Oregon 450T

[+Johnsar]

Does anyone have any tips on how to get the best use out of our Oregon 450T.

 

It comes with maps but not sure if we'd be better to upload maps from talky toaster. Also ran some pocket queries and uploaded them to it using Easy GPS but not sure if thats a good idea as we don't seem to be able to delete any. Only got it yesterday so still early days. Any advice would be most welcome.

[+metal-bijou]

It took me a little while to get used to it but I love my 450T. I had been caching with the iPhone but generally now it's the GPS with the except of adhoc (or it appears in London where I tend to just use the iPhone).

 

I'll try and find the link I had that had useful tips for the oregon in general.

 

I've not used talky toaster maps myself as use the Garmin OS which I love. I've only heard good things about talky toaster though. A tip for the maps - well actually the card. Once in place put a little bit of tape over the card slot. I was given the tip but when I changed the card one day for a larger card I didn't do this and lost the card when changing the batteries in the field. Another tip for maps, always keep a back up of the maps.

 

I use GSAK for loading caches and that's great. Just don't load too many (i think if you do they import as waypoints instead of geocaches).

 

You can't delete geocaches or gpx files from the device, you have to do that when connected to the PC. Relatively easy to do.

 

Screen brightness - try and dim it quie a bit as this eats batteries.

 

Batteries - it appears to prefer rechargable.

 

There are great features such as adding a next stage to a cache but sometimes require too many screens than expected.

[+eusty]

Lots of helpful info here

[+Johnsar]

Thanks to you both for that. In the car today before I came back to your response I had figured I would have to attach it to computer to delete. Just getting used to it I expect. Is GSAK better than EasyGPS? And did you purchase those extra maps or are they the ones that came with your Oregon?

[+metal-bijou]

Thanks to you both for that. In the car today before I came back to your response I had figured I would have to attach it to computer to delete. Just getting used to it I expect. Is GSAK better than EasyGPS? And did you purchase those extra maps or are they the ones that came with your Oregon?

 

EasyGPS vs GSAK - not better but different. GSAK is very caching orientated and allows you to load multiple pocekt queries. It will remove duplicates and allows you to cull before transfering a single gpx to the GPS.

 

Bought maps so I don't ahve the whole GB yet.

[+Johnsar]

How much are the maps and how big an area do they cover. Did you find the maps on the 450t of little use?

[+kunarion]

ran some pocket queries and uploaded them to it using Easy GPS but not sure if thats a good idea as we don't seem to be able to delete any.

I got started with my 450T on the Garmin Oregon Wiki, the Geocaching area:

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Contact

 

Plug the GPSr into a USB port, and it becomes just another drive on the PC. There's a GPX folder where unzipped Pocket Queries go. I delete the old PQ files, send the new, and I'm done. That's straightforward and simple, just the way I like it. No other software to fiddle with. I cannot stand GSAK, (everyone else loves it ). I simply go commando with the Pocket Queries and manage them directly.

[+metal-bijou]

How much are the maps and how big an area do they cover. Did you find the maps on the 450t of little use?

 

Not no use but little detail in places. Range varies with what you buy. I think you can buy the whole countyr but costs a lot. Good to shop around as cost does vary but I don't think they are cheap for what they are. I'm likely to try talky toaster maps next.

[+metal-bijou]

I cannot stand GSAK, (everyone else loves it ).

 

I seem to be a fan boy of GSAK and yet I don't even use it to the full potential.

[+Wonkey Donkey]

I've often found the Open Street Maps very good, especially when travelling overseas. The Netherlands site is very flexible if you are only after certain map tiles, http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

[+eusty]

If you want free then you can't beat OSM, via talkytoaster

[+Graculus]

The 't' suffix means it comes with Garmin's topo maps which are in my opinion not as good as those by Talkytoaster. The Garmin ones are held in the internal memory of the GPS but you still have the normal internal memory available (800Mb I think it is) so you can put TT's maps there or on an SD card. You can switch between the maps as needed. As for PQ's, I don't use any software to manipulate them, just transfer them directly to the GPS. This is how it's done (scroll the bottom of the page). You can delete waypoints from the Oregon memory from the device but not geocaches, that has to be whilst connected (my link above shows you how).

