Garmin 60Cx, where are the "Tide Tables"

[+volosong]

I recently purchased a Garmin 60Cx, determining that since I carry an "analog" compass in my wanderings and have other ways of determining elevation, I'd rather save fifty bucks over the 60CSx and do have more use for the "Tide Tables" of the 60Cx. The Garmin web site, in a side-by-side comparison of the two show the only differences between the two as being that the CSx has the electronic compass and barometric altimeter while the Cx has "Tide Tables", which the CSx does not have.

 

However . . . where are these "Tide Tables"? I was expecting to find a tide table like page similar to the DeLorme PN-40 (which I also have). Like this...

 

 

The manual has nothing on this. Only thing anywhere near is the "Sun and Moon" page. which is worthless for tides. I purchased this unit specifically over the CSx because it did have Tide Tables. Is the Garmin website inaccurate and wrong?

[reef mapper]

Mine are under Find - Marine - Tide Station on the Csx.

Can't remember how to add a screen shot here.

[+3card]

I recently purchased a Garmin 60Cx, determining that since I carry an "analog" compass in my wanderings and have other ways of determining elevation, I'd rather save fifty bucks over the 60CSx and do have more use for the "Tide Tables" of the 60Cx. The Garmin web site, in a side-by-side comparison of the two show the only differences between the two as being that the CSx has the electronic compass and barometric altimeter while the Cx has "Tide Tables", which the CSx does not have.

 

However . . . where are these "Tide Tables"? I was expecting to find a tide table like page similar to the DeLorme PN-40 (which I also have). Like this...

 

 

The manual has nothing on this. Only thing anywhere near is the "Sun and Moon" page. which is worthless for tides. I purchased this unit specifically over the CSx because it did have Tide Tables. Is the Garmin website inaccurate and wrong?

 

Both the 60Cx and the 60CSx have tide tables. Press "find", then go into the "marine points" section, then into "tide stations". You can view specific tide station table data there.

[+volosong]

Not there! When I press the "Find" button, the only icons that show up are:

 

Waypoints

Geocache

Cities

Exits

Recent Find

 

Nothing about "Marine".

[+volosong]

sorry, duplicate post

 

Thanks for the quick responses. I have Garmin tech support on the phone right now, and he said the same thing. He now has me on hold to figure out why the marine icon is not showing up on my unit.

Edited April 6, 2009 by volosong

[+volosong]

Looks like it might be a firmware issue. My unit is running 3.80 and he said that there was a 3.90 version available. He is e-mailing me the url. After I update, will report back to close the loop in case anyone else runs into this "problem".

 

ten minutes later . . . nope, not a firmware problem. Now running 3.90 (of which the only change is ability to use maps greater than 2Gb). Back to the phones.

Edited April 6, 2009 by volosong

[+Timpat]

Not there! When I press the "Find" button, the only icons that show up are:

 

Waypoints

Geocache

Cities

Exits

Recent Find

 

Nothing about "Marine".

I have found we can download the Tide table data Here. This installs in MapSource as a map set which you then select along with your other various map types such as Topo, City Nav, etc. and upload it all. You then have Tide data in the 60Cx.

[+3card]

Not there! When I press the "Find" button, the only icons that show up are:

 

Waypoints

Geocache

Cities

Exits

Recent Find

 

Nothing about "Marine".

 

I would recommend using Timpat's suggestion of adding the Tide Points Map to Mapsource, then adding it along with your other maps. I could not remember the link, but it seem Timpat has listed it in his post. My girlfriend's GPS had your same issue a while back and adding the points this way cleared the issue. I believe some of the newer 60 series did not have the tide points added from the factory for whatever reason.

[+volosong]

SOLVED!

 

Timpat and 3card are correct. The second call to Garmin tech support resulted in the tech support guy giving me the url you show. The page is a little confusing, but grab the first link titled "Download Factory Tide Settings". The 1.35Mb download.

 

However, do not use the "updater" executable in that download. It only recognizes your unit if it is connected to a serial port. Instead, I had to use the "updater" executable included with the firmware upgrade. That one defaults to serial, but has a radio button to select USB.

 

Tide tables show up now, and I checked them side-by-side with my DeLorme PN-40. My first impressions are that even though the Garmin 60Cx has a larger screen, the aesthetics of the DeLorme PN-40 are more attractive. The DeLorme also contains more information on the initial tide page, such as times of high tides and low tides (two of each, for the day). The histogram of the tide profile on the Garmin is exaggerated vertically. Almost twice as tall as the DeLorme.

 

Entering "menu" and selecting "Show High/Lows" on the Garmin displays the times of the tides (and the magnitude). As might be expected, the times and magnitudes don't match up very closely, but close enough for kayaking and other on-water or shore based activities.

 

Now, all I need to do is figure out how to transfer maps from MapSource to the Garmin; and figure out how to make the tide page appear in the page sequence without having to press all kinds of buttons, such as selecting location, etc.

 

Thanks again for all the help.

 

p.s. The second tech guy I spoke to mentioned that they are seeing a lot of units shipping recently with this "problem". He did not have an indication why. When asked, he did say that is was a capability that is not being removed from the Cx devices. It must be a factory quality control issue, I would guess. If you purchase a Cx (or maybe even a CSx) and want tide tables, now you know how to "restore" the capability.

Edited April 6, 2009 by volosong

[+SD Marc]

My CSx didn't have tide tables until I added Topo Maps.