Took the Plunge Today.

[umc]

After much debate and research I finally took the plunge today and ordered the Garmin GPS V. I have had my Lowrance GlobalMap 100 for four years now and it has served me well but I wanted something new. The only thing I wish the V had was expandable memory. Other than that I think it is a great unit and can't wait to receive it Thursday. I ordered from REI because I love their 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

 

I just wanted to share my excitement here.

 

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The 'idiot' who should be banned because he likes to spend all day annoying people while drinking beer.

[+ZachNLiam]

Although I'm a former GPSV owner, I can tell you you'll love your GPSV.

 

Now to explain: I sold my GPSV only because I wanted the big color screen and memory of the Street Pilot III. I ALREADY owned a GPSMAP76, so I was covered out of the car.

 

The GPSV is absolutely the best all-around gps unit available.

[umc]

Thanks,

 

When doing my research I was trying to decide between the GPS V and the Magellan Meridian Platinum. I was seriously leaning toward the Platinum until I went to Cabelas and compared the two side by side. I immediately fell in love with the Resolution on the V. Like I said earlier I really want the memory but the V has too many nice things that have out weighed the lack of memory. I am still a little weary that they will come out with a unit to replace the V soon that will have everything the V has plus expandable memory and more but oh well thats a life in technology for ya.

 

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The 'idiot' who should be banned because he likes to spend all day annoying people while drinking beer.

[+Uncle Alaska]

Congratulations umc

 

I went out and did some caching and benchmark hunting with my V today (first full day of solid use). Having owned a GPS III for almost 5 years, and knowing that some of the menu system was similar (underline some) I knew the V was for me. I know the lack of expandable memory is a drawback. And I had the same concerns about a new unit coming out soon. But, as someone said: A bird in the hand is worth an unknown amount of time waiting for an untested, problem plagued (or not), Garmin model of the future.

I love the V so far. And I was able to pass on my III (which is still going strong by the way) to my friend and fellow cacher Elifish who has hit the ground (and caches) at full speed.

 

Let me know from time to time how the V works for you and I will do the same.

Have Fun!

 

-UA

[+Gimpy]

You're going to really enjoy the V. Pretty user friendly & very reliable.

 

"Gimpy"

[+Gimpy]

You're going to really enjoy the V. Pretty user friendly & very reliable.

 

"Gimpy"

[umc]

Thanks all, I have 2MB of memory in my GM100 and that allowed me to download a huge part of the metro area here in MI, probably 100mile radius (maybe a little less north and south) but I rarly leave that area. That is one MB worth. I save the other MB if I leave that area and I will DL the area I'm going to. That has worked for me. My concern that the 2MB on my GM100 is going to be close to the same as the 19MB on the V because there is so much more info and not just street data. I'm sure there is a lot of truth to that but it will be a matter of testing to figure out how much once I get the unit. Unless there is someone that lives in MI and can tell me how much of the metro area including Detroit they can get into that 19MB.

 

Anyway I think one thing I will do with my GM100 is show my wife how to use the basics on it so that we can hide personal caches for each other and go after them at the same time instead of one at a time. That was a thought I had for our anniversary that just passed but it never happened. Oh well.

 

Rambling.......END

 

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The 'idiot' who should be banned because he likes to spend all day annoying people while drinking beer.

[+falcon28]

UMC, I live in Grand rapids and own a Legend. I have uploaded all of the state except the up into the legend. I bought the Roads and Rec mapsource cd. It gives me street level maps of all of the lower state. I just could not squeeze the UP in. 19 megs should load the whole state.

[+apersson850]

But the R&R maps don't provide autorouting. Doesn't matter in the Legend, since that will never autoroute, but does matter in a GPS V.

 

Autorouting maps has more data associated with them, to allow that function to work.

 

Anders

[+Criminal]

UMC: Good move, you won't be sorry. As to the memory issue, last night I loaded three huge chunks from City Select and four smaller chunks from Topo and there was no problem. I'm sure Garmin is hard at work on the ultimate GPSr with unlimited memory, color screen, two antennas, and it'll kiss you if you find the cache. Meantime, the V is the best out there for an "all purpose" receiver.

