Garmin GPSMAP 66 series announced on 2018-08-06

[+Atlas Cached 68]

Seems Groundspeak has TWO separate messaging systems....

 

Geocaching Messenger and Message Center.

 

They do not interchange data.

[+Red90 59]

The first is the forum messaging.  The second is the Geocaching messaging.

[_Art_ 0]

Whoops, may have found another one. I made two custom maps lat night that both worked for the 64st, and both crashed the 66st any time they would be displayed.

Both were single 1024x1024 JPEG images.

 

So has anyone tried any custom maps?

 

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, _Art_ said:

Whoops, may have found another one. I made two custom maps lat night that both worked for the 64st, and both crashed the 66st any time they would be displayed.

Both were single 1024x1024 JPEG images.

 

So has anyone tried any custom maps?

 

can you send those to me ART?

[+platoaddict 9]

I'm late to the party here and only skimmed through the 5.5 pages of prior comments, but I thought I'd add some observations of my own. 

 

Some quick background:

-First GPS was a Garmin GPSMAP 62s

-Attempted a Garmin Oregon 650t, and I immediately returned it. Too buggy.

-Bought a refurbished Oregon 450t, and I thought it was a good, small device, but I missed my buttons.

-Tested the GPSMAP 64s and loved it, but I couldn't justify the cost as it was basically the same as the 62s.

-Saw a Montana 600-series and was intrigued; bought a 610t and fell in love. I miss the buttons, but the large screen makes it less of an issue. Great, great, great device

-Tested the GPSMAP 66s on a recent caching trip. Was excited to test out the "new" Geocaching Live feature. Needless to say, it's going back.

 

The 66 isn't a bad GPS, and it is definitely an upgrade for the GPSMAP series and for those who like buttons rather than touchscreens. Despite having Geocaching Live implemented, it seems that the device really doesn't handle geocaches as well as on the 62/64 or the Montana. 

 

I also am not a fan of the Geocaching Live. It was very clunky to get it set up (via Bluetooth). It was clunky accessing caches in the field. And the fact that it automatically sends a default log upon finding/DNFing a cache is a non-starter for me. The only way I could figure out how to disable that "feature" was to turn off bluetooth.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

5 minutes ago, platoaddict said:

The 66 isn't a bad GPS, and it is definitely an upgrade for the GPSMAP series and for those who like buttons rather than touchscreens. Despite having Geocaching Live implemented, it seems that the device really doesn't handle geocaches as well as on the 62/64 or the Montana. 

 

How so?

 

I think it is far superior at handling geocaches compared to the other device you mentioned.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

10 minutes ago, platoaddict said:

I also am not a fan of the Geocaching Live. It was very clunky to get it set up (via Bluetooth). It was clunky accessing caches in the field. And the fact that it automatically sends a default log upon finding/DNFing a cache is a non-starter for me. The only way I could figure out how to disable that "feature" was to turn off bluetooth.

 

Geocaching Live is a must have feature for me - It saves so much time and allows me to be spontaneous and have access to current data without any setup at home before each outing. And the initial setup only requires a minute or two to complete.

 

The automatic logging can be disabled with a simple on/off setting [Setup > Geocaching > Geocaching Live > Auto Upload Logs = Off] for those who do not wish to have this feature enabled. Could not be much easier to use.

Edited January 26 by Atlas Cached

[+platoaddict 9]

1 hour ago, Atlas Cached said:

 

How so?

 

I think it is far superior at handling geocaches compared to the other device you mentioned.

 

I regularly toggle between a cache description and the map. On other devices, I'm able to do so without losing my place in the description. Every time I did this on the 66, I was scrolled back to the top of the description and had to scroll back down to find where I had left off. Perhaps this was an instance of user error again ... but it repeatedly happened regardless of how I attacked it.

