Garmin Oregon 300

[Bdyer3]

I bought this to Geocache but I'm not going to do to well if I can't figure this thing out. I have a $2 compass and no matter how much I move it around the arrow always points north. On this Garmin it hardley ever points North. Is there something I'm missing? Chek he bars and I have 4. Tried it in the middle of a field and same resullts. I'm about ready to send this thing back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bdyer3

[+Buddaman]

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/

[+StarBrand]

Sounds like the compass needs calibrated. It needs calibrated frequenly (after you change batteries, after being off for a few days, after a long drive) etc....

 

I find these electronic compasses to be nearly wothless - I turn them off. But many others love them and would not cache without.

[+fratermus]

I bought this to Geocache but I'm not going to do to well if I can't figure this thing out. I have a $2 compass and no matter how much I move it around the arrow always points north.

 

A GPS is not a $2 compass. Its job is not to point north. Having said that, I would imagine your GPS manual will tell you how to calibrate your electronic compass, and how often you have to do it.

 

I agree with the previous poster that considers the electronic compass near-worthless. The cardinal directions do not suddenly shift when one stops walking. If north was in that direction when you were walking then it is still in that direction now that you have stopped walking. How often are cardinal directions used in caching anyhow?

 

I giggle when I see cachers spinning in circles trying to calibrate their e-compass. "I'm going to pay extra money for this unit so I can stand in a field and spin while my buddies are hunting caches."

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

I bought this to Geocache but I'm not going to do to well if I can't figure this thing out. I have a $2 compass and no matter how much I move it around the arrow always points north. On this Garmin it hardley ever points North. Is there something I'm missing? Chek he bars and I have 4. Tried it in the middle of a field and same resullts. I'm about ready to send this thing back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bdyer3

 

Hi!

 

We have an Oregon as well. The normal way that it is set up is for the arrow to always point in the direction of the coordinates (the cache, in this case). The idea is that you follow the direction of the arrow. This works great until you get into heavy tree cover and then the poor little electronic compass has problems. (We carry a regular compass as well for really bad moments like that. But normally when the compass goes wacky we just follow the numbers instead. We've only pulled out the regular compass twice.)

 

You can make the compass somewhat more accurate by calibrating it. You'll find the calibration in the Set Up icon. Look for the selection marked "Heading". When you get in there choose "Press to begin compass calibration" and follow the instructions.

 

Finally, each time you open up your GPSr and take out the batteries to replace them, you should recalibrate your compass.

 

I don't think you should send it back. It is working as it is designed. For me I had to get my mind over the idea that the needle should point north and accept the idea that the needle points to where I should go. Then I started to really enjoy it.

 

Carolyn

Edited June 22, 2009 by Steve&GeoCarolyn

[Bdyer3]

Thanks all for your replies. Not sending it back. Figured out thru your responses that I need to print the User manual out because the Quick Start Guide doesn't give enough info. Time to do a little reading.