Garmin 78sc Waypoint Symbols

Working with Waypoints

Garmin 78sc Waypoint Symbols Chart
Garmin 78sc Software
Garmin 78sc Review

This chapter covers the use of waypoints on Garmin receivers. It is copyrighted by Dale DePriest.

Garmin GPSMAP 78sc User Manual. Routes. Garmin GPS receiver. Garmin manuals. GPS receiver. Manual Routes – Garmin GPSMAP 78sc User Manual Page 10. GPSMAP 78 Series Owner’s Manual. Navigating with Waypoints and Routes. Editing a waypoint. Before you can edit a waypoint, you must. Jul 27, 2015 I've read so many hundreds of threads over this year, people wondering where to get a collection of Garmin's own waypoint icons from the MapSource program so they could upload them as custom waypoint symbols.

Capturing your position as a Waypoint
Planning Ahead Waypoint Entry
Updating Waypoint Data
Viewing Waypoint Data
Deleting Waypoints
Distance to Waypoints
Proximity Alarms
Tips and Tricks

Waypoints are used to store and remember locations that are ofinterest to the user. They are often used to store intermediate turnsand intersections that help define a route to a particulardestination. Similar to the waystations used by pony express riders asstopover points waypoints mark significant places on your journey. Insome documents and gps receivers these may also be called landmarks.

Garmin receivers have differing capabilities in the number ofwaypoints that they can save. The earliest units could save 250waypoints while later models can store up to 500. The G-12CX can save1000 waypoints. In addition some units have additional waypoints thatare stored in an internal database. These database waypoints arediscussed in the chapter on databases.

Generally waypoint names can be anything you wish. On most unitthey must be no more than 6 characters long and contain no spaces butcan contain any combination of letters and numbers and somepunctuation. The newest units permits 10 character names and thesecan include spaces. The emap, 76 family, and etrex store waypoints in3 dimensions by including altitude. All other units only storehorizontal position. The 76 family will also store depth data forwater if an optional depth sensor is attached.

When you first create a new waypoint the unit will automaticallyassign it a name. These names are three digit numbers starting with001 and incrementing each time you create a new waypoint. Even ifyou rename a waypoint the unit will generally assign the next numberin the sequence anyway and will not reuse the numbers until it reaches999. On some units it will automatically use the lowest available numberbut and on many others you can force the number sequence to continuefrom wherever you wish. To do this just name a waypoint from the number sequence. For example naming a waypoint to 001 explicitly willcause the next automatic number to be 002 unless this is in use. Itwill automatically increment until it finds an empty number. Somefolks assign a waypoint to a high number to force a block of numbersto be sequential for a particular use.

Capturing your position as a Waypoint

Storing your present location is the usual way to record awaypoint. You simply hit the MARK key, on the G-III, etrex, 76, and emappress and hold the ENTER key, and the waypoint entry form willappear. The location you were at the moment you pressed the button isalready saved in the waypoint information on the form so even if youare traveling at 65 miles per hour down the freeway you can reliablycapture a single point with the press of the button. A unique defaultname is assigned automatically but you can modify this name at yourleisure without effecting the position data. Finally you should hit'save' to store the waypoint in your database. The waypoint screenfrom the G-12 family looks like:

On some units there is an averaging feature. If you are standingstill you can click 'average' on the waypoint save screen and theGarmin will start taking readings to average with the one that wascaptured when you hit the MARK key. Averaging will continue until youfinally select save and enter. While averaging is going on the unitwill display a FOM, figure of merit, number to indicate the probableaccuracy of the average to this point. On the G-III family and emapyou first save the waypoint and then you can average by selecting thisoption from the local menu on the waypoint display screen. (Pleasesee more information on averaging below.)

If you are using dgps you can still average the position but theimprovement will be much less since dgps is already more accurate. Averaging still can reduce the some of the effect of atemporarily poor DOP. While averaging is going on you can move tothe name field and enter the name you wish so that when you haveachieved a stable FOM you want you can save the results.

