Oregon 300 - mixed feelings, and possible problems

[+The Wotsits]

Hi

I have had an oregon 300 for about 8 months now, and I have found it excellent in terms of making geocaching easy - I can upload up to 2000 caches into into the oregon and all the information is there.

 

The problem I have is with accuracy and consistency of the unit. I have recently found one just because my iphone was far more accurate.

 

The following are the problems:

 

1. The compass jumps alot when walking - sometimes never staying in one position for more than a few seconds. Sometimes this doesn't happen, but when it does it is a problem. It can make it difficult to know where I am going.

 

2. There is a discrepancy between where it says the cache is when I am standing still and when I am moving - this is usually different between 30 and 45 degrees. I have tested and discovered it is most accurate when walking.

 

3. The touch screen sometimes does not respond

 

Points one and two have been like this since I received it. I am not sure whether it is a faulty unit, or whether the settings are wrong. I am geocaching in the UK. I would be interested in other peoples opinions of this unit.

[+StarBrand]

Many users or both the Colorado and Oregon series just turn the bulit-in Electronic compass off due to some differing amounts of erratic behaviors. Still, I must admit others refuse to cache without it.

 

I turned the compass off in my Colorado 300 because it was just to jumpy to suit my tastes.

 

A few notes though - do you calibrate the compass frequesntly??

 

Have you tried it with and without the compass turned on?

 

Do you hold it perfectly level while using the elctronic compass?

 

How close are you to the cache when observing this behavior?

[+Xantos10]

I was having the same issues and even talked to support at Garmin. I downloaded the 3.13 Beta SW and it appears to be working a lot better. My screen was freezing up before I installed the Beta SW and it did not do that last night.

[+Maingray]

Keep the firmware up to date.

 

Calibrate the compass. Hold it flat.

 

Re-calibrate the touch screen.

[+twolpert]

The problem with "jumping around while walking" may be affected by the speed with which you walk. While you are standing still or moving slowly, the Oregon (like virtually all units with an electronic compass) uses the compass to determine direction of travel (or the direction you are facing when standing still). At higher speeds, the unit uses satellite information to determine direction of travel. If you just happen to walk very near the cutover speed, the unit may switch back and forth between the two. However, in order for variation to be apparent, either the compass has to be out of calibration, you have to be holding the unit at an angle (rather than straight in front of you), or something in the environment (like that WWF belt buckle) is affecting the compass.

[+The Wotsits]

Keep the firmware up to date.

 

Calibrate the compass. Hold it flat.

 

Re-calibrate the touch screen.

How do you recalibrate the touch screen?

[+The Wotsits]

The problem with "jumping around while walking" may be affected by the speed with which you walk. While you are standing still or moving slowly, the Oregon (like virtually all units with an electronic compass) uses the compass to determine direction of travel (or the direction you are facing when standing still). At higher speeds, the unit uses satellite information to determine direction of travel. If you just happen to walk very near the cutover speed, the unit may switch back and forth between the two. However, in order for variation to be apparent, either the compass has to be out of calibration, you have to be holding the unit at an angle (rather than straight in front of you), or something in the environment (like that WWF belt buckle) is affecting the compass.

Could another GPS device affect performance - I carry my iphone with me, which has GPS on. Could turning that off make a difference

[+Searching_ut]

learning to navigate that last little bit to the cache can be an artform that has to be learned and developed. Myself when I'm still a hundred feet out or so I notice where the gps is pointing, walk sort of paralell to the point for a bit drawing another intersecting line in my head then head straight to where my mental lines cross.

 

As others have mentioned, your compass may need calibrated, or held differently. One other option might be to borrow and try some other GPS units to see if they work out for you. The PN-40 for example processes the signal in such a way as to provide a more stable position fix, and it also has a 3 axis compass that when combined result in less erratic movement as you get close to your waypoint.

[+g-o-cashers]

Keep the firmware up to date.

 

Calibrate the compass. Hold it flat.

 

Re-calibrate the touch screen.

How do you recalibrate the touch screen?

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Hardware#toc9

[+JetSkier]

Keep the firmware up to date.

 

Calibrate the compass. Hold it flat.

 

Re-calibrate the touch screen.

How do you recalibrate the touch screen?

Turn the unit off, then turn it back on and HOLD the power key until the prompt comes up. It takes about 30-40 seconds but it feels like an eternity!

 

JetSkier

[+twolpert]

Could another GPS device affect performance - I carry my iphone with me, which has GPS on. Could turning that off make a difference

Possible, but I think you'd have to be holding them very close together (like in one hand). It's not the GPS-ness, it's electric or magentic field interference. To give you an idea, a big part of the reason you should recalibrate the compass each time you change batteries is that differences in the fields generated by the current flow through the batteries affect the compass.

[+The Wotsits]

I have recalibrated the screen - made a huge difference thank you.

 

I have updated to software 3.13 (Beta), which I note makes a change to the threshold on compass, so I will find out tomorrow if that makes a difference.

 

Here comes the embarrassing part.....

 

I never knew you had to hold the GPS level for the compass to work (I know - typical bloke - should read the Manual).

 

I will try and see if that makes a difference.

