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Garmin Gpsmap 60cs


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Wow, I'm glad I saw this thread. My power button is starting to get tough too.

Also..I just had garmin send me another bracket for the dash mount. The little tab that releases the 60CS from the dash mount (its part of the piece that stays on the 60CS) has cracked twice in less than 3 months. Garmin just sent me one for free.

The Garmin units are all made kinda wimpy for constant use. I guess they hope the units hold up for the year with only occasional use. But they do seem to replace any defects for the first year.

 

I was trying to figure out how many times I turn the unit on and off....

everyday for a year.... at least twice....

 

Or better yet, how many times I've pressed the dashmount release... over 6000 finds... times 2. That's a lot of pressing. :P

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Does anyone know if tracks and waypoints can be transfered from the 60cs to National Geographic TOPO maps? I don't see where the NG TOPO supports the 60CS. Is there another setting in either/both the GPS interface wetup or TOPO software handheld settings that will allow communication? I didn't see this information at the TOPO website.

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My power button is doing fine, but all of the other buttons are losing the rubber "coating" that appears to be on them. When I go out caching and start digging and scratching in the dirt and in holes and nooks and crannies and crevices, all that gunk gets on my hands and then onto the buttons of my 60CS. Wear and tear is starting to make the coating flake off (although I can still read what's printed on the buttons). It's starting to look like it's getting over a bad sunburn...

Glad I'm not the only one - I thought something was happening to mine.

 

Most of the plastic (?) coating on my arrowpad is peeling off, it's completely gone on "in" and "out" buttons (and the lettering is now unreadable>

 

Good thing I know which button is what. All the rest are flaking off to one extent or the other.

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Does anyone know if tracks and waypoints can be transfered from the 60cs to National Geographic TOPO maps? I don't see where the NG TOPO supports the 60CS. Is there another setting in either/both the GPS interface wetup or TOPO software handheld settings that will allow communication? I didn't see this information at the TOPO website.

I have NG Topo! ver. 4.0. It lists the 60C and 60CS and supports transfers to and from this unit

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Thanks Sputnik 57 for the reply on the NG TOPO. Mine is the state version 3.4.3 for Colorado. The 60cs appears to be available for the Streets & 3D version but not for mine. I believe the 3.4.3 is the most current upgrade available for the State Version.

Edited by Westerner
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Does anyone know if tracks and waypoints can be transfered from the 60cs to National Geographic TOPO maps? I don't see where the NG TOPO supports the 60CS. Is there another setting in either/both the GPS interface wetup or TOPO software handheld settings that will allow communication? I didn't see this information at the TOPO website.

I am a new owner of the MAP60cs and had the same question so I contacted NG.

 

The TOPO! Streets and 3D Views expansion pack for $20 supports the MAP60cs and gives you the USB support for NG TOPO!. I just got the expansion pack this morning and have not had a chance to install and test it.

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Thanks "azdesertcat". I missed that information when I visited the NG website that the streets and 3d view was an update for the state edition. I just placed my order for it. It should allow me to connect to the gps to transfer my tracks. I also look forward to the 3D enhancement. I have that on the Delorme 5.0 software and like that perspective when looking at hikes I am planning.

 

In response to Spyderwebs question I highly doubt this upgrade will allow you to put the maps on the gps itself. I believe only Garmin mapping software allows for that. Such a shame!

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Yes that is a shame. So, my next question. I really like the street maps from Garmin. But, the Garmin topo map doesn't have much detail unless you get the Parks version, and that version doesn't work for me. Are there any other topo mapping programs available that allow you to download the maps to the 60C?

 

I have seen other software that list the 60C as a compatible unit, but is that just so you can use the 60C as an attached GPSr so you can hook the 60C up to a laptop and use it that way? Not too useful for geocaching...

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Are there any other topo mapping programs available that allow you to download the maps to the 60C?