Man Overboard

All units except the aviation models, the etrex, and emap have aman over board (MOB) capability. This is accomplished by pressing theGOTO key (Nav key on the 76) twice in a row and then hitting enter.This will store a special waypoint at your current location named MOBand will automatically start the navigation features of the unit toaid you in navigating back to that point. A position marked in thisway is designed as a safety feature for boat use when someone mightactually fall overboard. You may find other uses as well such as whenyour hat blows off you head driving down the road. If you want tosave that location then you should rename it since it will beoverridden by the next MOB sequence.

Accuracy Considerations

The accuracy of a particular fix is dependent on a number offactors. For example if the satellite geometry is poor the solutionwill be inaccurate. Satellites close to the horizon will have goodsatellite geometry when coupled to one high unit but they suffer fromatmospheric effects which can make the accuracy worse. These factorsare taken into consideration when the unit reports the estimatedposition error, EPE on the Satellite status screen. You shouldconsult this information to determine just how good the fix is. Inaddition the G-III family reports a Horizontal Dilution of Precision,HDOP, number near the vertical bars on the satellite status screen.(Some other handheld units can also display this information usingundocumented commands; see the chapter on secretcommands for more details.) The HDOP number is unitless wherehigher numbers indicate a worse fix. For a 4 satellite solution a 1.0would be considered to be an excellent geometry and anything below 2.0would be great. When there are more than 4 satellites available thatcan be used to compute a solution the older multiplex units will pickthe best 4 for the computation. They will also track 4 more so thatas satellites move or the unit moves into new positions a selection ofthe best four can be made and switched as necessary. Switching toanother set of satellites can, of course, effect the EPE accuracy.The newer 12 channel units automatically use all of the availablesatellites so they tend to effected less by this kind of change.Using more satellites is called an overdetermined solution and canresult in a DOP of less than 1.0. The meaning of Garmin's EPE numberis not documented and it seems to vary for one model to another andeven from release to release. With the latest units it seem toreflect a probability from about 50% to perhaps as high as 63%. Thatis 50% of the time you will be more accurate than the EPE shown but50% of the time you could be worse. This, of course, is only anestimate but a more conservative approach would be to double the EPEnumber and expect to be within that accuracy range about 95% of thetime.

All of the data above is reflective of horizontal accuracy.Vertical accuracy is generally 50% worse than horizontal accuracy butis not reported in the gps. This is primarily due to the differencethe DOP for a vertical geometry. Many folks are disappointed withthis level of accuracy since they often know their approximatealtitude and can judge this inaccuracy much easier than they can thehorizontal accuracy. If you only have a 2D fix then the most recentaltitude setting is used to compute the horizontal fix and if thisaltitude setting is wrong the horizontal position can be much furtheroff. If you only have a 2D fix you should check and adjust thealtitude manually as required to ensure an accurate fix. This can beset on the position page either directly by displaying and selectingit or on the G-III family and emap from the local menu.

If you augment your gps with a DGPS beacon receiver you can negatemost of the atmospheric effects. As a result the accuracy of a DGPSis improved to 5 meters or less depending on the distance between youand the beacon transmitter. A beacon transmitter uses its preciselyknown location to correct for receive errors and then sends thiscorrection data to your unit. For DGPS to work you need to be able toreceive some of the same satellites as the beacon transmitter so thata differential fix can be achieved. In the US the coast guardoperates beacon transmitters which are available over much of thecountry with an effort currently in progress to cover the entire USA.Many countries around the world also have beacon transmitters.However, if you are in a area not covered by these free beacontransmitters or would prefer a receiver that is not a bulky as thestandard beacon receiver/antenna combination there are also DGPSservices being offered using FM radio frequencies and even directlyfrom overhead satellites. Unfortunately these kinds of services arenot free.

Note that DGPS not only improves the horizontal solution but alsothe vertical solution subject to the same 50% degradation due tosatellite geometry.

The latest technology for DGPS is called WAAS (EGNOS in Europe) andis available on the newest units. Please see the miscellaneous chapter for more details.

