So Where Are The Explorists 500 And 600??

[+embra]

Regarding maps, my Mapsend Topo 4.20 will not work on the 500. Looks like Topo 3d is needed.

Would you please give a little more detail about the difficulty you encountered? (This is a tough one for some of us to let go.) Were you unable to find a way to get a map file over with the Conversion Manager, or was the unit simply refusing to recognize and load the file into active memory?

[+user13371]

...Can't use my Topo software? Grrr. That means I can add another $80 to the price just to get maps that I already own. ...

Not exactly. It means you can spend the $$$ to get maps that have higher topo resolution (30M instead of 90m) and more up to date and accurate street data (Navtech instead of old Tiger line), if you want them.

 

And you can still use the older, poorer maps on the GPS you originally purchased them for.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Am I missing anything?

• USB data transfer
  
• Geocaching Manager
  
• Good color screen.
  
• Smaller size.
  
• New toys are cool.
  

Your forgot that I got my new toy first

[+Milbank]

Your forgot that I got my new toy first

 

Your the coolest too.

 

Thanks for all the info on the 500.

 

The couple things I wish it had or I could do with the 500 and can not.

 

1.See sunset times

 

2.Use AA batteries

 

3.Use my old Topo software

 

4.When searching for waypoint be able to have it search the gps and any waypoints that are on the memory card.

 

They are all little things that I maybe able to over come someday soon.

[+Jamie Z]

Not exactly.  It means you can spend the $$$ to get maps that have higher topo resolution (30M instead of 90m) and more up to date and accurate street data (Navtech instead of old Tiger line), if you want them.

 

And you can still use the older, poorer maps on the GPS you originally purchased them for.

I understand your point, but I don't fully agree.

 

For me, topo lines are fairly useless. There probably isn't a 30m hill within 20 miles. Well, maybe it's not that flat, but it's pretty flat--flat enough that I don't take elevation change into any considerations when I go somewhere.

 

More up to date street level data is nice, but it's only rarely that I come across an area where the street data is inaccurate. I haven't compared 4.20 with 3D, but when I hear that many of the forest/fire roads are not listed, I am more concerned about that.

 

And well, my old GPS was stolen a few weeks ago, thus my jump into the market for a new GPS. The Explorist line appealed to me because it looks like it could be a great GPS, plus I figured the software I had would work with it, which would save me a portion of the cost.

 

If the software I have isn't compatible, the Explorist loses one advantage to me.

 

Some software I would like to try is DirectRoute--which I guess has the same street data as 3D.

 

Jamie

[tubemonkey]

And well, my old GPS was stolen a few weeks ago, thus my jump into the market for a new GPS. The Explorist line appealed to me because it looks like it could be a great GPS, plus I figured the software I had would work with it, which would save me a portion of the cost.

 

If the software I have isn't compatible, the Explorist loses one advantage to me.

 

Some software I would like to try is DirectRoute--which I guess has the same street data as 3D.

 

Jamie

Jamie

 

Sorry about the loss of your GPSr. In case you're interested, Costco.com is selling the Meridian Color Traveler package for $350. It includes the Mer Color - windshield mount - car/pc combo cable - 64mb SD card - MapSend DirectRoute. The sale ends tomorrow (Sun 4-3-05).

[+JohnnyVegas]

The couple things I wish it had or I could do with the 500 and can not.

 

1.See sunset times

 

I does show sunrise and sunset as well as moon rise and moon set along with moon phase

 

 

4.When searching for waypoint be able to have it search the gps and any waypoints that are on the memory card.

 

You can search waypoint on the main memory or on the SD card, and they do not have to be on the active map display.

[Hoary]

I have couple of questions about new eXplorists.

 

Older units from Magellan have nice future allow you to see terrain projection on bottom of the map screen if you using topo map (either one). It was unique for Magellan’s GPSr and a big buying point for me. Does eXplorist 500 have it?

 

Autorouting - does it work?

[+EScout]

Unfortunately it has to be replaced by Magellan since it won't communicate with my pc. Expecting a new one this weekend.

