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What's going on with my Garmin 64st GPS!


markhait

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I bought a Garmin 64st and am having tons of problems with it...maybe its me? I bought it specifically for geocaching because of its good reviews and connectivity to satellites. Once I pick a cache and get real close to it, it seems to stop working. It will either say 0 feet to destination or 2 feet or even sometimes 20 feet. As I begin to walk around it won't count up or down...maybe a foot or two, but that's it. In almost every situation of late, I had clear view of the sky, full lock on and the accuracy was stated at 10 feet. This was same in both the compass screen and the trip screen. The reason I know something is wrong is because when I switch to the map screen, it will say I'm like 50' or more away. From there I keep switching between screens and have even turned it off and rebooted it and even ended the navigation to the cache. Eventually through all this, it finally starts to work. On a cache today, it took me over 300' away from it's actual location before it started to work through switching screens and re-booting. With the maps and everything this unit cost me well over $500 and I hate it as of today!....I want to call Garmin and scream at them! Is there something I'm doing wrong? This is my first handheld GPS that I've owned and I admit that I'm not a seasoned pro, but this sounds like it's broken! Please help!!!

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One thought. Make sure it is not set to Lock on Road in the nav setup menu.

 

^^^This^^^

Nope...not locked on road. This thing is just messed up! I spent 10 minutes with Garmin on the phone and tried the usual.....correct version, waas turned on etc....just came back from a geocache and it seemed like I could get close to the correct location, but could not zero in on it. Once I found one, I marked it with a waypoint and headed off to the next. On our way back, I tried going to my way point, but when I got there it said that I need to go another 138'! I tried the exact same thing at home, but this time when I got to my way point it said that I needed to go another .13 miles! I turned it off and tried again and it got me to within 13'. Walked across the yard, marked another way point and then tried to go back to the first one. The way point page said that I was 147' away....probably correct, then I switched to the map screen and it said I needed to go .13 miles! I give up! I guess I'll be on the phone with Garmin tomorrow too!

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I just did a hard reset and it seems to have worked. Sucks because my found geocaches are gone, but since I just started and only have 10 found, I guess that's not going to be too much work setting them back to found. I'll try again tomorrow after work and see what happens. I guess since I know where 10 caches are at, it should make easy work to see if the GPS is working. Wish me luck and thanks for your help!

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There's a couple things to know about GPS's. Typically, they are accurate down to 30 feet. While the new ones boast an accuracy of 3 meters (or 10 feet), 30 feet is still the magic cut-off for acceptable error. That means if you can get within 30 feet of the coordinates, it's time to read the description, read the hint, and put the GPS down as you look for likely places where the cache is hidden. It's rare to be on top of the cache and get a distance of 0. The other thing you'll notice is that if you lay the GPS on the ground and just watch... it'll move about in an area of a 30 foot radius (average). This is where that error comes from. At any point, the satellites are estimating your position, and re-calculating that estimate every second. For navigation purposes, being within 30 feet is good enough. Survey grade GPS units have extra sensors to reduce that error. Geocaching is a navigation game, so the error is perfectly acceptable. As said before, use the GPS to get close, then use your eyes, description, and geo senses to find the cache itself.

 

Keep in mind this error exists for all GPS devices, and some are better than others. You don't know what GPS the cache owner used and the method of grabbing the coordinates (single point vs. multi-point averaging). Therefore, while you are "20 feet" away from the posted coordinates, the coordinates themselves may have some error with regard to the true location of the cache. So again, I can't stress the importance of putting the GPS down once you get close.

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Disclaimer: I do not own a handheld Garmin gps device capable of automatic direct routing to a waypoint (geocache), but in following these forum threads I have speculated that when at least some of these devices perceive that they are within a radius of 30-60 feet or so of ground zero they lock down temporarily to keep the user from spinning in circles. Therefore it may be necessary to walk away from perceived ground zero a certain minimum distance to reset the device and start over with a new course to the target.

 

I have observed similar operation with some firmware versions of the Delorme PN-40/60 devices, but the programmed "circle of confusion" reset distance may be smaller. The electronic compass, if recently calibrated, does help.

 

Edit: On the Delorme devices, both default automatic recalculation and electronic compass should be enabled and the user should be walking slower than 1.5 mph to use the electronic compass. If walking faster than 1.5 mph in a line deliberately tangential to the waypoint, the Direction needle should still swing towards the target within one second of reaching a tangential line location perpendicular to the target coordinates.

 

These comments are about best case test conditions on a clear day in an open field with good satellite reception. If geocaching in cloudy, brushy, tree covered, or canyon areas - urban or rural - results may not be so straightforward. My total number of geocaches found: approximately zero.