 

I have seen other software that list the 60C as a compatible unit, but is that just so you can use the 60C as an attached GPSr so you can hook the 60C up to a laptop and use it that way? Not too useful for geocaching...

Well, if you have lots of time, you can roll your own maps. I think that a recent thread recounts a different approach. You may want to search for it.

 

"GPS compatible" is misleading since it sounds as though you can go map software to GPS with the maps themselves. Only Garmin maps loaded through MapSource is truly compatible in that sense.

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Thanks all! This was pretty much as I had remembered (nothing available). However, with my recent finds of maps that say they were compatible, I thought I'd check. And yes, I agree, these companies need to be more specific when they say they are compatible. I remember seeing some folks say they bought some mapping software because they saw it was compatible, only to find that it really does not work as they imagined.

 

Oh well, at least I live in Florida. I'm guessing that even with good topo maps, they probably are mostly useless, except for showing rivers.

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I feel pretty dumb but I got to ask a question. I have a couple maps loaded into my 60cs from mapsource. Now I want to load same area from Topo maps. My question is- Can I just load Topo into gpsr now and most imprortant, how do I switch between maps, ie, city select to Topo. Iv'e been reading and just can't seen to find info, Appreciate any advice you pros may have. Thanks

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I feel pretty dumb but I got to ask a question.  I have a couple maps loaded into my 60cs from mapsource.  Now I want to load same area from Topo maps.  My question is- Can I just load Topo into gpsr now and most imprortant, how do I switch between maps, ie, city select to Topo.  Iv'e been reading and just can't seen to find info,  Appreciate any advice you pros may have. Thanks

 

I know I've seen this covered, probably in this thread, but trying to find that is becoming next to impossible. So I'll go by memory, and also point to another webpage.

 

If I remember correctly, all you need to do from Mapsource is to select both the area from the topo map, and from City Select (or whatever you are using). Then load them both to the 60c(s).

 

As far as using them on the 60c(s), there is a way to toggle between them, but I don't remember the details on that.

 

This may also help:

 

http://home.houston.rr.com/gpsr/

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I feel pretty dumb but I got to ask a question.  I have a couple maps loaded into my 60cs from mapsource.  Now I want to load same area from Topo maps.  My question is- Can I just load Topo into gpsr now and most imprortant, how do I switch between maps, ie, city select to Topo.  Iv'e been reading and just can't seen to find info,  Appreciate any advice you pros may have. Thanks

 

I know I've seen this covered, probably in this thread, but trying to find that is becoming next to impossible. So I'll go by memory, and also point to another webpage.

 

If I remember correctly, all you need to do from Mapsource is to select both the area from the topo map, and from City Select (or whatever you are using). Then load them both to the 60c(s).

 

As far as using them on the 60c(s), there is a way to toggle between them, but I don't remember the details on that.

 

This may also help:

 

http://home.houston.rr.com/gpsr/

Just a note. If you add any new maps they will be loaded but the old maps will be erased. You need to pick all the maps you want each time. Hope that this is clear.

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Adding maps won't overwrite your waypoints. Only the maps will be replaced. (Actually, when you press upload in Mapsource, you get to choose what you want to replace. If you only want to update your maps, just make sure that Maps is checked, and nothing else is.

 

For loading multiple maps and switching between them (with a screen shot), see questions 7, 8 and 9 of the Maps Section of the FAQ.

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I have a problem!!! :P

 

I have a hiking tour in outlaying island near Hong Kong with my 60CS and I got following tracklog (From OziExplorer) after I download it to home computer.

The height value sudden jumped to 98422 and I found that it recovers to normal after 2 hours!!