-- carol

 

Mystery Lady: Before you send it back, please check on the cord attachment. Interestingly, the cable can be hooked up to the unit both from the top and bottom directions (six contacts on the unit.) The USB functions only with the cable running towards the bottom. With the cable running towards the top, the USB function will not work. The 500 gets power for charging from either direction. I imagine the top direction is for using a power cable in a mobile mount.

 

Here is some other info (that I posted in another topic that specifically asked about USB)

 

Regarding USB hookup: The unit must be on. There is a menu choice that must be set for USB communications (Menu>Communications>File transfer>SD/Internal) Then you choose whether you want to access the SD card or the internal memory. They are treated like 2 seperate drives, and you can only access one at a time. The internal memory can store waypoint files, routes and maps just like the SD card, within folders.

 

Without being hooked up to USB, you can move or copy files between the SD card and the internal memory. This gives the potential of easy "in the field" swapping of multiple waypoint files between 2 owners of eXplorists with SD cards.

 

(To make waypoints from a waypoint file show on the map screen, you "activate" that file. This saves a step compared to the Meridian, where you had to load from the SD card to working memory, and clear before loading another file.)

[+MysteryLady]

Escout.

You are absolutely right. I feel like an idiot! I put the connection in so the little "tab" was over the "slot" of the back cover. I thought it was a safety feature to keep you from removing the back while it was connected.

 

I feel stupid, but we did spend 2 days on the phone with tech support and they didn't mention this.

 

My new one came today. It's charging now. -- I have to return one of them!!

Thanks for the info. I hope it saves someone else from problems.

 

(my husband is stomping around in the background - said tech support never mentioned this and we wasted all this time!) Oh well, it's raining too hard today to cache anyway.

[+jacques0]

Escout...Once again, you are providing great information to folks who either own, or are contemplating owning, the ex500.

 

Isn't it a shame that Magellan doesn't get their full manual on the website? You and JohnnyVegas are providing everyone with the de facto owner's manual for the time being.

 

Keep up the great work!

[+Dan_Edwards]

Quick question I mentioned in the explorist "is it a drive" thread.

 

Does it store the GPS settings as a file in memory? If so then it should just be a matter of dragging that file to the PC to backup all your customizations. That would be way cool.

[+Milbank]

The couple things I wish it had or I could do with the 500 and can not.

 

1.See sunset times

 

I does show sunrise and sunset as well as moon rise and moon set along with moon phase

 

 

4.When searching for waypoint be able to have it search the gps and any waypoints that are on the memory card.

 

You can search waypoint on the main memory or on the SD card, and they do not have to be on the active map display.

That is awesome!!!!!

 

My son (8) and I were out caching today. I got to use the Legend and he used the Explorist 100.

 

I kept asking him how many sats he was picking up.

 

I would have 3 on the legend he would have 8.

I would have 5 on the legend he would have 12.

We would get in some tree cover and I would have 2 sats on the legend he would have 5 or 6.

 

The Explorist was like that all day today, alway's picking up more sats.

 

The arrow was always much faster to adjust to any turns we made on the trail too.

 

Thanks for that info JohnnyVegas,

[+SgtSue]

Pardon me if this has been mentioned, but I did not see it anywhere. With the Explorist 500 place you cursor over a cache then press the enter button. A screen will pop up displayint the Caches name, ID, Owner, type, lat/lon, date placed, date last found, difficulty, and terrain. Plus if you are having trouble the hint is hidden, just press enter while selecting the hint box at the bottom of the screen. (i know pictures you want pictures, will try tomorrow). Icons for the cache on the 500 are those straight from geocaching.com. A ghost for a virtual, green box for a tradional, etc.

 

It gets even better. When you load the maps from Topp 3D whatever options you have displayed will be inported to the 500. put the cursor over one of them and click and you can get all kinds of great info i.e. Name, address, phone number. I would be selective as the screen can get very crowded. Right now I put in meto stations, musems, and the like.

 

The rain is supposed to end tonight, hopfully tomorrow I will be able to take this out and actually find some caches.

 

It is great to be able to activate or deactive the caches if using the gps for more than just caching (yes some of us do). Also having multiple files of caches you can load for a trip and activate for the area you are in.

