View Full Version : Ozone and bouncing GPS



TwoMaineiacs
06-25-2005, 05:46 PM
Did anyone else have problems today with a bouncing GPS signal? Today was in the 90s, blue sky but hazy with a high ozone level. We have a Garmin Map76CS and it was all over the place today. I'm wondering if it could be atmosphere or if there is a physical problem with the unit. It would go from 2 satellites to 6 then back to 2-3 and recalculate over and over and over. I'm up to date on firmware upgrades and cannot see anything on this recalculate problem on the Garmin site. Lefty - if you are reading his, we have the same unit. You have problems today?

d’76
06-25-2005, 07:17 PM
I hope not, I placed a cache today and It was a bitch to get to. I don't want to go right back and fix the coords.

attroll
06-25-2005, 08:59 PM
wbdent I have my eTrex Legend and it was right on today. The more I have spent time with people with the Garmin GPS 60 series, the more I don't want to invest in one. I see not new feature that I need for one. Sure the anttena pocks up a better signal. But on days when I can not get a good signal the GPS 60 series can not either. So why do I want to spend $400 plus on something that is not much better?

d’76
06-25-2005, 09:14 PM
Well Rick,

Can you? well, I don't know. I think that they do just about the same thing and I said it before, iin hind sight I wouldn't have spent 450 on it. :)

attroll
06-25-2005, 09:36 PM
Dave that was not meant to be a slam on you. I hope you did not take it wrong. I was just pointing it out to anyone else that was thinking about buying one.

d’76
06-26-2005, 08:17 AM
No Rick, Not for a minute. I have said many many time that the 60 c is a great unit however it was a bit expensive for using to cache. However for the other things that I do it is worth it. But I think that it is funny that all these units do the same exact thing. Thats tell you where you are and they range from less than 100$ to well over 1000$. I guess it's all prefrence. I like the color screen and being able to see on the GPSr a map. You have to try harder than that to slam on me. LOL :) :)

Trezurs*-R-*Fun
06-26-2005, 08:42 AM
I can imagine a GPSr with mapping capability is/or would be the way to go, especially for geocaching. My GPSr doesn't support any maps at all and this has forced me to use my PALM for that purpose if I wish to go "paperless." This has proved to be a chore. So, if you consider the cost of the GPSr the PALM and all the software to get electronic maps onto the PALM, the cost may work out that it's just as inexpensive to get a GPSr with a few more bells, bobbles and whistles.

TwoMaineiacs
06-26-2005, 05:05 PM
Today the Garmin map76 worked perfectly with no bouncing or constant recalculating. Almost same atmosphere conditions today as yesterday, maybe even a little more hot and humid today. I'll put yesterday's bouncing to a lot heavier tree cover. Today we went back to the Windham/Gorham area and found three and skunked again on Pez's Challenge. We did however bump into Doug26 and walk the trails with him for a awhile. Neither of us found this very frustrating challenge :( We feel a bit less dumb now however since he's got 1200 plus finds and didn't find it either. Maybe next time though this was strike 3.

(P.S. - this is not frustration expressed with the cache owner or how he has set up the cache. It's Joe and I who obviously cannot see what is in front of our faces. I'm too literal. I'm sure this will not beat us and we'll be back for four)

Eventually we'll pick up another Garmin like an Etrex since we are enjoying caching so much and getting a lot of exercise and viewing parts of Maine we never knew existed. We don't quite fight over who gets to carry the Garmin - yet.

Anne

tat
06-26-2005, 06:35 PM
I had no problems this weekend, but I was on the open water most of the time. And, I have done any updates on my 76C! I hope that the updates are not the problem.

TwoMaineiacs
06-26-2005, 07:59 PM
Reviewed the update notes with the Map76 patch just put up June 20th. One of the fixes is for recalulations. I redid the software fix and it took okay. Didn't tell me that it was already there and did I want to replace the patch with the same patch. Perhaps the first time didn't take? If I start recalculating a lot again, I'll call Garmin.

Anne

d’76
06-26-2005, 08:01 PM
Hey tat,

I hope you worn sun screen

gpsxplr
06-26-2005, 08:38 PM
I have a 60CS had a lot of problems today, it got the location of the cache correct, but would not point in the correct direction. Most of the time it just seemed to freeze, when it did move it was completly wrong. First time I have seen this happen, previously it has worked great. I going to apply some updates see what that does.

d’76
06-26-2005, 09:00 PM
blame the government. It's another way that they are tring to control us. :)

tat
06-26-2005, 09:34 PM
sun screen, bug dope, sometimes bug dope on top of sunscreen! :)

lefty
06-27-2005, 06:17 AM
Did anyone else have problems today with a bouncing GPS signal? Today was in the 90s, blue sky but hazy with a high ozone level. We have a Garmin Map76CS and it was all over the place today. I'm wondering if it could be atmosphere or if there is a physical problem with the unit. It would go from 2 satellites to 6 then back to 2-3 and recalculate over and over and over. I'm up to date on firmware upgrades and cannot see anything on this recalculate problem on the Garmin site. Lefty - if you are reading his, we have the same unit. You have problems today?
I had a little bouncing, but my batteries where low. I settled down once I replaced them and re-calibrated my compass.

Cache'n Jacksons
06-27-2005, 07:19 AM
There was one point in the car yesterday when all of the satellites went off the screen, but I could still see the signal bars. This was probably around 1:00 in the afternoon, and I was on car power so it wasn't batteries. I had never seen that before, and almost panicked because I thought the GPS was going bad. I also saw a message I had never seen before telling me to power off and back on, which I did. The sat's came back! Still don't know what the cause was.

tat
06-27-2005, 12:19 PM
message ... telling me to power off and back on,....

I got the same error message on my old III+ and assumed it was some kind of software glitch. It always rebooted fine.

Slate
06-29-2005, 09:34 AM
I finally upgraded from my old Garmin 12, which I had been using for years, to a 60c. Wow, what a difference. I can't believe that I found 80+ caches with the old 12. It sure is nice to have a GPSR that actually will tell you the distance remaining in feet, not miles; plus I'm sure the map feature will come in handy once I get used to it.