same time, release all but Power will start it up from that state, too (if I understood what that reset was supposed to address). I'm pretty good at remembering that when I can access the wiki, not so good when I'm 10 miles from anything electrical.

 

Can't say you didn't give it a fair shake, Mike. Thanks for your contributions the the Delorme user community, and if they ever shakes this stuff out I'll try to remember to let you know.

 

Edit: typo

Edited March 26, 2009 by embra

[+Tigerz]

I've seen just one drawback with Cab's battery (for those who may not know what it is, this is a third-party rechargeable Li-Ion available on eBay; it has higher capacity than the official Delorme Li-Ion and therefore longer life). When it runs out of power, it sinks like a stone. There's something like 30 seconds from the low power warning to bye-bye.

 

That I can live with, but it's a reasonable expectation when you put in new batteries the PN-40 should come back to life. FWIW, I gather that in some situations there is a capacitor that has to dissipate its charge before it will start up again. I've heard (not had occasion to try it myself) that 5 minutes without a battery in it may be enough to do that.

 

Reportedly the key combination of Page+Mark+Enter+Power at the same time, release all but Power will start it up from that state, too (if I understood what that reset was supposed to address). I'm pretty good at remembering that when I can access the wiki, not so good when I'm 10 miles from anything electrical.

 

Can't say you didn't give it a fair shake, Mike. Thanks for your contributions the the Delorme user community, and if they every shakes this stuff out I'll try to remember to let you know.

Thanks Max. I just tried your Page+Mark+Enter+Power and the unit came to life. While on the phone with Matt, he only suggested Page+Mark+Enter. Independently, he then had me hold down the Power button alone. That sequence didn't work. During my earlier calls, even when I prompted them, they didn't have any diagnostic or troubleshooting suggestions other than to send it in. They also didn't ask any questions about how the unit was being used when the failure occurred. Matter of fact, according to customer service, their internal notes indicated I had a PN-20.

 

I'll say it again ... I just don't think they have a handle on what's causing the power problem. They're a small company with limited resources and backgrounds to troubleshoot this. What's troubling to me is the fact they won't solicit/accept help. Think about it ... this is a fundamental and serious problem with what is likely a major income producer for them.