Jumpin' GPS, Batman! PN-40 ?

I am on my second PN 40. My first was lost in a bushwacking cache hike. The first unit had problems with freezing up, but was absolutely accurate, often leading me right to the hide. The new unit jumps all over the place. My DNF's are rapidly increasing to the point I am not even reporting them. When I was out last after the events yest, I did seveal caches. Last last one was the ultimate test, We've aLL Bean caching. I say this because there is wide open sky there. No trees, mountains, etc. I would take one step and the pn-40 would tell me that the cache went from .64 feet away to over 29 feet away. I can turn myself 90 degrees and my cache distance will increase incredibly! The arrow does not keep up with my change in direction. When driving, I can drive for several miles and the screen is still back at the last turn! I have the latest firmware, batteries are fresh and inicator set to lithium. compass has been recalibrated. Should I be sending this one back? Calling Delorme? Is there something I missed. Wanted to stick with Delorme because I do a lot of solo kayaking and like the maps for lakes.

sounds like you may need to recalibrate the unit...look for that on one of the menus...I'll have to look at mine to remember...

I just received a direct email from Frank and have done 'something' (sorry, I am tech delayed). But it reset the unit and it now picks up satalites from my deck which the first did but this one would not. Tomorrow I will cache in the morning and test out the stabliity and post later in the day. Thanks guys!

Update. Did reset 3X. went out caching for 3 hours. GPS jumped all over the place. At one point, I took one step forward and it added 29 feet to the distance from the cache! Then I noticed that even if I didn't move, it would add or subtract distances. I decided to see how far this would go, so I hung the gps in a tree and went to look for the cache. Came back 10 minutes later and the distance from the cache had increased from 10' to 15' without the gps moving at all. Think it needs to be exchanged?

Mmmmmmmmm...........GARMIN!

Hopefully your Delorme doesn't start randomly deleting downloaded caches before you even get to look for them like mine does.

NVM reset is the best way to fix any and all issues with the PN-40.... it keeps your settings and caches and waypoints and current firmware, but resets the sats..... hold the menu and page key when you power the unit up until you get a bright blue screen then go through the menus to NVM reset and then restart the sucker.

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Originally Posted by CARoperPhotography

NVM reset is the best way to fix any and all issues with the PN-40.... it keeps your settings and caches and waypoints and current firmware, but resets the sats..... hold the menu and page key when you power the unit up until you get a bright blue screen then go through the menus to NVM reset and then restart the sucker.

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We will keep that in mind on the newest one. I'll be meeting up with her to get her going on GSAK and loading the caches and all that great stuff. Maybe we can even find her first one.

Do you think it will weather well?

On the group trek we just did I enjoyed seeing the different units in action. The PN-40 was right on right with all the other ones. The only one that surprised me was the Oregon. The first stage of Half Mile had everyone except the Oregon off by 25 feet. Only the Oregon zeroed out at GZ.

Never had any of those troubles with a garmin... never had to jump through the hoops of resetting one either... :rolleyes:;):p:D:D

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Originally Posted by Hiram357

Never had any of those troubles with a garmin... never had to jump through the hoops of resetting one either... :rolleyes:;):p:D:D

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I'm not even sure you can reset a Garmin, short of updating the firmware? It's almost like Delorme knew they were going to need it, so they built a reset feature into it. Maybe they should make the reset feature a lever on the side like a slot machine; you pull the lever and if you win the GPSr resets and works. :D

From the Garmin Wiki -

M1.) How do I master reset my Garmin Oregon?

Turn off the Oregon, press and hold the upper left corner of the screen and power the unit on. You will eventually be asked if you want to reset user data. If you answer "Yes" the unit will be master reset.

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Originally Posted by Gob-ler

From the Garmin Wiki -

M1.) How do I master reset my Garmin Oregon?

Turn off the Oregon, press and hold the upper left corner of the screen and power the unit on. You will eventually be asked if you want to reset user data. If you answer "Yes" the unit will be master reset.

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no kiddin, will that wipe it complete back to the way it came out of the box? or will it leave all the maps I have loaded?

Just because the Oregon was perfectly on at GZ means nothing.... gotta remember that Half Mile was probably placed using an older GPS and the cords may not have been that great so who knows which unit was better for accuracy on that trip? Cords are only as good as the cacher/unit that placed the cache.... try comparing GPS units on a new cache or one that I placed ;-) ha ha

That NVM reset will not wipe any maps, or user date. It will leave all maps, all waypoints, all tracks, the current firmware and all caches on it. It will just wipe and reset the sat file.

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Originally Posted by Ekidokai

We will keep that in mind on the newest one. I'll be meeting up with her to get her going on GSAK and loading the caches and all that great stuff. Maybe we can even find her first one.

Do you think it will weather well?

On the group trek we just did I enjoyed seeing the different units in action. The PN-40 was right on right with all the other ones. The only one that surprised me was the Oregon. The first stage of Half Mile had everyone except the Oregon off by 25 feet. Only the Oregon zeroed out at GZ.

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Will it weather well? The PN-40 is amazing in inclement weather, it also floats and is water tight

Almost all hand held GPSrs are rated in accordance with IEC 529 IPX7. While some units may exceed that rating more than others, I'd have to see proof before I made claims two GPSrs with the same rating are much different. Even the Nuvi 500 series meets this rating; most if not all other Nuvis are rated 0. Even my 'Ol Yeller had the rating when it was new; I think it's been downgraded after 10 years of hard use and a few of my modifications, but it's still *mostly* water resistant. ;)

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0 Non protected, No special protection
1 Protected against falling water Equivalent to 3-5mm rainfall per minute for a duration of 10 minutes. Unit is placed in its normal operating position.
2 Protected against falling water when tilted up to 15 degrees. Same as (1) above but unit is tested in 4 fixed positions - tilted 15 degree in each direction from normal operating position.
3 Protected against spraying water, Water spraying up to 60 degrees from vertical at 10 liters/min at a gauge pressure of 80-100kN/m2 for 5 min.
4 Protected against splashing water. Same as level 3 but water is sprayed at all angles.
5 Protected against water jets Water projected at all angles through a 6.3mm nozzle at a flow rate of 12.5 liters/min at a gauge pressure of 30kN/m2 for 3 minutes from a distance of 3 meters.
6 Protected against heavy seas. Water projected at all angles through a 12.5mm nozzle at a flow rate of 100 liters/min at a gauge pressure of 100kN/m2 for 3 minutes from a distance of 3 meters.
7 Protected against water immersion. Immersion for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter.
8 Protected against water submersion The equipment is suitable for continuous submersion in water under conditions which are identified by the manufacturer.

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what firmware are you running on the PN-40? you should be running at least 2.6. I have had no problems with mine. Make sure to calibrate the compass whenever you replace batteries or at the start of each day. Also get over to the DeLorme Forums and ask questions about your problem. Their tech guys monitor the forums and are more than helpful and very quick to reply!

NVM reset! Thats what Frank told me to do. Didn't help. Emailed amazon.com. They sent me a new PN40 (to replace the week old PN40) right away. I have given the lastest PN40 a quick test drive and the performance is much closer to the first one. Doesnt jump around at all so far. TY for all of your help!