Newbie with Dakota 10 compass pointer waaay off...

[+Geobounders]

We just received our Dakota 10 from Costco and went on our first hunt to find 3 caches.

 

Here's how I lock into a cache:

 

1. Let citynav take me close to the cache.

2. Once near (within 500 ft) I switch to the compass for guidance- this is where my issues start.

3. I assume the arrow on the compass along with the distance (usually feet) points me in the direction of the cache.

 

When we searched for our GC's this weekend, consistently the compass arrow pointed us in the wrong direction. How do I know? My daughter's geomate was dead-on accurate. She would head in one direction and my Dakota sent me in a totally opposite direction. We ended up using the geomate for the remainder of our searches.

 

Question: Is there a compass calibration feature with the Dakota 10? Or am I missing some sort of setting?

 

Everyone brags about the Dakota's ease of use and my limited experience has been terrible.

 

Thanks!!!!

 

GeoBounders

[+ecanderson]

Actually, we brag on the Dakota 20's ease of use when it comes to a compass...

 

Yes, there is a calibration procedure. What Garmin handheld would be complete without one? <grump grump>

 

Go to the 2nd screen to Setup.

 

Down arrow.

 

Heading.

 

Press to Begin Compass Calibration.

[+borrie869]

im not sure on the dakota but with my orgeon i used city nave to get me close to the cache then i was triyng to use the compass, the compass was point in the oppostie direction to the cache, turns out i didnt realise the compass was pointing to the road that it was auto routing for, needed to recalculate off road then the compass pointed directly to the cache, maybe something similar going on with the dakota

[+coggins]

Question: Is there a compass calibration feature with the Dakota 10? Or am I missing some sort of setting?

Your GPS does not have an Electronic compass, there is nothing to calibrate. You need to be moving for the unit to correctly orientate the goto pointer on the compass page.

 

What is happening is you are using City Navigator road maps and leaving the road and the goto pointer on the compass screen is pointing back at the road you came from.

 

What you need to do is set the unit to prompt for routing on road or off road, then when you park, recalculate the route and select off road. Now the goto pointer will give a direct route to the destination.

 

I don't have a Dakota, so someone else will have to provide you with setting the routing preferences, but it should be in the unit's setup.

[+jopasm]

I don't have CityNav, but you should be able to go to settings->Routing and make sure "Guidance Method" is set to "Off Road" and "Lock on Road" is set to "No".

 

Also, you might want to consider using profiles. If you go to the "Profile Change" screen you can select which profile to use. I'd leave the Automotive setup for On-road navigating and switch to the Geocache profile once you've stopped the car - make sure it's set for Off-Road routing. That way you don't have to keep changing settings.

[+ecanderson]

Interesting -- OP writes "10", I read "20".

 

So a revision... no, you have nothing to calibrate. And your red compass pointer is only accurate when you are moving fast enough for your GPS to have a sense of the direction you are moving vs. your target. If you stand still, or move slowly, it won't be of any use to you at all. It's one of several reasons that I opted for the "20" instead of the "10". My old unit was a Summit HC that has a proper electronic compass, and I couldn't give that up.

Edited March 22, 2010 by ecanderson

[+MADCRABBER]

My wife bought me this POS so I am stuck with it. The display is so small and limited it's an insult how fast it burns through batteries. I would find caches easier with a map. Garmin screwed the pooch with this one. Too bad they don't offer an upgrade program...to another brand's gear.