[+Searching_ut]

The feedback you guys are providing on these new units is great for those of us wondering if we're wannabees, soon to bees, or happy waiting in the wings.

 

Do the explorist's suffer the position lag when in tough reception areas like the other magellans do? Do they auto average your position when not moving. What's the track logging like. How detailed can you get, and how many tracks can you save if there is even a limit. What's the real scoop on battery life?

 

Show me still thinking I'm jealous.....

[+embra]

SgtSue, thanks for that info...I had posted a question to that issue but it got lost up there. Compared to what I *thought* the Geocache Manager was going to do, it sounds like Magellan hit it pretty well. I'm sure it will stand some polishing, but it sounds like they figured a way to get a lot of useful information in there. If GSAK/GPSBabel can be tweaked to put the cache description and hint in the hint field--and the Explorer displays all that, I may be able to leave my PDA in the car. (Well, my pocket anyway. My PDA is my bionic memory.)

 

That's a nice bonus for the T3D POI's...I'll bet it holds for DirectRoute POI's, too.

 

Searching_ut, I shouldn't presume to answer any of your questions, but sitting here waiting for the 600's to ship I don't have anything better to do. Somebody has mentioned that his wife zooms right in to the cache position while he's still waiting for his Meridian to settle down. That sounds promising, if nothing else.

 

I can't even kibbitz about any of your other questions. I, too, would love it if someone would do a battery rundown test to see how long it takes for the unit to poop out.

 

Edit: I may as well shoe-horn in here a request for any e500 owners with DirectRoute to post a report how the Explorist does with autorouting.

Edited April 3, 2005 by embra

[+SgtSue]

As far as battery life, i'm up this late trying to get it to run down before charging it for tomorrow. Should have started earlier, but I've been playing with it all week turning on an off, uploading info and maps, showing off to my buddies, and driving around. It was down to 1/2 power when I turned it on about 3 hours and it still has about 1/4 power left.

 

Is it okay to recharge when it still has that much of a charge? I am getting tired but don't want to wait a couple hours in the morning while it charges.

[Raoul]

Is it okay to recharge when it still has that much of a charge?

This is what the Magellan site says:"Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery

This Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack can keep your eXplorist continuously powered-up for up to 17 hours. Recharge your battery directly through your receiver again and again without reducing its performance."

 

So it seems there would be no problems if you charge the battery when there's still juice in it!!

 

(makes sense.....since it's a li-ion,you always want it to be nice and filled,even if you only used up half the charge the day before...)

[+EScout]

I finally loaded the Geocaching Manager today and loaded a .gpx file. As SgtSue reports it is very nice. Essentially, there are two types of waypoints, and waypoint files, Geocache Points and Points of Interest. They are 2 types of files, stored in different folders. And you can “activate” (have them show on the map) the two types of files seperately. In other words, you can activate one standard waypoint file and one Geocache file at the same time. All of the waypoints from both files will show on the map. And when you do a Go-To or a search, it defaults to those files (although you can search other files by going through the folders.)

 

The standard waypoints are like those on the Meridian. The same waypoint icons are available, only in color. There is a message, just like the Meridian waypoints. You can use GSAK to generate a Meridian file and copy it directly to the SD card. You just have to name it with a .upt file extension so that the 500 will recognize it. I did this today with a query and it works well. You can also easily convert your old Meridian files.

 

The Geocache Manager takes a .gpx file from a query and quickly shows a spread sheet with all the caches on it on your PC. You can then select all the caches or highlight those you want, and make a file and copy it to your 500. To help in your selection, you can click on a column heading and it will sort (Click on the Difficulty column and it will list the 1s, then 2s…)

 

After copying this Geocache file to your 500, you then activate this file in the 500, and all of the caches show up on the map with their full name and the appropriate cache-type icon (names show at the 0.80 mile screen. Names display up to 20 characters/spaces.) When you click on the cache icon on the map, or do a search (nearest or alpha), the cache page is displayed on your eXplorist. It displays all of the cache details as described in an earlier post. (No cache description.) A click on the hint bar brings up the hint. It only displays the first 50 characters/spaces of the hint. This is fine for most, but on some you are short.

