GPS in Africa Thoughts on the new Garmin 60CSx

[JJHACK]

Well, I’ve had the new Garmin GPS 60 CSX about a week now. I thought I would share some thoughts on it.

First a few things here, My background with GPS is by no means expert level. Although I have owned quite a few of them, today as I sit here I have three. The one that is part of my Humminbird fish finder, my Garmin 12XL, and this new one. I’ve seen and used plenty when other hunters bring them, and when I’m fishing with friends in their boats that have them. So I know the kinds of features I like and what they do for you to navigate.

I was fortunate to buy a Garmin as my very first GPS within a couple months of them being available to the public many years ago. It was the GPS 12 unit with the serial channels( wow that was an old one) which eventually became the 12XL. My 12XL upgrade crapped out about 5 years later and they sent me a brand new one when I simply asked for a repair. It seemed a like a Leupold level of customer service to me! The Garmins also seemed to me to have the absolute best user interface and keypad.

It’s no wonder when it came time to upgrade I went right back to Garmin again. I will also add that I had hundreds of  waypoints stored and did not want to lose or have to manually load them to another brand when I could do it with the computer to another compatible Garmin unit. 

I simply uploaded from the 12XL then downloaded to the 60CSX it took all of 1 minute to transfer everything!  There are countless reviews on the net regarding these units where specific electronics are concerned. So I don’t need to write this as a unit to unit review. I’ll just compare the features of the old standby 12XL which was in my opinion the baseline for handheld GPS units for all the years it was out there. I cannot tell you how much easier that 12XL made my life and how many times it saved my A$$  retrieving game or finding my way out of the thick bush when I was so turned around I had no idea where I was after tracking game.

The Original Serial channel 12 would take about 2-3 minutes to lock onto a strong signal. It was a great tool that at the time seemed impossible to beat. Then the Parallel  channel unit came out and it would lock on in thick tree cover in a minute or two. In the open it would manage that in under a minute every time!
This new 60CSX is also as much an improvement over the 12XL as it was over the 12. When I first took it out of the box and put batteries in I was in my trophy room. No skylights, just a big window on the south side about 20 feet away. Outside that window I have thick Douglas fir trees. I installed the batteries and turned it on. While looking over the display and reading the quick start, I could not believe my eyes this thing had 8 satellites locked on and was ready to go! I walked around the house and it tracked my movement inside the house. The resolution is down to a few feet now, not just the general area like the old 12XL. If I expand the screen I can see if I have been to the front door of my house, the back door, or the garage!

While sitting in my office the light through the window was shining on my monitor. I closed the horizontal blinds to block that light. I then wanted to down load the date from the 12XL to the new 60CSX. I powered up the new one and within 10 seconds it was locked on even in my office with the blinds closed! This is spooky good reception and tracking! Ok you know my feelings there, it’s light years ahead of the 12XL in this capacity. My CSX unit has an actual compass so it will point the direction without moving. Unlike the 12XL which required you to move at a decent pace to see the direction of travel. It’s clamed to use more battery power but you can limit the use of this or turn it off. My 12XL claimed 17 hours on 4AA batteries. The 60C unit claims 30 hours with 2AA batteries.  The unit I have with the electronic compass claims 18 hours with 2AA batteries. Because it locks on nearly as quick as you turn it on the unit no longer needs to be left on for guidance. Just turn it on read the info needed for a minute and turn it off again. Heck 18 hours could last you a week! I bought the 12 power cord which disconnects the batteries while plugged in.

The color screen is exceptional, and the icon choices for waypoints a very nice touch. The zoom function gets you into just a few feet of where you’re standing too! You can remove and add pages to the format, you can adjust about anything you can think of on each page, and the new format to locate and name a waypoint is way better then the 12XL too. No more trying to think about the way to name something with the limited amount of letters. You can actually type out a whole name with plenty of letters. The scroll function is dedicated now instead of the multifunction complexity of the 12. Also it now has a dedicated Zoom function. With dedicated zoom and scroll you can look at a whole map very similar to the way Mapquest works on line.

The topo maps for North America are incredible. Even without that software you can scroll down a highway and see every exit and every rest stop with an Icon. There is one annoying problem for me that may not be an issue for others. The “Mark” button is right next to the page back, or “quit” button. So when navigating the units pages every time you accidentally bump or hit the “Mark” button you add a waypoint. On my first trip out with it I came home with about 50 new waypoints I did not knowingly add! With gloves on it’s a bit of a problem for me. I wish they put the “mark” button up next to the on off button where you could not bump it accidentally. Maybe I can disable the Mark button. With the flexibility of this thing, I bet there is a way!