Averaging Techniques

This section is a little more advanced than others in this chapter.Skip this section if your not ready to dig into accuracy issues.

If you don't have a DGPS solution available you may still be ableto achieve a better than 17 meter solution (the Garmin spec) by theuse of averaging. The idea of averaging is to leave the unitstationary and collect multiple solutions and then average them toobtain a better answer. This can be done with the unit itself,collecting data for later computer or manual analysis, or by hooking itto a computer and collecting the data in real time directly on thecomputer. If you want to average altitude data you must use anexternal computer since there are no altitude averaging functionsinside any Garmin unit. (An exception is the emap and the 76 family.)

If you don't have an averaging function or can't stand still longenough to use and you still want to perform position averaging thenuse the tracklog. Set the sample interval so that the tracklog won'toverflow in the time you want to average and let the machine collectthe data. Depending on the model unit you have you will have 768,1024, or 2000 samples when the log is full. Any of these are plentyfor our purposes. The tracklog can be downloaded to a computer foranalysis or you can perform an unscientific analysis right on thescreen. Switch to the map screen and zoom in as far as you can whilemaintaining all of the points on the display. Now use one of thetechniques described below to place a new waypoint in the center ofall of the tracks by visually weighing the distribution.

This trick can also be used on tracklogs collected while moving.Suppose you keep a log of several days trips to work and back. Youwill be able to visually see a distribution at every turn in theroute. Assuming the log doesn't overflow and erase your previous tripyou should be able to place a waypoint on the map page that is areasonable average of the trips. You can selectively turn the log onand off to make this a usable method of obtaining an average usingthe machine itself. Similarly you could collect multiple waypointsover a long period and visually average them to obtain a bettersolution or use a computer to analyze the waypoints after downloadingthem. If you use this technique be sure you take them several minutesapart and don't expect great accuracy unless you are willing tocollect a lot of points.

Averaging can be done even with a pencil and paper. Generallysetting the grid to UTM can make this a bit easier but the idea isto record the location data every 30 second or every minute for a shortwhile and then average the data you recorded. Even 15 minutes of datawill improve the location somewhat. Data recorded over a longer intervalor will more separation is usually better so you could record severalwapoints over several days or even weeks and average them later.

By the way, if you are watching the FOM (figure of merit) whileaveraging and it starts to creep up instead of down, perhaps you justexperienced one of these anomalies of a fix that is based oninformation outside the 95% window. Perhaps, if you have time, itwould be wise to cancel the waypoint and start over.

Planning Ahead Waypoint Entry

Waypoint entry can be entered several different ways without actuallyvisiting the location or after the fact from collected data.

Entering Known lat/lon Values

If you know the lat/lon for a position you can enter it directlyas a new waypoint. There are several ways to enter a new waypointbut the most straight forward is to follow these steps:

Go to the main menu and select waypoint.
Select New from the 'on page' menu. (Remember that you can use the up arrow key to reach the bottom of the screen.)
Enter the new name and the lat/lon entry. You should have the same datum and coordinate system selected that matches the information you are trying to enter.
If your machine supports icons you can select the one that most represents the waypoint you are creating. See below for information on icons.
Select done when you are finished.

This diagram is for a G-12 family or older multiplex unit. The G-IIIfamily is similar.

Some units such as the etrex or emap do not have a direct method ofentering a new waypoint. On these units you begin by adding awaypoint at your current location, but instead of saving it as younormally would you change the coordinates and then save it.

Projecting a Waypoint

Even if you don't know the specific coordinates you can still entera waypoint by using the waypoint entry screen to project the newwaypoint from an existing saved waypoint on units supporting this feature.

Go to the main menu and select Waypoint.
Select NEW and pick a name for your new waypoint.
Move to the REF keyword, hit enter, and key in the old waypoint name you wish to use as a reference for the new waypoint.
Enter the distance and bearing to the new waypoint.
Pick and icon for your new waypoint.
Select Done to complete.

