Garmin etrex Setup
Using the Garmin etrex buttons
Etrex Use
The Page/Back Button.
The page/back button advances between pages on the display. Recommended pages are Map, Trip Data, Track Manager. These will be activated in the setup process below.
The ON/OFF button
This button has two uses. Hold it down until the unit turns on or off. This prevents accidental power on or off. The second use requires only short presses. The first press lights the display and shows GPS reception and battery strength bars. Additional presses cycle through different light intensities.
The Menu Button
A single press of the menu button shows a menu for the current page. Two quick presses shows the main menu.
Zoom in and zoom out buttons
The zoom buttons magnify and shrink maps.
The 5 way controller,
5wc (thumbstick), that Garmin calls the ‘thumb stick’ is used to move the map around. I call it a five way controller because tilting the button up down left and right hits 4our switches to move the cursor. The fifth switch is hit by pressing in on the button. This press is the OK or ENTER button for the unit. Keeping the buttom pressed in tells the eTrex to mark a waypoint.
Any time you need a waypoint, a long press of this button will reliably do just what you want. The GPSr will offer to name the waypoint for you. If you like the label, use the 5wc (thumbstick) to highlight the DONE item on the screen and press in on the 5wc (thumbstick) to OK the action. Write down the waypoint number and any notes about it in a notebook. This method is much faster than using the 5wc (thumbstick) on the on screen keyboard. When the GPSr is connected to a computer, Garmin BaseCamp software can easily replace the numbers for the waypoint with any name you want.
Setup of the etrex
There are about 40 settings to consider when first setting up the etrex. Once these are set, they rarely need a change, and the collection of all the settings can be saved as a “profile” under the profiles area in the main menu. Since the GPS can be used in many sports, with many different settings, switching profiles is a convenient way to make the most of the etrex.
The settings here apply to using Garmin etrex GPSr, but similar settings apply to other GPSr. Smartphone GPS apps have fewer settings partly because they do not include all the features of the etrex. For instance, GPS apps usually have only the WGS84 and NAD27 datums for synchronizing the GPS positions with paper maps. The etrex has 117. The app might be ok for use in the U.S.A., but in other countries where other datums are used, the GPS and the map can easily differ by 300 meters. (a datum corrects GPS position readings for use with local maps.).
Table of Settings
The main menu in etrex appears with two clicks on the menu button. This is the third button down from top left on the GPSr. The buttons provide direct control over the GPSr. This is useful when using gloves. The other two buttons on the left are for zooming (enlarging and shrinking) maps. The top right button is the page button that also serves as the back button. The second button on the right of the etrex powers the unit on and off only when it is pressed for some seconds. This feature prevents the etrex from turning on accidentally.
To get the most from the GPS, a microSD memory card for the etrex must be loaded wth topographic map and Point of Interest (POI) files. Find them at the link HERE. Load the maps first so the settings of the map will make more sense. Following this list are screenshots of settings displays on the etrex. If illustrations are preferred, jump HERE.