 

To the others who've upgraded from the III+, somebody needs to write a primer on making the transition. I'm still looking for sub-menu items that aren't there........

 

To the constant bragging from non-V owners who have more memory, give it up! Try geocaching with autorouting, you will never want to go back to aimless wandering.

 

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

Throw your jelly out the window; let the dog-gone shack burn down.

**Huddie Ledbetter**

[+Criminal]

UMC: Good move, you won't be sorry. As to the memory issue, last night I loaded three huge chunks from City Select and four smaller chunks from Topo and there was no problem. I'm sure Garmin is hard at work on the ultimate GPSr with unlimited memory, color screen, two antennas, and it'll kiss you if you find the cache. Meantime, the V is the best out there for an "all purpose" receiver.

 

To the others who've upgraded from the III+, somebody needs to write a primer on making the transition. I'm still looking for sub-menu items that aren't there........

 

To the constant bragging from non-V owners who have more memory, give it up! Try geocaching with autorouting, you will never want to go back to aimless wandering.

 

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

Throw your jelly out the window; let the dog-gone shack burn down.

**Huddie Ledbetter**

[+ZachNLiam]

I don't live there, but I have the full unlock. This is an image of the City Navigator (for Street Pilot III) maps covering a much larger area than you could fit, but you can see the map sizes on the left, and hopefully you can make out the faint lines between maps on the map page.

 

In my experience the GPSV maps are just slightly smaller than the SPIII maps, so you may do just a little better than this, but at least it will give you something to look at!

 

I uploaded it here:

http://www.jamzcheer.com/umcmap.gif

 

Hope that helps! I'm sure you're chomping at the bit!

[umc]

Ouch,

 

I added up the part of Michigan that you had in there and it was just over 16MB. That hurts because thats not a whole lot. Well I will definately be anxious to see what I can actually fit on there. I can travel a good part of the metro area in one day and if I can't get all of that and then some I will be a little discouraged. Is there a way of cutting down on some things in order to get more map in the unit?

 

I know the Lowrance software allows you to add what features you want and leave out the ones you don't. Is that possible at all? Just curious. Obviously the proof is in the pudding and I should know by tomorrow but the waiting is a bit painful.

 

Thanks for the map that did give me an idea and I appreciate the work you did to put that together.

 

Also on that note if anyone with cityselect wants to see how much of the lower half of Michigan they can get in the 19MB area it would help set my mind at ease. What I would like would be St. Clair river, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River, all of Detroit as far north as Flint and as far south as the boarder of OH and as far west as possible after that hopefully at least west of Lansing. Any takers? I don't want a pic but just to know how much that takes up.

 

Thanks.

 

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The 'idiot' who should be banned because he likes to spend all day annoying people while drinking beer.

[+cat-n-the-hat]

I was able to get flint south to tecumseh and alittle west of lancing thru detroit into 18.2 meg using cityselect 4.01. Couldn't get to the ohio boarder though because the next map south of tecumseh went way over the boarder into Ohio. It sure would be nice if there was an option to remove poi when down loaded to our gpsr so we could squeeze more map in.(I sent an email in july to garmin cartography about this already). Also you might be able to squeeze more maps in by using a combo of city select and metro guide maps depending on the detail you need. Both maps sets will allow for the V to do street navigation. I do this where I live because some of the metro guide maps are small in size(but offer less detail) and I use those in areas I don't need the detail in. Hope this helps.

 

Cat-n-the-hat

[+cat-n-the-hat]

I forgot to mention this in previous post the base map built into the V will do an ok job navigating on major highways between cities. In my area I have Portland loaded and also seattle/tacoma loaded and use the base map for the area in-between since I only drive the major highway between those two cities.

Cat-n-the-hat

[umc]

Cat n the hat

 

Thank you very much. Thats what I wanted to hear.

 

I know that there is so much more info on the V but I do think its a bit funny that all of that only equals 1MB on my GM100.

 

thanks again.

 

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The 'idiot' who should be banned because he likes to spend all day annoying people while drinking beer.

