New to Oregon 750t - problems

Discussion related to the Garmin Oregon 7x0 series GPSr
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pprass
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:43 pm

New to Oregon 750t - problems

Unread post by pprass »

Hello everyone
I am new to the Oregon 750t, but a long time (18 yrs) user of Magellan GPSr's, so I operate a GPSr - but this 750t has got me perplexed and I am hoping someone can guide me through the issues I have.

First of all I mainly use the GPSr for Geocaching and have it set up in Classic Mode - Geocaching.

1. Compass accuracy.
Every time I load new caches into the unit and sometimes just when I switch on the unit, the compass is up to 180° out and I have to re-calibrate it.
I thought I found the reason why it was constantly out, because I had the unit set to "routing by road" and I think the compass pointed to the next turning point instead of the final location. However after turning off "routing" it still is out - for instance just now I pressed "Go" for a cache that is 81 kms north of where I live and while sitting on our balcony with excellent reception, the compass showed north pointing due east and out to sea :cry: (we live in an apartment block on the top floor facing north and just 100 metres from the ocean.)
Is this a fault, or is there a way of stopping this issue from happening. In comparison to the Magellan GPSr's that I have used over the years, I rarely had to re-calibrate the compass.

2. Navigating to a created WPt.
While in Geocaching mode, I go to "Waypoints", select a recently created WPt - say where the car is parked; press "Go" and then the next screen that pops up is the Map showing a line to the WPt destination. However it does not show how far it is, because the top of the screen shows the details of the next nearest Geocache (small compass with direction; distance to the cache; and Diff/Terrain/Size information.) So I go to the compass screen hoping that it will show me the distance and count down as I progress, but the compass screen only points to the WPt destination and again without any distance shown, but shows the details of the next nearest cache.
So my question is do I have to change the "activity" from Geocaching to something else to navigate to a WPt?

I would be grateful for advice on these two issues.

Peter
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GPSrChive
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Re: New to Oregon 750t - problems

Unread post by GPSrChive »

pprass wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:06 am Hello everyone
I am new to the Oregon 750t, but a long time (18 yrs) user of Magellan GPSr's, so I operate a GPSr - but this 750t has got me perplexed and I am hoping someone can guide me through the issues I have.
First, welcome to the GPSrChive Forum, and welcome to the world of Garmin! The Oregon 7x0 is a very mature and capable unit, and I am certain once you learn it you will be very happy.

pprass wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:06 am First of all I mainly use the GPSr for Geocaching and have it set up in Classic Mode - Geocaching.

1. Compass accuracy.
Every time I load new caches into the unit and sometimes just when I switch on the unit, the compass is up to 180° out and I have to re-calibrate it.
I thought I found the reason why it was constantly out, because I had the unit set to "routing by road" and I think the compass pointed to the next turning point instead of the final location.
Yes, when routing by any method other than direct, the Compass page 'Bearing Indicator' will always point toward the next turn in the route. When routing direct, the Compass page 'Bearing Pointer' will always point toward the next waypoint in the route.

pprass wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:06 am However after turning off "routing" it still is out - for instance just now I pressed "Go" for a cache that is 81 kms north of where I live and while sitting on our balcony with excellent reception, the compass showed north pointing due east and out to sea :cry: (we live in an apartment block on the top floor facing north and just 100 metres from the ocean.)
Is this a fault, or is there a way of stopping this issue from happening. In comparison to the Magellan GPSr's that I have used over the years, I rarely had to re-calibrate the compass.
This may be related to where you are when you calibrate the compass. This should always be done outdoors, away from any building or other structures that can influence or interfere with the Earth's already very weak magnetic field. I very infrequently have to recalibrate the compass in any of my Garmin GPSr.

More info at GPSrChive > Oregon 7x0 > Applications > Compass.

pprass wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:06 am 2. Navigating to a created WPt.
While in Geocaching mode, I go to "Waypoints", select a recently created WPt - say where the car is parked; press "Go" and then the next screen that pops up is the Map showing a line to the WPt destination. However it does not show how far it is, because the top of the screen shows the details of the next nearest Geocache (small compass with direction; distance to the cache; and Diff/Terrain/Size information.)
The display you describe at the top of the screen is the 'Geocache Dashboard', which includes a compass, but it operates a little bit differently than the Compass page does. For details on this, and other dashboards you can enable here, see GPSrChive > Oregon 7x0 > Operation > Dashboards.

pprass wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:06 am So I go to the compass screen hoping that it will show me the distance and count down as I progress, but the compass screen only points to the WPt destination and again without any distance shown, but shows the details of the next nearest cache.
Sounds like the Compass page also has the 'Geocache Dashboard' enabled. For geocaching and other general navigation purposes, I like to configure my Compass page to use the 'Large Data Field' dashboard, which I configure to display the 'Distance to Destination' Data Field (see GPSrChive > Oregon 7x0 > Operation > Data Fields).

This is my primary page when geocaching, as it always points me toward the destination (based on routing method) and displays a distance countdown as I approach.

pprass wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:06 am So my question is do I have to change the "activity" from Geocaching to something else to navigate to a WPt?

I would be grateful for advice on these two issues.

Peter
No, Peter, you do not have to change the 'Activity' to navigate to a waypoint. Just change the dashboard for the Compass page as suggested above and I think you may find it works very well.

Many users do use multiple 'Activities', or 'Profiles', based on the task at hand.

For example, you may use the 'Automotive' profile while driving across town to a park or trailhead, then, once you arrive, switch to the 'Geocache' profile to help direct you toward a selected geocache while travelling on foot.

Please see GPSrChive > Oregon 7x0 > Applications > Geocaching and GPSrChive > How To... for additional examples.
pprass
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2021 10:43 pm

Re: New to Oregon 750t - problems

Unread post by pprass »

Thank you for your clear explanation and those links are very useful as well.

I have been re-calibrating in the field where there is nothing that could interfere with the signal, however I will try once again down at the beach and see what happens.

Peter
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