Garmin HCX

[victorcharlie]

I brought home a new HCX on Black Friday......

Sitting on the couch in the living room I'm tracking 10 satellites.  By comparison, my Etrex Legend is tracking 5.

I don't have a memory card yet, but my old mapsource program finds the unit so that's a good sign.

The battery display, when using 2500 nihm rechargeable batteries seems accurate......

I haven't checked the firmware revision or loaded firmware to the unit yet.........

[Siskiyou]

My best guess is that you purchased the Legend HCx
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=8701

And not the eTrex Vista HCx?

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=8703

The latest firmware v2.40 released September 26, 2007.  MapSource version 6.13.4 was also released on that date.  For those who have not updated MapSource.  I suspect VictorCharlie did it long ago.

Congratulations on the new unit and looking forward to your observations.

 

[victorcharlie]

Yes, I got the Legend HCX as they were on sale for about 80 bucks off list.....then with my discount got it for $183 counting the governors part.....(sales tax).   The aggressive price of the HCX played a big part in  me buying the unit over the 60 Csx....and....I've read several very good reviews regarding the HCX.......

It has a few things I like already such as changing display backgrounds and fonts twice a day at sunset (goes to a black background) and sunrise (changes to a brighter white daylight background).

Some of the feature/functionality it also has is a calender with sunrise and lunar cycles, and a calculator.  I'm not sure how often I'll use these features but they're fun to play with......also has.....gasp.....a half a dozen games.........

It didn't take much time to learn the new gui ....and the new gui is a bit different from the legend.......but still similar in a lot of ways.

I hope to get out in the mountains soon to do a side by side comparison.......

As far as Mapsource.....I'm still at 6.5.........there was an "issue" which discouraged me from upgrading, but I can't remember what it was......I'll probably upgrade mapsource tonight......

[Siskiyou]

Every once and while I'll save a copy of MapSource because every once and while there well be an issue and I have a backup. It has happen once or twice in the last seven years.

Two user issues you avoided by getting the Legend HCX is the Electronic Compass and the Barometric altimeter.  Some users give up on them because they require calibrating.  Not sure but I believe the electronic compass requires calibration after each battery change.  For those who are gadget minded these are nice features, but challenging to others.  If everything goes right tomorrow I'll be coyote hunting with a friend that has a 76CSx.  I'll have to see how his is operating.  But that is secondary to Mr. Coyote.

Not only congratulations on the new gps but on the price.  I would call that very aggressive pricing.

[victorcharlie]

I couldn't get map source 6.13.4 to load.  I did get 6.11 to load.......

[Siskiyou]

6.13.4 loaded without a problem on my tower.  But there was a problem with my laptop.  When I get back I'll check it and see what version I have loaded on it now.

[victorcharlie]

Got a 2gb micro sd card today.....loaded all 48 states.....used 1.4gb.....took about an hour and a half to load.

[Siskiyou]

I tried to update Map Source on my laptop computer to the latest version 6.13.5 this evening.  Earlier I had tried to install version 6.13.4 and failed.  And since that effort version 6.13.5 came out.  Do not let the number game give you a tight chest.  As Garmin updates the products the latest number builds on earlier versions.

Knock on wood Map Source has been working without a hitch on my tower computer.  My first efforts to update Map Source failed on my laptop.  I tried the update and it failed.  I ended up having to un-install Map Source USA TOPO, City Navigator, Trip & Waypoint Manager, and nRoute.

I then re-installed Map Source USA TOPO.  My version dates back to 1999 so I then had to visit Garmin update site and download the PATCH.  At that point USA TOPO would work on the laptop.  But it would not recognize my gps units because at this point I had no USB drivers.  http://www8.garmin.com/support/agree.jsp?id=591

I then visited the http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=209  to get the latest Map Source Update.

I then re-installed City Navigator and Trip & Waypoint Manager.  At this point I do not plan on re-installing nRoute.  In my first go around I had not been able to find my latest version of Trip & Waypoint Manager so I had to update my USB drivers off the web page.

I then did a number of tests to insure the program worked with my two USB driven gps units.  The tests were successful.  At this point I feel that my laptop would work with most if not all Garmin Gps units that use a USB connection.  When I first received my new Dell laptop I also had a Garmin Legend, which transferred data by a serial port.  Because the new laptop did not have a serial port I had to purchase an adapter and install software to adapt from USB to Serial Port.  And I had to install software to recognize the adapter.  The problem was that after installing the software for the adapter I started having problem with the USB to Mini USB process.  Hopefully I have resolved that issue with to night’s efforts.  At this time I do not need the adapter because my son has the older Legend.

I did not have the problem with my tower computer because it has a serial port and USB ports. 