 

Overall, this is all very nice and the 500 has the best waypoint and Cache waypoint management of any GPSr I am aware of. For power cachers who do queries often and for different areas, this is a great tool. For non-power cachers like me, it will make things easier. It will not eliminate your PDA or printed page. For me, I still see the need to bring my PDA for the cache description, last few finds, and full hints.

 

As for using Topo 4.20, I tried using a file made for my Meridian. The Conversion Manager software sent it to the SD card (after I changed the file extension. I got an error message and the 500 froze. I had to take the battery out and delete the file from the card in a card reader. It works fine, but it looks like you need Topo 3D.

[+D0T-C0M]

this is a huge HUGGEEE negative aspect of the new explorist if you can't use most of the existing Mapsend software.

 

I for one am very satisfied with Mapsend S&D Canada as I find it has the most detailed off road maps of any of the Mapsend software I've seen. Most if not all of the dirt roads on crown land where I do most of my ATVing and camping are in my old sportrak and It would be such a waste if I needed to buy $100+ more software on top of the $489 CAN that they want for the 600 that would not have these trails.

[+Milbank]

After copying this Geocache file to your 500, you then activate this file in the 500, and all of the caches show up on the map with their full name and the appropriate cache-type icon (names show at the 0.80 mile screen. Names display up to 20 characters/spaces.) When you click on the cache icon on the map, or do a search (nearest or alpha), the cache page is displayed on your eXplorist. It displays all of the cache details as described in an earlier post. (No cache description.) A click on the hint bar brings up the hint. It only displays the first 50 characters/spaces of the hint. This is fine for most, but on some you are short.

 

Awesome!

 

thanks for the info.

[+maleki]

The rain is supposed to end tonight, hopfully tomorrow I will be able to take this out and actually find some caches.

 

Your letting rain stop you. Isn't the 500 waterproof? LOL!

[+Hard Oiler]

I for one am very satisfied with Mapsend S&D Canada as I find it has the most detailed off road maps of any of the Mapsend software I've seen. Most if not all of the dirt roads on crown land where I do most of my ATVing and camping are in my old sportrak and It would be such a waste if I needed to buy $100+ more software on top of the $489 CAN that they want for the 600 that would not have these trails.

I've found Mapsend Topo Canada to be much better than the older S&D Canada as it has all the rivers and streams as well as roads and trails and of course contour lines - and it will work with the Explorist - or so Magellan says.

 

I was disappointed about the Topo US 4.20 not being compatible but I believe it was for the original Map 330 and patched for the Meridian. Wouldn't surprise me if someone who knew more than I do could figure out a way to get it to work - it can't be that different if they all work on the Meridian can it?

[+D0T-C0M]

I've found Mapsend Topo Canada to be much better than the older S&D Canada as it has all the rivers and streams as well as roads and trails and of course contour lines - and it will work with the Explorist - or so Magellan says.

 

I was disappointed about the Topo US 4.20 not being compatible but I believe it was for the original Map 330 and patched for the Meridian.  Wouldn't surprise me if someone who knew more than I do could figure out a way to get it to work - it can't be that different if they all work on the Meridian can it?   

Have you used direct route North America? does it work in the explorist600 and how is it for off road trails in canada compared to the topo canada?

Where is the liink to the supported mapsend software, I can;t seem to find it on the magellangps site?

Edited April 3, 2005 by D0T-C0M

[+embra]

Where is the liink to the supported mapsend software, I can;t seem to find it on the magellangps site?

I can't provide the direct url easily, but if you go to this page there is a link to "View MapSend Compatibility" towards the right side.

 

Edit: Thought I figured out the direct link, but no. Never mind.

Edited April 3, 2005 by embra

[+Hard Oiler]

Have you used direct route North America? does it work in the explorist600 and how is it for off road trails in canada compared to the topo canada?

Where is the liink to the supported mapsend software, I can;t seem to find it on the magellangps site?

You can also preview all the maps from This Page. Note that it says Direct Route US but in fact it's North America - and it is compatible with the Explorist. You need to zoom right in to see the detail but what you see is what you get on the purchased version. Direct Route looks to be good on roads at least around here in Ontario but it's missing the rivers that I find very helpful with Topo Canada.

