Garmin Montana

The other POI's you are seeing are in the Map data. You can turn them on/off but might not want to. If they bug you, you can adjust the Setup->Map->Advanced Setup->Zoom Levels->Map Points-> to say 20ft and you won't see any Map POI's until you zoom in to 20ft scale.

Cheers,

finally figured out why I could not enter coordinates into Montana. had to call Garmin to figure it out.

evidently there are a slew of ways to express GPS coordinates. one has to set which standard Montana uses. what I don't understand is why there is NO mention in instructions. that's right nothing ...

when I posted problem #5632 in this thread, of not being able to change all digits. No one else offered different format was the culprit either.

coordinate I was given was expressed in Decimal Degrees

there's also Degrees Minutes & Seconds, GPS, UTM, etc GPS Coordinate Converter, Maps and Info

to set coordinate position format: setup -- Position Format -- default is: hddd mm.mmm

use above link to GPS Coordinate converter or switch format to match

Thanks to the two you. I'm using the CN North America NT. Which is the same map as on my Nuvi. Is there anything I have to do to turn on the speed or should it be on automatically on the nuvi dashboard?

Chad

One reason you did not get the "solution" to your problem when you asked here was that we try to provide short answers that will quickly get you going. That usually comes with the understanding that you have the basic fundamentals of how GPS's work. Given that you did not know about Datum' and Position Formats, I would suggest you do some reading and find a local "beginners GPS class". It will help you quite a bit in understanding future issues such as this one. It will also help you to articulate an issue in terms that have meaning to those that can help. As complex as these unit can be, it's important to describe your problem in terms that are explicit to the functions of the unit.

Hope you enjoy your Montana.

Cheers,

But not if you are navigating a route you made.

I just had the GPS running no route.

Chad

That is not my experience. The speed limit shows where available when following a route I have made when using the correct profile/dashboard set up to show that data.

Ditto.

And keep in mind we're volunteers, under no obligation to solve your problem for you.

Nope. I can just ride along and get speed limit info. If I just hit where to and select a food place I also get the speed limit. If I take that same route and upload it through Basecamp I get no speed limit info. It's rather annoying.

apologies if I sounded ungrateful ... for I do realize folks in this thread are only trying to help.

as for GPS fundamentals ... been using a GPS in excess of 8 years with no issues what so ever. basic information about different longitude and latitude standards should have been part of user manual. something basic as inputting GPS coordinates should have been covered.

IMHO base problem with Montana is Garmin released it too early with beta software. all one has to do is backtrack all the versions of operating system releases in say the last 8 months.

sorry but I didn't knowingly buy a product still in beta.

If you think anything ever invented is ever completely finished before being released, then I suppose that's your prerogative. I don't mind getting a tool which has potential, but needs polishing, as long as the company selling it is truly working on it.

Betas have never been a problem for me, and besides, it's been fun working with Garmin (unofficially) as they are responsive, and care about their products and customers. IMHO, of course.

The two Montana 650s in this house are working perfectly... Sure hope you figure yours out but don't be so quick to blame the gps or the company if you haven't done the groundwork.

I, for one, agree that there is a significant lack of User Manual information provide by Garmin today; for ALL of their GPS units. It's appalling that Garmin has reduced their User Manual to little more than a "quick start guide". You have to go back quite a few years to find a model that actually had a REAL User Manual.

But, I'm not sure I follow how the lack of User Manual information would classify the Montana as a "beta" level device.

There seem to be a significant number of folks that are managing to navigate around this earth using the Montana - we must be the "lucky ones", eh?

Cheers,

Would you prefer buying a GPSr that will forever be just exactly as it was when you purchased it, with all of the included bugs and glitches, and none of the added features and functions beta testing offers us?

I would be willing to bet that you would then be complaining that they come out with new GPSr units with new features every 6 months as a conspiracy to sell more GPSr to help their bottom line, and you would likely be calling on Garmin to offer free updates and fixes for your existing expensive hardware.

Grass is always greener, eh?

have not followed this thread closely as some, but when I first got Montana several months back. did follow this thread to get up to speed.

seems there were several folks traveling the world that had extensive problems with their Montana. One I helped with finding Garmin contact in Europe.

rightly or wrong, impression I've gotten is Montana as released is still beta and we are the guinea pigs.

Not all versions of 24K are routable. One way to know if you have the routable one is it either came on a card that must be in the device or you have an unlock code if it came on a dvd

The best way to check would be to use JaVaWa Device Manager - it'll say if the map has routing info in it.

Here's an example of that display:




The maps with the little green icon include routing data.

Is there a way to use the 100k maps from my Montana in Basecamp or do I need to buy the DVD. I am guessing I need to buy the dvd.

Basecamp can load the maps from the Montana.

If the 100K map is not currently viewable in Basecamp, you can toggle that by using JaVaWa Device Manager.

I think Cy has a valid point, semantics aside. Unfortunately there were and still are more than a few folks who had severe problems with their units that could not be ascribed to user ignorance. Luckily I was not one of them.

My problems (issues) with the unit were a direct result OF my 20 years experience with GPS, and the fact that the Montana is so much more sophisicated than older units like the 76C. It really is so different that I had to start almost from scratch in learning how to make it do what I wanted. This was exacerbated by my not having any previous experience with autorouting, the area where most of my learning was required. And by having to learn BaseCamp as well, forgetting nearly everything I had learned in 10 years of using MapSource.

This forum, Wikispaces, and the vids at GPSCity were a great help. Also, the fact that I'm retired and have nearly unlimited time to spend on the Internet sussing things out!

Six months down the road my unit works nearly perfectly and doesn't make me say "WTF is it doing NOW!" anymore, but it has been a long road. I consider it nearly indispensable when traveling in new territory now.

Now the only issue I still have with the unit is the too damn small zoom buttons!!!!!

Yes, as long as your gps is connected to the computer, you should be able to see them but make sure you use the most recent BaseCamp.

If your map can't be see in BC, use JaVaWa to make it visible. Details here: