Setting up the Garmin GPSmap 76 for

XC Flying

Part 2: Waypoints, routes, and navigating

An XC course, or task, consists of a sequence of waypoints. Although meet directors generally create tasks on the morning of the flight, they do so by referring to pre-existing waypoints, which must already be entered into your GPS. To easily enter those waypoints before the event, You'll need a GPS waypoint application, like the free GPSDump (Windows only, though there are Macintosh alternatives), and a file that contains the waypoints for the site you'll be flying. You can find GPSDump here. You can find waypoints for the NorCal XC Coop here.

 
To enter the waypoints into your Garmin, first double-click GPSDump to launch it, and from the File menu, pick Read Waypoints.
Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the waypoint file. From the Files of type... menu, choose Other files (*.mps). You should see the file. Choose the one you want and click Open.

You should see the list of waypoints appear in GPSDump. Each has an ID (six characters or less), a lattitude, longitude, elevation, and comments field. Now connect your Garmin to your PC using its serial or USB cable and turn it on. It does not need to be in any special mode or screen to receive waypoints.

First, from the Edit menu in GPSDump, Select All of the waypoints. Then, from the Wpts menu, select Send to Garmin or Send to Garmin USB, depending on how your unit is attached to your computer.

On your Garmin, you should now be able to go to the Points page from the Main Menu, and see your downloaded waypoints.
On the flying day, the director will assign the task, which you can enter into your Garmin as a Route, by going to the Main Menu, and then choosing the Routes page, and New.
You'll start with a blank route. Scroll down to the first blank waypoint and press ENTER. Now select the first waypoint for the task, and press ENTER again. Repeat this process for all the waypoints in the task, and as a check, verify that your total distance (at the bottom of the page) is the same as what's specified for the task.

When it's time to fly, press the NAV button, select Navigate Route, and choose the route you've just created. (Its name is the beginning and ending waypoints with a dash in between.)

Before you launch, remember to first clear your track log, then press PAGE to get to either the Map or Compass page, which are the best to use for navigation in the air. You're ready to fly.

When you're enroute, fly to within the required range of the waypoint as specified for the task, often a quarter mile. You'll know from the Distance to Next field, or from an Approach and Arrival Alarm message. You can then advance to the next waypoint for the task by pressing NAV, and then selecting Next Route Waypoint. Since this is the first item on the menu, you can do this quickly, and without even looking at the screen, by just hitting NAV, ENTER.

 

When you land, there's nothing else to do. Just switch off your Garmin and hand it in for scoring.