Garmin 60 SCx HEEELLLLLLPPPPP!

[+willowbean11]

I want to love my new Garmin 60 SCX, but I have no idea how to use it. I've read the manual and looked at tutaorial videos. I don't know if it's me (most likely) or something wrong with the GPS. With my Trton, I plugged went to hide and seek a cach, plugged in my coordinates and went to "go", where it gave me a nifty little map, complete with road names, a green (place of origin) connected to a red flag (cache) by a pink line that I followed.

 

Now with my new unit, the map only shows major routes. I THINK I have to use the CD rom to load more detailed maps. However, I keep getting a message that I need to select a rte or waypoint in order to load it into the GPS, but I am unabl;e to highlight anything. I feel so confused!

 

Is there anyone out there who can get me started? It felt like Christmas when it came in the mail, now it just feels like a pain in the neck:(

 

Thank you!

 

Sarah

[+BAMBOOZLE]

For openers, Garmins don't come with detail maps just the base map you describe which is almost worthless. I buy the CITY Nav. Garmin maps ( about $70 ) on a Micro SD card....just snap it in and you're good to go. Folks on this forum can tell you how to get free maps as well.

I'm guessing your model is a 60 CSx ?

[seldom_sn]

For openers, Garmins don't come with detail maps just the base map you describe which is almost worthless. I buy the CITY Nav. Garmin maps ( about $70 ) on a Micro SD card....just snap it in and you're good to go. Folks on this forum can tell you how to get free maps as well.

I'm guessing your model is a 60 CSx ?

 

CityNav on a card limits you to just that map. You can use it in any Garmin that will take the card, but can't add to it. If willowbean is in the us she can get lots of free detailed topo maps from GPSfileDepot. These won't generally be routable, so if she needs turn by turn directions she'll also want a copy of CityNav. However, if she wants topos and CityNav on her 60csx at the same time she should probably get it on DVD so she can load it on her computer and send a mix of map products to her 60CSX. A 60CSx will accept up to a 4GB microSD card, which will hold 4 times as much as what City Nav takes. Downside of CityNav on DVD is that you can only use it on one GPSr.

[+luvvinbird]

I want to love my new Garmin 60 SCX, but I have no idea how to use it. I've read the manual and looked at tutaorial videos. I don't know if it's me (most likely) or something wrong with the GPS. With my Trton, I plugged went to hide and seek a cach, plugged in my coordinates and went to "go", where it gave me a nifty little map, complete with road names, a green (place of origin) connected to a red flag (cache) by a pink line that I followed.

 

Now with my new unit, the map only shows major routes. I THINK I have to use the CD rom to load more detailed maps. However, I keep getting a message that I need to select a rte or waypoint in order to load it into the GPS, but I am unabl;e to highlight anything. I feel so confused!

 

Is there anyone out there who can get me started? It felt like Christmas when it came in the mail, now it just feels like a pain in the neck:(

 

Thank you!

 

Sarah

Don't be discouraged, Sarah. Your "new" 60CSx is actually a discontinued Garmin handheld model that I, and many others, would agree is a truly great GPSr. Most people buying GPS units today opt for the newer "paperless" versions that hold cache descriptions, hints, logs, etc. I use my 60CSx as often as I use my 62s and my Oregon 450, because I love it's incredible accuracy. Yeah, the basemap is pretty much useless so I bought the City Navigator map on the micro SD card and you can download caches directly from the cache page. At least you have a real paper manual! The latter two handhelds I've mentioned don't have any at all...just an on-line down-loadable PDF file. Trust me, you'll become very attached to your new geocaching "buddy".

[+willowbean11]

Thank you so much Bamboozle, seldom_sn & luvvinbird, for the insight! My Triton came ready to go out of the box, so this is very new to me! What I think I have gotten from your posts is that I need to buy the SD card that will give me more detalied maps. My followup questions to that are:

 

1. When I get the card, will it have maps from just about any city in the US or do I have to get specifc cities that I am interested in?

 

2. Where would I receive this SD card?

 

3. As for free maps, would I get specific maps for each city, or would it be like teh SD card? Where would I find some good ones for the Northeast?

 

Again, thank you so much everyone! Luvvin_bird, I feel relieved after reading your post. I love geocaching, and I was so excited for this unit! I wish I was more technically savvy! thank you for the encouragement,

 

Sarah

[+New Jersey TJ]

Thank you so much Bamboozle, seldom_sn & luvvinbird, for the insight! My Triton came ready to go out of the box, so this is very new to me! What I think I have gotten from your posts is that I need to buy the SD card that will give me more detalied maps. My followup questions to that are:

 

1. When I get the card, will it have maps from just about any city in the US or do I have to get specifc cities that I am interested in?

 

2. Where would I receive this SD card?

 

3. As for free maps, would I get specific maps for each city, or would it be like teh SD card? Where would I find some good ones for the Northeast?

