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Messages - CanyonHiker17

#1
I'll take the flip side of the coin.  I originally purchased an Oregon 400 and used it for about 2 weeks.  The visibility of the screen in strong daylight was really disappointing.  I do most of my hiking in direct sun in the Grand Canyon, and I'd have to shade the GPS and tilt it around at odd angles to make it even remotely visible.  I had purchased a mount for it so I could also use it on my mountain bike.  Forget it.  I'd have to stop and remove the GPS and tilt it so I could read it.

Unfortunately (or maybe that should be "fortunately") I lost it after a couple weeks when it fell out of my pack as I was dashing off a mountain, trying to avoid a horrendous lightning storm.  I ended up buying the 60csx as a replacement and I should have gone with this model in the first place.  The screen is a bit smaller, but it never fails to hold a satellite signal, even when in a narrow side canyon with steep walls.  And I can read the screen without doing gymnastic contortions!

Your mileage may vary, but I'll stick with the 60csx.  I don't do geocaching, so maybe the Oregon series is better for that.
#2
Maybe it's just the Garmin Nuvi 200 series (?) but my 350W (not the newest GPS in the world) and I mapped a route from Massachusetts to Arizona with no problems.  2500 miles (4000 km)
#3
I do the same as Mike, never had a problem using MapSource.  I connect my GPS after MS is running, click on the upload icon at the top, it verifies that the device is connected to a USB port, and I get the drop down menu asking if I want to upload Maps/Routes/Tracks.  Click OK and off it goes.

Do you have more than one USB port on the computer?  It might be worth a shot at trying a different one.  I had an older laptop with Windows XP on it and one of the USB ports was real cantankerous when it came to loading pictures from my camera.  I'd plug the cable into a different port and off it went, no problems.  I realize this is just a wild shot but worth a try.
#4
General Discussion / Re: 60 csx - City Navigator?
January 02, 2011, 07:50:49 AM
Quote from: Boyd on January 01, 2011, 11:16:20 AM
Before purchasing City Navigator, consider what you will use it for. It's paradoxical, but will probably actually be cheaper to buy a low end Nuvi that already includes City Navigator than just purchasing City Navigator. And you will get a better screen, voice prompts, car mount and power cord as part of the bargain.


Best advice ever!  That's what I did, went for a no-frills Nuvi with voice prompts.  I didn't need traffic updates, blue tooth compatibility, etc.  The Nuvi screen is larger and easily visible for when you have to take your eyes off the road for a second.  But with the voice prompt, I never need to do that.  I just plug in a street address and off I go.  I can't imagine trying to follow directions while driving by using the 60csx.
#5
GPSr Units / Re: battery life on Oregon 450
December 31, 2010, 03:22:25 PM
Quote from: seldom_sn on December 31, 2010, 12:35:43 PM
This is probably a thread hijack, but, CanyonHiker17, how's your 60CSX do at the bottom of the Canyon?  I haven't been to Phantom Ranch since I owned a GPSr, but both my 60CSX and my OR300 are really disappointing in Zion.

It actually works perfectly just about everywhere in the canyon!  The only instances I have where it briefly may lose a signal is in a situation where I might be up against a steep cliff in a side canyon.  In a situation like that, you might only be seeing 30% of the available sky.  But I hike in the canyon almost every week, and over the last 3 months I only lost the signal once, for less than a few minutes going down towards Hance Creek from Horseshoe Mesa (Grandview Trail).  Otherwise, it's never a problem.  I'm very satisfied with the 60csx and its ability to hold a signal even in heavy tree cover too!

I can see the problem in Zion where you are dealing with steep canyon walls on both sides, going up the river.  I've been there once, but that was "pre-GPS" days.
#6
Thanks for clearing that up!  I think I neglected to say that I did use the uninstaller to remove the maps, and that it does the job of clearing the registry.  I was worried that someone might think you'd have to go in and manually remove registry entries!  I'm not brave enough to do that, so it's good that the uninstaller takes care of it for me.   :)
#7
GPSr Units / Re: battery life on Oregon 450
December 31, 2010, 10:26:18 AM
There are several other GPS features that are energy hogs too, and not just for that model.  You can set the GPS for "North Up" instead of "Track Up" so that it's not updating the screen every time you change direction a little bit.  I also set my track log to update the track by distance covered instead of time, and I set the distance to 0.02 miles (about every 105 feet).  Granted, I am using a 60csx, but I believe this will apply to most models.  I also turn off the "beep" setting so that it doesn't sound during start up or during every screen change.  The 60csx also has a "declutter" mode (not sure about the Orgegon model) and that helps too.  I don't need things like restuarants etc showing up when I'm out hiking in Grand Canyon.

