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Garmin Oregon 650


albertaangler

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I have sent a number of caches to my Oregon 650. Site says sent and get already exists message if I repeat. There are visible in Finder as being both in the internal memory and the accessory memory card.

They do not show up when I open the Geocaching icon for list of stored caches.

I've gone thru all the menu options and can find no setting that would affect this.

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In the older Oregons, there is a limit of 200 GPX files. Do you have more than that?

 

A name search should always bring up a GPX even if it is too far away - at least, that's the way it works with the older units. I don't have a 600 series so I can't experiment.

 

Can you check the # of GPX files? If it still doesn't show up, delete the GPX file corresponding to the name, and send it again. I'd hate for you to get there then find out it doesn't work.

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If you send one that's closer to home, does it show up?

 

Just to be clear, by name search, you go to the geocaches page, touch the 3 horizontal lines in the lower right corner, and choose "Spell Search", right? Not trying to be patronizing or anything, just want to rule out possibilities.

 

Hopefully someone with a 600 can help you out by trying to duplicate the steps. How far away is the caches you loaded from your current position?

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I see the in Garmin Basecamp in the Oregon file so assume they'll show when we're closer.

Are you using Basecamp to manage the cache files? What is the "Finder"? Are you unzipping a Pocket Query and manually copying the GPX files to the "GPX" folder?

 

If your device won't display a cache, they may have somehow been saved in another way. Look in "Found Caches", and look in "Waypoints".

 

If you have an ordinary process that seems to not work, post the steps and I'll see if I can duplicate the issue. I have an Oregon 650T.

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Sorry, guess I didn't mention the Mac.

Finder is akin to Windows explorer (NOT internet explorer).

I've ensured to install latest plug ins, have tried doing it both from Safari and Firefox and from both GC and opencache on both browsers. They get saved to the Garmin memory just fine. They do NOT appear when using the geocache icon on GPS or the 'spell search'. Nothing farther away than 169 km. I can find nowhere with setting for the search parameters.

Email response from Garmin do what I just described.

Awaiting reply to further ??

I'll also try the phone-in tomorrow too .....

As I pack for vacation I've really got better things to do....................

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Kunarion: Sorry, missed your reply.

 

Use Basecamp to manage files ?? I'm a newbie at this so have never 'managed' anything, not sure just what you mean?? Never even heard of a pocket query until I started researching the issue.

Not in 'found caches' or 'waypoints' although things farther than 169km do appear.

I don't have a precess that I know works. This is only the 2nd time I've tried to save caches. All I recall is using send to GPS from the GC site and it working.

Here's what I've tried unsuccessfully this time . Open play> hide and seek> search with map. Find a cache near where ill be, select it, then send to gps. Pretty straight forward. A cache close by is ok, only ones farther away are not appearing.

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Use Basecamp to manage files ??
You referred to "Garmin Basecamp" (a program that can be used to manage GPX files), so I incorrectly assumed that was part of the issue.

 

Never even heard of a pocket query until I started researching the issue.

You might try making Pocket Queries of various areas, unzip and copy them to the GPX folder on the Oregon. It's not hard to do, and it works (well, it usually works :anicute:). If you just want 1 or 2 caches, download each GPX file, then put it on the GPSr (so you take "Send To" out of the equation). If even one GPX file won't work, you'll know there's a GPSr problem. I'm hoping it's just a matter of putting files where they belong.

 

I've seen some weird issues where a GPX file arrives on the Oregon, seems perfectly fine in the file manager, but the Oregon can't see it. The file is corrupt or something. People have been having problems with "Send To" from the web site, so maybe PQs will clear up your problem.

Edited by kunarion
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Check the filters haven't become disabled - it happens so easily.

 

On the oregon - Geocaches -> Right hand tab. Bet you sizes or types have been changed by accident.

Good catch! That's the menu item that looks like a funnel. I tested it on my 650, and if a cache type is grayed-out, that kind will not display. So if the OP has a filter turned on, and loaded only caches that would be filtered (Traditional, for example), no caches will appear in a list. But I don't see a way to filter out everything all at once, by accident. Filtering out Traditionals, I still get a nice list of other caches.

 

If that's the problem, release the filter by tapping on the grayed-out icon, and checkmark whichever cache types you wish to see in the list.

Edited by kunarion
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OK I tried a pocket query.but I get hundreds I don't care about.