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website - www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

UK Geocaching Wiki

Geocaching.com Help Center

[+Johnsar]

Well folks lots to digest here. Will go ahead and download Talkytoaster. Now have GSAK on laptop but haven't looked at it yet. Sussed that I have to have a bit more savvy with my pocket queries as I had to and manually delete all the ones I'd done. Fortunately as a newbie that wasn't too many!!

[patdhill]

Get some high capacity rechargeable batteries I have some 2750mAh ones and they last a good two days caching with the screen almost at full brightness. Look for a hign performance charger though as a standard one can take over a day to change the larger capacity batteries up. I got a Uniross charger and it charges any battery in around 20mins.

 

Go to the http://www.garmin.com/uk/ website and register you GPS and run the webupdater to get the latest software. Once registered go to http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx and get a months free premium membership, if you are a premium member already it just adds a month on to the end, this also works with Garmin in car sat navs, I got a Nuvi and another free month

 

I just drop the PQ GPX files on there and delete when done.

 

Check out http://www.geocaching.com/my/uploadfieldnotes.aspx I don't type much in the comment when I'm out and about but it helps me remember some of the more forgettable caches. Told a geofriend about field notes and he found he'd not logged some caches from a year ago as he'd forgotten them at the end of the caching day.

 

Check out Enter Next Stage near the bottom of the geocache menu, great for entering final coords for multi and puzzle caches while out in the field.

[+Johnsar]

Thanks everyone. Have just looked at talkytoaster maps and it tells me I want too large an area to export. Have I got the right idea and just need to reduce the area - not sure how to do this? also need a map of corfu for our holiday in three weeks time - don't want to use my phone due to roaming charges which is why I got the garmin in the first place. AAAAAh! it all seems so complicated!

[+GeoTrekker26]

Get some high capacity rechargeable batteries I have some 2750mAh ones and they last a good two days caching with the screen almost at full brightness. Look for a hign performance charger though as a standard one can take over a day to change the larger capacity batteries up. I got a Uniross charger and it charges any battery in around 20mins.

 

 

Rapid chargers are not good for batteries. Typically they overheat the battery and reduce the number of recharge cycles the battery can withstand. Unless there is a dire need to have the batteries immediately, put them on a slow charger overnight and start off with freshly charged batteries in the morning. You batteries will be much happier if you do this.

[+dartymoor]

I have two 450's (screen broke and I couldn't be without it while I waited for the part!) Had the first about a year now.

 

Love them. I use the talkietoaster maps, and I edit OSM too and it's great to see changes I've made there find their way onto my own gps. I don't know what you mean about too large an area to export - just grab the routable + contour set at http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm#GPSRs-Only and follow the instructions.

 

PQ's - I just unzip them straight into \garmin\gpx and that's it.

 

Batteries - I use Duracell rechargables. Last about 8 hours and I use a smart charger. I have set the thing to turn off the screen after a minute, works just fine.

 

Accuracy - I run EGNOS/WAAS turned on. Don't notice any huge improvement, but it's as accurate as it can be. If you're setting caches, DO use "Waypoint averaging", it's much better.

 

PC Software. I use the free Garmin Basecamp. Mostly to store some caches, some GPX's where I've worked out puzzles, but also to organise letterboxes and to put all of my walking tracks. I have all the long walks I've done over the past 2+ years and it's impressive to see all the wiggly loops in my local area, and be reminded of each journey.

[patdhill]

Get some high capacity rechargeable batteries I have some 2750mAh ones and they last a good two days caching with the screen almost at full brightness. Look for a hign performance charger though as a standard one can take over a day to change the larger capacity batteries up. I got a Uniross charger and it charges any battery in around 20mins.

 

 

Rapid chargers are not good for batteries. Typically they overheat the battery and reduce the number of recharge cycles the battery can withstand. Unless there is a dire need to have the batteries immediately, put them on a slow charger overnight and start off with freshly charged batteries in the morning. You batteries will be much happier if you do this.

