60cs Battery Life...which One It Is???

[madone]

OK, I'm a little confused..(what else is new)

 

When the 60C and 60CS were announced the C touted 30 hours and the CS 28 hours

 

Now I read on this page 2 different numbers:

http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap60cs/

 

In the 1st paragraph it states "(30 hours, typical use)", but in the features below it states: "20 hours of battery life under typical-use conditions (uses two "AA" batteries) " As does the specs page and manual.

 

So now..what happened to the wonderful 28 hours they quoted us to begin with?

I was ok loosing 2 hours for the extra's...but 10 hours seems a bit high.

Edited March 10, 2004 by madone

[Alphawolf]

My guess is that the reduced battery life of the CS reflects the use of the compass, which is a real current drain on the system (which is the sole reason I want no part of it...my silva uses no batteries!). The altimeter doesn't really draw any current to speak of, so the only difference has to be the compass I would guess. I'll keep the difference in price and use the money to buy some of that $2.50/gal gas so I can actually get out and use my 60C!! .(by time I hit enter on this post, it will probably hit $2.75!)

[thcri]

I have had my CS on with the compass on starting around 10:00am yesterday and left it run until 10:00pm last night and I still have 50% of the batteries yet. I also did a bunch of adding maps from City Select, adding and deleting waypoints. So I was woking it a bunch. I know my Vista would not have lasted as long.

 

murph

[+Desert_Warrior]

Let the testing begin !!!

 

Surely there is some other 60CS owner out there with a multi-meter that can read ma, and the knowledge to use it. Lets hear some numbers.

 

Ma drain for the following conditions:

 

Unit on.

With compass on.

With backlight on.

with compass and backlight on.

All the above with serial port set to none.

 

Also, when you say "it ran this and this long, it is a good idea to state the type and capacity of the battery you are testing with.

 

I am just waiting to see if the Ft. Bliss PX can get the 60CS, and how much cheaper than the normal sources.

 

Looking forward to the data. Thanks.

[craigb900]

Hi. I got my 60CS yesterday, and put it on a regulated power supply.

 

It is clear they are using a constant power (switching) power supply since the current goes up as the voltage falls. With that in mind I took some measurements at 3.0V and 2.5V connected to the battery contacts. You can calculate the mW of the various measurements below, and there is good constant power coorelation between 2.5V and 3.0V measurements with the one noted exception.

 

Since the power supply is indoors, these measurements were made with the GPS receiver on, but indoors (no signal) but before the "no signal" receiver timeout message.

 

USB Port unplugged

Serial Port unplugged, set to "Garmin".

 

I used a separate 4 digit Fluke DMM to measure the voltage right at the battery contacts using separate leads for proper measurement technique

 

The currents jump around (pulses) so the following are visual averages on a DVM...

 

3.0V:

GPS on, Compass off, backlight 000%: 65 mA

GPS on, Compass on, backlight 000%: 100mA

GPS on, Compass off, backlight 050%: 142 mA

GPS on, Compass off, backlight 100%: 207 mA

 

2.5V:

GPS on, Compass off, backlight 000%: 83 mA

GPS on, Compass on, backlight 000%: 120mA

GPS on, Compass off, backlight 050%: 175 mA

GPS on, Compass off, backlight 100%: 205 mA (Power limiting on the EL driver?)

 

I'll see if I can take some measurements outdoors with an averaging meter before too long.

 

Looks like the backlight is the big hog.

 

Regards, Craig

[+RSorak]

I got mine midday fri last week and it's still running on it's 1st set of NiMH without a recharge and I've used it a bunch! Battery life rocks in my non scientific opinion! It still shows 3 bars when I turn it on and then after a while sinks to 2. I've not seen 1 bar yet!

[speedy FFW]

Last weekend I participated again in an Ultracycling event. The total time was almost 25 hours. I had my 60cs with me and on Autorouting at all times, with deactivated Compass, fixed Altimeter and the Beeps for Autorouting on. I am on regular mode (not battery saver) and have WAAS on.

 

In addition I used it this week for Autorouting to drive to and from work. I had 50% backlight on for approx. 1 hour.

 

I use 2 AA Lithium batteries. The total run time so far is 31:02 hours and it still shows 4 bars. I love this unit.

 

This is no comparison to my 76s that wouldn't have made the 25 hours with the Lithium cells.

Edited March 18, 2004 by speedy FFW