We are going to be camping 'in the bush' at provincial forestry site - basically 'primitive' camping and I have selected a handful to find. I don't want everything in the area just specific caches which is why I have selected those on the map.

PQ's seem too complex for this use, unless there is a FAST and easy way to exclude all the extraneous stuff

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Check the filters haven't become disabled - it happens so easily.

 

On the oregon - Geocaches -> Right hand tab. Bet you sizes or types have been changed by accident.

All types are selected, all sizes, all statuses, all difficulty etc.

Are they GPX files and are they in the GPX folder of the Oregon?

 

[OR drive]:\Garmin\GPX

 

The Wiki might help: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Geocaching

 

You can browse to the GPX folder and delete everything there (backup any possibly important files first, such as tracks or waypoints you've saved). Then load a cache GPX file. If even one doesn't work, post info on that file (I'll try it myself). It's possible for one cache description to confuse the Oregon. At least, I have seen it happen to mine in the past.

 

I'd suggest running PQs, unzipping and placing them in the GPX folder, and deleting obsolete PQs while you're in that folder. The web site "Send To" has issues itself, so directly moving the files is a great way to limit the problems.

Edited by kunarion
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Check the filters haven't become disabled - it happens so easily.

 

On the oregon - Geocaches -> Right hand tab. Bet you sizes or types have been changed by accident.

Is it possible to shut off Geocaching "GPX" and force the 650 to only display Opencaching "GGZ" files? I've got mine mostly set up for Geocaching, and haven't even touched its Opencaching features.

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Good catch! That's the menu item that looks like a funnel. I tested it on my 650, and if a cache type is grayed-out, that kind will not display. So if the OP has a filter turned on, and loaded only caches that would be filtered (Traditional, for example), no caches will appear in a list. But I don't see a way to filter out everything all at once, by accident. Filtering out Traditionals, I still get a nice list of other caches.

 

If that's the problem, release the filter by tapping on the grayed-out icon, and checkmark whichever cache types you wish to see in the list.

 

If you only have trads in your query, then one tap will blank 'em :)

 

Also I've had the sliders move by bouncing against my leg so that all the D3 and below caches on a simple trail I was following disappeared, which meant the entire series vanished.

 

It's not the best bit of UI design, that - and the screen is so sensitive it's now happened so often it's the first thing I check when something goes awry. (And although it may not be the case in this instance, it certainly has helped a few others with 'vanishing' caches on the 650)

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Chrys.... Thanks, but they are a long ways as I'm setting up for vacation and setting a few to find. Not found, no result with name search.

I see the in Garmin Basecamp in the Oregon file so assume they'll show when we're closer.

 

My Garmin is the same way. It will not show caches or allow name search for caches that are over a certain distance away. What I CAN do is search for a city and it will find the city, even though it is far away. Then look at the map and the caches near that city will show on the map. I can click on the icons on the map and it will show the cache data. That way, I can verify that they are all loaded and ready. I have a different model Garmin, but you might try Find-Cities to see if that works.

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So now Basecamp won't open. I was using it things halted and get message it quit unexpextedly. Have tried to 'reopen' but a circular error message that keeps trying but failing. Send error message tries to open tells me it failed try again and around in circles.

How are you using Garmin Basecamp in relation to the Oregon? Do you have a database of caches, which you're sending to the Oregon, or maybe doing a sync to Basecamp of files you previously sent to the Oregon from the website? Or are you using Basecamp separately from the files you load onto the Oregon?

 

I can't figure out how you're using Basecamp, but I'm wondering if it might be a Basecamp issue.

Edited by kunarion
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Not exactly sure what you mean by using basecamp in relation to..... I have made a few placemarkers in BC and sent to GPS. Have imported and exported to and from a couple of times. Other than that ......?

Try to make a PQ, unzip it and copy the GPX files to the GPSr directly. You don't need to run Basecamp to do this.

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This is what I mean by how you are using Basecamp:

 

I see the caches I had 'sent to' on basecamp

In basecamp 'on my computer' I see caches in my collection as separate files and as two folders one 'Unlisted Data' and one 'Recently read from Oregon 650'

You are evidently using Basecamp while working on the issue of missing caches. Shut off Basecamp (for now), and instead send the GPX files using the file manager only. See if that makes a difference.

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Garmin help desk - I finally got a chance to call during open hours. I am assured that all will show up when closer to cache locations. Here's hoping.

No more time for this.

Vacation starts now. Gotta load the boat, pick up trailer and get it packed....................

