Garmin Etrex User manual

Tristan Darwin Project

GPS Training

AGuide to Using the Garmin Etrex GPS

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

Introduction

What is GPS and how does it work?

GPS stands for Global Positioning System.

AGPS device receives radio signals from

orbiting satellites which are owned and con-

trolled by the US military. Each satellite

‘knows’ its position to a very high degree of

accuracy and the receiver calcuates its posi-

tion on the ground by measuring the time dif-

ference it takes to receive the signal from

each satellite. It follows from this that in

order to work the receiver’s aerial needs a

clear view of the sky. With a handheld

device such as the Garmin Etrex the posi-

tion can’t be determined if its view of the sky

is obscured by obstacles such as cliffs or

dense tree cover, although clouds appear to

make little difference and it will usually work

on a car dashboard or inside the wheel-

house of a boat.

ENTER

Press this button

when you want to

choose an option or

to say ‘YES’

Pressing and holding

it down will tell the

unit to mark a way-

point at your present

position.

POWER button

ON/OFF

LIGHT ON/OFF

PAGE button.

Press to go back or

move to the next

screen,

or press when you want

to say ‘NO’

Using the Garmin Etrex GPS Receiver.

The Garmin Etrex is a 12 channel receiver

which means it can receive signals from 12

satellites at once. It runs on two AA batteries

which are said to last 22 hours; recharge-

able batteries are more economical but don’t

last as long, though you should get 10 to 12

hours from a newly charged set. The device

keeps all its data (waypoints and track logs)

even if it is switched off or the batteries are

removed. This unit is waterproof and has a

data connection port which greatly extends

its usefulness when used with a PC.

Button Layout

UP/DOWN

Press these

buttons to

move up and

down a menu

or to zoom in

and out

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

SCREEN DISPLAYS

This GPS receiver has 4 different screens

which can be changed by using the PAGE

button.

1. SIGNAL STRENGTH SCREEN

This appears when you first switch the

device on. It takes a while to get a ‘fix’ on

each satellite. As more satellites are locked

on, the accuracy improves. (An ‘Advanced

Skyview’ can be seen as an alternative view

by pressing the ENTER button and choosing

this option - the display will show you exact-

ly where the satellites are in the sky.)

This is the screen you will see when you first switch on. The GPS

is ready to use when the signal display bar is full and the satellites

stop flashing and a link is shown to each of them.

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

2. MAP SCREEN

While the Garmin Etrex GPS cannot display

maps of terrain or roads it does has a useful

map screen which shows the position of

waypoints and tracks you have made or

saved. The scale of the map is shown at the

bottom left; this can be changed using the

UP/DOWN buttons.

There are 2 different modes for this screen -

North Up or Head Up.

In North Up mode your position is shown as

an arrow head which points in the direction

you are going. This screen is most useful

when you are making a new track. North is

towards the top of the screen (whether this

is True or Magnetic depends on how you’ve

set it up - details of this are given later).

In Head Up mode your position is shown as

a little man who walks as you move. Your

position is where his head is and the map

always shows what’s ahead. of you; An

arrow shows where North is.. This screen is

most useful when you are retracing your

steps, following a recorded track or aim-

ing for a waypoint.

If there aren’t enough satellites in view

and the unit isn’t ‘ready to navigate’ your

postion marker is replaced by a flashing

question mark.

Waypoints in range are displayed on the

screen with their name. As you move

along, the position marker leaves a trail

behind it on the screen (a bit like a snail

leaving a silvery trail) and this can be

very useful for retracing your steps or fol-

lowing a route or track you’ve recorded

before.

NOTE - This GPS unit can only tell which

way is North when it is moving, once you

stop it can’t determine which direction

you’re facing. More sophisticated units

have a built-in compass which works

even when stationary.

