Garmin GPSmap 62s

[Barndillo]

Well its been a week and 6 caches since I recieved my 62s and I must say it is lightyears ahead of my Explorist 100 (thankyou captain obvious ).

So far I have had no issues with it and with the addition of Shonky I am loving it. I will put Contours on when I can get it to download and I'm having issues with OSM but I think it is a lack of experience uploading maps on my behalf or my dodgy copy of MapSource.

Finally I am able to maximise my premium membership with a real use for pocket quieries. And having seen all the caches dotted over the map screen I feel I might have to get a windscreen bracket for it before I have a crash

The paperless caching is a great idea. However i only wrote brief field notes since it is time consuming to complete on the unit. So I edited them later when uploading to GC.com, not a big deal.

Battery life seems good (still on first set, but use 12V supply in car)

The only down point I can think of at this stage is as some other reviews have mentioned the power button squeeks. If this is a concern you may be a little bit precious.

Having not used a 60CSx I cannot say if it is better or worse. but IMHO it is a great buy and at this stage in the game I would recommend it to anyone.

[gmj3191]

Hey, what happened here? I thought that was a Father's Day present.
Are you going to sneak it back into it's hiding place and pretend this blatant violation of the Father's Day conventions didn't happen?
Shame shame shame

[Barndillo]

I did some sweet talking and said it would be get to know how the 62s operated before spending a full day caching on fathers day

[willebago]

Hi. Well I'm definitely hooked on this caching business and looking to upgrade my old GPS. I have heard you can get a GPS or a card that is preloaded with all the caches on the site. Is this the 62S you speak of? How much are they? Do I need the GPS or can I possibly get a card loaded with the data and keep using my Lowrance GPS? Where can I find out more?

[Barndillo]

Hi. Well I'm definitely hooked on this caching business and looking to upgrade my old GPS. I have heard you can get a GPS or a card that is preloaded with all the caches on the site. Is this the 62S you speak of? How much are they? Do I need the GPS or can I possibly get a card loaded with the data and keep using my Lowrance GPS? Where can I find out more?

A lot of the gps units in the groundspeak store are paperless. I'm not sure what units are 'preloaded' with caches. The 62s doesn't come with preloaded caches, I just download pocket queries and pop them into a folder on the unit (just like using a usb drive plugged in). I believe, but havent confirmed that the unit only holds 2000 caches. The detail held is everything visible when you view a cachpage (it even automatically does the ROT13).
None of what I have described above is difficult to do, and I imagine if there is a GPSr with all the caches downloaded onto it the level of detail would be very low due to the level of data required.

[sirius Tas]

Hi Barndillo,
Just wondering if you've tried loading GPX files directly from GSAK to your 62S??
Also, how readable are the cache notes and can you go directly to the hint?
While I have had a 60CSX for some time and using paper notes etc....currently looking at going with the 62s and oztopo v3(when it arrives) to go paperless and avoid all the other hassles.
Any further info greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
sirius Tas

[Barndillo]

Hi Barndillo,
Just wondering if you've tried loading GPX files directly from GSAK to your 62S??
Also, how readable are the cache notes and can you go directly to the hint?
While I have had a 60CSX for some time and using paper notes etc....currently looking at going with the 62s and oztopo v3(when it arrives) to go paperless and avoid all the other hassles.
Any further info greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
sirius Tas

Hi sirius,
My home computer is a mac so I don't use GSAK (I am thinking about putting it on my work laptop). I just copy the GPX files directly onto the units GPX folder (like a usb thumb drive).
There is a Geocaching screen and this lets you select a geocache to navigate to (ordered in distance from current location).
While navigating to a cache the Geocaching screen gives you a list of things to pick from:
-Show Description - see exampe http://www.ja-gps.com.au/_images/screen ... p62-04.jpg
-Show Logs - Depending how many you downloaded in you pocket query, I usually have 5
-Show Hint - Appears to be decoded
-Log Attempt - as Found/DNF/Needs Repair/Unattempted(?-not sure what this does)
-Find Another
-Show Found

[PesceVerde]

Hi sirius Tas.
In the 7.7.2.56 version of GSAK you can select GPSMAP 62s at GPS>Setup... , and Send Waypoints straight from GSAK.

WindowsXP sp3

[sirius Tas]

Many thanks Barndillo and PesceVerde....looks really good.
Many thanks for your replies...much appreciated.
cheers...ST

[groovydoo]

Can anyone give a comparison between the Dakota 20 and the Garmin GPSMAP 62S?

[PesceVerde]

Can't give a side-by-side comparison between the Dakota and 62S but in my opinion, the choice would come down to personal preference for
=touchscreen vs buttons
=style
=screen type
=value.
If possible, physically hold and use each unit to see which one you prefer.

I use my 62S for caching, bushwalking, and general 'GPSing'.

[CraigRat]

Can anyone give a comparison between the Dakota 20 and the Garmin GPSMAP 62S?

Garmin's site lets yuo do a spec comparison:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare.do? ... duct=30926

Other than the pushbuttons and physical appearance they are pretty much like for like as far as capabilities go.

[Blindman Walking]

Hi guys, I've been given a quote for a 62S + Aus Topo + Blue charts for $600

Should I jump on it? I'll be using it for bush walking/hiking, on my kayak & a bit of caching & road work

[Dooghan]

I will put Contours on when I can get it to download and I'm having issues with OSM but I think it is a lack of experience uploading maps on my behalf or my dodgy copy of MapSource.

Have a look at this tutorial on installing OSM into Mapsource. Also if your trying to send multiple (2 or more) mapsets to the GPS then have a look at this YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5W_D-nVghk

[DISK]

I projected a waypoint using 'Sight'N Go' which kind of worked OK, but couldn't get the bearing exact.
Is this the only way to project? If so, is there a way of manually getting the bearing exact (or do I just need more practice)?