Triton 500 on Sale - Should I return it?

[+coco22]

I have recently started geocaching with my Blackberry Storm2 (9550) using Blackstar. Accuracy has been pretty good, ususally leading me within 5 feet of the cache. Blackstar supports paperless geocaching. Not perfect but good enough.

Figure it was time for a dedicated GPS. Ideally with Paperless capability.

 

Last week I ordered a Magellan Triton 500 since it was on sale for $99. Great deal!

Used it this past weekend. Under tree cover it was bouncing around and leading me in different directions in a 15-20ft radius. Under light tree cover and clouds.

Got frustrated and pulled out the Blackberry. Laid them both down and watched the screens. BB consistantly showed 1m to cache while the Triton jumped anywhere from 1-8m without being moved.

 

Back home I tested the electronic compass. Doesn't seem to work as expected. Usually doesn't align to north correctly until I walk a bit. How do I know I really have an electronic compass? Seems like it may be a 400 (no compass). The model number is shown only on the battery cover. Maybe switched with a 400 battery cover???

 

Questions:

 

1. Could some settings be wrong in the Triton?

2. Is the electronic compass always 'live'?

3. Should I return the Triton?

 

Thanks!

[+traingreg]

Hi,

 

Great question. Just purchased the same one. I haven't tried it out yet but I did notice the firmware isn't current. I was wondering if you have upgraded yet - saw a few things on various forums that the firmware update is fairly critical

 

Greg

 

I have recently started geocaching with my Blackberry Storm2 (9550) using Blackstar. Accuracy has been pretty good, ususally leading me within 5 feet of the cache. Blackstar supports paperless geocaching. Not perfect but good enough.

Figure it was time for a dedicated GPS. Ideally with Paperless capability.

 

Last week I ordered a Magellan Triton 500 since it was on sale for $99. Great deal!

Used it this past weekend. Under tree cover it was bouncing around and leading me in different directions in a 15-20ft radius. Under light tree cover and clouds.

Got frustrated and pulled out the Blackberry. Laid them both down and watched the screens. BB consistantly showed 1m to cache while the Triton jumped anywhere from 1-8m without being moved.

 

Back home I tested the electronic compass. Doesn't seem to work as expected. Usually doesn't align to north correctly until I walk a bit. How do I know I really have an electronic compass? Seems like it may be a 400 (no compass). The model number is shown only on the battery cover. Maybe switched with a 400 battery cover???

 

Questions:

 

1. Could some settings be wrong in the Triton?

2. Is the electronic compass always 'live'?

3. Should I return the Triton?

 

Thanks!

[+dfx]

BB consistantly showed 1m to cache while the Triton jumped anywhere from 1-8m without being moved.

that may actually be a feature of the triton and a bug (or rather annoyance) on the BB. it's called static navigation. with SN enabled, when the GPS chip detects that you've stopped moving, it will stop giving you updated coordinates and will only consistently report the last coord reading it got, while without SN enabled, the chip will continuously provide you with updated coordinates. as a geocacher, you don't want SN enabled, and most (all?) regular handheld units won't have it. the BB may have SN enabled, and may give you the impression of more consistent coord readings, but that's really an illusion. in reality you're not seeing the whole picture.

 

Back home I tested the electronic compass. Doesn't seem to work as expected. Usually doesn't align to north correctly until I walk a bit. How do I know I really have an electronic compass? Seems like it may be a 400 (no compass). The model number is shown only on the battery cover. Maybe switched with a 400 battery cover???

good question. maybe the compass is just disabled? or not calibrated yet?

Edited October 6, 2010 by dfx

[+gpsblake]

Questions:

 

1. Could some settings be wrong in the Triton?

2. Is the electronic compass always 'live'?

3. Should I return the Triton?

 

Thanks!

 

I own the Triton 500...along with the Explorist GC, Legend HCx, Etrex yellow, Explorist 100 etc.....

 

1. 15-20 radius in the woods is normal and expected for any handheld GPS unit out there,

2. Yes, the compass should always be live., But if you are right on top the cache, the arrow will bounce a bit, which again is normal. If you are more than say.. 30 feet from the cache, the arrow should point to the cache no matter what way you hold it. Also, you have to calibrate the compass each time you switch out the batteries

3) For 99 bucks I'd keep it but that is personal preference

 

And yes, update to the latest firmware will be beneficial.

 

I've never used a blackberry so I can't comment if they are more accurate or not. I guess it depends if you are getting a signal from the towers or not.

 

Happy caching...

[vagabond]

you might try here it's not a real active site but some are very knowledgeable. sounds like you haven't calibrated the compass, also if up upgrade the firmware clear the memory

[+coco22]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes, i updated firmware right out of the box. 1.95 I believe.

 

I will check the SN settings on BB.

 

For the compass. Should I be seeing the green arrow at all times; even when standing still?

Should the compass be updating if i turn the unit around? Ie. I stand in one spot and turn 180 deg.?

Right now it does not. North wil not change relative to the screen regardless of what direction I am facing.

[+traingreg]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes, i updated firmware right out of the box. 1.95 I believe.

 

I will check the SN settings on BB.

 

For the compass. Should I be seeing the green arrow at all times; even when standing still?

Should the compass be updating if i turn the unit around? Ie. I stand in one spot and turn 180 deg.?

Right now it does not. North wil not change relative to the screen regardless of what direction I am facing.

 

I think that the green line will only show up when you are moving - stop and the green line disappears. In an ideal, obstacle free, world your green arrow will match the black arrowhead pointing to the cache as you are moving.

 

As a follow up - Is there any way to get distance to the cache on that navigation screen?

 

Greg

[+traingreg]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes, i updated firmware right out of the box. 1.95 I believe.

 

I will check the SN settings on BB.

 

For the compass. Should I be seeing the green arrow at all times; even when standing still?

Should the compass be updating if i turn the unit around? Ie. I stand in one spot and turn 180 deg.?

Right now it does not. North wil not change relative to the screen regardless of what direction I am facing.

 

Here is the calibration information

 

http://www.tritonforum.com/Files/Magellan_...s_calibrate.pdf

[+coco22]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yes, i updated firmware right out of the box. 1.95 I believe.

 

I will check the SN settings on BB.

 

For the compass. Should I be seeing the green arrow at all times; even when standing still?

Should the compass be updating if i turn the unit around? Ie. I stand in one spot and turn 180 deg.?

Right now it does not. North wil not change relative to the screen regardless of what direction I am facing.

 

I think that the green line will only show up when you are moving - stop and the green line disappears. In an ideal, obstacle free, world your green arrow will match the black arrowhead pointing to the cache as you are moving.

 

As a follow up - Is there any way to get distance to the cache on that navigation screen?

 

Greg

 

You are correct. The green line shows direction of movement. But the compass should rotate regardless of me standing still. It should rotate as i rotate. Correct?

 

To get the distance to cache, you need to press select and there is an option (don't have the unit with me now) to customize the 2 fields at the bottom of the screen. Press arrow key to select a field and then arrow key to select what info to display. I always put distance to end and speed.

[+gpsblake]

 

For the compass. Should I be seeing the green arrow at all times; even when standing still?

 

If you lose reception of your GPS satellites, the green arrow will disappear on the Triton. This can easily happen in the deep woods, inside a building etc. It also disappears if you aren't looking for anything like a waypoint or geocache.

 

The compass should still be working.....To test it, the Triton always has a pic of the sun or the moon on the compass, no matter what way you hold the Triton, the compass should match up with position of the moon and/or sun.

 

Edit: Answer to last question: Yes, the compass should rotate as you rotate.

Edited October 7, 2010 by gpsblake