[umc]

Whoooooo Hooooooo

 

I've been waiting around the office all day for Mr. FedEx to come and he finally did. I actually tracked him and Brown down. Anyway its here and I'm in the process of dinking (techincal term) around with it. So far so good, currently I'm waiting for it to DL the City Select software which is 16% complete. I plan on going on a few caches later but am not sure if I will get far enough to use this. I just wanted to give an update and once I beat this thing up a bit I may post a review even though its been done.

 

Thats it for now.

 

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The 'idiot' who should be banned because he likes to spend all day annoying people while drinking beer.

[+ZachNLiam]

When you enter a cache on your shiny new GPSV, route to the cache using either Faster Time or Shorter Distance. When you run out of road (the closest the V will get you to the cache ON the road), simply select RECALCULATE, and choose OFF ROAD. Then it will work like a standard GPS with the compass screen.

 

Also, hold the PAGE button for a couple seconds to make the screen vertical (assuming you were using it horizontal in the car).

 

Have fun! And I can't read enough reviews.

[umc]

So far so good. I haven't read the manual yet but have figured several things out. I hope there is a easier way to manually enter waypoints because having to select each number and hit enter sort of sucks. I would like to go up or down to get to the number I want. Anyway that will probably be something I just deal with. I will work on becoming better with easyGPS but that lacks some features as you know, like having the cache name included. I have also noticed a couple quirky things like the speed sometimes locks up and takes a few before it kicks in again and my detailed mapsource maps don't allways pop in. I can't be any more specific than that but I'm sure I will figure things out as I go. Thanks for the off road tip.

 

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Proud New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+RobAGD]

Anders - You are not kidding, this has teh same poopy UI as the Vista and I didnt much care for that UI but the screen is a wonder. I think the III+ 's UI is a lot better.

 

I have had a 3+ for 3 months now,a nd I just got the 5 ( 3 days ago ) and its one heck of a learning curve.

 

Entering Waypoins is a PITA, Menus are not where you would expect them.

 

The unit seem sto take longer to get good locks in my parking lot that my 3, I then turned on teh WAAS and accuracy went from 50ft + to 9-12ft. Intresting

 

Right now I am having some small issues with the V and Delorme not playing nice downloading waypoint from the V to the pc, the file looks like its encrypted or corrupted, and teh settings on both GPS's ( III+ and V ) are the same.

 

Oh well...

 

-RObert

[umc]

Man O Man I hate to sound like this but I have to say that I bought a POS. I will talk to Garmin and see what they have to say and probably send it in and get it back in the same condition because I feel as though this is just how the thing operates.

 

The new story I went on a hunt for a new cache today and I must have lost lock about 15 times in 20 minutes and I think because of that the darn thing led me way off in the wrong direction. I spent an hour of extra time because of the lack of reliability of the V. So after putting up with this for a while I was fed up and pulled out the trusty GM100 and it locked up in under a minute under "thick" (lol not for the GM100) cover where the V was just spinning its wheels searching for birds. I left the V on but put it in my shoulder pouch and navigated with the GM100 which was locked on to 7 birds under the same cover where the V kept losing it. Once I got to the cache site I saw that the person before me (who I saw on the trail) made a comment about only locking on to 3 birds and no more. I laughed because I was looking at 7 birds on my GM100 while reading that. Like I said I saw them on the way in and they had a Meridian looked like a gold, it had green on it also. Anyway this is my second let down and I know everyone is saying then get rid of the V and just stick with your GM100 if you so happy with it. Thats not the case, I'm using it as a comparison and so far it makes the V look like a childs toy when it comes to locking on satellites. I absolutely love the auto routing, it is the best but I can't work with a unit that is going to constintantly (sp?) lead me a stray and lose lock. So once I go through my stint with Garmin I plan on taking the unit back to REI where I got it from, getting my money back and dropping it on a i-FINDER from Lowrance and if it doesn't hold a candle to the GM100 then I will stick with that and spend the extra money on nicer Geocache items I guess. I say the i-FINDER instead of the Meridian because of the post I saw in the log about only locking on to 3 satellites plus the display hurts my eyes. I'm definetly one for eye candy and the V has it but oh well the Meridian for sure does not. Anyway I know it sounds like I'm crying and bashing here and I am but its just because I'm very dissapointed in the money I just spent when I thought I did my homework and read that it locked on to sats very well. So that is the end of my rant for now. Again I hope I didn't offend anyone I'm just upset about what I thought was going to be the best new thing.