The Garmin Legend HCX has a number of improvements over the old Blue eTrex Legend.  But I believe the biggest improvement for the traveling man is the slot for the Micro SD card.  Garmin has updated it’s unit software, and Map Source so that they recognize up to a 2 GB card.  The price of the 2 GB Micro SD card has dropped big time in the last year.  I recently seen a 4 GB Micro SD card on sale.  At this time Garmin products will not recognize the 4 GB card.  But I am sure this statement is dated and updates of unit and Map Source software will make it happen.  It was not two long ago I was advising travelers to buy two 1GB cards because of software limitations.  Before the ink was dry Garmin updated its software.  The point being is take advantage of software updates.

I choose to provide this information because some users will incur problems, and rather then use the computer for target practice they can resolve the problem.  I am not a computer expert, and can become frustrated when I encounter problems.  Hopefully in this case I found a fix.

[victorcharlie]

The Garmin field rep was at the store a few weeks ago.......Garmin's official line is they support the 2gb micro sd card.  They've had reports of problems when going over 2gb.......something about occasional reboots......not real clear on this......but the unit will accept a larger card.  My suspicion is the power supply might be working harder with the larger card.....but just a guess.....

I loaded 6.13.5 and it went on fine on my laptop running XP on an Intel processor.  My home workstation is still running windows 2000 sp4 and an AMD processor and I had to load 6.11.X for legacy systems to get something higher than my previous version of 6.5.....

There seems to be a lot of additional features at 6.13 as well as bug fixes.....

I am now pushing maps to the handheld via the XP laptop which is slower due to the usb I interface.  It's a good thing I won't have to push this much data back and forth from the unit again until I buy the topo software......

[Siskiyou]

Loading map sets on to the 128 MB card that came with my Garmin 76Cx did not take much time.  When I graduated to the 1GB card it seemed to take forever on my laptop, which has a 1.8 Intel chip, and it had 512 MB of RAM at the time.  This was loading TOPO USA on it.  When I purchased City Navigator software and created a mapset with both TOPO USA and City Navigator on it I switched to my tower was has a 2.8 Intel processor.  And I believe it had 512 MB of RAM on it at the time.  The time killer was the software had to remove the old mapset and replace it with the new mapset.  The tower was much faster doing that then the laptop. 

When I upgraded to the 2GB Micro SD card I just went to the tower.  I load a large TOPO USA and City Navigator Mapset on it.  The plus side was that it was a clean card and it did not need to remove to old set. 

A lesson learn from a time manage stand point is that if was to travel to some other country I would buy another Micro SD card and load the software on it.  As an example a trip down to Baja would have me buying a software product for the trip and I would create a mapset using City Navigator for the trip down California and third party software made under license for Baja.  Once created on a micro SD card it would be available when needed.

A question for victorcharlie and other knowledgeable computer types?  I have upgraded my tower to 1.5 GB of RAM, and my laptop to 2 GB of RAM.  This should speed up the process? 

Xr650rRider added some excellent information back in March.


"xr650rRider Trade Count: (0)Member  OfflinePosts: 19         Re: Putting data on SD card « Reply #6 on: March 09, 2007, 08:25:57 AM »      
 The fastest way to save the map sets to the micro sd card is to put it in a card reader if you have it.  I got a Sandisk 2 GB card and it came with a SD card adapter.  Place it in a card reader if you have one and it will appear as a logical drive.  Then in Mapsource when you select "Send to Device" select the drive letter of the SD card.  On my computer this method is 2x faster than using the cable.  I can send a 1.9 GB mapset in approximately 50 minutes."

Once a Mapset is created and loaded on a 2GB card the job is done and long lasting.  I have not had to do a card in a long time.  I plan on helping a friend this weekend.

[victorcharlie]

L
A lesson learn from a time manage stand point is that if was to travel to some other country I would buy another Micro SD card and load the software on it.  As an example a trip down to Baja would have me buying a software product for the trip and I would create a mapset using City Navigator for the trip down California and third party software made under license for Baja.  Once created on a micro SD card it would be available when needed.

A question for victorcharlie and other knowledgeable computer types?  I have upgraded my tower to 1.5 GB of RAM, and my laptop to 2 GB of RAM.  This should speed up the process? 

Xr650rRider added some excellent information back in March.


"xr650rRider Trade Count: (0)Member  OfflinePosts: 19         Re: Putting data on SD card « Reply #6 on: March 09, 2007, 08:25:57 AM »      
 The fastest way to save the map sets to the micro sd card is to put it in a card reader if you have it.  I got a Sandisk 2 GB card and it came with a SD card adapter.  Place it in a card reader if you have one and it will appear as a logical drive.  Then in Mapsource when you select "Send to Device" select the drive letter of the SD card.  On my computer this method is 2x faster than using the cable.  I can send a 1.9 GB mapset in approximately 50 minutes."

Once a Mapset is created and loaded on a 2GB card the job is done and long lasting.  I have not had to do a card in a long time.  I plan on helping a friend this weekend.