 

My first set of batteries lasted well over a year being charged quite often on my charger. With the high capacity batteries I use the old slow charger took 2 days to charge them from near flat. So is the choice is either buying more batteries because they take so long to charge or buying more batteries "if" they don't last as long in a fast charger. I'll carry on using my fast charger I think.

[+talkytoaster]

Hi,

 

Sounds like you have downloaded and installed the MapSource/BaseCamp version. I'd strongly suggest you try the versions that are ready for direct use on the Garmin GPSr instead.

 

Thanks everyone. Have just looked at talkytoaster maps and it tells me I want too large an area to export. Have I got the right idea and just need to reduce the area - not sure how to do this? also need a map of corfu for our holiday in three weeks time - don't want to use my phone due to roaming charges which is why I got the garmin in the first place. AAAAAh! it all seems so complicated!

I can supply maps for Greece for your Garmin on a pre-loaded and tested card. See my site for details. I can also do this for the UK mapset too, if you are struggling.

 

Hope this helps?

 

Regards,

Martin

Edited August 26, 2012 by talkytoaster

[+simplysup]

As no-one appears to have mentioned it yet, although it's no doubt covered in one of the links, select the Geocaching profile: it puts geocaching stuff where you can find it easily.

 

You're no doubt very careful with your Oregon, and unlikely to lose it. However, if you do, it's handy to have recorded your contact details on the unit. Then, if it's found by someone friendly, they can get it back to you. Details here: create startup.txt

[+L R C]

Post field notes, this has made logging lots of caches in a day very easy for us. The 450t has a visit file which you can upload to geocaching.com which makes logging a lot faster. Sorry if this has already been covered.

[+Graculus]

A cautionary note with the Oregon. I've had issues with mine where I've gone to search for a geocache only to find the memory empty even though I know I copied the two gpx files across. This seems to happen if you just unplug the GPS from your PC after transfering files. You should 'eject' the device first from Windows before unplugging it. Doing this I've not had any problems.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website - www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

UK Geocaching Wiki

Geocaching.com Help Center

[+dartymoor]

I've had that issue too with my 450. Through experience I *always* verify caches are there before I leave the house now!

 

(Unsure if a filesystem thing as the files are fine on the flash drive of the Oregon, it just ignores them until the file date changes and forces it to do a rescan)

[+TheOldfields]

Got a 450T recently and love it. One minor glitch we've seen is that when transferring from a PQ to the unit, it doesn't mention if it's marked as 'currently unavailable'.

[+Mr Kaswa]

A cautionary note with the Oregon. I've had issues with mine where I've gone to search for a geocache only to find the memory empty even though I know I copied the two gpx files across. This seems to happen if you just unplug the GPS from your PC after transfering files. You should 'eject' the device first from Windows before unplugging it. Doing this I've not had any problems.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website - www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

UK Geocaching Wiki

Geocaching.com Help Center

 

I've had that issue too with my 450. Through experience I *always* verify caches are there before I leave the house now!

 

(Unsure if a filesystem thing as the files are fine on the flash drive of the Oregon, it just ignores them until the file date changes and forces it to do a rescan)

 

If this is the same problem that myself and others have had, keep the gpx files on the microSD card instead of internal memory. If your caches disappear on you...

Take out the batteries and card.

Insert batteries and reboot.

Once it's fully ready to go, shut down the machine.

Reinsert card and batteries and turn the Oregon back on.

This should cause the Oregon to reload the gpx files.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Mr Kaswa

[+NIBBO]

Try Paperless Caching on "Follow The Arrow" web page. There is some very usefull information and tips there.

 

www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk/resources/paperless.html

[+Alfiegeorge]

I really do like my 450T, rugged and hard-wearing compared to my earlier etrex. However, I do always struggle with using the touch sensitive keyboard though when entering field notes ... its not likeit was made by Apple you know !

 

As regards the unit not differentiating between available and not available caches ... this is why utility programs like GSAK are so useful ... you can filter out/in all sorts of stuff more flexibly before uploading the .gpx file. Although, that said "is available" is a filter criteria for a raw PQ ?!?!

Edited September 7, 2012 by Alfiegeorge