Other then that one issue it’s an awfully sweet unit. The 500 bucks plus accessories and mapping software may not be for everyone. I need it for my work, well I guess I don’t NEED it……….. However GPS has spoiled me to the point I now depend on it so much. I am also able to print maps of areas with my waypoints to give to other PH’s working with me. I can also say without any doubt that I have retrieved game lost in the bush using a GPS I would have not found, or had spoil before I found it. Those trophies lost would have cost more then the price of this unit by a long shot.  It’s also an exceptional tool to share locations of things with other people. Just pass them the coordinates and they can be within feet of the exact spot.  Hunting til total darkness and then trying to find your way back to the truck for a mile or miles if tracking game with no real way to see the sky, or know where you left the truck can be a stressful problem. Especially when others in your camp are very worried about you and may consider heading out looking for you.
With the GPS I can just backtrack the exact route, or better yet cut across areas to reduce the walk to the truck or boat.  It’s a very important tool for me and my business. If you have off track navigation needs in steep, or complicated habitats this is certainly worth consideration.

[Dusty Miller]

That's enough for me.  I've been putting off getting one for several years but your recommendation will change that.  Thanks for the post. 

[Siskiyou]

While the Garmin 60Cx/60CSx share the same operating system with the Garmin 76Cx/CSx the package is a little different including the layout of the screen and buttons.  I have not had a problem with “false waypoints” with the 76 series gps units.  With the screen below the button it offers a little bit of protection to the buttons.  The “Mark” button is on the lower right instead of the high left.    The difference in layout could be the difference in getting “false waypoints” and not getting them.

Another difference is gloves.  My glove requirements change with the temperature.  My criteria are that (1) I have to be able to use my firearm.  This was very important when I was in LE, and important to me as a hunter.  In most cases I chose to wear Nomex flight gloves, they were designed for pilots so they could operate their weapon systems, and other switches in a combat aircraft.  These are great for mild temperatures.  (2) Light weight wool or synthetic shooting gloves.  They are good for temperatures in the high twenty’s. (3) A glove designed for water sports.  Good for wet weather and temperatures above freezing.

Gloves that fall into category one, two, and three, allowed for operation of my Garmin Legend, 76C, and 76Cx without any problem.  I can also toss in my Hummingbird fishfinder gps.

When weather conditions require heavier gloves, and snowmobile activity is involved another answer was required, because I still needed to be able to use a firearm.  My choice is wearing the Nomex gloves under a pair of larger, heavy Gore-Tex gloves. 

I am happy to see your topic on the gps in Africa.  I am going to toss a few questions on here, because you stepped into my dream hunt, which includes a gps.   I am looking forwared to future post. Now I have PH.

Do you have mapping software that applies to Africa?

A quick look at Garmin MapSource software for Garmin gps units it appears that World Map. MapSource world offers more area option or map space to work with.

Next would be MapSource, City Select South Africa.

A third source producing mapping software, which can be loaded on to a Garmin gps, is from Tsala Technology out of South Africa.  I could not bring up a view of their maps.

Fugawi seems to offer interesting mapping software for Africa.  A view shows contours lines, so they have my attention.  It can be interfaced with a laptop.  And maps can be printed

http://www.fugawi.de/index-english-Karten.html

Frankly with the micro memory card in the Garmins the user has the ability to store a great deal of mapping software.  The first thing I did was replace the 128MB micro sd card in my 76Cx with a 1GB card.  The 60CSx will work with a 1GB card.  Two o my friends are using 1GB cards in their 60CSx.

So I must explain my enter self a little.  My background has always made me independent.  That includes knowing where I am, the lay of the land, safety zones, escape routes, communications, weather forecast, listen to local expertise, but be prepared to act on my own if the PH/Guide is no longer functional.

Years ago I taught a first aid course for a group of licensed guides.  The State had passed a requirement that they have a first aid card as one of the requirements of their license.  I came away from that class with a greater respect of the guiding profession and the men and women involved.  They are a caring, hard working group of people with a wide range of talent.  But what if they and there crew are disabled by an accident, or you get the PH/Guide from hell?  I recall a friend having to pickup his unlicensed guide cousin from the County Jail after a DUI.  He had a story about a big 5x5 buck taken and a sad hunt.

So the dream has the gps creating a track from the airport to the camp.  The 60CSx can save 20 tracks.  Once at the main camp I would save that track.  Most likely I would transfer the track and associated waypoints to my laptop.

Each day I would generate a new track and waypoints.

But I would start long before I arrived on the hunt.  Beside the standard questions regarding guns, food, and accommodations I would be asking for mapping recommendations, waypoints, tracks and routes.  Knowing my PH has a Garmin 60CSx I would ask for waypoints of critical junctions and locations for emergency use.

I would generate a track of each days hunt.  And create waypoints as needed.  I should note that I would discuss this with my PH.  He might be very protective of his hunting area, and  Corporate knowledge.  At the end of a trip I can delete the waypoints.  Of course the track back to the airport stays.  If an animal is lost I want to find it and a gps can help me do that.