Garmin etrex GPSr Settings
Item | Setting | Location |
| Units | Metric | Menu>Setup>Units>Distance and Speed |
| Elevation | Your Choice, Recommend metric | Menu>Setup>Units |
| Page Sequence | Map, Trip Computer | Menu>Setup |
| Time Format | Your Choice | Menu>Setup>Time |
| Time Zone | US-Pacific | Menu>Setup>Time Zone |
| Position Format | UTM UPS | Menu>Setup>Position Format |
| Map Datum | WGS 84` | Menu>Setup>Position Format |
| Map Spheroid | WGS 84 | No Change |
| Display | Numeric Degrees | Menu>Setup>Heading |
| North Reference | Grid | Menu>Setup>Heading |
| GoTo Line | Bearing (small) | Menu>Setup>Heading |
| Track Log | Record, Show on Map | Menu>Setup>Tracks |
| Record Method | Auto | Menu>Setup>Tracks |
| Recording Interval | Less Often | Menu>Setup>Tracks |
| Auto Archive | Daily | Menu>Setup>Tracks |
| Color | Yellow | Menu>Setup>Tracks |
| Map setup is duplicated on the map page. | Click menu button when in the map page. | |
| Map Orientation | North Up | Menu>Setup>Map |
| Map Guidance Text | Never | Menu>Setup>Map |
| Map Data Fields | 0 (none) | Menu>Setup>Map |
| Map Autozoom | off | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Zoom Levels, Points and Streets | All maximum setting: 800km or 500 miles | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Text Size, Points and Streets, Map Points | Large | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Text Size, Points and Streets, User Waypoints | Large | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Text Size, Points and Streets, Street Label | Medium | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Text Size, Points and Streets, Land Cover | Medium | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Text Size, Points and Streets, Detail | Normal | Menu>Setup>Map>Advanced Map Setup |
| Map Text Size, Points and Streets, Shaded Relief | Do Not Show | |
| Map: Washington Topo+NW Trails | From Summitpyramid.com | |
| WA SnoParks | From Summitpyramid.com | |
| Satellite System | GPS + GLONASS | Menu>Setup>System |
| WAA/EGNOS | off | Menu>Setup>System |
| Language | English | Menu>Setup>System |
| Battery Type | Set to battery type | Menu>Setup>System |
| USB Mode | Garmin (or Mass Storage for Internal memory) | Menu>Setup>System |
| Routing | not used. refers to highway use. | Menu>Setup>Routing |
| Profiles * | Save a profile for Snowshoeing | Menu>Setup>Profiles |
| Extras (find WA summits and SnoParks) | Choose a database of POIs. (Points of Interest) | Menu>Where To>Extras |
* Profiles enable settings for any use to be saved as a group. For instance, map users can setup a snowshoe profile for the use of metric distances while an automative profile can use miles. That way, preferred settings can be changed by switching profiles.
For etrex witth compass and altimeter: Always calibrate the compass. Failing to do this will give incorrect orientation of the position pointer arrow on the map! Before every trip, calibrate the altimeter by finding a nearby contour line, obtaining its elevation, and setting this in the calibrate altimeter data entry box within the altimeter icon on the main menu.
Maps, Data, Routes.
The page button on the etrex can switch quickly between map and trip data. (If multiple track recordings will be made, the Track Manager can be added to the page sequence.) These are the two most used pages on the GPSr. This way, even with gloves, everything likely to be used is immediately at hand.
The Map
The Trip Computer
Garmin etrex Trip Data page.
Maps, data and routes are the three principal GPS uses. Garmin maps can be found in many places in the Internet, often by using Google to search for a Garmin-specific file: ‘gmapsupp.img’. The web site, GPSfiledepot.com, has free maps along with tutorials for downloading them and loading them onto the microSD memory card used in the GPSr. The memory card file structure is illustrated in the section below titled: Using Maps and POI…
System Setup
With the GPS on, the next task is unit setup. On a new GPS, all menu items will be in the main menu. In the setup procedure here, you will remove three items from the main menu to put them under the page button. That button rotates through these three pages. In this way, use of the GPS is made much faster because the most commonly used display pages are immediately at hand. Doing this dramatically reduces the complexity of using the GPSr.
Press the menu button twice to display the main menu. Use the 5wc (thumbstick) to move through the main menu setup. Select setup by pressing straight in on the button in the 5wc (thumbstick). Select Page Sequence. The three pages you will want to use often are these: Map, Trip Computer and Track Manager. Select Add Page and choose each of these three display pages in order. After finishing, press the page/back button to return to the setup menu. Setting up Page Sequence looks like this:
First highlight and select the System icon.
Then select Page Sequence
Now use Add Page to add these pages: Map, Trip Computer, Track Manager:
These three items will disappear from the main menu. Get to them with the Page/Back button as it cycles through them. The most used are the Map and the Trip Computer. Track Manager is here to make it easier to save the tour track if the GPS was turned on throughout the tour.
