just bought an etrex 20

[+the russinators]

hi please help.

I'm looking at a blank etrex 20 with no maps or caches, please tell me where to start, in simple terms please, ive been sat looking at it for over an hour and dont know where to start, maps, downloading caches, pqs etc.

[+BlackRose67]

For PQ's, once you run them, download them to your computer and unzip them.

 

Connect your GPS to your computer using the USB cable and drag the GPX files to the Garmin\GPX folder.

 

You can get free Open Street maps for your city/state/country and load those on as well.

Maps just go in the root of the Garmin directory.

 

I have a 4 GB microSD card installed in my eTrex 20 where I store my OSM map of Canada and all my GPX files.

[+StarBrand]

PQ tutorial - http://www.markwell.us/pq.htm

 

or

 

[+the russinators]

what does unzip them mean??

[+StarBrand]

what does unzip them mean??

The files are in a folder that is compressed so it transfers over the internet faster. Both Windows and Macs should have no problem opening the zip file up and exposing the GPX files inside. Point is - don't try and load the zip file to your device. Double click and open it up to see the file(s) inside.

[+BlackRose67]

Pocket queries are downloaded in ZIP format, so you need to unzip (unpack) them in order to get at the GPX files stored within them.

 

What kind of computer are you using?

[+the russinators]

a toshiba laptop

[+the russinators]

I'm very close to tears sooo frustrating, ive put the garmin back in the box!!!

[+StarBrand]

I'm very close to tears sooo frustrating, ive put the garmin back in the box!!!

Don't do that. It is a great unit!

 

Free maps can be found at: gpsfiledepot.com

 

Ask and somebody around here can likely answer your questions or attend a local event where someday can help you out or join a local Geocaching group.

 

If not any of those things look on youtube for some tutorials on that unit - again somebody around here might be able to help you out via some king of online chat.

[+Graculus]

See my reply here http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=299511&view=findpost&p=5091055

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website - www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

UK Geocaching Wiki

Geocaching.com Help Center

[+Harry Dolphin]

Ouch. Know that feeling. Fortunately, I have a geeky brother.

We got the eTrex 30, because we like the compass. Though we do carry a magnetic compass. The maps are very basic, so we downloaded better ones. Other posters have mentioned good places for them.

As a premium member, you can download caches one at a time from Groundspeak. Hit the 'Send to my GPS' button. I prefer GSAK. It costs $20, but it is great (especially if you have a geeky brother). (And premium membership.) I download Pocket Queries, and install them using POI Loader (free from Garmin) (via GSAK.)

[+ShaunEM]

I'm very close to tears sooo frustrating, ive put the garmin back in the box!!!

 

You really are doing the right thing. Put it away, then take it out again later. Try to learn one thing at a time. Get comfortable... they really are not the easiest devices to learn. They seem to me to be 10 years behind smartphones. Remember the palm?

 

Think of it more as a USB storage drive than some sort of mobile device. You just need the right file format in the right folder and it's good to go.

 

You can run it without maps downloaded onto it, and I suggest you do at first. There are many free maps to find/download/install, but that is a whole topic to learn in itself. Don't start there IMO.

 

Click through the menus, learn how to navigate the GPS at home.. so you aren't screaming in the woods!

 

BTW, click the power button to get the time, date, battery, signal strength and change the brightness. If you HOLD that power button, you just turned it off.

 

You are probably going to use mapsource as well as the GPX downloader from garmin. Read up on both of those first. They too take time to setup, but just work when you get used to them.

 

If you still feel over your head, find a local geocacher to help you with it. Go out and get some caches with it.

 

More than once I headed out with my GPS only to find out I had mucked up a geocache download and was staring at a blank list of geocaches. It's cool.. really! This is meant to be fun! Remember that!

[Kluson]

Another newbie here, just ordered my Etrex 20 , should be here tomorrow. Can you tell me what is the best size Micro SD card to buy. Is there a limitation on capacity?

 

many thanks

[jholly]

Another newbie here, just ordered my Etrex 20 , should be here tomorrow. Can you tell me what is the best size Micro SD card to buy. Is there a limitation on capacity?

 

many thanks

How much maps are you going to load? The unit has 1.7Gb of internal memory. That is a lot of maps, tracks and caches. Colorados will support 32 Gb cards.

[Kluson]

Hi thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure how many maps I will load, I just wanted to buy a Micro sd and wondered which one? And is there a limit.

I'll phone Garmin

 

Many thanks

[+BlackRose67]

I asked a similar question and was told that 32 GB microSD cards work in the eTrex 30, so they should also work in the eTrex 20.

 

I am currently using a 4 GB microSD card in my eTrex 20, but am going to get an 8 or 16 GB card for it since I now store maps and pocket query GPX files on the external card.

[Kluson]

Hi There

Many thanks , do you use the free maps? I am using a mac could you tell me how to get them into my etrex? If not what maps are you using?? Hope you are also in the UK, and a Thin Lizzy fan !