 

Anyone has had this sympthoms before? :P

 

 

22.258640, 114.350440,0, 13.1,38571.1176852, 07-Aug-05, 2:49:28

22.258500, 114.350390,0, 14.6,38571.1179630, 07-Aug-05, 2:49:52

22.258510, 114.350480,0, 6.8,38571.1199884, 07-Aug-05, 2:52:47

22.258470, 114.350460,0, 8.3,38571.1201273, 07-Aug-05, 2:52:59

22.258280, 114.350560,0, 6.8,38571.1202199, 07-Aug-05, 2:53:07

22.257940, 114.350540,0, 8.3,38571.1203819, 07-Aug-05, 2:53:21

22.257650, 114.350480,0, 9.9,38571.1204977, 07-Aug-05, 2:53:31

22.257440, 114.350470,0, 13.1,38571.1206597, 07-Aug-05, 2:53:45

22.257430, 114.350480,0, 13.1,38571.1207870, 07-Aug-05, 2:53:56

22.257380, 114.350450,0,98422.0,38571.1209259, 07-Aug-05, 2:54:08

22.257380, 114.350470,0,98422.0,38571.1212037, 07-Aug-05, 2:54:32

22.257370, 114.350460,0,98422.0,38571.1214005, 07-Aug-05, 2:54:49

22.257370, 114.350470,0,98422.0,38571.1217014, 07-Aug-05, 2:55:15

22.257380, 114.350470,0,98422.0,38571.1219676, 07-Aug-05, 2:55:38

22.257370, 114.350480,0,98422.0,38571.1220255, 07-Aug-05, 2:55:43

22.257370, 114.350460,0,98422.0,38571.1223727, 07-Aug-05, 2:56:13

22.257360, 114.350460,0,98422.0,38571.1224074, 07-Aug-05, 2:56:16

22.257360, 114.350450,0,98422.0,38571.1225116, 07-Aug-05, 2:56:25

22.257340, 114.350450,0,98422.0,38571.1227662, 07-Aug-05, 2:56:47

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Kinchan, Sorry I don't have an answer to your question and I don't mean to hijack this thread. I have a question though. I did a search with no luck. I read somewhere on this thread to make sure my gpsr was set to WGS84 Datum. I have the 60cs, How do I check if this is set and how do I change it?? Thanks for any help. My accuracy is averageing around 30 to 40 feet. I thought it should be better than that.

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Kinchan, Sorry I don't have an answer to your question and I don't mean to hijack this thread. I have a question though. I did a search with no luck. I read somewhere on this thread to make sure my gpsr was set to WGS84 Datum. I have the 60cs, How do I check if this is set and how do I change it?? Thanks for any help. My accuracy is averageing around 30 to 40 feet. I thought it should be better than that.

MENU->MENU->Setup->ENTR->Units->ENTR. The second drop-down sets the datum. Position format should be hddd mm.mmm' and datum should be WGS 84.

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...... I read somewhere on this thread to make sure my gpsr was set to WGS84 Datum. I have the 60cs, How do I check if this is set and how do I change it?? Thanks for any help. My accuracy is averageing around 30 to 40 feet. I thought it should be better than that.

See page 64 in the manual for Map Datums setup.

 

See page 55 for turning on WAAS and then Page 91 on how WAAS can imporve the integrity of the GPS signal. It worked for me.

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Sure appreciate the help Sputnik and Wornout, Everything seems to be in order, My accuracy is usually around 60-75 which seems a bit to much, I do have one last question, when I do a find, goto cache follow road and get close to the cache when I recalculate to go off-road my map screen locks up and will not move, it leaves me on the road. The compass seems to work fine and gets me to the cache, The only way I can get the map to track my movements is to turn off gpsr and the do find, goto, off-road. Does this sound like I got a problem? Thanks again for all the helpful info.

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60-75 feet is not an acceptable margin of error. If your datum and format are set correctly, I would try the following to improve you position accuracy:

 

1. Turn the unit on, turn on WAAS, and let it sit outside for a least half an hour to build a complete almanac of its data.

 

2. Make sure that the unit is getting a lock on a WAAS satellite (numbered above 32). A small 'd' should appear below the satellite bars, indicating that the unit is getting differential (WAAS) corrections.