 

1 hour ago, Atlas Cached said:

The automatic logging can be disabled with a simple on/off setting [Setup > Geocaching > Geocaching Live > Auto Upload Logs = Off] for those who do not wish to have this feature enabled. Could not be much easier to use.

Aaah! Thanks! I'll have to look for that again. I searched through a couple of menus while in the field and couldn't find it. I should have noted that this was a very brief and unexpected trial with the 66. I inadvertently left on a trip with my Montana conveniently left plugged in at home (d'oh) ... so, opted for a test-run with the 66 but didn't have enough time to completely familiarize myself with it.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, platoaddict said:

I regularly toggle between a cache description and the map. On other devices, I'm able to do so without losing my place in the description. Every time I did this on the 66, I was scrolled back to the top of the description and had to scroll back down to find where I had left off. Perhaps this was an instance of user error again ... but it repeatedly happened regardless of how I attacked it.

 

Thank you. Duplicated and verified on other units. Have forwarded to Garmin software engineers.

[_Art_ 0]

12 hours ago, Atlas Cached said:

can you send those to me ART?

Here’s one of them:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/dbzq77

 

[+Atlas Cached 68]

8 hours ago, _Art_ said:

Here’s one of them:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/dbzq77

 

Yeah..... they will not allow downloads without giving them a bunch of information and creating an account.... They don't have dropbox down under? They give 2GB free storage.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

23 hours ago, _Art_ said:

Whoops, may have found another one. I made two custom maps lat night that both worked for the 64st, and both crashed the 66st any time they would be displayed.

Both were single 1024x1024 JPEG images.

 

So has anyone tried any custom maps?

 

I have several on my MAP 66, and all function as expected.

[+BlackRose67 0]

The Oregon 700 allows you to select which GPX/GGZ file you want to use.

 

Could someone confirm that the GPSMAP 66s also has that capability?

[+RecipeForDisaster 8]

That's one of the filters.... something like "files 5/5" and you can toggle which ones are in use. I love it. I can see what's on my to do list.

 

In other news, I had to write to Garmin about how to apply a custom filter. I thought I was just dense. No, it took them a while to come back with the realization that they are not working-no way to apply them. It's supposed to be fixed in the next update. 

[_Art_ 0]

I sold mine at a $50 loss, rather than any hassle in taking back for refund after 3 months now. Actually I included the Garmin battery pack so it did cost me a bit more.

Now I do like the hardware, and will probably buy another one later if I know a lot of things are fixed, but 3 months where I wouldn’t want to use it is too much.

[+grateful cacher 1]

I've had my 66s since it was available, and I have to admit, I wish I had kept my 64sc. This device is so buggy that I can't use it reliably for geocaching. I've been working with Garmin support for over a month now, and am about to take it back to REI, and use their generous return/exchange policy.

 

The issues I'm having now seem to be software related. The biggest one is that I cannot load pocket queries. I have always loaded them the same way, since my Oregon 300, by dragging and dropping them to the device. When I do that with the 66s, it takes forever (and I mean hours) to get past the update waypoint, tracks, etc, screen (the one with the progress bar). Sometimes it won't get past that. 

 

When I am able to load a geocache, and start looking for one, after I've found one, and move on to the next one, the maps will not display on the screen. All I have is a direction arrow and a blue screen with a cursor. The maps I have on the 66s are the City Navigator, 24k Western States Topo, and the 100k USA Topo, all Garmin products. Today I removed all the pocket queries I have on it, and power cycled the device. When I turned it on, all the caches were still there....even though the files were not on the device....go figure.

 

Another glitch I've found is that if I'm searching for a cache, and decide to stop navigating to it, when I select the Stop Navigation command from the Geocache Dashboard menu, it turns the 66s off. I am able to duplicate that every time. Very frustrating.

 

The lack of ability to customize the data fields is also not good. The preloaded dashboards are all different from each other. If you customize one, say the hiking one, and you then select another one, all the customization that you made does not migrate to the new dashboard. I could accept that if I could program the data fields........

