First, is everything going to be in the FedEx bag?
I left it sitting on the table for a half hour then finally opened it. Checked each of the items - correct GPS model...check, 4GB micro card...check, Garmin vehicle mount kit...check, Garmin City Navigator North America NT maps micro sd card (full coverage)....check. Phew. OK, that hurdle crossed.
Next, open up the Garmin box*. OK, all contents there and accounted for. It comes with a carabiner clip. This looks like something I'm going to always use. I'll be able to safely clip the unit to my backpack strap or my belt loop. I carried the old 60Cx in the water bottle pocket of my backpack when I wasn't walking with it in my hand and I was constantly reaching back to be sure it was still there. Insert 2 AA batteries. Hmm, they sit funny. The + terminal ends are raised up at an angle from the - terminal ends. The cover won't fit back on. Consult the manual. Nothing about batteries sitting at an angle. So I'm guessing that they need to be pushed in further. Yep....they need to snap in. Battery cover goes back on properly. Phew.
Next, turn on gps. It works. Good. Basemap loading - as usual, they are quite useless, only very major roads. Nice colour screen. Lots of pages. Lots of options. Very easy to move between pages. Satellites acquired faster then my 60Cx.
Connected the usb to the gps and then to the laptop. Hmmm. Couldn't read the device. Unplug usb, put it back in. It connected properly this time. Little yellow card says to click on the Documents folder. Easy peasy. The manual comes up. I save it to a folder on my laptop.
Next take the micro SD card out of the adapter. Manage to do it without destroying the card or sending it flying across the room. Pull the tight batteries out of the compartment and flip the little metal SD bracket up. Examine the tiny card. Examine how it should fit into the gps. Match up the notches. Lower the bracket. It won't stay shut. Then I remember that I need to slide the bracket down until it snaps in. Turn gps on. Nice quick boot up. Nice new detailed maps. :) All's working so far. Set it to find a nearby city. Worked properly. Zoom works fine. So far pretty good.
Now to download a GPX file. Consult the manual. Hmmm. That's not covered in the manual. With my old 60Cx I opened the GPX file with Easy GPS then sent it to my Garmin. I'll try that... Opened up the GPS file with EasyGPS, set up EasyGPS for a 62s device, then sent the waypoints to the gps. It worked.
Turn on the unit. Find a nearby geocache. View the description, then the logs, then the hint. I'm absolutely loving the Geocache paperless display. Only thing missing is the Favorite votes, but that's geocaching.com issue. OK, I think I'm done for now. All went reasonably well. Everything there. Everything working. Nothing broken. Nothing too confusing. I'm a happy cacher. :)
* found this youtube video by Rob2222de unboxing a 62s.
Hi Lone R, I know its been a couple of years, but how are you finding the Garmin 62s? do you still use it? I have been looking at the Garmin 62stc like this one, however not sure whether it is worth the money or not. Any heads up welcome.
ReplyDeleteI'm rather frustrated with mine. The keypad has worn down drastically. The IN OUT words on the top buttons are half gone. The text on the other buttons are about 1/3 gone.
DeleteThe compass won't calibrate.
Sometimes I'll be walking towards a cache location but the map will have me walking away from it. I follow the numbers instead of the map. If the numbers go down then I'm going in the correct direction.
I've emailed Garmin but their solution is to download the latest firmware. I tried that but still have problems. I've had the unit for 2 years now, so there's no warranty.
Reading the geocaching forums some people have issues, some people don't. My favourite Garmin GPS so far was the 60Cx. It was reliable. But it wasn't paperless.
I'll hobble along with this one for now. Too expensive to purchase another Garmin and I'm worried about buying another lemon. I'm hoping that in the near future they'll come out with a GPS that combines the reliability, durability and battery life of the 60Cx with the features of the geocaching app.
Thanks R, thats a fair number of issues. I can probably understand (and tolerate) the buttons wearing down, every phone i've ever had has had the text on the buttons disappear.
ReplyDeleteBut it kind of makes it pointless if it has you walking in the wrong direction. Do you still carry map and compass with you as insurance?
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DeleteI have the GC app on my iphone for back-up. I use the 62s but watch the numbers and not the map if the map is acting up. I reset it last week and uploaded the newest version of software. It still won't calibrate. And the profiles are acting strange. I wish I had sent it back to Garmin that first year before the warranty was up but I thought maybe I just didn't know how to use it. The 60Cx was so easy to use and understand. The 62s had so many more hidden features that took time trying to figure out. By the time I thought I had it figured out, the warranty was up. And I realized that it wasn't a learning curve problem but a gps problem. Maybe I'll get another GPS in 6 months. But now I'm afraid to get another garmin, haven't heard anything great about any other GPS manufacturer's. Maybe I'll do more caching with my app.
ReplyDelete