 

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Proud New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+Gimpy]

I can relate to what you're saying. When I had my Vista, & could not hold a satellite lock for my life under tree cover, & posted my experiences here. All the eTrex owners seemed to imply that I was wrong. I sold the unit & was done with it. Cuz you know what? No matter how much you complain about it, it will not improve your experience & get you better satellite lock. At least it didn't with my Vista.The vast majority of V owners, myself included, do not get the same results that you get. Take it back & get something else or stick with the GM100. Whatever works in your corner of the world.

 

"Gimpy"

[+Centaur]

All i can think of is you got a bad V out of the box. Just today I took my V to a cache notorious for its bad signal lock under dense tree cover. They were right, under the trees in this place I could only lock up 4 to 6 birds, but even that got me to within 100 feet of the given cache. Never lost lock. True I had to use the clue and bushwack a little because the given coords were noted as being an average and off. This is the cache: Pine Cathedral.

 

So I would ask if you could get another V to try. Dont know what else to say.

-Centaur

 

[umc]

I know the complaining gets me no where but I just had to get it out. Do you really think it is an issue with being in a different area of the US? Or is it possible is a defective unit?

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[umc]

Thanks guys,

 

I will look into a different V and see what happens.

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+RB_Nielsen]

I have a Garmin V, and have totally enjoyed owning it. It has performed extremely well, and I would not hesitate to recommend it. So, hearing that you have had less than stellar performance is quite a disappointment. My hope is that you are able to get satisfaction from Garmin, and that your GPSr unit can be exchanged for one that is up to snuff and also meets your expectations. I do not believe your hopes were beyond what the unit is well capable of delivering.

 

Please keep us all informed of how well you fare.

[+Gimpy]

quote:

---

Originally posted by umc:

Do you really think it is an issue with being in a different area of the US? Or is it possible is a defective unit?

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

---

 

Don't know what to tell ya, umc. There is no concrete evidence as to location being a factor. But up here in upstate NY, myself & 2 other local cachers had such problems holding a satellite lock with the Vista, that we sold them off. But the overwhelming majority of folks in other parts of the country, had no problems whatsoever. I really loved the features of the unit, but I couldn't depend on it. And as I've stated before, Garmin had to send me a replacement unit, when the click stick broke & was un-repairable, & I had the same results with that unit. That leads me to believe that location has something to do with it. Doesn't seem like that should cause a problem though. Good luck with your situation.

 

"Gimpy"

[umc]

Thanks again all,

 

I plan on talkning to Garmin tomorrow and seeing what they have to say.

 

I will keep you all informed.

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[ikayak]

quote:

---

umc

I know the complaining gets me no where but I just had to get it out. Do you really think it is an issue with being in a different area of the US?

---

 

I bought a yellow even after reading complaints about the yellow not locking on satellites, low signal strenght and other concerns. I live up in the top left hand corner USA and consistantly get 8-10 strong signals. So, I have to think location in respect to the geosynchronis (or whatever the things are called) satellites have something to do with it. How about you other PNW GPSers? Do you all get very strong signals?

 

Sorry to hear about the V. At least you bought it at no questions asked-REI. I'd rather pay more and get their great customer service. I am just bitter because every time we locate a cache, it is empty

 

Time Flies like an arrow. Fruit Flies like a banana

[ikayak]

quote:

---

umc

I know the complaining gets me no where but I just had to get it out. Do you really think it is an issue with being in a different area of the US?

---

 

I bought a yellow even after reading complaints about the yellow not locking on satellites, low signal strenght and other concerns. I live up in the top left hand corner USA and consistantly get 8-10 strong signals. So, I have to think location in respect to the geosynchronis (or whatever the things are called) satellites have something to do with it. How about you other PNW GPSers? Do you all get very strong signals?

 

Sorry to hear about the V. At least you bought it at no questions asked-REI. I'd rather pay more and get their great customer service. I am just bitter because every time we locate a cache, it is empty

 

Time Flies like an arrow. Fruit Flies like a banana

[umc]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ikayak:

At least you bought it at no questions asked-REI. I'd rather pay more and get their great customer service.