 

I've had some luck in using Geocaching Live, but the main drawback there is it only looks for Lists, not pocket queries. So I can't download all the queries I have....very frustrating......

 

For the record, I've used Garmins for over 10 years, starting with the Oregon 300, then 450, 550, 650, 700, and GPSMAP 62, 64st and 64sc. FWIW, IMHO, the 66s is a downgrade........

 

I'm calling REI now to see if I can arrange to swap this for another unit....or downgrade to a more reliable 64........

 

Edited March 2 by grateful cacher
additional comments

[+Mineral2 155]

5 minutes ago, grateful cacher said:

I've had some luck in using Geocaching Live, but the main drawback there is it only looks for Lists, not pocket queries. So I can't download all the queries I have....very frustrating......

It should grab pocket queries along with lists. The caveat: The pocket query must have been run from the website within the last 7 days and the file still on the servers.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, grateful cacher said:

I've had my 66s since it was available, and I have to admit, I wish I had kept my 64sc. This device is so buggy that I can't use it reliably for geocaching. I've been working with Garmin support for over a month now, and am about to take it back to REI, and use their generous return/exchange policy.

 

I'm calling REI now to see if I can arrange to swap this for another unit....or downgrade to a more reliable 64........

 

Have you updated your GPSMAP 66 recently? What firmware version is it running?

 

I wouldn't abandon ship so quick, the units I have work very well, and newer firmware releases are soon to come!

 

I also have the 62/64 series, and they simply do not compare in features and functionality. So you are correct, returning to the GPSMAP 64 is a downgrade from the GPSMAP 66.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, grateful cacher said:

I've had my 66s since it was available, and I have to admit, I wish I had kept my 64sc. This device is so buggy that I can't use it reliably for geocaching. I've been working with Garmin support for over a month now, and am about to take it back to REI, and use their generous return/exchange policy.

 

The issues I'm having now seem to be software related. The biggest one is that I cannot load pocket queries. I have always loaded them the same way, since my Oregon 300, by dragging and dropping them to the device. When I do that with the 66s, it takes forever (and I mean hours) to get past the update waypoint, tracks, etc, screen (the one with the progress bar). Sometimes it won't get past that. 

 

Are the PQ's downloaded from the GC server or from an email?

 

Are they edited by some other software before loading them to the GPSMAP 66?

 

I find my GPSMAP 66 units are very speedy indexing new GPX files, especially compared to previous Garmin products. A few minutes at most, usually less.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, grateful cacher said:

 

When I am able to load a geocache, and start looking for one, after I've found one, and move on to the next one, the maps will not display on the screen. All I have is a direction arrow and a blue screen with a cursor. The maps I have on the 66s are the City Navigator, 24k Western States Topo, and the 100k USA Topo, all Garmin products. Today I removed all the pocket queries I have on it, and power cycled the device. When I turned it on, all the caches were still there....even though the files were not on the device....go figure.

 

 

Did the green progress bar take hours again after you removed the GPX files from your GPSMAP 66? 

 

What OS are you using? Mac or PC?

 

The map issue sounds like you may need to adjust a Map Setting, or may be running old firmware.

 

You might benefit from renaming the SQL directory to something else and letting the device rebuild all internal data from scratch again.

 

Edited March 2 by Atlas Cached

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, grateful cacher said:

 

Another glitch I've found is that if I'm searching for a cache, and decide to stop navigating to it, when I select the Stop Navigation command from the Geocache Dashboard menu, it turns the 66s off. I am able to duplicate that every time. Very frustrating.

 

 

That is a known issue (GPSrChive > GPSMAP 66 > Common Issues > Crash Reports > 03) that hopefully Garmin will resolve soon!

 

Edited March 2 by Atlas Cached

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, grateful cacher said:

 

The lack of ability to customize the data fields is also not good. The preloaded dashboards are all different from each other. If you customize one, say the hiking one, and you then select another one, all the customization that you made does not migrate to the new dashboard. I could accept that if I could program the data fields........