Generally the distance and bearing will be obtained by consulting amap. By repeating this process you can enter several waypoint allbased on projections from a known point or from each other. It is alsopossible to project waypoints from your current position. Your current position waypoint name is ______ (6 underscores). Highlighting the REFkeyword area, hit enter, move the cursor to the left of the left mostcharacter to clear the field. This will select the current positionas the reference waypoint; proceed as above.

The etrex does support this feature however the method ofimplementation is different. On the etrex Select an existing waypointinstead of a new one. Then bring up the local menu. The screen shownbelow will appear. Select the 'Project Waypoint'and a new page will appear that looks like a waypoint entry pageexcept that two new entries are included near the bottom of thepage. Enter the new name, icon, distance, and bearing to this newwaypoint as referenced to the existing waypoint that was used to gethere.

Using the Map Screen to Enter Waypoints

The map screen can be used to graphically enter a new waypoint.You can visually view a location on a map on units so equipped or viewa tracklog to determine the optimum setting for a new waypoint. Thecurrent zoom setting will determine the accuracy of this kind ofwaypoint addition so you should set it to as high a zoom setting as ispractical. There are two techniques that may be used for entering awaypoint graphically. Both techniques require that you pan to thepoint where you want to place a waypoint. Just use the arrow keys topan with the GIII series and emap or enter the pan mode on the othermodels. Zoom in to achieve the desired degree of accuracy. (The basic etrexhas no pan mode and cannot use this method.)

Method one is to hit the mark key and you will get the standardwaypoint entry screen. Define the data and hit enter to create awaypoint at that point. Here is one area where the G-III family andemap is not consistent with the rest of the Garmin units. Hitting theENTER key briefly will create a waypoint at the panned position butholding the ENTER key down for long enough to MARK the position willactually enter a waypoint at your current location instead of thepanned location. Be careful here and make sure you got what youwanted. In this way you can directly name the waypoint and assign anicon prior to saving it.

Some units may select a point on the map, called a mappoint,instead of creating a new waypoint. On these units you can convertthis mappoint to a standard waypoint by using the local menu andselect the convert to waypoint.

The second method for units with a goto key is to pan as above andhit the GOTO key. This will create a waypoint with the name of 'MAP'.Hitting ENTER at this point will actually cause you to enter anavigation mode with the MAP waypoint as the target destination.However, the MAP waypoint is otherwise like any other waypoint. Itwill exist until it is manually deleted or replaced with another MAPentry by repeating this procedure. For this reason, if you want tokeep the new waypoint you just created you should rename it.

It may also be possible to project a waypoint using the map screenalthough accuracy may be a bit less. Use the ability to read thedirection and distance from your current location while panning to seta new one.

Updating Waypoint Data

One of the things that happens regularly when entering waypointsfrom maps and other sources is a need to update them when you finallyget there. On some older Garmin units this is easily done using the REFkeyword on the waypoint page. (The etrex and emap do not have the REFsection and cannot use this method, however they have other methods.) It can even be done on the fly while driving past the location. Use the following steps.

Go to the main menu and select Waypoint.
Toggle in the name of the Waypoint you wish to change.
Move to the REF keyword area and hit enter; ensure the waypoint name is all underscores (move the arrow key to the left until this appears).
All underscores is you current location. If you are moving you can watch dynamically as the distance and bearing change to track your movement relative to the waypoint you have selected. (Note that this is a good way to note the distance to the waypoint.)
Select the distance field and clear it to zero. (Use the left arrow key again.)
Wait until you get to the exact point you want and hit enter.

You have just updated the waypoint location on the fly. This is also anexcellent way to move waypoints. I use this technique quite often to shifttrackback waypoints to a more meaningful locations. You can actually dothis on waypoints that are part of an active route.

Other Updating techniques

The newer etrex units have solved this problem of updating with aspecial entry in the local menu. On the right is a picture of theventure waypoint screen shown after selecting the local menuentry. Selecting the choice 'reposition here' will update the waypointto the current location.