[+BlackRose67]

Yes, I use free open street map (OSM) maps

No, I'm in Canada.

Yes, big Thin Lizzy fan

 

See the post from Graculus above. They are from the UK and may be able to help with the map question.

[+sir dumil]

hi please help.

I'm looking at a blank etrex 20 with no maps or caches, please tell me where to start, in simple terms please, ive been sat looking at it for over an hour and dont know where to start, maps, downloading caches, pqs etc.

 

I have just recently been introduced to Geocaching and I've also bought a Garmin eTrex (a 30, but it is just a 20 with some more features).

 

The first thing I did was follow the instructions of the Quick Start manual.

This process loads some support software onto your computer and gets your eTrex communicating with it properly.

 

Next, I learned more about the Geocaching.com website, registered, and subscribed to premium membership (as you have already done).

 

I connected the eTrex to my computer with the USB cable that came with the device.

On the Geocaching.com website, I selected "Play" from the menu bar and "Hide and Seek a Cache" from the resulting drop-down menu.

I entered my postal code which brought up a list of many nearby geocaches sorted by their proximity to my location.

I chose a geocache to search for what was at least a "small" or "regular" size.

I clicked on the right-most icon for that geocache to load it onto my eTrex.

For this to work the very first time, I had to select what kind of GPS (Garmin) to write to.

This installed a bit of software to let the computer write to the eTrex.

I then selected the "Write" button. The Geocache location was then written to my eTrex.

I then disconnected the eTrex from the cable.

 

When I powered the eTrex on again and selected the "Geocaching" symbol using the little thumb-joystick, the geocache listing was displayed.

I selected the geocached, and the device displayed where the geocache was with respect to my current location and displayed a compass rose pointing to the geocache.

 

This is how I started out with the eTrex.

 

Honestly, there's no need to worry about maps or pocket queries or SD cards or any of that stuff when you're not even sure what to do with it yet.

[jholly]

Personal guide:

Everything here should be right, some parts may be a little vague... if someone else that knows this stuff could add on,

Copy and paste what I have, edit it, and email it to me (with your added stuff a different font, or color, or highlighted.

I will put your name up here and everyone who reads it will give a billion thanks for the help!

 

Getting started

 

First thing to do is to go to Garmin.com to register your device.

Next you are going to install 3 things.

• Communicator plug-in [Needed for Garmin.com and Geocaching.com to connect to your device]
  
• Base map [Needed for adding maps, and a simple way to manage items saved to device]
  
• Map source[Older version of Base camp, used for transferring free maps]
  

Communicator plug-in:

Click here: Garmin Communicator Plug-in

Click on download and follow on-screen instructions

Basecamp:

Click here: Base camp

Follow on-screen instructions.

Mapsource

Before Base camp was an older program called Mapsource.

I often use it to transfer free maps. You'll see how soon.

Click here: Mapsource

Follow on-screen instructions.

 

Once both the communicator and Basecamp have been installed you can do multiple things:

 

Load A cache onto Garmin GPS

 

To load a cache onto the Garmin GPS unit plug you Garmin into your computer using a USB cable.

Simply find the cache you want on your GPSr...

And click on the SEND TO GPS button on the cache's page.

Or in the list view, hit the button next to the one you want, on the far right of the list columns

A pop-up will appear

Select the Garmin tab

Hit find devices and in the menu find your device.

Hit write.

 

Free maps

 

The great thing about the Garmin is the availability of free maps.

Multiple sites provide them, a common one is GPSfiledepot

Each maps will have a little bit different installer, this may take some figuring out.

Once you have it donwloaded and INSTALLED go into Mapsource

Hopefully your amp you downloaded is there

If not go to Utilities>manage map products, and make sure your map is listed.

HOPEFULLY SOMEONE CAN HELP ME OUT HERE I USUALLY FIGURE IT OUT WHEN THE TIME COMES (how to get maps to appear in mapsource.)

A button on the toolbar in mapsource looks like a random shape with yellow outlining, hit that

Select the area you want on your GPS

And find it on the left side list.

Select it

And on the toolbar again hit a symbol with a GPSr and an arrow pointing down. (may be the pointing up one, check by holding mouse over button and reading)

There you have it

 

Personal maps (Custom maps)

 

Custom maps are great for park maps or paper maps.

Scan the map into your computer, or download it off the internet, may be in the form of PDF

Convert/save the map to a .JPG

Open up Google Earth (another donwload- GE)

Hit Add>Image overlay

Hit browse and find your JPG image.

Use the corners and middle to size and move your map to match the google earth map is close as you can

(roads, lakes, landmarks line up)

Name it and hit OK

On the left side find it and right click

Hit Save Place As...