 

3. Go to a spot with a know Lat and Long, preferably a benchmark. Be sure to locate one that is marked "Adjusted" and not "Scaled" in the line under the coordinates. (Scaled coordinates are interpolated from maps, and are not always accurate).

 

4. If the unit is substantially off after the above, backup your waypoints, routes, etc, and reset the unit (power off the unit, then hold down ENTR and PAGE while powering the unit back up.

 

5. Note that after a hard reset, it may take from 5 to 10 minutes of leaving your unit outdoors, stationary, with a good sky view to get a good lock. After the first lock you will need another 15 to 20 minutes to get the almanac reloaded. Check the date to insure that the information was reloaded properly. Time will be shown as UTC time since your local time offset was lost in the reset.

 

6. Repeat step 3. Your accuracy should be in the 10 to 20 foot range or better. Reload all your waypoints and saved routes from your backup, reset your preferences, etc.

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Sputnik, Thanks so much, followed you instructions, took gpsr out of town to a hill stuck in on a table and within 20 min I had nine satellite bars all with the small "d" at the bottom with a +- 7ft accuracy!! At one point I was sure I seen ten satellite bars. Now I'll try a find, goto, off-road and recalculate to off road and see if the map page still locks up on me. I think It's going to be fine now. Thanks again for all your help. BTW, that's the first time I have seen the small "d" on any of the sat bars.

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Sputnik, Thanks so much, followed you instructions, took gpsr out of town to a hill stuck in on a table and within 20 min I had nine satellite bars all with the small "d" at the bottom with a +- 7ft accuracy!! At one point I was sure I seen ten satellite bars. Now I'll try a find, goto, off-road and recalculate to off road and see if the map page still locks up on me. I think It's going to be fine now. Thanks again for all your help. BTW, that's the first time I have seen the small "d" on any of the sat bars.

Great, wrench. Once you "bake" your GPSr like that, you should get satellite locks and WAAS much more quickly unless you change locations by a few hundred miles or more with the GPSr off. A complete load of the almanac data helps the unit know where the satellites "should" be at any given time, so it finds them much more quickly.

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The rubber power button on my 60CS is wearing out from so much use.  It is very difficult now using only a finger either to turn the unit on or even tougher to turn it off.  I often have to use the tip of a ballpoint or pencil which is quite tiresome.  Any suggestions ?  Would this be covered by the warranty ?

Don't feel alone, mine is doing the same thing. It takes a hard push straight down to turn it on. Turning it off is also as difficult. I haven't started using a pen tip yet but thanks for that workaround, I am sure it is coming.

A co-worker just got his GPSmap 60 today, so I decided to mess with it since I'm looking at buying one too. I think the 60CS has the same buttons and chassis so my concerns can be addressed here. I noticed the power button issue. I definitely see how it may wear out after a lot of use. But another equally concerning thing for me was the foam rubber that covers the USB port. Popping it on and off every time you up/download coordinates could wear or tear the foam. At least it looks like they're replaceable. Have these covers been staying on OK after extended use?

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Hi

 

It seems that every time I power up my 60CS, it has forgotten all my settings, such as tones, languages and time, but all my waypaoins are still there.

 

And every time I power up i get the message: "The maps you have loaded contain route calculation data for turn-by-turn directions. When starting navigation you will be prompted for your guidance preference".

 

And the reset has been the ever sincs i firs saw this message.

 

What i wrong?

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The rubber power button on my 60CS is wearing out from so much use.  It is very difficult now using only a finger either to turn the unit on or even tougher to turn it off.  I often have to use the tip of a ballpoint or pencil which is quite tiresome.  Any suggestions ?  Would this be covered by the warranty ?

Don't feel alone, mine is doing the same thing. It takes a hard push straight down to turn it on. Turning it off is also as difficult. I haven't started using a pen tip yet but thanks for that workaround, I am sure it is coming.

