Garmin GPS - First, many thanks to Rich Owings!

Author

First, many thanks to Rich Owings!

Kerry

2005-10-17, 5:48 pm

I received your book, last week, from Amazon, and have found it wonderfully
informative. I do quite a bit of volunteer work on the Appalachian Trail,
and have been thinking about buying a GPS unit for inventorying/mapping
trail features.

The GPS unit I'm considering is the Garmin 60CS, but I have a couple of
questions. First, will I be locked into using Garmin maps, or can I
upload/download data using some of the public domain and freeware programs
that you mention in your book? According to one of the criticisms of the
60CS, posted on the Amazon page, using the Garmin maps is kind of a pain in
the butt, and I want to be able to distribute (via the web) any maps I
produce of the Appalachian Trail. (USB vs serial interfaces also seemed to
be a problem, depending on the map source).

Second, I'm thinking about going with the 60C in order to get a little more
battery life, but I'm wondering if the absence of the altimeter/compass
functions will be worth the sacrifice.

Thanks again for the great book and for showing up in the news group to help
newbies like me.

richo@mcn.org

2005-10-17, 5:48 pm

Hi Kerry,

Thanks for the positive feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying the book.

For maps that go on the screen of your 60CS, you will be limited to
Garmin products or making your own. I don't find Garmin's maps
difficult to use at all. You should be able to surmount any USB /serial
issues unless you are using a Mac, although I think there is a new
solution for Mac users.

For sharing map images online, if you are distributing maps for free, I
believe you can use National Geographic TOPO. Or you could use
OziExplorer or Fugawi to download free public domain maps for this
purpose, but they won't be seamless. Perhaps someone else can chime in
with other options. It might be nice if you also offered downloadable
..gpx files. I seem to recall that there is a file available online of
AT shelters.

The compass only drains power when you use it. I don't know that the
altimeter contributes significantly to battery loss. If keeping track
of accurate elevation data is important to you, I highly recommed the
60CS.

HTH

Rich Owings
http://www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com/
http://www.GPStracklog.com/

"We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as
others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey

Dan

2005-10-17, 5:48 pm

The battery life on the 60CS should be fairly decent. I have the 76CS
and the major difference between the two units, is the 76CS is
submersible (1m) and floats.

As for maps, the Garmin units can use a wide variety of sources, with
the right application. On the Mac, the only really good application
available is MacGPS Pro. However, be aware that it doesn't fully
support all of the data that the Garmin waypoints can store as of yet.
For example, it doesn't store depth or altitude information with the
waypoint.

On 2005-10-17 09:29:56 -0400, richo@mcn.org said:

> Hi Kerry,
>
> Thanks for the positive feedback. I'm glad you're enjoying the book.
>
> For maps that go on the screen of your 60CS, you will be limited to
> Garmin products or making your own. I don't find Garmin's maps
> difficult to use at all. You should be able to surmount any USB /serial
> issues unless you are using a Mac, although I think there is a new
> solution for Mac users.
>
> For sharing map images online, if you are distributing maps for free, I
> believe you can use National Geographic TOPO. Or you could use
> OziExplorer or Fugawi to download free public domain maps for this
> purpose, but they won't be seamless. Perhaps someone else can chime in
> with other options. It might be nice if you also offered downloadable
> .gpx files. I seem to recall that there is a file available online of
> AT shelters.
>
> The compass only drains power when you use it. I don't know that the
> altimeter contributes significantly to battery loss. If keeping track
> of accurate elevation data is important to you, I highly recommed the
> 60CS.
>
> HTH
>
> Rich Owings
> http://www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com/
> http://www.GPStracklog.com/
>
> "We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as
> others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey

Luren

2005-10-18, 11:48 pm

Dan wrote:
> However, be aware that it doesn't fully
> support all of the data that the Garmin waypoints can store as of yet.
> For example, it doesn't store depth or altitude information with the
> waypoint.

Hi Dan

Using MacGPS Pro, there is altitude information in the Waypoint file,
eg....

Format: DMS M/D/Y H:M:S 10.00 hrs Datum[108]: WGS 84
ID Name Comment Date Time Latitude Longitude
Icon Display Option Altitude
W GARMIN 08/15/2005 19:11:03 38=B051'20.0" -94=B047'56.5"
Waypoint NS 325.0

Regards

Luren

dan

2005-10-19, 5:48 pm

My main concern was the depth datum, as I use my two Garmin GPS units
on a boat, altitiude is of a lot less importance. What version of
MacGPS are you using? MY main point was that the MacGPS software does
not fully support all the data that Garmin does in many of their GPS
units. I don't believe the temperature datum is supported by the
program either.

On 2005-10-18 19:37:07 -0400, "Luren" <rasmussen.hans@gmail.com> said:

>
> Dan wrote:
>
> Hi Dan
>
> Using MacGPS Pro, there is altitude information in the Waypoint file,
> eg....
>
> Format: DMS M/D/Y H:M:S 10.00 hrs Datum[108]: WGS 84
> ID Name Comment Date Time Latitude Longitude
> Icon Display Option Altitude
> W GARMIN 08/15/2005 19:11:03 38°51'20.0" -94°47'56.5"
> Waypoint NS 325.0
>
> Regards
>
> Luren

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