magellan 315 owners

[Guest localdj]

I see some people saying they were 35 feet away from the spot. How do you find out the distance. My GPS counts down to .01 minutes which is 1/10 of a mile as I am doing a "goto". Is there any other way to tell when you are getting close to the cache.

Thanks

Brew

[Guest bk11]

Upgrade your firmware to 3.14, then it will count down in feet.

 

Brenna

Bump On A Log

[Guest bk11]

ooop!

 

Here's the link:

 

http://magellangps.com/downloads/gps315v314.htm

[Guest bk11]

Ack! One more thing: I believe you'll lose everything you have saved on your unit, so you'll want to back that up first.

[Guest Rangertrek]

I upgraded and lost everything on the unit.

I had the points saved on easy gps and it was an easy restore.

 

My 315 is now for sale. Old reliable has been replaced by a gold.

[Guest localdj]

bk11;

Thanks for the info on updating my magellan 315. I had an old mouse so I cut the wire and used a meter to find out which wire was which and then made a wooden plate using the pattern you suggested. I did not have a small screw to screw into the 315 so I used a wood screw and some rubber bands and it worked. I now have software 3.14. I did lose all of my waypoints but I did not know how to save them other than writing them down and reentering so I just let them go. I tried to do a "goto" but it still reads in tenths of a mile. Will it change to feet when I get closer to the waypoint?

I went into "setup" but the options are only miles not tenths. Can I use the same cable I made to upload waypoints and if so how do I do it.

Thanks again

[Guest Choberiba]

Waypoint 101

 

If your cable is working alright, you can use a variety of software packages to save and restore this type of information.

 

I'm a Garmite and use Mapsource, but I like most started out with some free software called EasyGPS.

[Guest localdj]

Thanks again for the help. I just went outside and save a waypoint and walked up the road. I did a "GOTO" and it counts in feet. I came back following the GPS but it sait 51 feet to go. I attribute this to the cloudyness and not being able to pick up sattelites. I live in Northeast NC and we have 6-8 inches of snow. My magellan isn't used to the cold or snow.

Thanks again.

[Guest mazda626]

Recently I tried to upgrade the firmware on my brothers 315 while he was here for a short visit. I wasn't able to get the GPS to talk to my PC and I'm wondering what you have the communications proticol set to on the 315? If my memory serves the choices were various NMEA versions.

 

I know the com port on my PC is OK as I use it to upload/download from my Garmin GPS12 on a regular basis.

[Guest bk11]

localdj,

So that worked for you? Awesome! I wish I would have made one before I spent the fiddy bucks on it!

 

Brenna

Bump On A Log

 

For those of you playing along at home, here is the link I had sent to localdj.

[Guest bk11]

Oh, and localdj, it only switches to feet once you're under .1!

[Guest localdj]

BK11;

I found that out about the feet under .1. This has probably saved me from buying another GPS. I'm still looking at various models. I think I want a Garmin with WAAS.

As far as the protocol, I just downloaded the ZIP file for updating the software and executed it and it upgraded mine.

Later

[Guest localdj]

mazda626;

I ued the zip file for updating and it would not work at first. I had to put all of the files in a seperate directory. Seems it needed "MAGUP.INI" to work.

Localdj

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by mazda626:

Recently I tried to upgrade the firmware on my brothers 315 while he was here for a short visit. I wasn't able to get the GPS to talk to my PC and I'm wondering what you have the communications proticol set to on the 315? If my memory serves the choices were various NMEA versions.

 

I know the com port on my PC is OK as I use it to upload/download from my Garmin GPS12 on a regular basis.

---

[Guest logscaler]

mazda626 - turn the NMEA off and it should work then.

[Guest alexm]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mazda626:

Recently I tried to upgrade the firmware on my brothers 315 while he was here for a short visit. I wasn't able to get the GPS to talk to my PC and I'm wondering what you have the communications proticol set to on the 315? If my memory serves the choices were various NMEA versions.

---

 

You want to turn NMEA off and set the GPS's (and computer's) baud rate to 9600 baud.

 

While the 315 will allow for 19200 baud, it virtually requires an external power cable or alien-nuclear-powered batteries and tends to be unreliable. (I got my GPS320 to do 19200 *once* and only once using a power cable).

 

...

alexm

[Guest mazda626]

Thanks for the suggestions. Should the same setting (NMEA off) be used when using other software like GPSUtility or Easy GPS?

 

Mike

[Guest phantom4099]

You probably will need NEMA for those programs. A little hint to use is if the software is specifically for Magellan GPSR you probably will not need NEMA messages, it will use the Magellan protocol. If it works with several brands of GPSR you probably will need NEMA on.

 

This is just a general rule that works in most cases.

 

Wyatt W.

[Guest Ranz]

Magellan uses a standard variation of NMEA for transfer information to and from the GPS. Turning NMEA on in the menu is used primarily for tracking your position in mapping software or DGPS systems. When on, it transmits constant position,status, time, satellite, info. It has nothing to do with uploading or downloading waypoints, routes, tracks and firmware updates.

 

Software that does this sends a request to the GPS to either send or to prepare to receive the info. Having it turned on while trying to transfer anything other than tracking information blocks these requests or at the very least slows things down tremendously. In almost all situations where two way communication is needed with the unit you should have NMEA turned off.

 

You can see the effects of switching NMEA on if you connect to the GPS with HyperTerminal or other terminal emulator program. Magellan has posted the protocol it uses on their web site http://www.magellangps.com/frames/frame5.htm . This technical reference is not updated for the mapping extensions that the 330 or Meridians have but it covers the basics for the rest of their product line. I have emailed them a request for the update because I am working on a program that will convert other protocols such as Garmin for use with Magellan units. I have not received an answer yet.

 

If anyone out there has the extended protocols, it would really help me out.

 

Thanks;