So should I carry enough batteries for a seven-day hunt?

I know that a map saved from a hunt would fill in the story behind my trophies, and the adventure.  It would add value to the experience.

Over the years I have been involved in a number of incidents as an emergency responder, in which people of been killed or injured, or just a passenger in a vehicle in an unknown area.  They may have been asleep at time of the accident.  They suffer a major feeling of helplessness because they do not have an ancohor point.  A compass, a map, and a gps are tools that can keep a person in control.  And the use of them can prevent an incident in the first place.

[JJHACK]

I have plenty of waypoints now for all sorts of places in RSA, Zim etc. I would like to share them with anyone hunting with me. However the new Garmin Software gets linked to a specific GPS when you down load. These cannot be shared between different GPS units. It's a clever way Garmin has protected the mapping software they sell. My software cannot be loaded to any other GPS unit now. I could print the waypoint co-ordinates and you could finger them into yours but I cannot save them to my computer, copy them to storage media and transfer them to another GPS with the topo mapping software. It's just not possible as far as I know.

If there is a third party company with software that works I would like to know about it. I have not seen this yet.

[Siskiyou]

Most MapSource products are limited to two gps units.  That has not been the case with US Topo.  But it has been the case with other MapSource products for years.   MapSource products come with two unlock codes.  In the case of City Navigator v8, I choose to use one code to unlock the product for my 76C and the other Unlock code with for my 76Cx When I sent a unit into Garmin they gave me a new replacement unit and provided me with a new unlock code at no extra cost.

Waypoints, tracks, and routes are another animal in the same package.  Normally these three items can be transferred to other mapping software, which makes me think that if they are stored in a separate file they can be moved to different gps units.  My original waypoints, tracks, and routes were generated in a Garmin Legend, I then transferred them to the Garmin 76C using the waypoint file saved by my US Topo MapSource software, and then a year later to the 76Cx.  They were stored in My Documents, a Folder Called My Garmin, and a file called waypoints.  I have also been able to download my waypoints and tracks to USGS Topo products, to DeLorme from the gps and then store them in a file related to that software.  I believe the Unlock Codes effect the Maps but not the waypoints or tracks. This would need to be tested, but may be a route to go, no pun intended.

My 76C and 76Cx are both loaded with the base map, US Topo, and City Navigator Maps.  In the Garmin World mapping products have a default value; meaning that City Navigator has priority over US Topo, and US Topo has priority over the base map.  I can make US Topo priority over City Navigator, by doing the following.  When on the Map Page, push the MENU button, from the drop down MENU select Setup Map, by scrolling down the menu using the rocker to Setup Map, push the ENTER button, at this point you are on a page with six ICONS across the top that represent different mapping functions.  Selecting (i) icon with MENU button allows you to do a number of things.  You can HIDE or SHOW different mapping products.  So when I am up in the hills I select US Topo, if I am in the flat lands I select City Navigator.  But I have gone a long way to point out that the waypoints, tracks and routes will show on either product.  It does not matter which of the two they were created, or if I created them on USGS Topo software and transferred them to my unit. 

If I have City Navigator selected along with US Topo the City Navigator maps will show when I am in an area that I have loaded City Navigator, but when I travel into areas that I have only US Topo maps loaded they will show, ahead of the Base Map.  I tossed this in for those who are new to Garmin units.

You can find on the Garmin International Website third party developers whose product will load on to a Garmin GPS.  An inquiry to Garmin Customer service or to the listed third party developer may prove helpful.

Your suggestion of providing a printed list of the waypoints in right on.  It does not take a great deal of time to create a waypoint, edit it with a new Lat/Long, Name it, create a symbol and save it in the unit.  In fact this is the simplest route.  A customer can set back and create waypoints at home while dreaming of his hunt. 

While a map is not required for the newly created waypoints Garmin’s Worldmap shows the main routes, and cities in Africa.  The Basemap on my 76Cx shows Africa, and a dot for locations like Cape Town.

One of the big advantages to your 60CSx is the micro SD card.  My 76Cx came with 128MB card.  I immediately purchased a 1GB micro SD card and installed it.  If I were a world traveler I would purchase a second 1GB micro SD card for additional mapping software.  The 128MB card is now setting in my cellphone. 

[S.B.]

I have the Garmin III and use it to locate ice fishing hole, the next year, and remember where the dying elm trees are for picking morel mushrooms. You can cover a lot of territory and go straight to the spot you want. Just log the way points (holds 500) in a journal and keep in my truck. Also good for finding your tree stand at Odark:30 in the morning. Don't know what I'd do without it now?
For any beginners I would suggest joining a Geo-cache org. and try finding these little treasures. To get started go to the GPS forum on this site.