On units that support averaging an existing waypoint such as the IIIseries and the emap the way to update an existing waypoint after youarrive is to simply select the waypoint and average it for a few samples.This will move the waypoint to the current position.

Special techniques on mapping units

If your unit supports viewing the waypoint on the map screen you canselect it while viewing using the enter key and you will be placed ina move mode where you can graphically move the waypoint.

Bring up any waypoint. (It can be selected in panning mode from the map page or in any other method used to view the waypoint.)
Bring up the local menu and select SHOW MAP
Press ENTER on any waypoint and you will be placed in move mode
Use the cursor to move the waypoint as needed
Press ENTER to complete the move.
You can move others as well.
Press Quit to leave move mode.

This is a very handy technique to align waypoints with a road on the mapon otherwise fixing waypoints that you have entered via another program.Be careful when using this technique that you don't accidently move awaypoint. When you are panning to select a waypoint with the cursor keysthe selection will happen prior to actually getting the cursor to theexact center of the waypoint. It you hit enter the waypoint will be movedso that the exact center of the waypoint is where your cursor happened to bewhen it was selected. If you were zoomed out at the time you could movethe waypoint by a significant amount.

Renaming waypoints and changing icons

Waypoint names can be updated using the Rename function on theWaypoint page if present. Do not just select the name field andchange the name. If you do this you will just make a copy of theexisting waypoint under the new name. On units without the renamefunction the waypoint name can be edited directly. All Garmin unitsexcept the etrex and emap have a comment line that can also be editedjust by selecting it and toggling in the new data. The defaultcomment is the date and time the waypoint was created using UTM time.Often this is what you want but other pieces of information could bestreet address of the waypoint or altitude. The emap and etrex havean actual altitude field that can be edited in this fashion.

You can change icons, if this is supported on your unit, by justselecting the waypoint icon on the waypoint page. This will bring upthe icon page. Select the desired icon and whether the text you wishto be displayed on the map page. Choices include no text, name, orcomment. Choosing comment permits you to show waypoint names as longas 16 characters on the map screen.

The different models from Garmin have differing numbers of iconsand differing types of icons. The most basic units include 16different icons which are usually sufficient for most usage. Two willbe used by default. All waypoints made by you will default to thesmall dot icon and all waypoints created by the computer as part of atrackback will use the Temp icon. On the G-12 family and G-II+ thisis a small T surrounded with a filled circle. On the G-III family itis a set of foot prints. I would recommend that you never use thisicon yourself so that you can readily see the temp waypoints.

My favorite icons:

dot - used for turns in the road as part of a route.
house - used for all buildings
gas - used for favorite gas stations.
car - used for parking lots and all transportation sites.
boat - used for lakes
exit - used for freeway exits.
box with flag (school house) - used for all towns I mark.
Tent - camp ground
cross - used for intersections. (most used icon for me)
T - temp - only used for tracbacks.

Others include the fish, anchor, wreck, poison, circle x, and deer. Youmay use these but I seldom do. Some folks mark their fishing spots, keepaway from (proximity) waypoints, and use the cross for hospitals and thecircle X for intersections or train crossing. You need to develop yourown conventions and then stick to them. Units that support maps willtend to more icons and have standard map symbols for icon use. Some haveas many as 75 different icon choices.

You can also use the main waypoint screen to change the values presenton the waypoint data itself or the comment by selecting and modifying themdirectly. For waypoint that have a specific street address, this informationcan be placed here, or perhaps you might want to enter the altitude. Unitsthat support altitude in the waypoint generally do not support comments.