 

 

I'm having a little trouble understanding you here. It sounds like you want to edit the hiking dashboard data fields, which you can not. In fact, there is no Hiking Dashboard.

 

No Garmin GPSr has ever allowed the user to edit data fields that are part of a dashboard, other than the actual Data Field dashboards. And, any editing of these data fields is unique to the currently active profile by design.

 

All data fields in either the Large Data Field Dashboard or Small Data  Field Dashboard are fully customizable on the GPSMAP 66.

 

I suspect there is some functionality confusion here.

 

It really sounds like you may be referring to Profiles, and each Profile settings are unique. When you create a new profile, the current settings are copied to the new profile, and you can change them as desired after.

 

Edited March 2 by Atlas Cached

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, grateful cacher said:

I've had some luck in using Geocaching Live, but the main drawback there is it only looks for Lists, not pocket queries. So I can't download all the queries I have....very frustrating......

 

 

You are doing something wrong. My GPSMAP 66 units both have zero issues loading PQs, which are listed in the GCLive List menu on the device.

 

All these bugs really sounds like to me you are running an older firmware version.

 

What version is that?

[+Cheminer Will 4]

2 hours ago, grateful cacher said:

Another glitch I've found is that if I'm searching for a cache, and decide to stop navigating to it, when I select the Stop Navigation command from the Geocache Dashboard menu, it turns the 66s off. I am able to duplicate that every time.

 

I was going to see if my 66st does the same but realized I don't follow how you are stopping navigation?  I stop navigation often with no trouble, when I am  navigating to a geocache on the Map Page or other pages.  For example from the Map page I use the "Menu" key to get to stop and it does not crash.  Also from the "Geocaching" page, if I am on the map screen and navigating to a cache, I will use the "Menu" key there to "Stop Navigation"  I just tried both ways to be sure and my unit does not crash.  Are you doing it differently?  By "Geocaching Dashboard" do you mean the Geocaching Page you can put in your main page sequence? If you mean a specific "Stop Navigation" field on the one large, or four small "Dashboards" on the Map screen, I have not seen that option.  I use many different things in the four small fields there but will have to look closer to see if I find the stop navigation option.

Edited March 2 by Cheminer Will

[+Atlas Cached 68]

2 hours ago, Cheminer Will said:

 

I was going to see if my 66st does the same but realized I don't follow how you are stopping navigation?  I stop navigation often with no trouble, when I am  navigating to a geocache on the Map Page or other pages.  For example from the Map page I use the "Menu" key to get to stop and it does not crash.  Also from the "Geocaching" page, if I am on the map screen and navigating to a cache, I will use the "Menu" key there to "Stop Navigation"  I just tried both ways to be sure and my unit does not crash.  Are you doing it differently?  

 

Read the crash report on GPSrChive and you will be able to replicate 100%.

 

Edited March 2 by Atlas Cached

[+Cheminer Will 4]

15 minutes ago, Atlas Cached said:

 

Read the crash report on GPSrChive and you will be able to replicate 100%.

 

 

Ah ha, I see now you edited your reply above.  I thought this was a newly found crash.  Reading that at GPSrChive I see that it is in orange so at least Garmin has acknowledged it.

[robertlipe 35]

3 hours ago, Atlas Cached said:

 

That is a known issue (GPSrChive > GPSMAP 66 > Common Issues > Crash Reports > 03) that hopefully Garmin will resolve soon!

 

I can't quite spot it, but this bug is/was present in the 600 as well. I've admittedly not been power-caching in a long time, and I don't recall the firmware versions involved (making this "me, too" not very helpful) but this used to bring down my 600 several times a day. You couldn't read the description unless you were navigating to it, so you decide that one isn't for you, press stop navigation and BOOM the unit would go down 100% of the time. I reported it since it was so trivially reproducible.  Once I had a test case in hand, I verified that the 450 acted the same way, so that explained one of the crashes that nailed me several times a day when hunting.