Extra memory might help a little, but the problem as I see it is the USB 1 interface on the Garmin unit itself is limited to 1.5 mb per second.  You can only move data at the speed of the slowest link.  Granted, USB1 is still a lot faster than the old serial connection.

The Micro card reader is most likely using USB II which is a whole lot faster and If I were going to do this a lot I'd buy one.

[Siskiyou]

Today I helped a friend load a 128MB Micro SD Card, and a 1GB Micro SD Card for his Garmin GPS76CSx.

I loaded all of Hawaii on the 128 MB card and 80 percent of Alaska on the card.  The Mapset used 119.5 MB of the 128 MB card and contained 838 maps.

After the maps were selected it required the computer about nine minutes to build the Map Set, and less the 1 minute to transfer the Map Set from the computer to the card.  I used a SD adapter to hold the Micro SD card and inserted it into the SD card reader on the laptop.

The 1 GB Micro SD card already contained a small Map Set.  When your gps is attached to a computer or the card is in a reader Map Source will extract an earlier Map Set from the card.  This can be time consuming.  To short cut the process I inserted the card into the card reader, double-clicked on the My Computer Icon, High lighted the correct removable disk, and formatted the card.  In a flash I had a clean card and saved a lot of time.

One thousand, seven hundred nineteen maps, containing 470 MB of data where selected.  Once selected it require 36 minutes for my computer to build the mapset, and two minutes, thirty seconds to load the information on the card using the card reader.  It would have taken hours to load using the USB connection. 

Once my friend unlocks his City Navigator software and loads it he can create a new Map Set using City Navigator and USA TOPO.  He will need to re-format the 1 GB card and load the new Map Set on it.  His new Map Set may contain 1.8MB of data.  He needs to plan on about two hours for his computer to build the Map Set, plus time to load it on his card.

[victorcharlie]

2 hours to build the map set sounds about right.

As far as moving the data to the SD card, the card reader is using USB II.

USB 1 runs 1.4 Mbps, USB 2 runs 480 Mbps, which is a huge increase in thru put....

A buddy bought one of the USB "keys" or "thumb drive" which takes micro sd cards.  I'm thinking that might be the way to go......

[Siskiyou]

The wife bought 3 or 4 card readers.  I believe three of them went to granddaughters who use them to download photographs off of camera cards.  The multi-card readers are handy because none of the cameras seem to use the same card.  They are plugged into USB ports.  The tower we have as a reserve and visiting grandkids did not have a card reader.  The 4th card is pasted on the side of the tower and plugged into a USB2 port but it will work backwards off a USB1 port.  The readers cost around $10 on sale.

“”A buddy bought one of the USB "keys" or "thumb drive" which takes micro sd cards.  I'm thinking that might be the way to go…”” Quote Victor Charlie.

I was unaware of the thumb drive or aka as the “Nerd Stick” came with a micro SD slot.  I can see a lot of use for that.  When my wife had the laptop built for me she included the SD slot because of the camera we were using.  But it has come in handy with the Micro SD cards used with the provided adapter.  Thanks for the information, I believe that is very useful, and will pass it along to my friends.

When I got a new cellphone last year I selected a model that has a slot for a Micro SD card.  It became home for the 128 MB card that came with my Garmin 76Cx.  The camera phone does not take the best pictures in the world but it came in handy when I got my buck this year.  Hopefully my next generation cellphone will have a better camera.  I should note that I am rather cheap and did not buy the most expensive camera phone.

The “Golden Rule” in our house is that we do not use each other’s computers.  I have a friend who is always in trouble with his wife over a shared computer, even if she messed it up.  I have been telling him it is worth the price of peace of mind to have two computers, her’s and his.  Anyway my wife has the newest computer with a Dual Core Processor and 2 GB of RAM.  She is the one that got me started on computers.  Anyway, the question is would a Dual Processor computer build a mapset faster? 

The extra guest computer pays off.  We had a ten-year-old nephew visiting this summer and we set him up on the computer to play games.  The first thing he wanted to do was go to an Internet site and get the “cheat codes” for the game.  He was rather disappointed when I unplugged that computer from the router.  Those sites are a noted source of damaging downloads.

Another questioned, did your new HCx come with the new Waypoint Icons that Garmin added to MapSource?  I think their hunter related ones are great, and I wish that Garmin would do a software upgrade for 60/76 series with the new icons.  Better known as dream-on.

[Siskiyou]

victor charlies any idea if this is the new High Sensitive chip in your HCX?

http://www.st.com/stonline/stappl/cms/press/news/year2007/p2194.htm

[victorcharlie]

While I'm not 100% sure, I believe it might be a MediaTek or MTK chipset.

http://gpstracklog.typepad.com/gps_tracklog/2007/08/mediatek-gps-ch.html

study the pictures, especially the third one on this link:

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=179636

[Siskiyou]

Looks that way.