---

 

Thanks and I agree 100%. Warranty is everything to me and this is a good reason why.

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+ZachNLiam]

Umc, this may be elementary, but do you have the antenna pointing straight up? I've owned a 5, the Street Pilot III and a GPSMAP76 (all which have a quad helix antenna) and all of them have worked extremely well. BUT, if the antenna isn't pointing up the reception is DEFINITELY affected.

 

If you ARE pointing it up, I think you must have a defective unit. Try another one, definitely.

 

In fact, if REI will let you, take yours and a new one outside (once the new one figures out where it is for the first time of course) and then compare the two units side-by-side (but not too close so they don't interfere with each other). I'd be curious if they're noticeably different. That would definitely answer your question.

 

Just my thoughts. All my Garmins have performed well, including my sons' eTrexes.

[+cat-n-the-hat]

Just a thought do you have it in battery saver mode. My came out of the box that way. I quickly turned that feature off after reading posts about how it can affect sat lock under trees. Since the unit only updates every 3-5 seconds instead of every second.

 

cat-n-the-hat

[umc]

Thats right, I made the phone call and basically what the garmin tech told me was that he felt the unit was fine and that is just how it operates. He even went on to explain the two different types of antennas to me which I did learn a bit about there. I pulled an excerpt from a website that gives a little more detail about the two different types of antennas. I now truely believe that is what the problem is and I do know that my GM100 is a patch antenna.

 

Heres the article:

There are basically 2 types of antennas used, patch and quadrifilar helix (quad). Patch aerials may be somewhat better for reception as they pick up signals from directly over head to 10 degrees above the horizon. Quad antennas can pick up satellites close to the horizon, but do have trouble directly overhead. This means that the patch would be better down valleys. Some units allow the addition of an external aerial to increase reception.

 

So for all who have been following this story, I Love the V and its autorouting features but I need something that is going to stay locked in the woods therefore I will be taking the V back to REI and getting my money back and purchasing an i-FINDER from Cabelas since REI doesn't carry Lowrance products.

 

It is a bitter sweet day in the life of umc

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[umc]

Thats right, I made the phone call and basically what the garmin tech told me was that he felt the unit was fine and that is just how it operates. He even went on to explain the two different types of antennas to me which I did learn a bit about there. I pulled an excerpt from a website that gives a little more detail about the two different types of antennas. I now truely believe that is what the problem is and I do know that my GM100 is a patch antenna.

 

Heres the article:

There are basically 2 types of antennas used, patch and quadrifilar helix (quad). Patch aerials may be somewhat better for reception as they pick up signals from directly over head to 10 degrees above the horizon. Quad antennas can pick up satellites close to the horizon, but do have trouble directly overhead. This means that the patch would be better down valleys. Some units allow the addition of an external aerial to increase reception.

 

So for all who have been following this story, I Love the V and its autorouting features but I need something that is going to stay locked in the woods therefore I will be taking the V back to REI and getting my money back and purchasing an i-FINDER from Cabelas since REI doesn't carry Lowrance products.

 

It is a bitter sweet day in the life of umc

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+ZachNLiam]

I'm still surprised at your experiences. I loved my V and never thought it did poorly, even in heavy cover, etc. I now have the SPIII and MAP76 and they both do really well also.

 

A quick search on these forums will confirm that most other V users are VERY pleased with the performance of their units as well.

 

BTW, I frequently compare my 76 with both my sons' GPSrs, (etrex yellow and Legend) and my 76 always locks on faster and holds the lock better (with quad helix antenna).

 

Just confused....

[umc]

Well I called Garmin 3 times now and talked to three different people and one of the recomendations was to do a master reset and let the unit sit outside for a half an hour after that to rebuild the almanac data. I am heading home now to do that and will test it right after to see if it makes a difference. I will post in an hour or two once I find out.

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[umc]

Did the master reset and let it sit for over a half an hour and took the V to some woods behind my house. I had no problem there but not being satisfied I went to one of the parks that I was having problems at. (9:00pm) A little dark we went to the park and hit the trails. No real issues like I was having so I think the master reset did the trick. I'm still not satisfied so I will be going to a different park another one where I was having a problem at in the morning before heading to work and testing it out there also. If things work there I still plan on going to the same park that I was at tonight for one final test. If it passes at thoughs and all day then the V may be sticking around longer than I thought. We will see and only time will tell.

