New Garmin Montana

[Emmbeedee]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

I can also confirm that routing "avoidance" settings don't stick. A little frustrating, on accounta I had such high hopes for the "ATV/Off-Road" activity to allow routing both on Interstate and narrow trails. Oh well.

I wonder if the avoidances you select are actually stored and used until the next time you go back to the application? In other words, the avoidances are cleared each time you go to set them. It's obvious that it would be preferable if the app showed and stored the settings, but just because there is nothing selected when you go back doesn't mean the app's not working anyway.

This theory of mine will need testing, of course.

[Jon_PDX]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

I'm running v3.98, and the Odometer doesn't seem to be resetting even with a switch to Recreational and a Reset All Settings maneuver.

I'm running v3.90

Which odometer is everyone talking about that does not reset?

If I select the "trip computer" and then tap the menu to bring up the options and tap "reset" everything on the trip computer goes to zero including the "trip odometer".

Is that the one you are all talking about or is there another one?

Jon...

[Emmbeedee]

Originally Posted by Jon_PDX

Is that the one you are all talking about or is there another one?

Jon...

There is another field; it's called "odometer".

[Lycan1]

Is there a setting in the Montana for when you use it in the Amps mount so that it will charge? I discovered yesterday that it was not charging. I put a multi meter to the pins on the AMPS and got a full power battery reading. Center pin and the one next to it (can't remember which side). I have the battery that came with the unit inside, and the manual was of no help. What am I doing wrong?

[cablebandit]

Originally Posted by Lycan1

Is there a setting in the Montana for when you use it in the Amps mount so that it will charge? I discovered yesterday that it was not charging. I put a multi meter to the pins on the AMPS and got a full power battery reading. Center pin and the one next to it (can't remember which side). I have the battery that came with the unit inside, and the manual was of no help. What am I doing wrong?

Is it not charging or is it discharging when the bike is off? When my mount was on switched power the Montana would slowly charge while I ride. Turn the bike off and the Montana off but the next day the Montana's battery would be nearly dead, as if it's not TRULY off. I switched the mount to being powered all the time and the issue went away.

You can tell if it's charging by the lightning bolt in the battery icon on the status screen. It takes forever to charge in that cradle.

[Emmbeedee]

Originally Posted by Lycan1

Is there a setting in the Montana for when you use it in the Amps mount so that it will charge? I discovered yesterday that it was not charging. I put a multi meter to the pins on the AMPS and got a full power battery reading. Center pin and the one next to it (can't remember which side). I have the battery that came with the unit inside, and the manual was of no help. What am I doing wrong?

There's no switch or setting - if it's in the mount, it's going to charge, assuming the mount's got power.

[Pete O Static]

Yup and mine doesn't always show a lightning bolt either but the battery is always at 100% when it is running in the mount.

[Rocky TFS]

I've only had it a week, so forgive the noob question:

As I understand the way profiles work, once I have set one up and am using it daily, ANY change that I make will be incorporated into that profile file the next time I switch to another profile.

So say I have a profile that switches to a topo map, turns OFF logging, arranges the menu and drawer to my liking for that activity, changes the background and position indicator, among other things. So then a week later I set logging to ON, but do not change it back to OFF before changing to a different profile a couple of days later.

So now my first profile will turn logging ON if it's off whenever I switch back to it? Is there any way to lock profile files so that this does not happen unless I unlock that profile and make a change?

Or is the only way to save the first profile before any changes on the PC, and then if I change it all around and don't like it, overwrite that profile file from the computer backup?

Thanks.

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by Rocky TFS

I've only had it a week, so forgive the noob question:

As I understand the way profiles work, once I have set one up and am using it daily, ANY change that I make will be incorporated into that profile file the next time I switch to another profile.

So say I have a profile that switches to a topo map, turns OFF logging, arranges the menu and drawer to my liking for that activity, changes the background and position indicator, among other things. So then a week later I set logging to ON, but do not change it back to OFF before changing to a different profile a couple of days later.

So now my first profile will turn logging ON if it's off whenever I switch back to it? Is there any way to lock profile files so that this does not happen unless I unlock that profile and make a change?

Or is the only way to save the first profile before any changes on the PC, and then if I change it all around and don't like it, overwrite that profile file from the computer backup?

Thanks.

So, you are correct that any change you make to a Profile will (should) stick. And there is currently no "locking, unlocking" feature for Profiles. Aside from backing up your profiles to your computer (recommended), I make a "masterProfile" of the two custom profiles I have on my Montana and I don't screw with them unless I make the overt decision to change a setting for the better. That way I don't need to connect to my computer to "recover" a Profile to it's "original condition". I often experiment with my daily profile and the easy way to return to my "original" settings is to just delete it and create a new one from the "masterProfile".

Cheers,

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by cablebandit

Is it not charging or is it discharging when the bike is off? When my mount was on switched power the Montana would slowly charge while I ride. Turn the bike off and the Montana off but the next day the Montana's battery would be nearly dead, as if it's not TRULY off. I switched the mount to being powered all the time and the issue went away.

You can tell if it's charging by the lightning bolt in the battery icon on the status screen. It takes forever to charge in that cradle.

If your Montana is discharging when it is Powered OFF, such that the battery is "nearly dead" in 24hrs, I'd be calling Garmin Tech Support and asking for a new battery. Does it do that even if you remove it from the mount?

Cheers,

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by Emmbeedee

I wonder if the avoidances you select are actually stored and used until the next time you go back to the application? In other words, the avoidances are cleared each time you go to set them. It's obvious that it would be preferable if the app showed and stored the settings, but just because there is nothing selected when you go back doesn't mean the app's not working anyway.

This theory of mine will need testing, of course.

Even if that was the intent, good usability practices dictate that if you give a user the ability to make a setting choice, you don't clear that choice once the user leaves that page. I think they just forgot to write the Avoidance settings to the Profile.

Cheers,

[DRTBYK]

I stand corrected - thank you Emmbeedee - the Setup->Reset feature does not reset the Odometer. Only the Master Reset will do that. I haven't found it to be that big of a deal to do but I sometimes forget to do it before departing on a trip/tour.

Cheers,

[Jon_PDX]

Originally Posted by Emmbeedee

There is another field; it's called "odometer".

Found it......thanks.

I have not played with those settings so I did not even know it was there.

Jon...

[cablebandit]

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

If your Montana is discharging when it is Powered OFF, such that the battery is "nearly dead" in 24hrs, I'd be calling Garmin Tech Support and asking for a new battery. Does it do that even if you remove it from the mount?

Cheers,

Nope, it's been sitting on my desk since Friday and it still is almost 100%. I only get the drain in the mount using switched power.

[Emmbeedee]

Map displays don't get much better than this: we still use Canada Enhanced Basemap, a mapset which Garmin gave up on years ago, but which can't be beat for backroad travelling since they show the secondary roads as far out as the 5 kilometer zoom level.

Here's a few examples of the screens we can get with those old maps on the Montana.







City Navigator is far better for looking up addresses, and Topo is better in other respects, but to get a useable large map view, the Enhanced Basemap can't be beat.

As far as I can tell, this mapset was put out in 2000! Sure wish Garmin would re-issue it. What's the point of having such a great display if current maps like City Navigator lose most of the detail if you zoom past 1.2Km?