Map Screen - North Up Map Screen - Head Up

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

3. COMPASS SCREEN

The main part of this screen shows a repre-

sentation of a compass. In normal use this

will act like a compass showing your direc-

tion of travel (see note on previous page

about its limitations). When used to navigate

to a particular waypoint or to follow a route

or track, an arrow will show you which way

you should be going. When used like this it

will also tell you how far it is to go and how

long it will take to get there at your current

speed.

There is a lot of additional information avail-

able at the foot of this screen. This includes:

Location, Current Speed, Max Speed,

Heading, Trip Time, Distance Covered,

Sunrise, Sunset etc. You can cycle through

these using the UP/DOWN buttons.

The ENTER button shows a menu

where you can reset the trip time

and max speed as well as stop

navigating to a waypoint or route

(STOP NAVIGATION).

Pressing the UP/DOWN but -

tons will change which informa -

tion is shown at the foot of the

screen eg Location and Speed

as shown here

Here the arrow shows that you

need to travel South to get to

waypoint ‘G1330A’ which is

currently 4.88 miles away as

the crow flies.

No time is shown for how long

it will take to get there ( ‘--.-- TO

GO’) because the unit isn’t

moving, ie our current speed is

0 mph.

Press the ENTER button to

reset max speed or to stop nav -

igating to Waypoint ‘G1330A’.

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

4. MENU SCREEN

This is where you can edit or delete the stored data.

The options are as follows:

MARK

Use to mark a waypoint. You’ll probably use this

when you want to mark a point you want to go to -

if you’re already there its much easier just to press

and hold down the ENTER button.

Screen showing list of stored

waypoints

If you select a

waypoint from

the list you get

this screen

where you can

see details of the

waypoint and

edit it.

WAYPOINTS

Here you will find all the stored waypoints listed in

alphabetical order.This unit will store up to 500

waypoints. Here you can view or delete them, or

edit their name, position or symbol. To put in the

position of a waypoint that you’ve determined from

a map or chart, use the UP/DOWN buttons to high-

light the position shown at the bottom of the screen

and press ENTER to change it (this sort of thing is

much easier to do on a computer). Note that while

it does show altitude this is not always accurate -

there is no altimeter built into this model.

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

ROUTE This unit will store one route

which is simply a list of waypoints in the

order in which you want to visit them. This is

where you choose which waypoints to

include in your route.

TRACKS This is where you can see

details of the track you have recorded as

you move along, called a Track Log. The

track currently being made will slowly fill up

the unit’s memory; once the memory is full it

will continue to record the track but will begin

to delete the track recorded right at the start.

You can check how full the memory is at the

top of the screen.

You can save up to 10 track logs you have

made. The unit will ask what time you want

the track record to start; if you cleared the

active track at the start of the trip you can

just tell it to save the entire log. It will save it

with a name using today’s date, but you can

edit this at any time. Asaved track can be

used to TRACBACK ie follow your track

back to the start.

Select the waypoint name and you

get the option to edit its name using

the UP/DOWN keys. Confirm with

the ENTER key. (you can’t use the

same name for two different way -

points)

Tristan Darwin ProjectGPS Training - Garmin Etrex

SETUP

This is where you set up the unit. Here you can choose

which position format to use eg degrees.decimal degrees or

degrees minutes seconds etc.; the units to use eg statute

miles / nautical miles / metric; local timezone; display con-

trast; interface and system. You can easily swap between

settings eg a waypoint recorded in ddd.ddddd can also be

shown in ddd.mm.ss,etc.

The Darwin Project in Tristan

uses GMT timezone, WGS84

map projection, ddd.ddddd

position format (not really the

most convenient but its

required for a software pack-

age we use called MAPINFO)

and True North. T h e

‘Interface’ is set to ‘GARMIN’

(required for computer con-

nection) and the ‘System’ set-

ting is set to ‘Battery Save’

which seems to put the unit on

hold when its not moving thus

saving the batteries. Whether

you use miles or Km is a mat-

ter of personal preference.

The DISPLAY screen

lets you adjust the

screen contrast and

set how long the light

will stay on after the

POWER button is

pressed

This is also where you

can check the battery

status

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