A co-worker just got his GPSmap 60 today, so I decided to mess with it since I'm looking at buying one too. I think the 60CS has the same buttons and chassis so my concerns can be addressed here. I noticed the power button issue. I definitely see how it may wear out after a lot of use. But another equally concerning thing for me was the foam rubber that covers the USB port. Popping it on and off every time you up/download coordinates could wear or tear the foam. At least it looks like they're replaceable. Have these covers been staying on OK after extended use?

Both the USB port cover and the other rubber cover used for plugging into a cigarette lighter are in great shape after about 13 months of fairly heavy use. But the power on/off button remains a problem for me and , unfortunately is outside of the one year warranty. I haven't yet tried to call Garmin and ask them about a cheaper method of fixing the power button -- don't want to pay the $150 minimum charge !

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I posted this in the wrong section originally.

Is there a way to delete waypoints from that page only without causing them to disappear from geocache, calendar, etc.? Also, is there a way I can archive this entire Garmin 60CS thread?

 

Thanks

geckoboy,

I have the same questions.

Is there someone with the answers?

 

Thanks in advance!

G.

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Sure appreciate the help Sputnik and Wornout, Everything seems to be in order, My accuracy is usually around 60-75 which seems a bit to much, I do have one last question, when I do a find, goto cache follow road and get close to the cache when I recalculate to go off-road my map screen locks up and will not move, it leaves me on the road. The compass seems to work fine and gets me to the cache, The only way I can get the map to track my movements is to turn off gpsr and the do find, goto, off-road. Does this sound like I got a problem? Thanks again for all the helpful info.

same thing happend the other day...Do I need to do a reset??? I'm getting waas..never notice the map locking up before.............

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I posted this in the wrong section originally.

Is there a way to delete waypoints from that page only without causing them to disappear from geocache, calendar, etc.? Also, is there a way I can archive this entire Garmin 60CS thread?

 

Thanks

You can "filter" caches by showing only caches with the same symbol, and/or by showing only the 50 nearest caches. Press FIND->Wayoints, then press MENU and Find By Symbol. Only caches with that symbol will be listed (although the other caches will still be there). There is a little more info questions 5 and 6 of the waypoints section of the FAQ.

 

As to archivining this thread, in the lower left hand corner of this page is an icon that looks sort of like a page. If you click on it, one of the options is to download/print the thread. You can send it to your printer or save it as an MS Word doc.

 

Unfortunately, a limitation of the forum software will only let you get the first ten pages of the thread. Then you get a server timeout error. I've mentioned this to Elias in the web site forum, but AFAICT, there is no work-around. That was one of the things that motivated the FAQ. If you see things here that should be added to the FAQ, send me an e-mail and I'll see what can be done.

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Quick question, the way to turn off autorouting on the 60cs so that the unit will only used the downloaded routes computed on the PC is to turn on "off road"?

 

I like to use the PC to set routes on road trips and I hate it when the 60cs re-calculates on the the fly. It's kind of dumb for the 60cs to do that when I'm clearly using the routes downloaded from the PC and would like to follow it.

 

So is there a way to even turn the autorouting on the road off?

Edited by jcc123
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I posted this in the wrong section originally.

Is there a way to delete waypoints from that page only without causing them to disappear from geocache, calendar, etc.? Also, is there a way I can archive this entire Garmin 60CS thread?

 

Thanks

You can "filter" caches by showing only caches with the same symbol, and/or by showing only the 50 nearest caches. Press FIND->Wayoints, then press MENU and Find By Symbol. Only caches with that symbol will be listed (although the other caches will still be there).

 

BUT.........if I delete any waypoint I've selected via filtering, its still gone from all other locations (geocache, calendar, etc.) Right? I guess there is no way to just selectively remove waypoints from the waypoint section alone.

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What version firmware are you both running.... sounds like the recalculate problem from before V3.8???

