Yet another Question for the GPS Gurus - moved from Q&A

[DougPaul]

I spent 2 weeks hiking in the Adirondacks this summer and recorded several different logs. When I got home I downloaded them all into one TPO file and by using the "start a new track every time the gps had to search...." feature was able to avoid getting a mish-mash of straight lines all over my map. On a single hike I think the best remedy is to remember to make sure the tracklog is empty when starting the hike and turning it off before turning off the gps. At home, you can decide how to deal with any breaks in the record according to your software and needs/wants.

Similar to my experience.

BTW, I never save the log on my gps. Then, unless you delete the active log, you will download both the saved and active versions onto your computer. If you save, then delete the live tracklog on your gps you will lose your elevation data, timestamps and a lot of trackpoints.

Same here. The saved track is also limited to 500? (may depend on the model) points. So saving maximum detail is another reason for downloading the active track.

I wrote to Garmin about that and they shrugged their shoulders and said it was to save memory. (I get a gig - no,not a Giggy - of removable memory in my camera dirt cheap but my gps has something like 25 meg which is supposed to be a big deal).

Certainly made sense on some of the earlier models. Now a judgement call--production cost vs features. At least some of the Garmin *x models (including the 60CSx and the 76CSx) can now store the tracks to the removable memory card. So, put in 2 2GB card, load in 1 GB of maps, and have 1 GB left to store tracks. The trackfiles are split into one-per-day for convenient handling.

And yes, 2GB cards have been reported to work in the 60CSx and 76CSx, even though Garmin has not officially OKed it. Mine is on order... Hopefully .

Now you can save GPS tracklogs along with the pictures from your vacation. And yes, there are programs which will compare the timestamps on digital pictures to the tracklog and insert the GPS location into the EXIF data in the digital image.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

i have also carried my gps in my fanny pack facing up and also in my bicycle wedge (behind the seat) and it works well...

I presume that you are talking about the eTrex here. That is the best orientation. (See my post #4, this thread.)

[/quote]as to the GPS filling in blanks with srtraight lines - i own the $100 dollar yellow etrex and was very happy with the way the tracks got broken up and didn't fill in the blanks - then i bought the map60 and it was filling in the blanks - i then bought the vista and compared them side by side - the map60 lost the track more often (and filled in the blanks with a straight line) - the vista lost the track less often and didn't fill in the blanks - - i did a figure "8" for about 1 mile - the vista showed the 8 while the map60 showed an oval - i returned the map60 and kept the vista...[/QUOTE]
It is my understanding that the Garmin hiking GPSes don't fill in the track gaps. (Of course, different models could do this differently--I haven't studied the map60 carefully.) Certain software is known to do this (eg some modes of NG TOPO!).

You don't say where and in what orientation you carried the GPSes for this comparison. If it was in your fanny pack, flat facing up is best for the eTrex but vertical is best for the GPS60. (Again, see my post #4 this thread.) If the orientations were correct, it is always possible that you got a substandard map60.) Based upon comparisons of the eTrex Vista and the GPSMAP 60CS, I would have expected the GPS60 to be better. (That is just a guess--I have no direct evidence.)

Doug

 

[ken]

You don't say where and in what orientation you carried the GPSes for this comparison

i carried one on each shoulder strap at about a 45 degree angle to the sky as i usually do hiking (right on top of the shoulder is too hard to reach while hiking) and walked about one mile under the heaviest stuff that i could find and then came back looping around and crossing to make a figure "8" the map60 filled in all the spaces with a straight line (very annoying) and made an oval shape out of my figure 8 - - i noticed that it wasn't picking up as well as the little yellow e-trex as soon as i compared them while driving upstate with it - then i stopped by gander mountain and got the etrex vista to compare them and the etrex vista won...

vertical is best for the GPS60

dont know whay you would say that??? an antenna picks up from the side, not the end - if many of the satellites are near the horizion, being vertical may pick them up better (but not in a valley) - all it needs to see for decent navigation is 3 satellites and usually 3 are overhead at any time...

It is my understanding that the Garmin hiking GPSes don't fill in the track gaps..

no - it was the map60 doing ot - it was right on the gps screen

Certain software is known to do this (eg some modes of NG TOPO!).

yes - "topo" will do that if you want it to - you can set the distance that "topo" will do that or you can turn it off.

