need gps advice

I don't have a destination entered! Bob, the GPS has a triangle that moves along as you move. Generally the base of the triangle faces me and the "point" points in the direction that I am walking. Yes, when I stop and start again, the triangle takes a moment to regain its orientation.

I've been using the unit for a while now and I am going to venture to say I'm fairly proficient with it.

PS. I added a bit to my initial post.

PPS. There is NO GPS conspiracy in regard to clouds as some of these posts suggest!

Hmmm. Some receivers have a pointer that shows you the average direction that you are moving. However, that is averaged over what period or what distance? Some receivers have a pointer that shows you either Grid North or Magnetic North, and it is good while you are moving. If you stop, then what I said before about it not knowing which direction it faces is operative. Some models allow you to select whether you want to see it indicate Grid North or Magnetic North.

One of my early Garmin receivers kept pointing me East, and I couldn't understand that for a while. When I got to St. Louis, it was pointing West. What's up with that? Then I found that it was pointing me toward Olathe, Kansas. Huh?

Then it turns out that Garmin Headquarters was in Olathe, Kansas, and it was just pointing the way back to its birthplace because I had not entered in any newer destination. Strange, huh?

Yes, I know all about the "cloud theory" from new users. I've even heard that crap from GPS sales clerks, because they heard it from somebody else, who heard it from somebody else. I do get a slightly reduced accuracy when I am in an electrical storm, but then that is OK. I learned to wipe the rainwater from the antenna area on my receiver.

–B.G.–

Bob,
Thank you for your comments. Very Helpful.

Once I had taught the class for over ten years, I kind of figured out what it is that GPS users really need to learn.

The best part was the old guy who refused to carry a GPS receiver, so I asked him why. He said that he didn't want his old lady to be able to know where he was or where he had been. He had seen all of those police shows where they tracked the bad guy.

OK. Right you are, sir. ( ! )

–B.G.–

Yes, GPS technology does not know what direction you (and your unit) are facing!

I just got back from a run. I'm cruising along listening to some iTunes marathon mix and it hits me. Unit's not just a GPS! Now to figure out why it was malfunctioning!

Just reading about deliberate GPS jamming…interesting.
http://www.economist.com/node/18304246

NO AEROPLANES fell out of the sky and no one died. But in late 2009 engineers noticed that satellite-positioning receivers for a new navigation aid at Newark airport in New Jersey were suffering brief daily breaks in reception. Something was interfering with the signals from orbiting global positioning system (GPS) satellites. It took two months for investigators from the Federal Aviation Authority to track down the problem: a driver who passed by on the nearby New Jersey Turnpike each day had a cheap GPS jammer in his truck.

Such devices are illegal to sell or use, but they have become popular with commercial drivers who object to their employers tracking their every move. A jammer prevents a tracking device in the vehicle from determining (and then reporting) its location and speed—but it also disrupts GPS signals for others nearby.

[cont]

…

" You may also need to calibrate the electronic compass (or turn it off). The electronic compass in the 60csx will allow your GPS to point you in the right direction "even when stopped", however, it has to be correctly calibrated. "

Electronic compasses can be funny. The one in my car will be calibrated correctly for magnetic declination as long as it is in its home time zone. The farther I get it out of its home time zone, the more error it gets, even though it isn't too much, because it has no other source of correction. If it gets too far off, then I need to drive it into an open parking lot and start driving it around in circles. Then it is good for that time zone. I kid you not.

The electronic compass in some GPS receivers is slightly different since it can get some good information shared over from the GPS side once it has a position fix. You just have to know which of these various devices is good and which one needs calibration help.

How did Jeremiah Johnson ever navigate across the Rockies?

–B.G.–

Yeah I need to do any basic resets and trouble shoot! Thanks for the tips! The great thing about choosing devices with a following, especially for learners, is that there is always someone or some forum out there where you can find answers and hopefully, you aren't the first to encounter any bugs!

I've used used the unit quite a bit for a few years, even for weeks at a time day in and day out and I'd never seen anything like that. The unit tracking appropriately but the triangle is turned sideways.

I need to set aside some time in the next week for gadget maintenance in general!

