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I have noticed, on multiple occasions, in many different types of terrain, urban and rural, that my Garmin 60 csx has a bad tendency to get confused as to which way it is pointing. For instance, I may know that I am facing roughly north, and I have the 60 csx horizontal, with the antenna also facing roughly north, yet it will give me some bizarre heading as much as 180 degrees different. Or, I may be looking at the screen, know where I am on the ground, see my route on the screen and see something that I am told is to my left, turn to my left, and all of a sudden the Garmin is now claiming it is on my right. I mean, I might as well be standing on top of an industrial magnet for all the good the compass does. It really ticks me off. (Then it lost the topo map yesterday, which combined with the crapped out compass, effectively cut my day short.)

@kingsnakeAnd the 60 CSX is supposed to be one of the good ones is it like my etrex where you have to be moving for the arrow to be pointing in the right direction?

I dunno. Seems odd that would be a requirement, since one normally stops to look at a compass, even of the magnetic kind. (How else, for instance, are you supposed to line up the line with a terrain feature to get an azimuth, or to do triangulation? Kind of hard if it is bouncing all over the place while you are walking. Plus, if you are walking while looking at a compass, you are begging for a fall or broken ankle. If that really is the case, it betrays a lack of outdoors understanding on Garmin's part ...

@kingsnakeI was about to list 3 things that I've learned from the various Garmins I've owned, but thankfully I didn't have to spend time composing... a quick copy & paste from the GPSMAP 60CSx manual and this covers it:

When you turn the electronic compass off, it stays off until you turn it on again. However, sometimes when you turn the electronic compass on, the GPSMAP 60CSx overrides the compass and uses the GPS receiver to track your heading. In fact, when you are moving at a steady rate, the GPS receiver operates the compass. When stationary, the electronic compass provides you with accurate headings.(This is one of the reasons there is so much bouncing on the map screen... and one of the reasons I only use the compass screen if I want to know the compass direction)

Calibrate the electronic compass outdoors when you first use the GPSMAP 60CSx. To ensure continued accuracy, calibrate after installing new batteries, after moving more than 100 miles (160 km), or experiencing a temperature change greater than 68º F (20º C). The accuracy of the compass is also affected if the unit is not held level or you are near objects that affect magnetic fields, such as cars or buildings.

Since I recharge the batteries every time (thus have cut power to the unit) the first thing I do as I set out from a trailhead is calibrate the compass.

Thanx CK. Does "When you turn the electronic compass off" mean "when you turn the entire unit off", or is there some compass on/off setting which is not obvious? Are there other makes/models where one is not required to reset one's unit with every battery change? It's bad enough as it is waiting several minutes for the thing to detect satellites, let alone having to fiddle the compass as well ...

I never found the compass to be useable on my last garmin GPS. However, there are multiple modes for the compass. One is more along the standard line of the needle points north. Another means that it uses the direction you've been moving to point your compass direction. In one mode, the compass points north (or it rotates to show it's angle to north, depending on option), in the other, it shows the direction you are moving. Unfortunately with the former, it isn't as accurate as a real compass. In the latter, it doesn't do much good when you stop to look at it because you stop moving (it's more useful in a car while driving.)

I was looking more at the degrees read-out -- e.g., 304o or 176o -- on the map screen than the compass-like image on the compass screen, if that makes a difference ...

kingsnake wrote: is there some compass on/off setting which is not obvious?

Yes on the 60CSx: with the unit on, hold down the "page" button and a small window will appear "compass turned on or off". I believe that most of us 60Cxx.. owners use our GPS Receiver with the "compass turned off" since the compass is a big drain on the battery life. Also, if and when you learn to download GPS planning routes and official hiking routes into your unit and learn to follow these routes via your map screen, why would you normally need to spend much time using the compass screen?

As GPSjoe always believed: "Become a skilled GPS user and it will set you free!" ;)

I don't. I was trying to get an azimuth -- 304o or 178o or whatever (it actually shows those numbers) -- and the azimuth was never correct. Well, sometimes it is, but when it decides to choke, good luck getting it corrected.

My etrex dosen't have a real compass setting so I just put a waypoint at the North Pole and I labeled it "A" so it's easy to find on my waypoints list. The etrex has a data driven compass not an electronic compass so you need a waypoint to point your arrow at. Redneck solution if I ever seen one!

I have to calibrate mine almost every time I use it, so I usually just ignore it and let it be wrong.

beterarcher wrote:My etrex dosen't have a real compass setting so I just put a waypoint at the North Pole and I labeled it "A" so it's easy to find on my waypoints list. The etrex has a data driven compass not an electronic compass so you need a waypoint to point your arrow at. Redneck solution if I ever seen one!

Improvise, adapt and overcome.

Tough_Boots wrote:I have to calibrate mine almost every time I use it, so I usually just ignore it and let it be wrong.

Yes, that kind of sensor really does best if you calibrate it before each outing.