Edited by 39_Steps
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I went out today to do a couple caches since doing a hard boot yesterday and it looked like it was doing OK until I got to my 2nd cache. On the map it showed the cache on my side of the street, but the compass heading showed straight ahead and another 188'. I hesitated, but went across the street anyway and it wouldn't count down anymore, but then the compass needle swung around and pointed in the direction I just came from. I went back across the street and got to within 45' and then it just sat there not going up or down. While I was fooling with it, my son found the cache and it was about 15' away. I understand the margin or error with a GPS, but what drives me nuts is when it won't update either smaller or larger. I've had it at 2' and walked another 50' and it still said 2'. I mean come on now! A 64st with maps is like $500 and this is the best I can expect? I bought the 64st because it is rated as one of the best/most accurate GPS's with excellent satellite reception. I'll be warning everyone now to stay away!

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I went out today to do a couple caches since doing a hard boot yesterday and it looked like it was doing OK until I got to my 2nd cache. On the map it showed the cache on my side of the street, but the compass heading showed straight ahead and another 188'. I hesitated, but went across the street anyway and it wouldn't count down anymore, but then the compass needle swung around and pointed in the direction I just came from. I went back across the street and got to within 45' and then it just sat there not going up or down. While I was fooling with it, my son found the cache and it was about 15' away. I understand the margin or error with a GPS, but what drives me nuts is when it won't update either smaller or larger. I've had it at 2' and walked another 50' and it still said 2'. I mean come on now! A 64st with maps is like $500 and this is the best I can expect? I bought the 64st because it is rated as one of the best/most accurate GPS's with excellent satellite reception. I'll be warning everyone now to stay away!

 

Yeah, that sounds like an actual problem with the GPS. You might contact Garmin again and see if they'll replace it under warranty. Or if you got it at REI, take it back for an exchange. There are enough happy users out there that this doesn't happen with. It seems like a software problem, but it could be caused by underlying faulty hardware.

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Disclaimer: I do not own a handheld Garmin gps device capable of automatic direct routing to a waypoint (geocache), but in following these forum threads I have speculated that when at least some of these devices perceive that they are within a radius of 30-60 feet or so of ground zero they lock down temporarily to keep the user from spinning in circles. Therefore it may be necessary to walk away from perceived ground zero a certain minimum distance to reset the device and start over with a new course to the target.

 

This is not true at all.

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Is there something I'm doing wrong? This is my first handheld GPS that I've owned and I admit that I'm not a seasoned pro, but this sounds like it's broken! Please help!!!

Remove all the user-installed maps, and test it like that. This may help narrow down the issue. I'm guessing it's a setting.

 

Garmin GPSrs are set from the factory in a way that can cause some trouble while Geocaching – especially the “Geocaching” profile! It has by factory default the ability to point to two places at once, kind of handy, kind of confusing, but it's just a matter of understanding what it's doing. This setting can be changed. You can set any profile to be completely useless for Geocaching. It's that powerful. :anibad:

 

Can you attend a local Geocaching 101 Event (or most any Event) where someone may take a look at it? Modern small electronics can work great or you can get a dud, it's not at all limited to Garmin. It's not common to see a GPSr jump 188 feet, but a fully working one can do that at times. It's all part of the fun. :anicute:

 

I'm thinking it's fine, and could use a couple of settings adjusted.

Edited by kunarion
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Disclaimer: I do not own a handheld Garmin gps device capable of automatic direct routing to a waypoint (geocache), but in following these forum threads I have speculated that when at least some of these devices perceive that they are within a radius of 30-60 feet or so of ground zero they lock down temporarily to keep the user from spinning in circles. Therefore it may be necessary to walk away from perceived ground zero a certain minimum distance to reset the device and start over with a new course to the target.

 

This is not true at all.

Agreed. I should not have speculated about other users' reported experiences on this and other threads.

 

Update: I now have a new Garmin 64S, so the first time I got out to an open field with a clear sky I calibrated the magnetic compass and marked a waypoint over a stick in the ground. This 64S device repeatedly brought me back to the marked coordinates at within 5-12 feet from various angles and distances up to 250 feet for 15 minutes or so. Note that this reported test was not necessarily set to Geocache activity profile as I selected a newby setting that did not immediately terminate the search upon reaching a certain proximity to the target.

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Update: I now have a new Garmin 64S, so the first time I got out to an open field with a clear sky I calibrated the magnetic compass and marked a waypoint over a stick in the ground. This 64S device repeatedly brought me back to the marked coordinates at within 5-12 feet from various angles and distances up to 250 feet for 15 minutes or so. Note that this reported test was not necessarily set to Geocache activity profile as I selected a newby setting that did not immediately terminate the search upon reaching a certain proximity to the target.

 

That's normal behavior for a GPS. They can get you within 30 feet of specific coordinates, sometimes closer, but 30 feet is considered within acceptable error range.

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