In short, if it hasn't been fixed by now this bug has spread across many their models and as discussed elsewhere, it may not ever get traction to be fixed. Good luck!

[+dprovan 746]

4 hours ago, Atlas Cached said:

I'm having a little trouble understanding you here. It sounds like you want to edit the hiking dashboard data fields, which you can not. In fact, there is no Hiking Dashboard.

 

No Garmin GPSr has ever allowed the user to edit data fields that are part of a dashboard, other than the actual Data Field dashboards. And, any editing of these data fields is unique to the currently active profile by design.

 

All data fields in either the Large Data Field Dashboard or Small Data  Field Dashboard are fully customizable on the GPSMAP 66.

I think I have the same gripe, so I may have understood this better. When he says "Dashboard", I think he means activity. I was completely floored when I carefully configured my 66st just the way I wanted under the hiking activity, which was the one I found it in, and then when I discovered the geocaching activity and switched to it, none of that effort was reflected there. It was all back to square one. I suppose there's a logic to that, but since 95% of the changes I'd made were just fundamental changes I wanted no matter which specific activity I was using, I found it really annoying. It basically makes activities useless to me because I'm not going to go to each and every activity and make all those changes all over again, and then keep them consistent as I adjust things in one activity or another.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

4 hours ago, dprovan said:

I think I have the same gripe, so I may have understood this better. When he says "Dashboard", I think he means activity. I was completely floored when I carefully configured my 66st just the way I wanted under the hiking activity, which was the one I found it in, and then when I discovered the geocaching activity and switched to it, none of that effort was reflected there. It was all back to square one. I suppose there's a logic to that, but since 95% of the changes I'd made were just fundamental changes I wanted no matter which specific activity I was using, I found it really annoying. It basically makes activities useless to me because I'm not going to go to each and every activity and make all those changes all over again, and then keep them consistent as I adjust things in one activity or another.

 

...nor do you have to. (here comes the light bulb moment...)

 

Here is the 'Best Practice' for all Garmin GPSr that support multiple 'Profiles' or 'Activities':

 

1. Select any Profile, preferably the default Profile that already best fits your desired needs.

2. Select Setup > Profiles > Create New Profile

3. A new Profile will appear in the list of Profiles that is an exact duplicate of the Active Profile in Step 2

4. Give the new Profile a unique name (like 'Template' or 'Setup' or 'Hiking' or 'Geocaching' or 'Driving' etc.)

5. Make all changes you desire to the new Profile

6. When you are ready to create additional Profiles with only slightly different settings, first enable your 'Template' Profile, then repeat Steps 2-5

7. Repeat Step 6 as often as desired to create new profiles as desired

8. Delete any unused or unwanted Profiles

9. Make backup copies of the Profiles directory on your Garmin GPSr for future use

 

Edited March 2 by Atlas Cached

[_Art_ 0]

What a mess!

 

https://imgur.com/a/T2qfOvw

 

I also noticed the backlight on one of the times I got it out, so maybe the buttons being easier to push wasn’t a great idea.

I wonder if it has anything to do with shorter battery life some people are getting. I’d need to turn backlight off or lock the keys.

 

[+Mineral2 155]

5 hours ago, _Art_ said:

What a mess!

 

https://imgur.com/a/T2qfOvw

 

I also noticed the backlight on one of the times I got it out, so maybe the buttons being easier to push wasn’t a great idea.

I wonder if it has anything to do with shorter battery life some people are getting. I’d need to turn backlight off or lock the keys.

 

Is this with GLONASS on or off?

[_Art_ 0]

Off. When I’m walking with lock to road off, the street are still in the right place.

 

[+Mineral2 155]

Sounds like bad mapping, then.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

1 hour ago, Mineral2 said:

Sounds like bad mapping, then.