Viewing Waypoint Data

Waypoint information can easily be viewed from the main menu by using thewaypoint command. Once entered the waypoint screen will appear with somewaypoint selected or perhaps a totally blank screen. To select the waypointyou want to view you need to toggle in its name by selecting the waypointname field and then using the arrow keys to select the name you want. Use the up/down arrow directions to pick the letter or number and the rightarrow to move to the next letter. The Garmin has a feature that attemptsto fill in the waypoint name for you based on the first waypoint name thatmatches the letters you have toggled in so far. However, it is easy toskip over names without noticing. For example, suppose you have waypointsnamed ANDY, APPLE, BANANA. You enter A and ANDY shows on the screen.If you were to continue to toggle the A to B you would see BANANA but youmight not know that APPLE was even available. To reach APPLE you must keyA and then move to the second letter and change it to a P to see APPLE.

You can also view a waypoint from many of the screens that permityou to select a waypoint. For example if you highlight a waypoint onthe map screen or on any of the route screens you can hit enter andreview the contents of the waypoint or work with that waypoint. From themain menu page there is a waypoint list menu item. This list canalso be used to select a waypoint for viewing or editing. On the 12CXthe menu list is augmented with a tab system that lets you get to a particular waypoint more easily.

On units that have a find key you would view a waypoint by usingthe find key and then selecting waypoint. You can view the full listor the nearest list which supports up to 15 nearest waypoints on theemap. (They must all be within 82 miles to be seen.) There is also afavorite list on the advanced etrex models that lets you build oflist of favorites for rapid viewing at any time.

Your Garmin keeps track of 9 waypoints (15 on the emap) that havethe special significance of being the closest waypoints to yourcurrent position. These waypoints are displayed on the map screen andare available in a special list from the main menu. This can be a bighelp if you get lost and need to find the closest place near where youare currently located. Waypoints beyond 100 miles will not be showneven if you have less than 9 available.

Some of the waypoints are visible on the map screen. On mappingunits you can use a local menu item on the waypoint screen to switchto the map view so that you can visually identify the waypoint. Onthe emap and etrex this is a button on the waypoint screen. On allunits the nearest nine waypoints are visible on the map screen. Ifyou want to view a waypoint that is not in the nearest nine you coulduse the simulation mode to move your position so that it will bevisible. Another technique is to use the 'goto' command to set up atemporary goto. This will make it visible and draw a line from youcurrent position to the waypoint to help you find it. If you areviewing a waypoint, on have it highlighted in a list then this will bethe default target for a goto which make this technique much easier.Finally, if you need to view several waypoints that are not in theclosest nine you can create a route of up to 30 waypoints. If this isactivated they will all be visible on the map page.

The etrex can display all the waypoint on the map screen which can causeclutter so you have an option to turn some of them off. The emap willdisplay up to 15 waypoints but when you scroll the screen the 15 waypointschosen will be the closest to the cursor instead of being based on yourlocation as in the other units.

Deleting Waypoints

The rules that permit deleting waypoints is quite a bit different between the various Garmin units. This is by far the biggest difference in theseunits. Generally you can delete waypoints from the waypoint page by usingthe delete option but there are conditions that won't let you delete somewaypoints. For example, none of the units will let you delete a waypointthat you are currently using as the destination for navigation.

The older multiplex units won't let you remove any waypoint that ispart of a route. To remove one of these waypoints you need to firstremove it from the route or routes that it is in. On these units thewaypoint list includes one route number if a waypoint is in a route.So, you would find the waypoint in the list and note the route numberprior to attempting to delete it. This information is displayed wherethe icons are displayed on the later units. Removing a route orremoving a waypoint from a route has no effect on the waypoint itself.

The 12 channel units have relaxed the rules for removal considerably.On these units you can remove a waypoint and it will automatically beremoved from any routes that it is part of. The etrex and emap warnyou that the waypoint is part of a route and you can then choose toremove it or cancel. You cannot remove a waypoint if it is currentlythe destination point for a goto or is defining the current leg of aroute you are using. On the G-12 family temp waypoints created aspart of a trackback will automatically be removed if they are nolonger part of any route and a new trackback is initiated.

There are also commands for removing multiple waypoints. At thebottom of the waypoint list there is a 'delete waypoints' command. Onolder units this will remove all waypoints not part of a route. Onnewer units this will invoke a submenu permitting removing allwaypoints or all waypoints that are using a particular icon. On thelater releases of the G-III family you can further distinguish removalby specifying all waypoints using a particular icon that are not partof a route.

