Garmin GPSMAP 64 Series Thread

Here's something weird I ran into the other day that may help somebody.. My buddy bought a 64st and brought it over for me to load up with tracks/waypoints. Didn't do anything different than I just did with mine - transferred everything with Mapsource - got the normal 'transfer complete' message. 90% of the content never showed up in the gps though. Garmin had no explanation/solution other than to use Basecamp. After screwing w/ it for an hour, it occurred to me to just copy/paste the .gpx files of tracks/waypoints from my computer to the GPX folder on the gps. It worked perfectly. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't know you could do that..

This is what the 64st GPX folder looks like when Mapsource transfers the files. My buddy's had my orig file names instead.

Copying is certainly the easiest way of transferring tracks and waypoint files to modern Garmin handhelds.


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+1

When you copy gpx Files, they keep the same names, when you download Data from MapSource, the GPS assigns new names (date) fro each file it creates.

hey guys. I see this thread has been dead for almost a year now. But I will post a question here anyway hoping someone can answer it.

I have a garmin 660 gps at the moment. Its a great gps, but I would like to swap it out with a gps that I can take off the bike and use when Im hiking. My question is, can the 64 series work like the 660 when it comes to turn by turn navigation on "normal" roads? I know the screen is bigger on the 660 and there is a nice lady telling me to turn in xx meters, but I do not listen to her (have shut her off). Or should I leave the 660 on the bike and get the 64 as a backup/hiking gps?

any thoughts?

Yep, turn by turn on the 64.

Unless you need the extra features unique to the models with Bluetooth like the 64 has, you might be better off with a Montana, especially if you plan to power the gps off the bike's electrical circuit. The 64 works on batteries or micro USB only.

The Montana has a much better power source with surface contacts on an inexpensive lockable mount. And it can be handheld too.

It will do turn by turn if you purchase City Navigator detailed street maps and install.



I'm still glad I bought the 64st. It went to Prudhoe last Sept and just wired it in on the new Tenere.




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Thank you for your info. Glad to know it does turn by turn with the city Navigator installed. Nice.

Regarding the Montana...it might be out of my budget at this moment. Looks like a nice device though.

Dynobob why do you use both the 64 and the 478 (did I read the number right?) on your bike?

64st is a backup. On two occasions when leading a multi-day ride I've had my main gps fail. When you're on a ride that requires following a .gpx track and you no longer have a track that's a bad deal...

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You could probably get a refurbished Montana 600 for about the same price as the 64. Or somebody upgrading to the latest model might cut you a deal. They do come up for sale.

Emmbeedee you could be right. Did a search in my country and doesn't seem to be any 600's for sale at stores or used. Did however find some decent prices on the 610. Perhaps I should find the extra cash and go for the 610 then.

The 64S and its variants have Smart Notifications and Live Tracking which the Montana doesn't, but that's the only advantage to the 64S.

The basic 64 does not have Bluetooth so it doesn't allow tracking.


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I think it also has a better antenna than the Montana?


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The 64 does have Glonass but it's debatable just how much better that makes it.


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what devices failed for you?

Yes that but also a "quad helix antenna" or whatever that means, this is not mentioned in the Montana specs.

Glonass should have slightly better coverage on the northern hemisphere onder tree cover and in valleys and such than GPS does, from what I've read.


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Both instances were problems w/ the 478. Antenna quit working one time and hardwire broke at positive battery terminal another.

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These threads talking about vibration failures and hardening a standalone GPS give me a little pause.

Here we go again...

I've had street Garmins for years (Streetpilot and Nuvi's) and recently got a 64s. I was ignorant about them and was surprised I needed to buy the a map from Garmin if I wanted to navigate on the road. After a bit of reading I learned that open source maps will work, so I put one on a memory card, popped it in and now I've got streets, directions, and POI's for free. It even looks better than the Garmin map on my Nuvi. Awesome.

Is there a method to get voice directions from these things, or are we stuck with beeps and chirps?

I bought a pack of Eneloop 2550mAh batteries that I plan on using to power it. Has anyone found that linking it to your phone via Bluetooth depletes the battery any faster?