Etrex 20 Setup

[+SquirrelsGoneWild]

Okay so the manual looks like it was written by my 6 year old..and trying to find information has me stumped. So.. anyone have any tips/tricks for setting up the Garmin Etrex 20 for geocaching?

 

There seem to be a MILLION settings and most make no sense however I am sure that somehow there are certain settings I should be changing to make geocaching easier. ANY help is greatly appreciated.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Welcome to the world of "manuals" and electronics.

 

No big trick to it. It may very well be already set the exact way you need it.

 

Main Menu> Format/Datum: WGS-84 and HDD(D)° MM.MMM Datum and Format (forget the degree symbol -- it knows what you mean)

 

Pretty much, that is it.

 

There is still "learnin'" that you need to do --

Projecting a waypoint (for multi-caches and the like): "Mark" your current position, then alter the coordinates to what you want to proceed to (and name that waypoint).

If that option is available, [save] it. Another waypoint may be immediately added -- the name and [save] is an important step.

 

Loading: You need to learn Pocket Queries. To load a PQ to your unit, unzip the downloaded file then click 'n drag it to your "Garmin" drive while hooked to the computer (it may show as auxiliary storage in the "Garmin" drive).

 

At this stage, you should be ready to go out the door.....

Edited September 14, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+SquirrelsGoneWild]

Thanks for the PQ insight. I spent two hours today figuring out how to load maps.. who would have thought that could be difficult? Well for someone as non-techy as me I figured two hours was a good day! Seems using a micro SD card isn't as easy as it sounded .. so when I went to put in caches today I did them one by one by one (grumbling the whole time that there HAD to be an easier way!), so thank you SOOOO much for showing me that there is a way to put in caches

[+luvvinbird]

My 20 was pretty much ready to go right out of the box. I did make a few adjustments such as profile changes and "prompting" when navigating to a cache. You did download the complete manual, right? If not, go on to the Garmin website, find your device and click "manual".

[+Cacheoholic]

See the Garmin Wiki's. I’ve linked the Oregon Wiki since it’s the most comprehensive. All newer Garmin paperless handheld GPS’s have very similar operating systems but differ in form factor. There is an etrex wiki but you’ll find the Oregon Wiki more informative.