Thanks for your inputs.

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Garmin help desk - I finally got a chance to call during open hours. I am assured that all will show up when closer to cache locations. Here's hoping.

I've verified part of your issue. Caches beyond [some unspecified distance] don't show up at all. Not even in a search. They're invisible. I expected it was a weird incompatibility with Mac & Garmin that I could not duplicate with a PC, but I can.

 

I uploaded the two cache GPX files to my Oregon 650T:

GC3MNE6

GC2A4W6

 

One is 2300 miles from Atlanta, the other is 2000. Neither appears in a search. This is a brave new world of modern GPSrs -- they hold "millions" of caches, and therefore severely limit what they'll display. This is NOT how the 550 works (or the 450 for that matter) where you could get any cache description regardless of how far away it was.

 

Also, the 650 shows one cache at a time on the map. There's got to be a better way. I hope there's a decent update sometime.

 

OK, here's the problem. If I upload a Pocket Query, I check a couple of cache descriptions to be sure the file is readable by the Oregon. I definitely don't want to arrive 2300 miles from home and discover that the file didn't load right. Now I can't check that in advance :blink:. Unless I have my laptop at my destinations, I'm bringing some older device as a backup from now on.

 

I need to check on my Chirp car. My car is a trackable "Chirp" coin, with the "coordinates" set to "zero". This was no issue on previous GPSrs, although the TB Waypoint would be at the bottom of the list. Now it may not even display.

 

So your issue is not a defective GPSr, it's a feature. The next test is, whether the caches actually show up when you arrive. Good luck! :anicute:

Edited by kunarion
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OK, here's the problem. If I upload a Pocket Query, I check a couple of cache descriptions to be sure the file is readable by the Oregon. I definitely don't want to arrive 2300 miles from home and discover that the file didn't load right. Now I can't check that in advance :blink:. Unless I have my laptop at my destinations, I'm bringing some older device as a backup from now on.

Load the PQ on microSD. That way, if it doesn't work, you can pop out the microSD, restart, pop it back in, restart again, and hopefully it will load.

 

To the OP : good luck and have fun on your vacation.

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I joined the thread midstream where you let everyone know you are using a Mac. Just to belabor the obvious, when you are deleting things from the Garmin are you taking the extra step to empty the trash? If not the items are still on the GPS. It could be that that the Garmin doesn't see things in the trash but Basecamp does. In any case, if the trash is not emptied, the space used by the files are is still marked as used.

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OK, here's the problem. If I upload a Pocket Query, I check a couple of cache descriptions to be sure the file is readable by the Oregon. I definitely don't want to arrive 2300 miles from home and discover that the file didn't load right. Now I can't check that in advance :blink:. Unless I have my laptop at my destinations, I'm bringing some older device as a backup from now on.

Load the PQ on microSD. That way, if it doesn't work, you can pop out the microSD, restart, pop it back in, restart again, and hopefully it will load

I kinda-sorta got the same thing the OP did, this morning. Five new caches popped up, so I queued the PQ, it ran, I downloaded it, sent it to my Oregon 650, and being in a rush, left for the fake Flash Mob. Then I started the GPSr, and the five new caches were not there. Whatever the deal was, placing the PQ onto an SD Card would not have helped, since the file had five missing caches. Maybe the web site is having a leetle issue today, maybe it's a thing with the GPSr, or a little of each. The finicky new Oregon 650 adds a new layer of uncertainty to the mix. A friend at the Flash Mob sent a cache file wirelessly, and that one showed up.

 

I definitely need a way to be certain, yes or no, if a cache is ready to show up. Regardless of where the cache is on the map. Now I'm really looking forward to those updates. :anicute:

Edited by kunarion
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Whatever the deal was, placing the PQ onto an SD Card would not have helped, since the file had five missing caches.

If the caches you want is not in the PQ, the only thing that would help is divine intervention - or a smartphone with data connectivity :) That's definitely not what the OP encountered.

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Whatever the deal was, placing the PQ onto an SD Card would not have helped, since the file had five missing caches.

If the caches you want is not in the PQ, the only thing that would help is divine intervention - or a smartphone with data connectivity :) That's definitely not what the OP encountered.

Right. I've done a search of my PQ and for whatever reason, the new caches definitely aren't in it. So that looks good for the OP. If Garmin is right, the OP's caches are simply out of range and will appear when they're closer.

