Garmin Oregon Firmware 2.86 Beta
Update 2/7/09: Based on what I’ve read so far it looks like Garmin may have botched something in the GPS firmware associated with this beta. I’ve seen multiple reports of drift and decreased accuracy with 2.86 as compared to 2.85. Based on the release notes Garmin was obviously trying to improve accuracy, but it seems like all they did was improve the “GPS accuracy” data field — the actual accuracy looks like it has suffered.
It seems like Garmin is going with another round of beta changes before making their next official Oregon release. This new beta also includes GPS firmware — still no mention of a WAAS fix but I’ll be curious to see what the improvements are “at slows speeds under tree cover”! The issue with custom POI databases in 2.85 may have been addressed as well as a few obscure crashes that were reported over on the Oregon wiki.
The file can be downloaded here.
Please post any experiences you have here or over at the Oregon Wiki discussion group. Unfortunately my Oregon is in the shop right now so I won’t be able to try it – I’ll be watching with envy!
Change History
Changes made from version 2.85 to 2.86:
* Please report any problems with beta software to OregonBeta@garmin.com.
* Added distance and bearing to point when reviewing a Custom POI
* Improved map panning and zooming when shaded relief is turned on
* Improved GPS performance at slow speeds in tree cover
* Improved Custom POI database organization
* Improved Custom POI spell search
* Fixed possible shutdown when reviewing a Tide or Current Point using Where To?
* Fixed possible shutdown when searching for an address and selecting Search All cities
Related posts:
February 4th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Yes, immediately showing accuracy improvements here (down to 8ft!) and actually locking onto EGNOS birds too. I have had 2 EGNOS locks with previous versions and that was on bird #33 pointing the right way.
2.86 immediately started to train onto bird #37 and got a lock outside my house where I was never able to receive EGNOS before on my Oregon (but my 60CSx got it within 30 seconds).
Looking much better so far!
Regards,
-Andy
February 6th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Loaded it yesterday, but have not done a lot of testing yet. I can confirm Andy’s observation regarding accuracy improvements. However, elevation plot function seems to be broken.
Regards,
Robert
February 6th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I also loaded it. The accuracy is being displayed as 8 feet here inside the house. Most impressive! Have yet to catch the WAAS, but need more time outside to see what the trail brings.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
@Dave, keep in mind 8′ is only a number computed by some algorithm that might have changed in 2.86. It really might not have a lot to do with the real accuracy.
@Robert, Let the Oregon run for a little while and make sure you have track logging enabled to see the altimeter plot. I’ve seen cases where the elevation plot doesn’t show up for 10-15 minutes after acquiring signal lock.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Good point about the 8′ accuracy Scott. I am seeing more numbers now into the teens.
February 7th, 2009 at 4:17 am
How can I upgrade this firmware from a Mac?
Do it manually by copying GUPDATE.GCD to /Volumes/GARMIN/ or /Volumes/GARMIN/Garmin?
February 7th, 2009 at 4:25 am
Manually copying GUPDATE.GCD to /Volumes/GARMIN/Garmin, it was. Garmin should have distributed this as a ZIP-archive and include a script for convenience: (CopyToGarminFromMac.command) `cp $(dirname $0/Garmin/GUPDATE.GCD /Volumes/GARMIN/Garmin`
And now: Out cross-country to test accuracy improvements. The Oregon has been a disappointment so far regarding tracking accuracy.
February 7th, 2009 at 5:32 am
@Scott, thanks for the hint. Track logging defaulted to “do not record” after the firmware update. Re-enabled it, and elevation plot works fine now.
No other problems so far. I really like the speed improvements w.r.t map panning / zooming.
—Robert
February 7th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Regarding accuracy: 2.86 is a big improvement, but doesn’t match 60CSx/Cx. Don’t trust the displayed accuracy metering: It is marketing lies. (You can’t sell a GPS unit that downs its predecessor.)
February 7th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I’ve now read reports here and on several other forums indicating GPS accuracy may be worse with this beta release of software. The reported accuracy appears improved but the actual measured accuracy (by comparing tracks to previous Oregon releases or the 60csx) seems to show lots of drift under tree cover.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:18 am
I’ll run some in-depth tests tomorrow morning but based on some more preliminary data taken tonight it looks like there is really something glitchy with the position calculation code, especially when sat coverage is less than nominal. I’ll post some images in the a.m. over on groundspeak.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:12 am
I have noticed that the Oregon only supports static routing. I mean when we choose a way that is not on the routing, it does not automatically calculate new routing to the target, so that we must do some button work for the new routing. Maybe this way dynamic routing is very computing intensive and causes the device to freeze, but for short distance maybe very useful. Maybe we have an option to switch between static and dynamic routing?
February 9th, 2009 at 6:45 am
If you are autorouting to a destination and go off route the Oregon should recalculate your route automatically. Are you seeing different behavior Mona?
February 9th, 2009 at 7:07 am
I have set Calculate Routes to Car/Motorcycle, went by foot, and have noticed that. But on Car not yet.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I’ve been using 2.86 for a bit now, no issues with finding caches…certainly been within <10 feet of caches most of the time. I’m also seeing WAAS lock a lot more stably now..on a three hoiur drive this weekend I had “D” on most of my bars most of the time.
garmin response to my email to the new Beta email address regarding the POI database issue:
[i]Thank you for helping us test this beta release. The problem where the “All databases” will show “no results found” will be fixed in the next release. Thanks for you other feedback and suggestions as well.[/i]
Oregon Beta
February 26th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
[...] Oregon for almost four weeks I finally received my unit back from Garmin and was anxious to try the 2.86 beta software. My goal was to see if I could reproduce the GPS accuracy problems that have been [...]