 

Does that mean that a 3 axis GPS would be better in terms of the compass - is there a 3 axis GPS unit that offers the geocaching functionality of the Oregon??

 

Thanks for all of the support guys!!

[+StarBrand]

...

Does that mean that a 3 axis GPS would be better in terms of the compass - is there a 3 axis GPS unit that offers the geocaching functionality of the Oregon??

 

Thanks for all of the support guys!!

The Oregon 550T does!!

[Tahoe Skier5000]

I have recalibrated the screen - made a huge difference thank you.

 

I have updated to software 3.13 (Beta), which I note makes a change to the threshold on compass, so I will find out tomorrow if that makes a difference.

 

Here comes the embarrassing part.....

 

I never knew you had to hold the GPS level for the compass to work (I know - typical bloke - should read the Manual).

 

I will try and see if that makes a difference.

 

Does that mean that a 3 axis GPS would be better in terms of the compass - is there a 3 axis GPS unit that offers the geocaching functionality of the Oregon??

 

Thanks for all of the support guys!!

 

Yep, the only Oregon model that has a 3-axis compass is the 550t.

 

Another great GPS with a 3-axis compass is the PN-40 from Delorme. It is also cheaper than the 550t by quite a bit.

[+jeanne123]

Could another GPS device affect performance - I carry my iphone with me, which has GPS on. Could turning that off make a difference

 

The fact that your phone is a GPS receiver will have no effect. The fact that your phone is a radio transmitter might. The only way to turn off the transmitter is to turn off the phone.

[+Rockin Roddy]

I have recalibrated the screen - made a huge difference thank you.

 

I have updated to software 3.13 (Beta), which I note makes a change to the threshold on compass, so I will find out tomorrow if that makes a difference.

 

Here comes the embarrassing part.....

 

I never knew you had to hold the GPS level for the compass to work (I know - typical bloke - should read the Manual).

 

I will try and see if that makes a difference.

 

Does that mean that a 3 axis GPS would be better in terms of the compass - is there a 3 axis GPS unit that offers the geocaching functionality of the Oregon??

 

Thanks for all of the support guys!!

 

Yep, the only Oregon model that has a 3-axis compass is the 550t.

 

Another great GPS with a 3-axis compass is the PN-40 from Delorme. It is also cheaper than the 550t by quite a bit.

 

Yep, but the DeLorme won't be of much use to him due to location!

[+Jeep4two]

learning to navigate that last little bit to the cache can be an artform that has to be learned and developed. Myself when I'm still a hundred feet out or so I notice where the gps is pointing, walk sort of paralell to the point for a bit drawing another intersecting line in my head then head straight to where my mental lines cross.

 

As others have mentioned, your compass may need calibrated, or held differently. One other option might be to borrow and try some other GPS units to see if they work out for you. The PN-40 for example processes the signal in such a way as to provide a more stable position fix, and it also has a 3 axis compass that when combined result in less erratic movement as you get close to your waypoint.

 

Searching_Ut makes some great points. This type of 'straight line' methodology is very useful when you aren't confined to a trail as it really helps you 'see' a pretty good proximity of the cache location. I use it often.

[+The Wotsits]

Well guys - a huge thanks to you all. My GPS unit is now working better than it ever has, due to (I think) the new Beta software update (3.13) - it has made a huge difference to the difference between electronic compass and satellite bearings. Fantastic.

Also recallabrating the screen has made it much more responsive.

Now I just need to convince my wife to let me buy a 550t

 

Thanks for all of the help

[+Rockin Roddy]

learning to navigate that last little bit to the cache can be an artform that has to be learned and developed. Myself when I'm still a hundred feet out or so I notice where the gps is pointing, walk sort of paralell to the point for a bit drawing another intersecting line in my head then head straight to where my mental lines cross.

 

As others have mentioned, your compass may need calibrated, or held differently. One other option might be to borrow and try some other GPS units to see if they work out for you. The PN-40 for example processes the signal in such a way as to provide a more stable position fix, and it also has a 3 axis compass that when combined result in less erratic movement as you get close to your waypoint.

 

Searching_Ut makes some great points. This type of 'straight line' methodology is very useful when you aren't confined to a trail as it really helps you 'see' a pretty good proximity of the cache location. I use it often.

 

Not me...I own a PN-40!

[Spatial Distortion]

Well guys - a huge thanks to you all. My GPS unit is now working better than it ever has, due to (I think) the new Beta software update (3.13) - it has made a huge difference to the difference between electronic compass and satellite bearings. Fantastic.

Also recallabrating the screen has made it much more responsive.

Now I just need to convince my wife to let me buy a 550t

 

Thanks for all of the help

 

You can also try turning WAAS off if it is on and set the compass to Normal.

 

I did, and now my unit works great

Edited September 16, 2009 by grozecki

[+SilentWolf]

Yea the compass on this baby seems to be a stinker... I used it for the first couple of days, but seemed like I had to re-calibrate it a lot - even just getting in and out of the car (where it is held upright instead of level) seemed to foul it up. It did work good once it was calibrated. I decided to turn it off and try it that way, and I think I do like it better. (I'm running 3.20 just as a note)