Ah, I think I know what happened! I know about the settings Mike mentioned. I had taken a course or two, done some reading a couple years ago. I was at Mammoth the end of the season. I met this guy skiing and we were hanging out the next day. We decided to go for a walk. I hadn't used my GPS in a while so I toted it along for the heck of it. And I had just got one of those California/Nevada cards and wanted to see what it was all about — luxury! (I had mostly used the unit abroad and didn't have maps or only ?raster maps — you try to upload random maps into MacGPSPro — the MacGPSPro dude helped me a lot, answering my emails in great detail, but a walk on the Turkish Coast, for example, had me in the ocean most of the time. The waypoints I had uploaded from previous hikers were also in the ocean so the GPS still came in handy!) The Mammoth guy didn't know I had the GPS with me. Since there was quite a bit of snow, we were cutting switch backs. We actually got lost, not dangerously so. I took it out and he asked "to see it". So I let him play with it for a while as we tried to find the trail. Guys! I suppose I haven't a clue what it is set on now! It will be good practice to go thru the menus for the first time in a while!

Very helpful thread. Remembering that I've never used a gps,and so am the newbiest of newbies, and don't own a computer, I'm going to ask advice about the card slot map vs. downloading maps from a computer. I understand that I could customize a map from a computer, and that there are other advantages as well, but since I want things to be easy and simple, perhaps buying and installing a Sierra topo card (correct term?) would suffice?–I think that you can get 40 ft. increments on the map on the card.

You don't own a computer? Have you ever sought therapy for this?

Everybody does this a little differently. Some users buy the National Geographic TOPO! program or similar program and then buy the topo map database for the state or states that they operate in. The advantage of this is that you can electronically trace in your custom proposed route, or download somebody else's idea of a trail. You do all of that at home weeks before departure, and that is what the military calls "mission planning." You can then transfer the lat/long waypoints or routes by file into the handheld receiver. Some do that by cable, and some do that by memory card, and that depends on the model of receiver and the user. Following that, I generally print out a color/paper version of the same map to carry along in a plastic bag. This entire ability to customize a standard map is extemely important, in my opinion.

One problem here is that the display screen on a portable device is really tiny, so you can't see fine detail except over a small area. If you want to look at a large area, then you can't see the fine detail. Paper maps are better in this regard, assuming that your reading eyesight is good.

Now, if you are going to a particular state or area only once, and you don't want to buy a bunch of map database stuff, in many cases you can download individual map files. I've done that also, but I've also gotten into some registration errors, meaning that the edges of one map do not perfectly line up correctly with the next map, or with an offset error. These errors are not huge, but it is just something to consider.

Some users buy a receiver and then buy a map database on a memory card from the same manufacturer. If you are a hiker only, then you would likely buy the topo map card. If you are a driver only, then you would likely buy the highway and road map card. Where it gets messy is if you are both driver and hiker, and then if you want to cram both kinds of maps onto the same card in the same receiver. It is possible, but it just gets messy. There are also maps for aircraft pilots, maps for boat pilots, and others as well. Boat pilots don't use elevations. Hikers do use elevation/topo information, but the contour line spacings vary over different terrain. Flat deserts might have 10-foot contours, and steep mountains might have 200-foot contours. It doesn't matter too much as long as you know what you have.

Some users guy a new tiny portable computer or smartphone with GPS capability, and they "grab" the correct map file wirelessly on their way to the hike. That is OK if you don't mind the airtime. Plus, if you are stuck with everything in that small lump in your pocket, you can't edit the map easily. What do you do if the battery craps out because of the energy demands of a nice display? The standard batteries in a standard GPS receiver can crap out also, but it is very easy to carry standard batteries for swapping. I carry alkaline batteries for normal priority trips, and I carry lithium primary batteries for high priority trips. But, every GPS device is a little different for what is practical here.

With some brands and models of GPS receiver, some of these steps are near impossible. I have one old GPS receiver that has no mapping database capability at all within the unit. I can still give it waypoints, and it will lead me around by the nose from one waypoint to another.