 

Likely some of each.

 

If the same walk were repeated with GLONASS on, I think the entire track would exhibit less drift.

[+Cheminer Will 4]

Even though I like the feel of the buttons on my 66st, I find I need to lock the buttons unless I am holding it in hand.  Otherwise whenever I put it into or take it out of my pack's strap carrier, the buttons may get pushed. It is a bit of a pain to always be unlocking and locking using the rubber coated power button, but when I am recording a track, I do not want to inadvertently stop the recording.

 

However, turning screen capture on by: Menu>Menu>Setup>Display> Turn Screen Capture on sets the power button to capture so no more key lock. Is there any other way to lock the keys/buttons that I have not found yet?

[+Red90 59]

Belt clip on a shoulder harness.

[+grateful cacher 1]

Sorry to be away from the forum so long, but I wasn't getting any updates that replies were being made, else I would have responded.

 

I am using the latest firmware update, 2.50. That was released when I first contacted Garmin about the problems I'm having. That is the version I have installed. If there's a newer one, Garmin Express doesn't notify me when I connect to the computer.

 

As for loading my geocaches. I've always used the drag'n'drop method with my older Garmin units. I download my PQs (always the most recent ones), unzip them to my geocaching folder on my computer. I then connect the 66s via USB to my computer (PC, not Mac), and open the Garmin>GPX folder, and then drag all the PQs to that folder. It's always worked that way in the past, now it is not. When I turn on the 66s, it hangs on the Loading Waypoints screen, and the progress bar does not move.

 

I've been working with Garmin support on this. I have reset the device to factory setting several times, and tried loading lists Geocaching Live. Those do load successfully, and the 66s does boot. I use the Geocache Dashboard. When I select the Map, it shows the closest geocache that is on the device. If I select another cache, either by moving the pointer on the map, or from the Geocache app, it does let me select it. I can call up the cache, look at the D/T rating, read the description, etc. I then select GO, and it brings up the compass and distance data fields. If I decide that I want do not want to go after that cache, I hit the menu button, and the top selection is Stop Navigation. When I select Stop Navigation, the unit powers down after 4-5 seconds. that happens whether I've loaded the PQ from my computer, or from Geocaching Live. 

 

I have some other issues that I'll mention in another post, to keep this from getting too long.

[+grateful cacher 1]

On 3/1/2019 at 5:49 PM, Atlas Cached said:

 

You are doing something wrong. My GPSMAP 66 units both have zero issues loading PQs, which are listed in the GCLive List menu on the device.

 

All these bugs really sounds like to me you are running an older firmware version.

 

What version is that?

 

 

I have version 2.50 which is what Garmin told me was the latest. 

 

Also the Lists that are on Geocaching Live are more than PQs. They also have the Lists that I have made to show that I have met the requirements for challenge caches. For example, we have an Oregon Cemetery challenge that you have to visit 100 Oregon cemeteries. I have a list showing those caches. That shows up in Geocaching Live. But some of the PQs that I have do not show up there. That was my point.

 

[+grateful cacher 1]

On 3/1/2019 at 8:39 PM, Atlas Cached said:

 

Read the crash report on GPSrChive and you will be able to replicate 100%.

 

 

Thanks for pointing me to that page. I'm looking at it now

 

[+grateful cacher 1]

On 3/1/2019 at 5:46 PM, Atlas Cached said:

 

I'm having a little trouble understanding you here. It sounds like you want to edit the hiking dashboard data fields, which you can not. In fact, there is no Hiking Dashboard.

 

No Garmin GPSr has ever allowed the user to edit data fields that are part of a dashboard, other than the actual Data Field dashboards. And, any editing of these data fields is unique to the currently active profile by design.

 

All data fields in either the Large Data Field Dashboard or Small Data  Field Dashboard are fully customizable on the GPSMAP 66.

 

I suspect there is some functionality confusion here.