 

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Bitter New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+Criminal]

Keep trying UMC, You'll find something wrong with it..........

 

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

Throw your jelly out the window; let the dog-gone shack burn down.

**Huddie Ledbetter**

[+Criminal]

Keep trying UMC, You'll find something wrong with it..........

 

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

If your house catches afire, and there aint no water around,

Throw your jelly out the window; let the dog-gone shack burn down.

**Huddie Ledbetter**

[+Uncle Alaska]

umc

 

I spent about 2 hours in a deep, dark, redwood forest today (working on some research for school) and had good signals the whole time. The best GPS accuracy I had was about 15 ft. Antenna position has a lot to do with good reception. I think regardless of what model or brand you are not going to find absolute perfection on reception in deep dark forests. But, here is what I do to make up for all the trees. I have a small piece of steel (from an altoid tin) velcroed to the top of my cap. On the steel I attach my Titan 3 external high gain antenna. This works very good. I don't have to move the gps unit up and around to get a better signal...I just stand tall . Plus I can put the main unit in my pocket or pack (leaving the power on) and the signal stays good while walking around...All in all I think the V is axcellent. (By the way, the 2 hours of good signal today was just with the standard antenna attached).

-UA

[+Uncle Alaska]

umc

 

I spent about 2 hours in a deep, dark, redwood forest today (working on some research for school) and had good signals the whole time. The best GPS accuracy I had was about 15 ft. Antenna position has a lot to do with good reception. I think regardless of what model or brand you are not going to find absolute perfection on reception in deep dark forests. But, here is what I do to make up for all the trees. I have a small piece of steel (from an altoid tin) velcroed to the top of my cap. On the steel I attach my Titan 3 external high gain antenna. This works very good. I don't have to move the gps unit up and around to get a better signal...I just stand tall . Plus I can put the main unit in my pocket or pack (leaving the power on) and the signal stays good while walking around...All in all I think the V is axcellent. (By the way, the 2 hours of good signal today was just with the standard antenna attached).

-UA

[umc]

I'm glad to hear that you were using the regular antenna today because I don't think I would be attaching one to my hat anytime soon.

 

MY NEW THEORY

 

Hopefully you all can support my new theory. I will try to explain as best I can. I know for the most part it is hard to make any sense of what I try to say so try and bear with me. To date I have been running around testing my V the best way I know how and that is to use it. So yesterday I did the master reset deal and let it sit in my backyard with an open view of the sky for over a half an hour. Not too long after that I went walking around with a buddy and had the V on while walking down the street. No problem, on the way back we hiked through a field and in to a small patch of woods by my house. I did not lose signal in there once and even held the V pretty close to the plywood bottom of a tree fort for a little bit and did not lose signal. Satisfied with that little test I went home. (it was dark) Now still not happy because that was not the true test I decided to head out to one of the parks where I had major problems before. I walked about a quarter of the amount I usually do but didn't have any problems with losing lock for that time. Also mind you (part of my theory) that I had the V on the whole way to the park and it is about a 15min drive. So this morning before work I figured I would test it out at another park where I was having problems. I turned the V on outside my house and left it on the whole way to the park about another 15min (part of my theory) Got into the woods in the same areas where the V was crapping out before and I don't think I lost lock but once the whole 30-45 min I was in the woods. So still not being happy with the lock issue but very happy with the auto routing because I will through out maps. Sorry tangent. I hit the park that I went to last night after work today and figured I would try the whole trail which is about 2 miles or less. I didn't turn the V on until I got out of my truck. (part of my theory) and started hiking. The first part of this trail is in a open field. I lost lock once at that point. Got into the woods a little ways and lost lock again. Before I even got halfway along the trail I lost lock about 8 times. I continued on to a clearing and hung out there for a little bit (part of my theory) and then went back into the woods and didn't lose lock for about a quarter of the way then I would lose lock again and so on and so on the rest of the way until I got out. So what I am wondering is if (and I will test this) its a matter of (my theory) having the V on for a short period of time 5 to 10 minutes before going into the woods is what makes the difference between me losing lock the whole time or not at all. Can anyone else confirm that yes you always have your V on for some period of time before you go into the woods and maybe thats why you don't have the same problems I do. Or, no I turn my V on once I get a ways into the woods and once it locks up it stays there. I'm thinking that it needs a clear view of the sky for a bit prior to venturing off into the unknown cover. At first I thought the master reset deal did the trick but tonight confirmed that it didn't. Any ideas about 'my theory'? I appreciate all the input that everyone here has given. All I want is a reliable unit that I don't have to worry about crapping out on me on my way to a cache because that is frustrating as can be. If you can say for sure what you think about my theory maybe you can test it and post back. Maybe its not just me. (more than likely though)

