Garmin eTrex Navigation Hints and Tips

A. 1. Press and hold the enter button until the Mark Waypoint page comes up. You do not need a satellite lock to do this, it will display the last known location by default.
2. Use the Down button to select the coordinate field on the Mark Waypoint page, and then press Enter.
3. Manually edit the displayed coordinates to the ones of your choice.
4. OK your way out of that screen and then edit any other info, such as the altitude, symbol, name, and then save the waypoint.
5. It is now ready to goto.

How do I navigate in dense cover?
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There are ways you can maximize your reception.
1. Your body will block the signal. Your hand over the top of the antenna will be enough to reduce the signal to a minimal value. So will your torso/arms/head.

2. Maximum reception should be found when the unit is close to the horizontal. Try holding the unit at head height away from your body.

3. In dense forest, you will need to think in line of sight terms, try and find an open area, the higher the better.

4. If reception is intermittent it will be easier search for better reception by leaving the unit in the Advanced Skyview page. Watch the signal bars as you move around, and if you notice reception wait there and see if it gains info from more satellites. You may find moving a small distance makes all the difference.

5. Rather than blindly following the direction arrow in low reception areas, I find it easier to use a conventional compass in conjunction with the Bearing display. Make sure your North Reference is in Magnetic. When you are going to a waypoint, observe the Bearing angle. It will be an accurate magnetic heading you can use with your standard magnetic compass. Use standard navigation techniques, and at other points enroute, check your updated bearing, and adjust your magnetic compass rose as required.

6. Do not rely on the track display in dense cover, because you may notice zig-zags in the display as the reception/accuracy changes.

7. Try having a break and leaving the GPS on the ground away from your body and give it time to acquire a signal. You may find that after some minutes, you will have fix.

8. Before entering the forest make sure the unit has time to collect empheris data for all of the sky. This will make a significant difference in its ability to track while under the trees. Typically only a few seconds should be needed to recover. If the unit has full ephemeris data it can easily switch to another satellite and you may not even lose the lock.

9. Do not attempt to use battery save mode when under heavy canopy. You are much more likely to lose a lock when in battery save mode.

Tips for using the route feature
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When driving I like to know estimate times to future waypoints. If you program a route, and then follow it, you will go to the navigation screen, and you will be presented with steering info to the target. Try going back into the route page. You will notice that it gives an ETA to each of the waypoints in the route list.

Tips for using the track feature
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The track log will record your progress. It is a maximum of 1536 points with software version 2.10, and saved tracks are only 125-128 points. When you save a track as a file, it will compress the track and detail will be lost.

Saving the track does however free up more space if the active log is then deleted. If I am driving a long distance, it sometime pays to allow the unit to save a fair amount of log, and then I save this, and delete the active log.

When you save a track log, you lose time stamps and speed information. Take this into account if you plan to download and analyze your track. If you need this info, don't delete the active log.

Disclaimer: These following FAQ's are some which I have found useful and they are not
necessarily endorsed by Garmin. Information should be regarded as a general guide only.

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