 

I never had individual invisible caches on the 450 or 550, but each did crash on at least one cache page in particular (due to weird symbols in the cache description). But entire PQs were invisible, requiring a quick check, and a reload before the caching trip. I'm pretty sure that was due to me being in a hurry and not allowing the file to close. Windows can still read the file, the Oregon can't. If I clicked the Eject Disk" feature of Windows, I'd never have a not-closed file, but I never do "Eject Disk", because I like to live on the edge. And because I don't wanna. :anicute:

 

Now all I need to figure out is what criteria the 650 uses to decide when to not display a cache (a certain distance from the current position, I guess), so I can more easily detect a problem.

Edited by kunarion
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Now all I need to figure out is what criteria the 650 uses to decide when to not display a cache (a certain distance from the current position, I guess), so I can more easily detect a problem.

 

Distance used to be 50 miles... IF searching by 'Nearest'

Caches would show over 50 miles if you searched by 'Name/GC code'

 

If Garmin have changed that, it's a bad mistake. :o

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Distance used to be 50 miles... IF searching by 'Nearest'

Caches would show over 50 miles if you searched by 'Name/GC code'

 

If Garmin have changed that, it's a bad mistake. :o

 

They certainly have changed it for the current eTrex series (10/20/30). All caches are displayed regardless of distance. The default is to list the closest caches first ordering by distance. In the past I have cleared all caches off the unit then loaded only caches that were > 1200 miles away and they displayed just fine on my e20. I currently have a couple thousand caches loaded that are within in 20 miles of my home location plus few hundred more that are 225 miles away. If I search by nearest, it produces the same list as the default. When I scroll through those that are within 20 miles the next to appear are those 225 miles away. After going through those it took me to the final batch of 1000 caches that are 350 miles away.

 

So for the current eTrex series there is no problem seeing caches over xxx miles distant. You pick the value for xxx. I'm surprised they use a different algorithm on the Oregon series considering the similarity of so many other functions.

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So for the current eTrex series there is no problem seeing caches over xxx miles distant. You pick the value for xxx. I'm surprised they use a different algorithm on the Oregon series considering the similarity of so many other functions.

 

I own 4 Nuvis over the years. Still using one now, in fact, even though my car has built in navigation. You'd think that Garmin would preserve as much as they can between the different Nuvi lines when they share the same feature, but nope. With every new model line, it's one step forward, one step back, and three steps sideways.

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Now all I need to figure out is what criteria the 650 uses to decide when to not display a cache (a certain distance from the current position, I guess), so I can more easily detect a problem.

 

Distance used to be 50 miles... IF searching by 'Nearest'

Caches would show over 50 miles if you searched by 'Name/GC code'

 

If Garmin have changed that, it's a bad mistake. :o

 

I have the new GPSMAP 64s and can confirm that I cannot view or search beyond a certain distance. Cannot search by name, either. Setting up for two recent trips, I had to use "Search for Cities" and once the map was showing that city, the caches there would show up on the map. But they would absolutely not come up with "Spell Search". My distance was a little over 200 miles in both instances.

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I have a new Oregon 650 and am having the same problem with caches that are 3 miles away. It says they have been transferred to my GPS and when I check my GPS, they are not there. It's not a distance factor because caches 50 miles away show up. Frustrating. Everything is up to date. Didn't have this problem last week. I, too, am using a Mac.

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I have a new Oregon 650 and am having the same problem with caches that are 3 miles away. It says they have been transferred to my GPS and when I check my GPS, they are not there. It's not a distance factor because caches 50 miles away show up. Frustrating. Everything is up to date. Didn't have this problem last week. I, too, am using a Mac.

Got a couple of example GC codes? Are you using PQs? I'll load them and try it. I may not be a suitable guinea pig (no Mac, and I'm not 3 miles away), but it's a start.

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I already have a used Nuvi 1300 that was a gift. Since my first GPSr was a touchscreen, do you think that when I upgrade I should get another touchscreen GPS? To me it sounds better than buttons.

Also,can you name some stores that let you try out their GPSr's?

Personally, I find touchscreens to be a little bit more intuitive to use - you (usually) know exactly where to tap for what function, instead of trying to guess what that physical button does in a particular screen. Physical buttons take some time to get used to, touchscreen allows you to get started faster.

 

Physical buttons give feedback when used, however, and is easier to use with gloves. And they're less likely to get pressed accidentally.

 

REI, if there's one near you, is a good place to go check out different GPS receivers. Another choice is just to go attend a geocaching event.

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