The GPS V does not seem to have an easy way to delete allwaypoints. Here is a work around to delete all of the waypoints. Usethe Find command and select waypoints by name, press the page key, thenhit the menu key and select delete all.

Distance to Waypoints

Proximity Waypoints

Proximity Waypoints are the same as any other waypoint in yourwaypoint database. However, some Garmin units, the G-12 family andthe 76 family permit you to use waypoints in a different way. Theseunits have an alarm that can be set to indicate when you get within adefined radius from these waypoints. Most commonly you would use thisto indicate a warning when you got to close to a sand bar or otherobstruction when boating, but there is no reason you couldn't use themto let you know when you were in CB range of you home or within radioreception range of a favorite radio station or perhaps any other useyou can imagine. Proximity alarms are separate and independent from the arrival alarms that can occur when you are using goto's and routes.

To set a proximity alarm you would go to the main menu page andselect proximity waypoints. You then add a waypoint from your list ofexisting waypoints and add the distance from the waypoint. Wheneveryou are within the radius defined you will be alerted. To disablethat alarm set the distance to 0 or remove the waypoint from the list.Alarms are both visual (with an alert box) and audible, except on theG-12. At night if the lamp has timed out it will flash on as anadditional visual warning.

Tips and Tricks

Tip 1 - Averaging an existing Waypoint

It is not possible to use averaging when updating a waypoint, onthe 12 family or II+, since the averaging selection is only on the newwaypoint screen. If you have an existing waypoint that you want toupdate but it has comments or a long name that you don't want tore-enter you can build a new waypoint with a simple name like 'a'.Average it as much as you need to. Then bring up the waypoint youwant to change and set it to reference the new waypoint 'a' and setthe distance to '0'. Hitting enter will change the existing waypointto use the new waypoint's position. Now delete the 'a' waypoint.

Tip 2 - making waypoints from the city database

It is possible to create a waypoint from the city database. If youselect a city on the map, or map screen, and then hit the 'mark'command you will create a user waypoint that is derived from the cityone. The emap does not have a mark key but any object on the map canbe converted to a waypoint using an entry on the local menu after youselect the object. Note that the emap, etrex, and 76 units can usea mappoint selected from the map in a route without having to firstconvert it to a waypoint but on older units it must be a real waypointto be in a route.

Tip 3 - returning to a previous waypoint

One way to partially defeat any inaccuracies and return to you exactfishing spot is to store your waypoint, averaged best you can. Thentake two bearings of prominent objects using a hand bearing compass.Store the bearings as part of the comment or in a separate notebook.(Storing just the two bearings should be enough if the prominentlandmarks are really prominent.) Now when you return to the spot youcan use the bearings to help locate the exact position.

Tip 4 - Triangulation Technique

Let's suppose you can see some point off in the distance that youwould like to navigate to but you don't know its distance. With theuse of your gps and an external hand bearing compass (or the built-incompass on the summit an vista) you can triangulate and find thisdestination waypoint. The method will be to build a route and then usethe display of the route on the map screen to pinpoint the desiredlocation. Here is how to proceed:

