Oregon 550 distance to next measures in tenths of miles

[+dw]

I recently bought an Garmin Oregon 550 to replace my trusty 60cx. The 60cx was GREAT except for not having description/hints on the unit. So I'm still figuring out my Oregon, and navigating to a cache today I saw that the distance only went to tenths of a mile. I really liked the precision of the 60cx, telling me I was .27 miles or whatever from the cache, while the Oregon will only say .2 from the cache. There doesn't seem to be a way to change this on the Oregon but I thought I'd ask here. I tried searching but couldn't find anything - could it be that nobody else has had a problem with this? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

[+kunarion]

I recently bought an Garmin Oregon 550 to replace my trusty 60cx. The 60cx was GREAT except for not having description/hints on the unit. So I'm still figuring out my Oregon, and navigating to a cache today I saw that the distance only went to tenths of a mile. I really liked the precision of the 60cx, telling me I was .27 miles or whatever from the cache, while the Oregon will only say .2 from the cache. There doesn't seem to be a way to change this on the Oregon but I thought I'd ask here. I tried searching but couldn't find anything - could it be that nobody else has had a problem with this? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

I can't get mine to do that. Are you in the Automotive profile? That's the one I immediately see that rounds to tenths of miles (distance to the next turn). The Geocaching profile's dashboard and the Geocache list are in hundredths of miles (or feet, if it's 528 feet or closer). Mine shows the ".27" miles format. Maybe all you need to do is select the Geocaching profile. I don't know if you're a 550 power user yet like I am , but I use the "Profiles" to easily switch between driving and walking modes, for caching, so I almost never change individual settings. For each "Profile" I've put all the most useful menu items right on the first screen, including the "Profile" icon itself (so switching Profiles is easy). Unless you have routable street maps, you might prefer to use the Geocaching profile all the time.

 

So I think it's a setting, but it can get a little confusing til it's set up the way you want. It's also possible to set up the "Geocaching" profile to be completely useless for Geocaching (the 550 is fully customizable ). There are several ways to show distance onscreen, including custom items on the "dashboard". Where are you seeing ".2" or whatever?

 

While you wait for a decent answer , go to the Geocaching profile, select the compass, then long-press one of the four dashboard items (whichever is the least useful). Then you can select a new dashboard item for that spot. Choose "Distance To Destination", and see if it shows what you want. You have to be navigating to a cache to see the distance.

Edited October 20, 2012 by kunarion

[+dw]

It's when I'm on the compass page. I haven't set up any profiles yet. On the compass page, right it says the cache is 0.4 miles away. The 0.4 is not clickable. At the bottom of the screen is an icon on the lower right that, when I click it, lets me select a dashboard. The one I'm on is the Geocaching - Active dashboard. I also tried the Geocaching - nearest dashboard, but that just gave me some other info, and stills says 0.4 miles.

 

When I select the waypoint to navigate to, it asks me what kind of routing I want. For caching I always select direct routing, that's the one that always just points right to the destination.

 

Here's another problem I have. If I'm looking at the map for caches, and I don't touch it just in the right place, it puts a big red pushpin on wherever I touched. How can I get rid of that pushpin?

 

I'm finding the Oregon very frustrating! But, thanks for your help!

[+kunarion]

I'm finding the Oregon very frustrating! But, thanks for your help!

Yeah, it's kind of like steering a cruise ship when all you needed was a canoe.

 

On the 550's main menu, click the icon "Profile Change" (use the right-arrow key to find the page that icon's on). Select "Geocaching" from that Profile list. And you're done... maybe . All the settings switch to "Geocaching" useful things, when you select that profile. It's built-in to the Oregon. I'm thinking that will clear up the .2 mile thing. If you bought the 550 used, things may already be set up very wrong. I hope not, but if so, it's just a couple of settings, then you save it all in a Geocaching profile to use most of the time.

 

Here's more info. This is a discussion on exactly how Geocachers set up the Oregon for Geocaching:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=277536 (it's about the "450", but it works fine on the 550).

 

This is the Garmin Oregon Wiki:

http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Geocaching

That helped me go from really frustrated to only slightly annoyed! It answers a lot of questions about the Oregon.

 

And I let the pushpin go where it wants. I tap the map using the plastic part of my ball-point pen (retracted), the pin drops exactly where I want on a cache icon, and I can then get the cache info.

Edited October 20, 2012 by kunarion

[+phlatlander]

To get rid of each occasion of an unwanted pushpin, press the back arrow in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

[+dw]

Wow, yay! Geocaching profile gave me my hundredths. I bought this unit new (they had a lightning special on Amazon) and I'm still figuring it out. And thanks for the pushpin advice!

 

Okay if I email you Oregon experts once in a while when I need help? I don't know anyone else who has one and knows so much!

[+Cacheoholic]

All you need is the Oregon wiki and you can be an expert.