Next set up GPS units. Since paper maps are printed with 1 kilometer square grids and in addition, map coordinates for backcountry use the metric UTM grid, distance units will work best if they are metric. This comes as a shock to some people, but in the world at large, only Liberia, Myanmar and the U.S.A. retain imperial units. because newer maps are overprinted with one kilometer grids that are extremely useful for navigation, estimating distances, estimating travel times, and determining coordinates from the map for entering into the GPS. The other units are up to you. If depth is important, you are in serious difficulty. The GPS has no thermometer, so temperature is unimportant.
Next set the map datum. UTM UPS is the datum of choice for winter route finding. Go to Position Format and select these settings. The Position Format item that includes UTM UPS is used to change coordinate systems to agree with the paper maps you are using. There are 43 possible settings. Latitude/longitude, useful for marine, automobile GPS, and airborne applications, is at the top of the list. UTM UPS, the one you want, is at the bottom. You can add both coordinate sets to the Trip Computer page, in case you need both on the same page.
Next, set the time zone:
Set up headings:
Set System Settings under Setup. Lithium batteries like Energizer Advanced Lithium, are light in weight and long lasting in cold conditions. Duracell Quantums are almost as good at half the price. Set the battery type to Alkaline or Lithium according to the batteries you install. GLONASS, the Russian system of navigation satellites, seems to enhance reception without causing extra battery drain. Using WAAS, a land-based accuracy enhancement does not seem to work to increase accuracy in the woods, so set it to off.
Now the last setting: specifying track parameters. Here you can specify settings for recording your tracks. The suggested settings here should work well for winter route finding. If you record your track, you can save it to web sites to share. You can also import it in to Google Earth.
Map Setup
You can setup the map from the setup menu, but there is a better way that is good to learn since it is easy to access and you might want to change settings from time to time. Press the Page/Back button until the map is displayed. Press the menu button once. Setup Map will be highlighted. Select it with a press in on the 5wc (thumbstick). You will see something like the page below. North Up is just what it says. No matter how you hold the unit, north will be up. The other options, track up and automotive mode, are more useful for bicycling.
Guidance text refers to routing that you do not have unless you purchase Garmin’s maps with routing. Set it to Never.
Data Fields refers to data boxes overlaid on the display. They reduce the already small view of the map and are, therefore, not useful.
Under Advanced Map Setup, note that zoom levels are shown in kilometers, or miles, This is the magnification at which the display of the item is cut off. If you want to see everything, particularly waypoint labels, at any level, set the distances to the maximum, 800km for instance, or the text will not be shown.
Select Map is for choosing which maps will be displayed. Some maps, like Washington trails, are transparent and can be used on top of other maps like topographic maps. Newer GPS units can contain as many different maps as the memory card can hold. These memory card maps can be turned on and off as desired. This allows you to have separate maps for different areas. These will load much faster than one huge map with all of the areas you want.
Obtaining Maps
Free road maps anywhere in the world can be obtained from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl. The site has a world map. You tick a box for manual selection and then zoom in to select your area of interest. With your email, the site will make your map and email the link to it. It arrives as a file with the name gmapsupp.img. Rename it to something else you will remember like perugmapsupp.img and load it into the Garmin folder on the memory card in your GPS.
For free topographic maps, the ones you really want, go to gpsfiledepot.com. The site has maps for every state and other locations, too. Tutorials there tell you how to make your own gmapsupp.img files that contain more than one map file. For Washington, the washington topo map is great along with Northwest Trails, a transparent overlay of trails.
Obtaining POI, Points of Interest
GPS coordinates of geographic features are available from the USGS. http://www.webgis.com/usgsseam.html. You can filter extensive database information by state and a host of other properties like summits over 1,000m. This is incredibly useful for winter route finding in mountains. Questions about what mountain is that?, are easily answered. The Internet has information on how to make your own POI file.