So, you just have to decide what you want to do, what is important in your navigational needs, and how much effort you want to put into this. I have about a hundred custom maps that I have built up over the years, so that makes my mission planning job go pretty quickly.

I got into a jam one time, and the GPS receiver led me to safety. So, yes, I am a believer.

–B.G.–

Thanks bob. yep, backpacking/day tripping only, so I'd buy the topo card, I was thinking. This just seems simplest. True story: at REI one clerk told me I needed a better antennae for cloud cover (which started this whole thing.) Several days later, different clerk says the first clerk did not know what he was talking about (true). The point being, hard to get simple facts about these devices ahead of time.

"True story: at REI one clerk told me I needed a better antennae for cloud cover (which started this whole thing.) Several days later, different clerk says the first clerk did not know what he was talking about (true)."

The boss of the first clerk should give him a pat on the back for trying to upsell. The boss should also give him a kick in the rear for claiming something that was obviously false. The boss of the different clerk should give him a kick in the rear for discrediting what the first clerk had said to you, the customer, even though he was right.

Maybe that is why I don't work for REI.

Some of the few reasons for buying a better/external antenna are these:
1. For a permanently mounted fixed location.
2. For an environment with multipath interference.
3. For a location with lots of overhead obstacles, or a poor view of the sky.

I was confronted with the ultimate GPS challenge one time. A customer wanted a permanently mounted GPS antenna on the rooftop of a 50-story skyscraper in Manhattan, and he wanted the receiver on the 5th story. You work all of that out and get back to me.

–B.G.–

So I ended up going with a Garmin gpsmap 60csxc–the older model because it was cheap and had good reviews. It was the same price as any etrex that would accept a map card. So the rei clerk talked me into the more expensive model after all! I realized that I wanted maps. This thing is amazing! Took it out on a twisty trail and it recorded every little turn. A bit heavy (7oz with batteries) but I expect to use it only on winter day trips so who cares.
I learned on this thread to turn off the "find nearest road" function; keep in bearing mode (right?) and calibrate the compass–easy peasy. Anything else?

Depending on how you intend to use that receiver, you may want to investigate lithium primary batteries. They are expensive, but they last 3-4 times as long as an equivalent sized alkaline battery, and they are slightly lighter in weight. They also do better in extreme cold, if that is an issue on your winter day trips.

I keep a set of lithiums in my car, and if I think that I am getting into a trip with serious navigation, I will swap out the normal alkalines for the lithiums.

–B.G.–

Book,
Yeah, it's a powerful piece of equipment ;) It's a bit of a beast, yes. There are a few good amateur how to movies posted on youtube — do a search for "Garmin 60CSx" Are you a Mac user? Go for MacGPSPro — awesome customer support!

Thanks for all the advice. I was told that cold effects batteries, so I will go with lithium–I just ordered a Garmin case for the gps that I hope will help keep it warm (it has a clear plastic face).Just one more thing, I think: where do I get those arm-band holster thingys? Seems like the best way to carry it with the map visible and hands holding poles. Although this gps had no problem keeping a read while being carried in my front pants pocket! I'm thinking, stow it in the upper pocket of my pack and then, if I need to, carry it on my arm.

Again, every GPS receiver is a little different. You have to know exactly where under the case the actual GPS antenna is located so that you can orient it semi-right toward the sky. Try holding the thing upside down and see how poorly it works.

Also, suppose that you orient the receiver in your pants pocket, and the antenna may be pointed forward. You say that it had no problem, but there likely was decreased position accuracy. That may or may not be a big deal to you.

Also, you probably don't need any of those holders unless you are trying to record a 100% track. For that, I would put the receiver underneath the top flap on your backpack so that it is pointed straight up about 99% of the time. Some people have sewed little bags and pockets to hold their receiver in a certain position.

Personally, I leave my GPS receiver shut down in my pants cargo pocket, and I only pull it out on rare occasions, like when I am bored or lost. Once in a great while, I will find something really unique in the forest, and I need to mark the position (e.g. rare wildlife species). Normally I navigate off a paper map, so it stays in my backpack's rear pocket. I can see a lot more detail off a paper map than I can off the teeny tiny display on the receiver.

–B.G.–