 

Boy I'm sure glad they don't put a limit on the length of posts.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Confused New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[umc]

I'm glad to hear that you were using the regular antenna today because I don't think I would be attaching one to my hat anytime soon.

 

MY NEW THEORY

 

Hopefully you all can support my new theory. I will try to explain as best I can. I know for the most part it is hard to make any sense of what I try to say so try and bear with me. To date I have been running around testing my V the best way I know how and that is to use it. So yesterday I did the master reset deal and let it sit in my backyard with an open view of the sky for over a half an hour. Not too long after that I went walking around with a buddy and had the V on while walking down the street. No problem, on the way back we hiked through a field and in to a small patch of woods by my house. I did not lose signal in there once and even held the V pretty close to the plywood bottom of a tree fort for a little bit and did not lose signal. Satisfied with that little test I went home. (it was dark) Now still not happy because that was not the true test I decided to head out to one of the parks where I had major problems before. I walked about a quarter of the amount I usually do but didn't have any problems with losing lock for that time. Also mind you (part of my theory) that I had the V on the whole way to the park and it is about a 15min drive. So this morning before work I figured I would test it out at another park where I was having problems. I turned the V on outside my house and left it on the whole way to the park about another 15min (part of my theory) Got into the woods in the same areas where the V was crapping out before and I don't think I lost lock but once the whole 30-45 min I was in the woods. So still not being happy with the lock issue but very happy with the auto routing because I will through out maps. Sorry tangent. I hit the park that I went to last night after work today and figured I would try the whole trail which is about 2 miles or less. I didn't turn the V on until I got out of my truck. (part of my theory) and started hiking. The first part of this trail is in a open field. I lost lock once at that point. Got into the woods a little ways and lost lock again. Before I even got halfway along the trail I lost lock about 8 times. I continued on to a clearing and hung out there for a little bit (part of my theory) and then went back into the woods and didn't lose lock for about a quarter of the way then I would lose lock again and so on and so on the rest of the way until I got out. So what I am wondering is if (and I will test this) its a matter of (my theory) having the V on for a short period of time 5 to 10 minutes before going into the woods is what makes the difference between me losing lock the whole time or not at all. Can anyone else confirm that yes you always have your V on for some period of time before you go into the woods and maybe thats why you don't have the same problems I do. Or, no I turn my V on once I get a ways into the woods and once it locks up it stays there. I'm thinking that it needs a clear view of the sky for a bit prior to venturing off into the unknown cover. At first I thought the master reset deal did the trick but tonight confirmed that it didn't. Any ideas about 'my theory'? I appreciate all the input that everyone here has given. All I want is a reliable unit that I don't have to worry about crapping out on me on my way to a cache because that is frustrating as can be. If you can say for sure what you think about my theory maybe you can test it and post back. Maybe its not just me. (more than likely though)

 

Boy I'm sure glad they don't put a limit on the length of posts.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Confused New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[blizzards]

HI umc,

 

I've been following this post with considerable interest as i recently traded in my GPSMAP 76 for a V as well. I really like the V although, I do find that it is somewhat less "sensitive" than the MAP76.

 

My experience is quite similar to yours. I found that with any GPSr I've used (GPS 12, MAp76, V), it's always seems to keep a lock better after I've established a "good" lock before moving on.

