Garmin Quest And Geocaching.

[+derrylynne]

Having just bought a Garmin Quest, what is soon very obvious is the lack of clarity, and omissions in the manual. For this reason I have started this thread so others can add as they see fit. The easiest way to add waypoints with the Quest is of course to download it from city select on your computer, but this will not always be convenient.

To add a waypoint - On the quest the pointer is always in pan mode. Pan to an open bit of countryside. Press OK and that position will pop up. You can then edit the name, waypoint etc . Press ok and it will be in my locations.

Once you have navigated to your start position, or head of trail, what about getting the compass. This again is not explained in the manual. While in map mode, press menu, scroll to settings, press ok, scroll to route setup using rocker, press ok, then in route preferences select off road and press ok. Using the page button, it works a bit like a page back on a computer, go back to the map. Pan to your cache, press ok, and route to. You will now have the straight line to the cache. Press the page button and there is your compass. You can if you want to then press menu once and go to course pointer if you wish. When you get back to your car, don't forget to go through the first part to re-select faster or shorter distance for road navigation. You can stop navigating at any time by pressing and holding in menu then selecting stop navigation.

Another detail, and not a small detail not mentioned is how to delete all the waypoints you accumalate. As well as routes.

To delete waypoints press and hold menu. select my locations.press menu once, select delete. From here you can delete all by symbol, category, or all my locations. While in routes you can press menu once and then are offered the chance to delete all routes. In waypoints you can delete a single point by scrolling down to the waypoint, once right with the rocker, then an x will be highlighted. Press ok. and you will be offered the chance to delete. If anyone else has anything to add I look forward to reading it. Hope this helps those with the quest. Pity Garmin did not write their manual properly.

[+Sue and Bernie]

If you use other Garmin products, you will find there is a lot of commonality in the menu screens, options and functionality. The control selections and actions vary between the units but the processes and actions are very much the same.

 

We have a Vista C and a Streetpilot 3. The sequences/functions/actions you describe are not unfamiliar to us.

[+Morton]

By complete coincidence, I've been putting together a few web pages on this very topic, having discovered there's nothing out there already. (In fact this originally grew out of the thought that I couldn't find much reassurance online that the Quest was usable for geocaching - I had to get one and see.)

 

I don't know whether I'll ever finish the pages though... A forum topic is probably a better idea. There are just a couple of things I'd add:

 

1. I find it more convenient to select the Prompted option under the Route Preferences menu you refer to. Then it asks you each time whether you want to route by road or using the compass, which saves having to navigate the multiple menus.

 

2. There seems to be a bug in the Quest software which occasionally, and unpredictably, makes it show zero for the distance to a waypoint - even though you're manifestly not there. It's always obvious when this has happened, because the distance doesn't change as you move (and in any case, how often do you see the distance actually read zero rather than a single-digit number of metres?)

 

Fortunately, this is easy to fix.

 

- Press Menu.

- Select Route Options.

- In the new menu which appears, select Recalculate.

 

...and hey presto. From there on, everything's fine. It just seems like the unit needs a nudge to start working out the distance again.

[+Morton]

Oh, one other thing... make sure your register on the Garmin website to get notifications of firmware updates, because they're putting them out every couple of months just now.

[+civilised]

make sure your register on the Garmin website to get notifications of firmware updates, because they're putting them out every couple of months just now.

 

Are the firmware updates reliable ? I mean in terms of actually doing it - I had a bad experience updating the firmware on a 56k modem once .

 

Is there anyone here who is successfully and regularly updating their GPSr firmware ? And do the benefits outweigh the risks ?

 

civilised

[+John Stead]

Is there anyone here who is successfully and regularly updating their GPSr firmware ? And do the benefits outweigh the risks ?

I've updated the firmware on both Garmin Vista and Garmin Map60CS as soon as I have been aware and never had any problem.

You can register with Garmin to be notified as updates become available, some are minor bug fixes but others are substantial improvements.

[NickPick]

make sure your register on the Garmin website to get notifications of firmware updates, because they're putting them out every couple of months just now.

 

Is there anyone here who is successfully and regularly updating their GPSr firmware ? And do the benefits outweigh the risks ?

 

I've updated the firmware in my etrex yellow a few times over the last 4 years with no problems.

 

If anyone from Garmin is reading, a new firmware which allows waas, and the "trip computer" screen from the legend would be nice for the yellow

[+derrylynne]

Thanks for that one Morton. I have updated the software both for firmware and voice navigation on the Garmin Quest with no problems at all. When I first got the quest my first reaction was this is not going to be any good for caching. However after discovering what the manual does not tell you, I find the Quest to be excellent for caching, and of course to navigate to the start of the cache. And of course it is waterproof, essential on our shores. I also have found the quest works better than say the vista under tree cover, and even while driving in steep valleys, I never lose the signal. I am sure that this thread I have started will be of great help to some out there as the garmin manual for the Quest does have so many ommisions.

[dana_mix]

If anyone from Garmin is reading, a new firmware which allows waas, and the "trip computer" screen from the legend would be nice for the yellow

 

The newest update does allow WAAS. I've never seen the Legend, so I can't speak about the trip computer screen.

[oddsock]

If anyone from Garmin is reading, a new firmware which allows waas, and the "trip computer" screen from the legend would be nice for the yellow

 

The newest update does allow WAAS. I've never seen the Legend, so I can't speak about the trip computer screen.

Hi, Have you done an upgrade to get WAAS on your yellow or has anyone done this and if so what was the original firmware version. I have a yellow which has v2.11 which I updated from v2.10..I didn't use v2.14 as I have read it does not allow any further modification to the firmware Could some one with a recent purchase of the yellow please post with the FW version it uses

Thanks

Dave

[+Brenin Tegeingl]

If you have firmware v2.14 or below on your Yellow Etrex, you can't upgrade to get WAAS. Garmin changed chips to allow the Yellow to use WAAS, the WAAS enabled Yellows are shipped with version 3 firmware.

 

Who needs WAAS anyway if it's a cache that has been out for a while, chances are the location was fixed without WAAS , WAAS will just mean the accuracy of where you stood will be higher, and you still could be metres away from the cache

 

Dave

[+civilised]

In passing, I just upgraded the software on my Garmin GPSr without problem - so thanks previous posters

 

civilised

[oddsock]

If you have firmware v2.14 or below on your Yellow Etrex, you can't upgrade to get WAAS. Garmin changed chips to allow the Yellow to use WAAS, the WAAS enabled Yellows are shipped with version 3 firmware.

 

Who needs WAAS anyway  if it's a cache that has been out for a while, chances are the location was fixed without WAAS  , WAAS will just mean the accuracy of where you stood will be higher, and you still could be metres away from the cache 

 

Dave 

Thanks for that! I wonder if garmin decided to lock the firmware with 2.14 to protect it from some one trying to use v 3 updates or was there some other reason Could anyone tell me if v3 firmware added any other functionality other than WAAS?? and is there any way to tell if the yellow has v3 from any thing on the package?? I ask this because I bought a yellow on ebay that was described as NEW but it had v2.10 firmware.

Cheers

Dave