 

It really sounds like you may be referring to Profiles, and each Profile settings are unique. When you create a new profile, the current settings are copied to the new profile, and you can change them as desired after.

 

 

 

What I'm meaning to say is that I would like to edit the data fields on the Geocache Dashboard. When it opens, and I'm going towards a cache, it shows compass heading and distance to destination. I've always liked a pointer for direction, as well as distance. On the older units I've (including the 64s/64sc devices), I've been able to select 2 or 4 data fields, and then select what I want in those data fields. I've not found a way to do that with the 66s. Is it possible to do that?

 

 

[+grateful cacher 1]

On 3/1/2019 at 5:32 PM, Atlas Cached said:

 

Are the PQ's downloaded from the GC server or from an email?

 

Are they edited by some other software before loading them to the GPSMAP 66?

 

I find my GPSMAP 66 units are very speedy indexing new GPX files, especially compared to previous Garmin products. A few minutes at most, usually less.

 

I download my PQs directly from Groundspeak, then unzip and store on a directory on my PC. Then I drag'n' drop to my device which is connect to my computer via USB. I have about 70 PQs that I download, and the oldest one I copy is 7 days old.

 

[+grateful cacher 1]

On 3/1/2019 at 5:35 PM, Atlas Cached said:

 

Did the green progress bar take hours again after you removed the GPX files from your GPSMAP 66? 

 

What OS are you using? Mac or PC?

 

The map issue sounds like you may need to adjust a Map Setting, or may be running old firmware.

 

You might benefit from renaming the SQL directory to something else and letting the device rebuild all internal data from scratch again.

 

 

I'm a little nervous about renaming the SQL directory. Will that affect any of the maps I have installed, like the City Navigator?

 

[+grateful cacher 1]

I found this page on gpsarchive this morning, about the Geocaching function of the 66s/66st. It gives it a big FAILED stamp, and says this function is currently broken.

 

One question, how are GGZ files created??

 

http://www.gpsrchive.com/GPSMAP/GPSMAP 66/index.htm

[+grateful cacher 1]

Another glitch I've found when loading geocaches via the drag'n'drop method, and I power on the 66s after disconnecting from the computer. If I just power it on, it hangs on the Loading Waypoints, Tracks progress bar, and locks up. I can't turn it off, the only way to power it off is to remove the batteries. If I power it on with it plugged into an A/C outlet, it will boot up, load maps, but bypasses the Loading Waypoint, Tracks progress bar, and none of the cache data is seen on the device.........anyone else experience this???

 

[+The A-Team 970]

5 hours ago, grateful cacher said:

What I'm meaning to say is that I would like to edit the data fields on the Geocache Dashboard. When it opens, and I'm going towards a cache, it shows compass heading and distance to destination. I've always liked a pointer for direction, as well as distance. On the older units I've (including the 64s/64sc devices), I've been able to select 2 or 4 data fields, and then select what I want in those data fields. I've not found a way to do that with the 66s. Is it possible to do that?

You can't edit the fields on the "Geocache" dashboard.

Based on your description, it sounds like you were using the "Large Data Fields" or "Small Data Fields" dashboards on your previous devices. These ones are customizable. If you switch to one of those, I think you'll find they do what you're looking for.

[+Cheminer Will 4]

54 minutes ago, The A-Team said:

You can't edit the fields on the "Geocache" dashboard.

Based on your description, it sounds like you were using the "Large Data Fields" or "Small Data Fields" dashboards on your previous devices. These ones are customizable. If you switch to one of those, I think you'll find they do what you're looking for.

 

I think this is correct with one caveat.  We used to have a choice of 2 or 4 small data fields.  Now with the 66 Garmin seems to have done away with the choice for two.  You can have data fields turned off or one large data field, or 4 small data fields.  But you can no longer have 2 small data fields.  For all the good it may, or may not, do I have sent Garmin an email requesting to have the choice of two small data fields back.  Although, with all the options the 66 has to choose from, I have no trouble finding data to fill those 4 small fields, sometimes I find the 4 fields covers too much of the map for my liking.  Not sure why they eliminated the choice of two small fields.