BTW, setting the GPS for "alkaline" doesn't control the power level or distribution.  Its only function is to give you a reasonably accurate battery voltage level reading.
#8
I have downloaded Arizona topo, Utah topo, New Mexico topo, Colorado topo, and New Hampshire topo, and MyTrails, all from this site and they all show up on MapSource, as does my Southwest 24K topo.  I did find though that you need to have all of your topos un-installed from your computer before installing MapSource....then install the maps one at a time.  And instead of un-installing the maps, You may actually have to make sure you delete the file folders where they are installed or the re-installation may only install what is not already there.  I don't believe you have to go as far as eliminating all of the registry entries for those maps, but you may want to delete the actual "exe" map files first, then install MapSource, THEN re-download all of the maps, install them, then start up MapSource and see if they aren't in the drop down menu.  I'd even go so far as re-booting the computer before starting MapSources after its installation.  I actually found that my Southwest 24K didn't show up on MapSource right away, but only after about the 3rd or 4th time that I ran MapSource, and it may have been after a computer re-boot.  I can't exactly remember all the details, just that I do recall there were some weird anomolies involved.

If nothing works after that, I am clueless!   ;D
#9
Using The Maps/Garmin Software / Re: gmapsupp.img
December 30, 2010, 03:38:51 PM
I have the Southwest 24K topo on a DVD and it's not locked.  I loaded maps from it to my Garmin Oregon (before I lost it   >:(  ) and have since loaded maps from it to my 60csx.

And yes, before you ask, I like the 60csx better than the Oregon...at least I can see the screen in the direct sunlight in Grand Canyon!   ;D
#10
I am kind of a newbie to all this GPS and electronic mapping.  I have both Mapsource and Basemap and for what it's worth, I find Basemap to be somewhat difficult to deal with.  Mapsource does everything I need it to do and just seems more "user friendly" to me.  Your mileage may vary!
#11
I'm very impressed with the Southwest 24K topo.  I don't have all of it loaded into the GPS since I only really need  the AZ and southern UT sections, but the trail details are pretty extensive.  For example, they don't show the Escalante Route in Grand Canyon from Tanner rapids to Hance rapids, but just about every other trail is on the map.  Escalante is more of an informal trail and not one that is really promoted by the National Park as an established route.  But it's popular enough that there are plenty of pre-established tracks for it.  My version of the Southwest 24K has a 2009 copyright date on it.
#12
Great!  Thanks for your help.  Since moving to Arizona, I've only been using the Southwest 24K topo that I purchased from Garmin.  I like it because it has all the trails and necessary details for the Grand Canyon hiking that I'm doing.  I don't use the 60csx for city or road navigation.  Occasionally I get back to New England, and thought it would be handy to have trail info on the GPS as well.  I think what I'll do is load the New England maps to a separate disk and just swap them for the times that I travel back east.  I really appreciate this site and all the help...even though I've just been a lurker for the past 6 months.   ;D
#13
Quote from: jbensman on December 29, 2010, 07:25:48 AM
It sounds like you are looking at trail heads on the topo map.  Also install My Trails.  It has all the trails in the White MT National Forest that the Forest Service had data on.  Load it with the New England TOpo and the trails will show as thin red lines on top of the topo map.  If you hike something that is not on My Trails, you can send me a track of the trail and I can add it to the map.  

OK, I have part of that accomplished.  I downloaded My Trails and when I open Mapsource, it's in the map menu.  So I can either view My Trails or I can view the New England Topo, but I don't understand how I'm able to view the My Trails map on top of the topo.  Am I missing something that's really obvious?  Or are you saying that you can only see the trails on the GPS itself, by selecting the New England topo AND the My Trails map together for the file transfer to the GPS?
#14
I downloaded both of the NH topo maps from this site (options 1 and 2) and unfortunately, neither map has trails on it from the WMNF.  For me it's not a problem, as I am an ex-New Englander, now living in Arizona, but I know how you feel.  For 35 years, NH was my hiking turf! 

If you aren't currently a member, I'd suggest logging into Views From The Top (VFTT), which is one of the New England / New York hiking forums on the web.  A google search will bring them up.  There are a number of hikers there using the Garmin 60csx (I have the same unit) and surely someone has a link to a downloadable map that would be what you're looking for.