Etrex 10 question?

[ground control 1]

I am new to this and still learning how to use my etrex 10. I do download caches to the GPS and this feature works well. Recently when going on a longer hike I put in a waypoint of where the car was parked. Then went off searching for the caches. Eventually I wanted to return to the car after failing to find the last cache, so I selected "where to" then "waypoints" then the one which would lead me back to the car. But as soon as I selected the compass it still only showed the last cache I was looking for. No matter what I did I could not get the GPS to navigate back to the car. Does anyone know what I am doing wrong? Probably something simple.

[+sasqwatches]

my guess would be and it is only a guess is the compass was directing you to your car waypoint but your profile might of been set on the geocahce profile if your etrex 10 has profiles my etrex 20 does i set my profile to something other than geocache and the waypoint shows up in the compass view like i said it is my guess that is how it is on my etrex 20 no matter what waypoint i choose to go to it shows the closest cache while in the geocache profile hope it helps

[+whh0]

Had this problem with my etrex 10 too, never did figure out how to rectify the situation, even when profile wasn't set to geocaching, when I hit GO, it would try to take me to the next nearest cache... One of the reasons we upgraded to a etrex 20 after 6 months, that and we couldn't see when there was a railway line/river etc between us and the cache!

[+The A-Team]

But as soon as I selected the compass it still only showed the last cache I was looking for.

It sounds to me like you're using the Geocaching dashboard. I never did like how it forced me into navigating to things I didn't want to navigate to, so I stopped using it long ago on my Oregon. I just use the 4 data fields and set them to things like "Distance to next" and "Accuracy of GPS".

[ground control 1]

But as soon as I selected the compass it still only showed the last cache I was looking for.

It sounds to me like you're using the Geocaching dashboard. I never did like how it forced me into navigating to things I didn't want to navigate to, so I stopped using it long ago on my Oregon. I just use the 4 data fields and set them to things like "Distance to next" and "Accuracy of GPS".

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had this problem. Yes, I did have the geocaching profile selected. I have now changed it to recreational. It still shows two compasses on the compass page. The smaller one at the top shows the name of the last cache selected, distanced and direction etc. The large compass at the bottom only shows the direction of the waypoint I selected and no other info unless I select map which gives a rough idea of the distance to the waypoint. Not a very good system in my opinion but at least I should be able to find my way back to the car!

[+The A-Team]

Yes, I did have the geocaching profile selected. I have now changed it to recreational.

The geocaching profile and the geocaching dashboard are two different things.

Profiles allow you to configure the settings of the GPS for different activities, so you can easily switch between different configurations. You can customize each one to your heart's content. Both the "Geocaching" and "Recreational" profiles sound like they're configured by default to use the geocaching dashboard.

The geocaching dashboard is one of the options within a profile. If you go into the settings, I believe the option is under the Display section (it may actually be under "Heading" for the compass view and "Map" for the map view; I can't quite remember off the top of my head). There will be an option to have the dashboard, one large field, four small fields, and possibly another option. If you set it to one of the "field" options and then go to the respective screen (ie. from the main menu, go to "Compass"), you can tap on the field(s) to be given a list of available parameters for that field. As I mentioned earlier, I've set mine to have "Distance to next" and "Accuracy of GPS" as well as a couple of others.

What I use is the map view, so I can see an overview of trails, roads, etc., and use the "Pointer" field to give me a little arrow that points in the direction of the cache/waypoint. I only use the compass screen if I need determine a compass bearing to/from something.

[+sasqwatches]

Yes, I did have the geocaching profile selected. I have now changed it to recreational.

The geocaching profile and the geocaching dashboard are two different things.

Profiles allow you to configure the settings of the GPS for different activities, so you can easily switch between different configurations. You can customize each one to your heart's content. Both the "Geocaching" and "Recreational" profiles sound like they're configured by default to use the geocaching dashboard.

The geocaching dashboard is one of the options within a profile. If you go into the settings, I believe the option is under the Display section (it may actually be under "Heading" for the compass view and "Map" for the map view; I can't quite remember off the top of my head). There will be an option to have the dashboard, one large field, four small fields, and possibly another option. If you set it to one of the "field" options and then go to the respective screen (ie. from the main menu, go to "Compass"), you can tap on the field(s) to be given a list of available parameters for that field. As I mentioned earlier, I've set mine to have "Distance to next" and "Accuracy of GPS" as well as a couple of others.

What I use is the map view, so I can see an overview of trails, roads, etc., and use the "Pointer" field to give me a little arrow that points in the direction of the cache/waypoint. I only use the compass screen if I need determine a compass bearing to/from something.

ahhh yes the dash board i forgot about those that is what it sounds like nice catch A-TEAM