The web site, www.summitpyramid.com, has POI files for 1,000m summits as well as motorized and non-motorized Washington state SnoParks. Put POI files, there are many on the Internet, into a folder called POI located within the Garmin folder on the GPS memory card. Get these files by clicking on the link HERE.
The eTrex has quite a bit of internal memory. At least 1.8gb is free for use beyond that required for the GPSr's use. Since a full set of Washington topos and POIs amounts to only 0.262gb, the eTrex can hold the maps of many states, regions and countries. It can do this without using accessory memory cards.
Using Maps and POI, Points of Interest: Summits and SnoParks Locations
With maps and POI loaded on your memory card, the structure of the files and folders/directories on your card will look like this:
Download these files HERE.
The same files can be loaded into the Garmin folder on the internal memory in the GPS. To access this memory, connect the GPS to the computer and select Mass Storage on the Interface menu. Use the File Explorer on your PC or Mac to put the map files into the Garmin folder on the eTrex. You may have to add a POI folder to the Garmin folder already present in the GPSr. The eTrex can work with two Garmin folders, one in the GPSr and the other on an accessory microSD card.
In map setup, you can switch maps on and off. Before a trip, you could load as many maps as you wanted. On the course of the trip you could turn the maps on and off. Turning maps off speeds up the GPS when you turn it on.
Maps are of central importance in getting the most from any GPS. The maps and POIs on the etrex look like these:
Map of Cabin Creek area.
Map of Gold Creek area.
The crossed ski with snowflake icon in the center is the Cabin Creek SnoPark POI. The white arrow pointing to the blue sphere is aimed at Amabalis Mountain. The distance from my current position on the face of the earth is 78.69 kilometers, but that is a direct measurement that would be much longer by car. If you have routing software, it might be able to give you a better idea of road distance and time to Cabin Creek.
Also on the tiny screen are contour lines. If the white pointer is moved over a contour line, the white data field at the top of the display will show the elevation.
The display shows Amabalis, but moving the pointer over the lake might bring up the name of the lake. If it does not, and you want to make POIs for all Washington Lakes, look on the internet for how to make Garmin POIs. You can even make custom icons like the ones I made for SnoParks. The icons of the hiker are waypoints that I made. Before starting out on a Gold Creek snowshoe, I recorded the waypoint GOLD TH for Gold Creed trailhead so the tour group would know how far it was back to the cars. On the display are several trails, summer season trails, sketched as red dashed lines.
The Trip Computer
The small fields Trip Computer
Large Fields Trip Computer
The two data displays, called Trip Computers, provide easy viewing of 16 fields of GPS data. Each field is independent. Therefore, the same field can be on both trip computers. Several fields are repeated in the illustrations here. The two large fields in the Large Fields Trip Computer are meant to be used with the GPS at a distance; for instance, mounted on bicycle handlebars.
For winter route finding, the two displays can be loaded with different data so more information is available. Time of sunset is useful as are elevation, speed, moving average speed, heading, bearing (to a set destination), time of arrival (at destination), stopped time, UTM location, Lat/Lon location, trip odometer (distance traveled), and battery level.
Important. Important. Important. At the start of every tour, the track computer must be reset! This clears out rogue points from before the tour starts and starts the timer. It also clears out the track log so the tour starts at the trailhead and not back home. While viewing the Trip Computer, press the menu button to reach the first reset menu:
Click Reset to get the second reset menu:
Usually, Clear Track and Trip Data is the best option. Select yes on the confirmation screen that I guess should be called reset menu 3. I am sure there could be a better way to do this, but this is what must be done to set the GPS for a tour.
Track Manager
On tours, the GPS if frequently rotated between the map and the trip computer. Because it is important for recording tour tracks on the snow, a third screen, Track Manager, is useful in the Page Sequence. It looks like this:
Clicking on Current Track brings you to this menu
Where, hiding just below Set Color is Clear Current Track. This is a lot if information on the track you just completed, or any track you have saved. At the end of the tour, be sure to head to the Track Manager page to save your precious track. It can be sent by email to the tour crew where they can view it in Google Earth.