Edited March 6 by Cheminer Will

[+dprovan 746]

33 minutes ago, The A-Team said:

You can't edit the fields on the "Geocache" dashboard.

Based on your description, it sounds like you were using the "Large Data Fields" or "Small Data Fields" dashboards on your previous devices. These ones are customizable. If you switch to one of those, I think you'll find they do what you're looking for.

Good info, but there's a huge glitch: you can only go to the geocaching information from the geocaching dashboard. I find the geocaching dashboard to be obnoxious, almost useless, because it navigates to the nearest geocache even when the unit is navigating to something else, like a waypoint. Astonishing. So I tried to get around it by using the small data fields and filling them in with the information I need for navigation. That worked OK for navigating, but then when I am navigating to a cache, I can't jump to the cache's information. I still can't believe it. I guess I can get around it by adding an additional page to my page sequence specifically to look at the geocaching info, but I haven't gotten around to trying that yet 'cuz I just can't believe it doesn't work the way I'm expecting.

 

This stuff strikes me as goofy even after I take into account something else I've concluded: that no one at Garmin geocaches.

[+Cheminer Will 4]

52 minutes ago, dprovan said:

I guess I can get around it by adding an additional page to my page sequence specifically to look at the geocaching info, but I haven't gotten around to trying that yet 'cuz I just can't believe it doesn't work the way I'm expecting.

 

Yes, I may try that to get around the fact that I have not yet warmed to the "geocaching dashboard" either and I find that I still use two devices because I look at the cache's information on my saved offline database on my phone, not on the 66.

[+Atlas Cached 68]

7 hours ago, grateful cacher said:

Sorry to be away from the forum so long, but I wasn't getting any updates that replies were being made, else I would have responded.

 

I am using the latest firmware update, 2.50. That was released when I first contacted Garmin about the problems I'm having. That is the version I have installed. If there's a newer one, Garmin Express doesn't notify me when I connect to the computer.

 

As for loading my geocaches. I've always used the drag'n'drop method with my older Garmin units. I download my PQs (always the most recent ones), unzip them to my geocaching folder on my computer. I then connect the 66s via USB to my computer (PC, not Mac), and open the Garmin>GPX folder, and then drag all the PQs to that folder. It's always worked that way in the past, now it is not. When I turn on the 66s, it hangs on the Loading Waypoints screen, and the progress bar does not move.

 

 

How much time are you waiting for the green progress bar to move?

 

Have you tried deleting the SQL folder and rebooting?

[+Atlas Cached 68]

7 hours ago, grateful cacher said:

Sorry to be away from the forum so long, but I wasn't getting any updates that replies were being made, else I would have responded.

 

I am using the latest firmware update, 2.50. That was released when I first contacted Garmin about the problems I'm having. That is the version I have installed. If there's a newer one, Garmin Express doesn't notify me when I connect to the computer.

 

I've been working with Garmin support on this. I have reset the device to factory setting several times, and tried loading lists Geocaching Live. Those do load successfully, and the 66s does boot. I use the Geocache Dashboard. When I select the Map, it shows the closest geocache that is on the device. If I select another cache, either by moving the pointer on the map, or from the Geocache app, it does let me select it. I can call up the cache, look at the D/T rating, read the description, etc. I then select GO, and it brings up the compass and distance data fields. If I decide that I want do not want to go after that cache, I hit the menu button, and the top selection is Stop Navigation. When I select Stop Navigation, the unit powers down after 4-5 seconds. that happens whether I've loaded the PQ from my computer, or from Geocaching Live. 

 

 

The crash when selecting Stop Navigation is a known issue (GPSrChive > GPSMAP 66 > Common Issues > Crash #3), and should be resolved in an upcoming firmware release.