GPSrChive Discussion Forum

Hey everyone!

I just bought a 66st and I'm trying to use Birdseye Direct to download images straight to my gps. However, regardless of what location I set, it tells me that it cannot connect to the Birdseye servers.

Anybody else run into this?

Do you have a valid Wi-Fi internet connection?

I had the same issue. The problem seems to occur intermittently and does, in my case, definitely not relate to my Wi-Fi or my ISP.

Do you have a 2.4 & 5GHz router where both have the same SSID?
Garmin is only 2.4GHz. Not had this issue myself, but have heard of it with other 2.4GHz only devices.
5GHz inherently has shorter range so maybe try moving as far away from the router as you can.

Just tested with my GPSMAP 66s, no issues at all - blazing fast download! (1/2 mile radius, Highest Detail, less tan 15 seconds)

if it helps, I'm running software 4.2. And my device wont even let me do the update to 4.8

gpsrchive wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 1:04 am Do you have a valid Wi-Fi internet connection?

Yes. I've tried on my home network wifi (google home) as well as my phone's mobile hotspot (iPhone) to verify that 2 independent wifi networks will not connect to the Birdseye Direct server.

Art wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 3:57 pm Do you have a 2.4 & 5GHz router where both have the same SSID?

No. However I do have a mesh network, but I've also verified that my unit does this on an an outside network as well.

gpsrchive wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:55 pm Just tested with my GPSMAP 66s, no issues at all - blazing fast download! (1/2 mile radius, Highest Detail, less tan 15 seconds)

Wish I had the same result. This was one of the primary features I purchased this model for.

@mach16lt - can you send a copy of your GPSMAP 66 'GarminDevice.xml' file to webmaster at GPSrChive dot com?

gpsrchive wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 3:40 pm @mach16lt - can you send a copy of your GPSMAP 66 'GarminDevice.xml' file to webmaster at GPSrChive dot com?

File has been sent.

Update: I contacted Garmin today and they told me that my Birdseye issue, as well as the fact that I cannot update my device past software 4.2 are both known issues.

They offered to exchange my device for a brand new one. (Mine was a "refurb" model from Amazon, so seems like a no brainer)

Unfortunately, all the 66st models were on backorder, so they offered to send me a 66s and a free 100K topo map card.

Interesting.

This is the first I have heard of either of these problems being known issues.

I would wait for the 'st' model if you can, unless you do not care much about the topo maps that are included on that model.

gpsrchive wrote: ↑Wed Oct 28, 2020 7:58 pm I would wait for the 'st' model if you can, unless you do not care much about the topo maps that are included on that model.

Less concerned with the included maps. I've bene using the OSM Topo map. Plus the Garmin rep offered to send me the 100K topo SD card along with the new unit. Together, from my understanding, these 2 things are basically the same as the 66st