[+SgtSue]

maleki - while the explorist is waterproof I am not. Rather the torn tendons in my shoulder (from a recent car accident) do not care for the cold and rain. I will admit if I was closer to home and had my geobuddies with me, we would probably not let the weather stop us. But then someone else could do the driving and I could rotate between gloating over my new toy and complaining about my shoulder.

[+EScout]

I used the 500 in the field today finding several caches. I started them up in the car. The Meridian got a position fix first and WAAS corrections first while driving(they were both last turned on the night before.) Howver, the 500 performed very well. It worked well in the car, held vertically as well as horizontally. It appears to have a much better receiver than my Legend. It received as many satellites as the Meridian and the reported EPE was very close.

I held the 500 and my Meridian in each hand while watching the compass page with bearing and distance fields on. The 2 appeared to be equal while driving and while on foot. The pointer , bearing and distance fields appeared to change at the same time and with the same numbers. Comming up to cache hides, I could not say one was better than another. (Of course you really can't compare based on Cache waypoints.)

 

Going to one of the super accurate benchmarks in the area, DY2498, I tested the accuracy. This point is 317 above sea level at the edge of a cliff above the ocean with a clear view of the Western WAAS sat. I was receiving 9 sats plus the WAAS on each. Innitially the 500 was about 5 feet closer. Over several minutes things evened out. The Meridian tells you when it is averaging, the 500 makes no mention of this and there is no indicator. EPE was 7 or 10 feet on the 500 and 7, 10 or 13 on the Meridian. They were both usually within about 10 feet of the Benchmark's rounded coords position. After 15 minutes on this spot, it appears the 500 may be averaging like the Meridian.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Older units from Magellan have nice future allow you to see terrain projection on bottom of the map screen if you using topo map (either one). It was unique for Magellan’s GPSr and a big buying point for me. Does eXplorist 500 have it?

 

I have used this feature a little bit, This feature is posted unde advanced features on the menu screen. You get four choices

Track history-Displays a profile of a track in the GPS memory

Route-I have not tried this option

Road-I have tried the option

Swlect on map-Yu select to places on the map screen and it show you the profile between those to points.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I just got around to trying this feature tonight. This is a very handy feature, Maybe I can leave my PPC in my truck more , I keep droping my PPC which is not very good for it

[+JohnnyVegas]

I just thought of a problem with the Explorist 500, My fellow cachers might want to look at it when I go the the next local event.

 

Maybe I can have in a box and let them peak for a Dollar a peak Thats is what Americas number one showman (P T Barnum) would do.

[+Jamie Z]

I'm still hoping someone figures out how to use Topo 4.20 on the Explorist series. I'm holding out on my purchase for the time being, depending in part on being able to use this.

 

Not only do I want to use the software which I already own, but I only recently found some detailed maps of world cities which load onto the Meridian. Two of the cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, I anticipate visiting soon, and I was expecting those maps to be helpful to me.

 

Now that my Meridian was stolen and I'm in the market for a new GPS, I'd sure like my purchase to have the usefulness I was planning with my Meridian.

 

Any news on Topo 4.20?

 

Jamie

[+EScout]

Jamie Z Posted on Apr 5 2005, 01:32 PM

Any news on Topo 4.20?

 

As I reported in another topic, I tried and could not get Topo 4.20 to work on the eX500. Perhaps someone better at hacking can try it. You definintely cannot just put the file on the SD card. You also cannot run it throught the conversion manager. I have tried both.

 

Some other items not reported by anyone. There is a "NMEA Data Comm"choice on the communications menu. I have not tried this. There is also a "Area Calculation" where you choose at least 3 waypoints.

[+Jamie Z]

As I reported in another topic, I tried and could not get Topo 4.20 to work on the eX500.

Thanks for the update, however discouraging.

 

You're right. I hope someone can hack it.

 

Is there an Explorist equivilant to the Yahoo Meridian Group?

 

There is http://www.exploristgps.com/ , but it's awfully sparse.

 

Jamie

[+embra]

If anybody hacks it, I put my money on these guys.