 

-blizzards-

 

- Lost?!?!! ... Who? .. ME?!?! -

[umc]

Thanks,

 

I forgot to mention it above but I think that theory started from some of the stuff I have read on the boards along with someone from Garmin Tech Support mentioning it. I plan on going tomorrow in the morning again to try just that. Leave it on the whole way there and see what happens back in the woods where I was having all sorts of problems today. I would like to nip this thing in the bud and move on with my life. The odd thing that I can't explain is that my GM100 I can turn on after days in the middle of the woods under heavy cover and it locks up very quickly 30sec then never loses lock the rest of the time. Why would it be different? Is that another difference between the Quads and the Patches? At anyrate thanks for posting your experience in regards to my 'new theory', colin.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Confused New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02

[+apersson850]

When a GPS receives signals from space, it tries to match the pseudorandom code transmited from the satellite with the same code, generated in the receiver. When that is done, it measures the time it takes for the signal to go from the satellite to the receiver. To do that, the clock in the receiver must match the clocks in the satellites. Timing is essential, since that's what's used to determine the distance between you and the satellites.

 

When trying to get the first sat lock, the receiver assumes that the time it knows (by keeping its internal clock running even when powered off) is correct. Normally it isn't correct enough (one nanosecond equals 0.3 meters of error), but when locking onto at least four satellites, the correct time can be computed.

If you turn on the receiver when you go into the woods, one could assume that the correctness of the internal clock is more important than if you let it get a good satellite lock before you go in there.

 

Receivers keep compensation tables internally, to adjust their clock drift for temperature changes. These tables are updated in an adaptive manner, when the unit is used, in order to be able to adapt to aging of components and such things. Perhaps the new V hasn't all its table entries correct, compared to your four years old GM (or was it a Ford? ).

 

My Vista also works better in the woods, if it has had the available satellites "black", i.e. received and used, before I go into the dark.

 

Anders

[+apersson850]

When a GPS receives signals from space, it tries to match the pseudorandom code transmited from the satellite with the same code, generated in the receiver. When that is done, it measures the time it takes for the signal to go from the satellite to the receiver. To do that, the clock in the receiver must match the clocks in the satellites. Timing is essential, since that's what's used to determine the distance between you and the satellites.

 

When trying to get the first sat lock, the receiver assumes that the time it knows (by keeping its internal clock running even when powered off) is correct. Normally it isn't correct enough (one nanosecond equals 0.3 meters of error), but when locking onto at least four satellites, the correct time can be computed.

If you turn on the receiver when you go into the woods, one could assume that the correctness of the internal clock is more important than if you let it get a good satellite lock before you go in there.

 

Receivers keep compensation tables internally, to adjust their clock drift for temperature changes. These tables are updated in an adaptive manner, when the unit is used, in order to be able to adapt to aging of components and such things. Perhaps the new V hasn't all its table entries correct, compared to your four years old GM (or was it a Ford? ).

 

My Vista also works better in the woods, if it has had the available satellites "black", i.e. received and used, before I go into the dark.

 

Anders

[The Face]

UMC,Did you check the battery mode? as mention above and below here?

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by cat-n-the-hat:

Just a thought do you have it in battery saver mode. My came out of the box that way. I quickly turned that feature off after reading posts about how it can affect sat lock under trees. Since the unit only updates every 3-5 seconds instead of every second.

 

cat-n-the-hat

---

[umc]

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Face:

UMC,Did you check the battery mode? as mention above and below here?

---

 

Huh, I thought I responded to that. Yes I did make sure that it was in normal mode and yes the antenna is pointing in the right direction. Both great suggestions. I did check once I read the posts but just forgot to get back and respond. Sorry.

 

The new update: I went out this morning to the same park where I was after work lastnight and did the same hike but the difference was that today I turned on the V out of my house and left it on the whole 15min drive. Once I got there I let it sit on top of my truck for a short stint and took off towards the woods. It didn't lose lock once while in there where it did at least 15 times yesterday. Could it be time of day? Possibly. I will be checking that next.

 

Anders, thanks for putting some sense to my rantings. What you explained above helps me understand what I may be experiencing.

 

I will keep everyone up to date with my next find.

 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Confused New Owner Of a Garmin GPS V Received on 10-03-02