I am running version 4.00

I only noticed it the other day and thought it might be because the batts were runnig low...Darn software!!

Yup, version 4.0 was to unpredictable for me so I have gone back to v3.8 which was that last "good" version which fixed that recal problem.... I sent a note to Garmin just so they know people seem to be havng lockups with v4.0... :mad:

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Quick question, the way to turn off autorouting on the 60cs so that the unit will only used the downloaded routes computed on the PC is to turn on "off road"?

. . .

 

So is there a way to even turn the autorouting on the road off?

Yep. Try MENU->Setup->Routing->Follow Roads Options->ENTR. Change "Off Route Recalculation" on that drop-down to "Off." The default is "Automatic." If you want the GPSr to ask you what to do when you are off route, set it to "Prompted."

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Continuing the theme...A co-worker just got his GPSmap 60 and has lent it to me to play with. He also got CitySelect North America v6. He loaded the roads for the area around our office to the GPSr. So yesterday I placed a waypoint for the office. I took the unit out and found a geocache with it. I then decided to try using the GPSr to give me a route back to the office waypoint from the cache, using the local roads loaded in the unit.

 

I tried both the find waypoint and new route choices to try and get the GPSr to guide me back to the office. I also had Follow Roads selected in the Routing Setup. According to the manual, either of these methods should make the receiver create a route that follows roads back to the office. Instead, the GPSr kept telling me to go to an interstate a few miles away. It seems the unit does not know to use the CitySelect local roads for routing even though they are visible on the map.

 

Of course, there was no problem when I changed back to off-road navigation, which showed me a straight line route back to the office. So to answer the question for me and co-worker Gary, did he forget to load something or check an option in MapSource so the GPS knows to route using the CitySelect roads? In another thread, I saw a mention of routing calculation data being an option when transferring data to the GPSr.

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So to answer the question for me and co-worker Gary, did he forget to load something or check an option in MapSource so the GPS knows to route using the CitySelect roads? In another thread, I saw a mention of routing calculation data being an option when transferring data to the GPSr.

When you load maps from MapSource, there is a check box below the map list that says "Include route calculation data. (Recommended if your GPS supports auto-routing)". Be sure that box is clicked.

 

If you have gone to the map setup screen and selected "Hide City Select" then the unit will route on the basemap, even if City Select is loaded. But if you could see the local roads, I doubt you did that.

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When you load maps from MapSource, there is a check box below the map list that says "Include route calculation data. (Recommended if your GPS supports auto-routing)". Be sure that box is clicked.

Gotta love these forums - the best tech support there is. Thanks Sputnik. You confirm what I suspected. Saw that Klatch made the same comment to someone else in the "Garmin Autorouting - Nroute Vs. GPSmap 76CS" topic. I'll have Co-worker Gary check his settings the next time he loads the maps.

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A couple tips when it arrives. After powering it up (and after you browse all the screens and features) take it outside and let it ‘bake’ for 20-30 minutes under open sky. This will allow time to update its almanac. (Do not lay it in the driveway and forget about it)

 

Calibrate the compass (and every time you change the batteries).

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I've got a question on the tides/marine maps. I know there are 2 different ways to get this back on the 60C(S); either download the 162/168 Tides to MapSource; or use the Garmin method of downloading and running the D00590XA-MarinePOIDatabase.

 

If you use the 162/168 Tides, they show up like any other map in Mapsource, so you can download them along with any other maps to your unit, and they happily co-exist.

 

The Garmin solution appears to be a stand-alone application. I THINK that using the official Garmin method will result in wiping out any City Select maps you have, so your 60CS is back to original condition. Not very useful. I have not tried this method yet, so was wondering if anyone else had.

 

If my assumption is correct, I see no reason to use Garmin's solution, because I have very little use, other than curiousity, for the tide info. However, if Garmin's solution does not wipe out any existing maps, then I guess I'll go that way, so I can be "official".

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