 

[Neil]

Now you can save GPS tracklogs along with the pictures from your vacation. And yes, there are programs which will compare the timestamps on digital pictures to the tracklog and insert the GPS location into the EXIF data in the digital image.

Doug

Topofusion is one of the programs that does this. When you're done you can save the whole she-bang in an .HTML file - the pics and the thumbnails that the program creates, the map, the log, and the route drawn in with little camera icons that are situated on your map (or if you toggle it, the photomap). Then you can email the html file or post it to a website. The only problem is that the program dosn't shrink the original pics down to 72 DPI which makes for a humungous file.

 

[DougPaul]

i carried one on each shoulder strap at about a 45 degree angle to the sky as i usually do hiking (right on top of the shoulder is too hard to reach while hiking) and walked about one mile under the heaviest stuff that i could find and then came back looping around and crossing to make a figure "8" the map60 filled in all the spaces with a straight line (very annoying) and made an oval shape out of my figure 8 - - i noticed that it wasn't picking up as well as the little yellow e-trex as soon as i compared them while driving upstate with it - then i stopped by gander mountain and got the etrex vista to compare them and the etrex vista won...

Ok. Sounds like a reasonable comparison. The newer designs don't always work better. Or perhaps Garmin cut some corners in the GPSMap60. I have seen a number of nice comments about the basic yellow eTrex. (I have a Vista myself. It works pretty well, but my GPSMap60CS does better.)

dont know whay you would say that??? an antenna picks up from the side, not the end - if many of the satellites are near the horizion, being vertical may pick them up better (but not in a valley) - all it needs to see for decent navigation is 3 satellites and usually 3 are overhead at any time...

Because the quadrifilar helix is an endfire antenna.
It is mounted in the obvious cylinder at the top with its axis parallel to the long dimension of the GPS. This antenna has a very broad main lobe facing out the end. For full sky coverage (including the horizon all the way around), you want the axis vertical. For more info on the antennas and some pointers to some manufacturer's datasheets with directivity pattern graphs, see http://www.gpsinformation.org/joe/gpsantennaspecs.htm.

BTW, you need 4 satellites to get a proper fix. (3 would be adequate if you had a clock accurate to a few nanoseconds in your GPS. You don't. The fourth satellite allows you to solve for time as well as position.)

no - it was the map60 doing ot - it was right on the gps screen

OK--Yuck! A red square for that model... The GPSMap60CS and GPSMap60CSx defintely do not do that.

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

Topofusion is one of the programs that does this. When you're done you can save the whole she-bang in an .HTML file - the pics and the thumbnails that the program creates, the map, the log, and the route drawn in with little camera icons that are situated on your map (or if you toggle it, the photomap). Then you can email the html file or post it to a website. The only problem is that the program dosn't shrink the original pics down to 72 DPI which makes for a humungous file.

There are utilities that will shrink JPEGs and leave the EXIF data intact.

Image-ExifTool is a nice utility for reading and manipulating the EXIF data: http://owl.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

Doug

 

[ken]

I have seen a number of nice comments about the basic yellow eTrex.

i really never needed anything more than the basic $110 yellow etrex and the national geographic northeast topo software - i would print out a map of the area with the gps grid & waypoints on it (gps grid was in case i changed my mind about something) and off i happily went (it was such a pain before i got the n.g. topo, i used to get the maps from terraserver with the gps grid and push the etrex buttons to get the waypoints in...) - - - - but then a friend gave me a copy of the garmin mapsource topo CDs so that i could figure out how to change things so that she could drop the east cd on the hard drive and use the others from the CD-ROM (so i figured it out and took a picture of the screen at each step so that i could e-mail the directions to her) - - - so i already had the mapsource - then cabelas sent a $20 coupon - i had almost 300 cabelas points from my cabelas credit card so i decided that for 230 cabelas points and the $20 coupon i would get a GPS that i could put the maps into.
i find the maps nice but i am still always mainly just watching the waypoints, not the maps...

 

[DougPaul]

i find the maps nice but i am still always mainly just watching the waypoints, not the maps...

The basic yellow eTrex does the basics at a reasonable price.

But after you try a mapping GPS, you are unlikely to want to go back. Having the waypoints, tracks, routes, and bearings plotted on a topo is much easier and intuitive to use. And in bad conditions, the ease of use can translate into being able to use it at all. Also, the GPS will be useful without having preprogramed the relevant waypoints or transferring numerical coordinates. You will still need a map to get the big picture--the map displays aren't up to displaying a big map yet.

Doug