 

Again, thank you so much everyone! Luvvin_bird, I feel relieved after reading your post. I love geocaching, and I was so excited for this unit! I wish I was more technically savvy! thank you for the encouragement,

 

Sarah

 

When you buy City Navigator from Garmin, whether on the card or in software that you load to your own card, you'll get the entire Continental US plus Alaska/Hawaii or plus the islands. It depends on which version you buy. (See https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=253&fKeys=FILTER_REGION_NORTHAMERICA ) These maps will be routable. That is, can enter an address and get turn by turn directions.

 

You may find that the Garmin maps suit all your needs. They are probably the simplest way to go.

 

Free maps are located at sites like http://www.gpsfiledepot.com . The coverage varies here, as the maps tend to be more specialized. For example, if you look at the maps for New York, you'll see topo maps, snowmobile maps and trail maps covering varying geographical areas.

[seldom_sn]

Thank you so much Bamboozle, seldom_sn & luvvinbird, for the insight! My Triton came ready to go out of the box, so this is very new to me! What I think I have gotten from your posts is that I need to buy the SD card that will give me more detalied maps. My followup questions to that are:

 

1. When I get the card, will it have maps from just about any city in the US or do I have to get specifc cities that I am interested in?

 

2. Where would I receive this SD card?

 

3. As for free maps, would I get specific maps for each city, or would it be like teh SD card? Where would I find some good ones for the Northeast?

 

Again, thank you so much everyone! Luvvin_bird, I feel relieved after reading your post. I love geocaching, and I was so excited for this unit! I wish I was more technically savvy! thank you for the encouragement,

 

Sarah

It really depends on how you plan to use your 60CSX. If you want topos AND turn by turn directions and you buy your maps ON cards you'll need to swap cards if you want to change maps. If you buy the maps on a DVD you can mix and match maps you send to a card yourself. IMO, a 60CSX is not the greatest way to do turn by turn. It beeps and then you need to look at it to see which way the turn goes. This is best done by a copilot.

As to where to buy and what's available commercially you can see it on Garmin's site, although they're the most expensive place to actually buy. There are over 1000 maps available for free at GPSfileDepot.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

Thank you so much Bamboozle, seldom_sn & luvvinbird, for the insight! My Triton came ready to go out of the box, so this is very new to me! What I think I have gotten from your posts is that I need to buy the SD card that will give me more detalied maps. My followup questions to that are:

 

1. When I get the card, will it have maps from just about any city in the US or do I have to get specifc cities that I am interested in?

 

2. Where would I receive this SD card?

 

3. As for free maps, would I get specific maps for each city, or would it be like teh SD card? Where would I find some good ones for the Northeast?

 

Again, thank you so much everyone! Luvvin_bird, I feel relieved after reading your post. I love geocaching, and I was so excited for this unit! I wish I was more technically savvy! thank you for the encouragement,

 

Sarah

 

Re the Garmin City Navigator maps you can check Amazon but I think the last one I bought was direct from Garmin ( price was close...norm. around $70 )

This will give you the entire U.S. , all cities in detail....it has current restaurants ,hotel, park, etc locations as well. The card will be shipped to you and all you have to do is put it in your unit and you're done. Another nice thing about getting it on a card is if in the future you decide to get a new unit you just move your card to it rather than having to buy it again as with the CD maps.

[team tisri]

I want to love my new Garmin 60 SCX, but I have no idea how to use it. I've read the manual and looked at tutaorial videos. I don't know if it's me (most likely) or something wrong with the GPS. With my Trton, I plugged went to hide and seek a cach, plugged in my coordinates and went to "go", where it gave me a nifty little map, complete with road names, a green (place of origin) connected to a red flag (cache) by a pink line that I followed.

 

Now with my new unit, the map only shows major routes. I THINK I have to use the CD rom to load more detailed maps. However, I keep getting a message that I need to select a rte or waypoint in order to load it into the GPS, but I am unabl;e to highlight anything. I feel so confused!

 

Is there anyone out there who can get me started? It felt like Christmas when it came in the mail, now it just feels like a pain in the neck:(

 

Thank you!

 

Sarah

 

The base map that comes with the 60CSx is basic, extremely basic. It will show a few major roads in minimal detail and that's about it. To get any more than that you need additional maps.

 

You can either buy Garmin's own maps on microSD card (which lets you move them from unit to unit), on DVD (which lets you use them on your PC and unlock them to one GPS unit), or you can experiment with free maps from a variety of sources.

 

I'd recommend taking a look at http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl - grab yourself a map of your local area, copy it to a microSD card, put the card in your GPS, and away you go. If you don't like the maps just delete them - they are entirely open source and come with a nice round price, specifically 0.

[+Woodstramp]

WB,

The 60csx is not the latest and greatest for geocaching, it is an outstanding gps, though. I mainly love the screen, accuracy and the outstanding battery life...They will have to pry this one from my cold dead fingers.

Mine is mainly used for outdoor pursuits other than geocaching, but I can cache, fish, hunt,hike and use it for autorouting on pavement. Offroad stuff is done with a card loaded with gpsfiedepot (free) topos....pavement routing with a CN card.