 

Speculation here: I'm wondering if Magellan has built another level of copyprotection into the hardware or firmware side, such that no detail map can run unless it is serial number encoded.

[Hoary]

If anybody hacks it, I put my money on these guys.

 

Ask if you need a translation.

[robertlipe]

Speculation here: I'm wondering if Magellan has built another level of copyprotection into the hardware or firmware side, such that no detail map can run unless it is serial number encoded.

I'd flirted with that idea. Given that a 330 with four year old firmware could read maps (with some coercion on the download) from DirectRoute introduced after that firmware was, I'm just not coming up with any technical reason why a converter thingy couldn't - at least in theory - be as robust. This has made me think that if this really doesn't work it's likely a conscious decision to remove the older (non-Navteq) products from the gene pool.

 

Welcome to the world of Digital Rights Management and "forced" upgrades.

[+EScout]

 

This is a shot of the page that comes up when you click on an icon on the map page or do a search for geocache waypoints, that have been generated and loaded with the goecache Manager.

[+Milbank]

Very nice screen shot, thanks!

[+Milbank]

Please show us some more screens, thanks.

[+EScout]

Not very good at closesups. Will try more

[+EScout]

[+D0T-C0M]

If anybody hacks it, I put my money on these guys.

 

Speculation here: I'm wondering if Magellan has built another level of copyprotection into the hardware or firmware side, such that no detail map can run unless it is serial number encoded.

Wow I am excited now with this quote from that site.

 

We are write the basemap-converter from Meridian to eXplorist format, but it still is not ready.  We will plase it here as soon as possible, so look for updates this site!

 

 

This is very very encouraging as I would very much like to use my Mapsend S&D canada maps on my new explorist600

[tubemonkey]

Speculation here: I'm wondering if Magellan has built another level of copyprotection into the hardware or firmware side, such that no detail map can run unless it is serial number encoded.

Imagine buying a computer and the only software that could be downloaded, had to come from that computer manufacturer?

[Dosido]

Got my Explorist 500 from Harmony Computer today. Thanks to Jamie Z for letting us know that they were offering a decent discount at $279!

 

I look forward to getting home and putting it through it's paces...

 

Brian

[+hwyman]

Escout...thanks for the screen shots! I'm curious...is there an option to display the cache id on the map screen instead of the full cache name? I like to minimize my screen clutter whenever possible which is why I have GSAK cut off the "GC" from the ids (i.e. %drop2).

[+hwyman]

I was just looking over the online instruction manual for the eXplorist 300 when I noticed something. Is there anyway to add an accuracy data field to the compass screen on the 500/600?? This doesn't seem to be an option on the 300! Accuracy (I believe it's labeled EPE on the Meridian) is only available on a very stripped down data screen. Tell me it ain't so!

[+GOT GPS?]

I believe the data fields are changable on the compass screen, but that they stripped out alot of features from the Explorist 100-300 units.

[+GOT GPS?]

If I do get the Explorist 500, I would get it with a 256 meg SD memory card, and TOPO 3D, and this way I would only have to load it once, and not have to deal with the copy protection of the software every time i load a smaller map, so it helps to have a large memory card. I could even get a 512 meg card.

 

The one thing I liked about the Meridian GPS units is the Maps, tracks, and waypoints on the card can be seen on any Meridian I load the card into, but I see that I cannot plug a card with maps from a Meridian to an Explorist.

 

Edited in: Of course Navteq mapping presents a problem with this whole thing.

Edited April 6, 2005 by GOT GPS?

[+maleki]

I was just looking over the online instruction manual for the eXplorist 300 when I noticed something. Is there anyway to add an accuracy data field to the compass screen on the 500/600?? This doesn't seem to be an option on the 300! Accuracy (I believe it's labeled EPE on the Meridian) is only available on a very stripped down data screen. Tell me it ain't so!

On an Explorist 100, a field called Accuracy is available but unforunately not on the compass screen. Rather strange that the two fields are customizable but Accuracy or EPE is not one of the choices on the compass screen. Go figure.

 

Accuracy is available on another screen so its a one button click to get back to the screen that shows accuracy and one press to get back to the compass. Its livable if you use it alot.

 

For the $60 I paid for it, it's great.