From your current location mark a waypoint.
Taking a bearing with your compass to the desired point and use the waypoint editing page to add a new waypoint based on bearing and distance from your current position waypoint. You will just estimate the distance, so pick a distance that is further away than you expect the point to be. (On the Vista and summit you just do a sight n go command and the 'Site n go' waypoint is built automatically, rename it for the next step.)
Begin to build a route by starting with the new waypoint you built out of the bearing and the second entry should be the current location waypoint. This is just a temporary route so build it on the route planning page on the G-III family or on route 0 for the other products. See the route chapter for instructions on entering a route. Note that adding a waypoint entry to route 0 will automatically cause the active route page to appear in the rotation so use this page when you need to add further waypoints.
Travel to a second point some distance from your current location where you can get another bearing on the distant point. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for from the new location. The further you travel the more accurate the answer is likely to be.
Add the now current location to the next entry in the route and finally add the new projection to the route. You should now have 4 locations in the route.
On the G-III family you need to activate the route on the planning page but on other units it is already active since you used 0 to build it.
Look on the map page and you should see a route that looks something like a child's drawing of an indian teepee, a base for a triangle and two lines extending from each end of the base and crossing somewhere on the screen. This crossing point is the desired destination.
Use the panning capability on the map screen to move the cursor location to the intersection point found in the previous step and zoom in for the most accuracy.
Hit the GOTO key to create a new waypoint called MAP at that point. Your gps will now be navigating toward this destination. Or just use the enter key if you don't want to navigate to that point.

At this point you can get rid of the active route, remove thetemporary waypoints and use the navigation screens to goto the newwaypoint or to compute the distance to the new waypoint. -- based on atechnique posted in the sci.geo.satellite-nav news group. Garmin 78sc Waypoint Symbols

Tip 5 Reading current lat/lon and altitude

The emap and etrex will provide information about your current locationbut it may take several key strokes to get at this data. It is ofteneasier to press and hold the enter key to bring up the waypoint screen.This will show the current location and altitude. If no other keysare entered this waypoint can be canceled (esc on emap, page on etrex)when you are finished looking at it. This trick will work on any unit,of course.

Tip 6 Seeing more waypoints on the screen.

Many Garmin units restrict the number of waypoints that a visible to somenumber. On some units it is 9 (older units) while some have 15 (emap). On these units you can view more waypoints on the screen by making andactivating a route. All the waypoints in a route are always visible.

Tip 7 Getting new waypoint icons

Units that support maps and poi data may display icons for this datathat are not available within the standard icon list for a waypoint. Itis possible to use these icons for your own waypoints. Here's how:

Display a mappoint (poi) containing the icon you wish to use.
Convert the mappoint to a waypoint.
Edit the name and location data to the location you wish for your new waypoint but don't touch the icon.
Save your new waypoint.

Revisions

99/5/21 Created 9

Garmin 78sc Waypoint Symbols Chart

99/6/22 Updated view waypoint data and added tips section
99/7/1 Added more tips
99/7/5 Added G-III move mode to edit waypoints section
99/7/30 Added map waypoint creation, accuracy discussion, averaging discussion
99/8/19 Added new tip on triangulating a position. Added more to averaging
00/1/9 fixed error in dgps accuracy, added distance tip.
00/5/1 removed SA discussion
00/8/10 added emap and etrex discussion.
00/9/2 added etrex projection.
00/10/9 added emap/etrex tips. added auto name discussion
01/7/16 updated some data.
01/9/20 added tips.
01/11/12 added section on distance to waypoints.
02/07/23 added gps V data on deleting waypoints.
02/08/09 added tip on new icons.
03/04/08 added venture figure and text.

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GPSMAP 78 Series Owner’s Manual

Navigating with Waypoints and Routes

Editing a waypoint

Before you can edit a waypoint, you must

Garmin 78sc Software

create a waypoint.

From the main menu, select

waypoint Manager.

Select a waypoint.

Select an attribute (such as the name

or location).

Enter the new information.

Garmin 78sc Review

Select Done.

Deleting a waypoint

From the main menu, select

waypointManager.

Select a waypoint.

Press MEnU.

Select Delete.

Viewing Tide information

On the map, move the pointer to

a location near which you want to

search for tides.

Press FinD.

Select Tides.

Select a tide station.

Press MEnU.

Select review Point.
Tide times and heights are displayed

for the selected station.

If necessary, select an option:
• To view tide information for

another date, select MEnU >

Change Date.

• To view the tide chart, select

MEnU > Show Chart.

routes

A route is a sequence of waypoints that

leads you to your final destination.

Creating a route

From the main menu, select route

Planner > Create route > Select

First Point.

Select a category.

Select the first point in the route.

Select Use.