Save it to your Garmin (X://Garmin/Custommaps)

 

Creating a waypoint

 

This is very useful for putting a geocache on your GPS without plugging it into your computer, and multicaches

Hit Create Waypoint

Pick a symbol and give it a name

If you are standing on the waypoint location then leave the coordinates

If you want to mark one your going to click on the coordinates and enter the coordinates you need

exit the keyboard and hit OK

 

Managing caches

 

You can not delete your caches on your device. You have to do one of:

Open basecamp and select Data (Top of side list)Then find caches and delete them

OR

Record the code for the cache (found on the cache description on your GPS) And go to X://Garmin/GPX and delete the correct codes.

 

How to get to cache description:

Go to Geocaches

Select cache

Hit menu

Open cache description

 

Hiding a cache (tips/tricks)

 

Just a tip:

Load all nearby caches (close to where you will be hiding)

And Using the Proximity alarm create a map of where you can and cannot hide

Info here: Geocaching Made easy

 

Other Information

 

Battery saver- hit the power button while it is on to view the screen brightness, GPS strength, and Battery level

Turn off the backlight in daylight to save power (this device is made to use in sunlight)

 

Memory card- Adding a memory card is great for extra space. (commonly for maps and caches) I have an 8 gb and can download PLENTY of birds eye imagery

 

I HAVE VIDEO TUTORIALS HERE:

SmuicProductions

(MORE TO BE ADDED IN FUTURE)

One major problem with your instruction is that mapsource is not available for download from the Garmin site. What your suggesting people download and install is an UPDATE file. This will not give you a complete install. If you would have read the instructions on the page you referenced for the mapsource install that would be evident.

 

On managing caches if you have loaded a number of caches from a PQ you can not delete individual caches. You have to delete the entire PQ file and reload one without the caches you want deleted.

[jholly]

 

But with Mapsource- It's the bigger Download button. The first one is 2mb which is an update. But the second one is 57 mb. That is mapsource. The title is Updates & Downloads

You need to actually *read* what is on the page you linked to. Just below the 57Mb download is this ...

 

Notes:

 

WARNING: This software will not work unless you already own a MapSource product.

 

Garmin has *never* offered Mapsource as a free download on their website. They only offer Updates to the product you have. The update is *not* a complete program install.

[jholly]

 

But with Mapsource- It's the bigger Download button. The first one is 2mb which is an update. But the second one is 57 mb. That is mapsource. The title is Updates & Downloads

You need to actually *read* what is on the page you linked to. Just below the 57Mb download is this ...

 

Notes:

 

WARNING: This software will not work unless you already own a MapSource product.

 

Garmin has *never* offered Mapsource as a free download on their website. They only offer Updates to the product you have. The update is *not* a complete program install.

 

And again, just below the 2Mb download is this note

Download MapSource United States TOPO Basemap Patch

Please note:

This patch is only applicable for all versions of the MapSource United States TOPO product. It will not affect any other MapSource product.

Change:

Removed fragment of map template from northern Minnesota area so that MapSource would not report an error when viewing data in this area.

 

This download is to fix a problem with a mapping program.

[jholly]

OOPs

Edited August 21, 2012 by jholly

[+geofifedahl]

I appreciate all the help that has been written. We too have a etrex20 that just came today. We have the communicator installed as well as basecamp. What I don't understand is how to load multiple caches as GPX file rather than the LOC file. If we download them as waypoints we may has well have gotten a base unit. We purchased this to be able to get the GPX file to read descriptions of the caches. Any pointers on what I might be doing wrong?

[+BlackRose67]

I appreciate all the help that has been written. We too have a etrex20 that just came today. We have the communicator installed as well as basecamp. What I don't understand is how to load multiple caches as GPX file rather than the LOC file. If we download them as waypoints we may has well have gotten a base unit. We purchased this to be able to get the GPX file to read descriptions of the caches. Any pointers on what I might be doing wrong?

Since you are a Premium Member, you can use Pocket Queries to create a GPX file that contains caches (up to 1000) for a specific area you wish to look for caches.

 

If you haven't figured out PQs yet, you can use the communicator plugin to copy individual GPX files to your eTrex 20 by plugging your GPS into your computer with the USB cable, and then simply using the "Send to my GPS" button on a cache page.

[jholly]

 

But with Mapsource- It's the bigger Download button. The first one is 2mb which is an update. But the second one is 57 mb. That is mapsource. The title is Updates & Downloads

You need to actually *read* what is on the page you linked to. Just below the 57Mb download is this ...

 

Notes:

 

WARNING: This software will not work unless you already own a MapSource product.

 

Garmin has *never* offered Mapsource as a free download on their website. They only offer Updates to the product you have. The update is *not* a complete program install.

Then explain to me how I got my Garmin a week ago and downloaded mapsource

Because you installed a map product that had mapsource on the DVD or you followed instructions that Garmin does not approve of. The file on the update site is 57 Mb, the correctly installed executable for mapsource is over 16,000 Kb.

[skycomag]

Another newbie here, just ordered my Etrex 20 , should be here tomorrow. Can you tell me what is the best size Micro SD card to buy. Is there a limitation on capacity?

 

many thanks

here is a link about it:sd card