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Using Garmin GPS in different hemisphere


teamrubarb

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Hi,

I am traveling soon to Africa (southern hemisphere) from USA and am hoping to do some caching while there. I tried to enter in the coordinates of a few caches into my Garmin 60CSx GPS by hand, but quickly realized that only North/West coordinates could be entered, not the South/East coordinates I needed to enter. I looked through the owner's manual and couldn't find a way to enter them. Is there a way to change things on my GPS so I can enter the data or should I just take the GPS with me and hope that I can enter the coordinates once I am there? Thanks for any advice on this!

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Hi!

 

I travel often from Europe to South America and Asia. I know my next few lines will seem a bit basic, and I am sorry if your question is actually more complicated than this.

 

I use a Dakota, but I think it is similar. I suggest that you mark a waypoint and change coordinates from there. The screen will show you your current coordinates, starting with latitude on the first row and longitude on the second. At the start of each row, you will see a capital letter. "N" in the case of latitude. You can change it like if it was a number, to "S" (South). The same applies for longitude.

 

Or, as you say, you can wait to be in Southern hemisphere. Once your GPS gets a hold on satellites, the current location will appear - and you can change it from there.

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...snip...

 

Or, as you say, you can wait to be in Southern hemisphere. Once your GPS gets a hold on satellites, the current location will appear - and you can change it from there.

 

If you jump your GPS any distance it will take a while for it to find itself again. A move half way around the world may take quite some time for it to find the satellites and update its almanac.

 

The idea would be before you set out caching, to reserve a half hour or so to fire up your GPS and to leave it sitting with a clear view of the sky.

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...snip...

 

Or, as you say, you can wait to be in Southern hemisphere. Once your GPS gets a hold on satellites, the current location will appear - and you can change it from there.

 

If you jump your GPS any distance it will take a while for it to find itself again. A move half way around the world may take quite some time for it to find the satellites and update its almanac.

 

The idea would be before you set out caching, to reserve a half hour or so to fire up your GPS and to leave it sitting with a clear view of the sky.

Or if possible leave it on while you are traveling.

Link to comment

...snip...

 

Or, as you say, you can wait to be in Southern hemisphere. Once your GPS gets a hold on satellites, the current location will appear - and you can change it from there.

 

If you jump your GPS any distance it will take a while for it to find itself again. A move half way around the world may take quite some time for it to find the satellites and update its almanac.

 

The idea would be before you set out caching, to reserve a half hour or so to fire up your GPS and to leave it sitting with a clear view of the sky.

Or if possible leave it on while you are traveling.

 

My Garmin Venture HC can't get a signal on an aircraft. Some airlines might not allow it in any case.

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...snip...

 

Or, as you say, you can wait to be in Southern hemisphere. Once your GPS gets a hold on satellites, the current location will appear - and you can change it from there.

 

If you jump your GPS any distance it will take a while for it to find itself again. A move half way around the world may take quite some time for it to find the satellites and update its almanac.

 

The idea would be before you set out caching, to reserve a half hour or so to fire up your GPS and to leave it sitting with a clear view of the sky.

 

WARNING: I once had to do a hard reset on a Garmin 60 series after turning it off 90 miles from home and trying to fire it up a week later!!

 

Despite the fact no one believes me. :laughing: Ohterwise, it would not have acquired a signal, period. This is common when turning it on after traveling long distances. So heed all the comments in this thread, even though you didn't ask that! :P

 

I think the one suggestion in this thread is a good one; once you do get a signal in Africa, snap a few waypointss and edit them. The Northern/Southern hemisphere thing never occured to me, although there must be a way to change it. I do still have the 60, but it's buried in a drawer somewhere.

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I have a simple yellow Ertex and when I enter a waypoint through the Mark facility it gives me the option to change N to S and W to E or vice versa - you could also try to download a waypoint from a southern hemisphere cache to your GPS and see that it can be done.

 

I often travel from South Africa to Europe and the US and never have had any problem.

 

I go along with the others - leave your GPS on for at leat half an hour when you arrive - it takes that long for it to find the new satelites.

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