Updates & Downloads

GPSMAP 176 software version 4.10

as of October 29, 2004

Download (1.42 MB)

View installation instructions and system requirements

Notes:

WARNING: If you are updating from a previous software version, this software will clear user memory.
Please back up important data (routes, tracks, and waypoints) to MapSource prior to updating.

Change History

Changes made from version 4.00 to 4.10:

Fixed handling of Daylight Savings Time in Europe.
Added Metric Nautical underflow support for meters.
Fixed display handling of the depth field when disconnected.
Disabled 'Change Data Field' option when page layout is 'None'.
Added GPS Status as a configurable Data Field item.
Corrected problems with tide calculations.
Fixed drawing of text labels on the map.
Fixed find address to support all valid characters when entering a house number.
Corrected issue with route creation.
Fixed problem with scrollbar when viewing a list of exit services.
Corrected display of diacritics for Croatian cartography.
Change for manufacturing.

Changes made from version 3.80 to 4.00:

Updated the non-English translation strings.
Added support for non-US time zones.
Changed UTC to a time format instead of a time zone.
Fixed bug so editing a field will be stopped when the menu key is pressed.
Modified the address/intersection search results page to display five results at a time.
Removed support for match quality in address/intersection search results page.
Fixed bug on Data Card Information page to prevent unit shutdown.
Increased number of proximity waypoints to 50.
Added support for new address formats found in Puerto Rico.
Added a “Recent” tab to the main Waypoints page.
Added new page layout option to map page that includes the compass pointer.
The “Full Screen Map” menu option is now listed as “None” under the “Setup Page Layout” menu option.
Fixed bug with Auto Daylight savings time so it works for more than just the current year.
Fixed tide chart to shift based on local time setting to show UTC.
Fixed incorrect hyphen wrapping bug.
Fixed behavior of “Next” button on the waypoint review page.
Fixed problem with editing routes using the “Use Map” menu option.
Fixed problem with inserting waypoints into routes using “Edit as Text” method.
Added bitmap icon to the description box of the highlighted item when doing a Find operation.
Corrected moon phase display problem for Southern Hemisphere.
Added more detailed layout options to Numerics page.
Added course pointer support to the Pointer/Compass page.
Added Find and Navigation context support to Celestial pages.
Added Zoom In/Zoom Out shortcut keys for time scrolling on Celestial Pages.
While in cursor move mode on the Tide Page, allow date to scroll when cursor reaches left or right edge.
Restructured Alarms page into multiple tabs.
Combined System, Time, Units, Location, and Interface(Comm) tabs from the main menu into one setup tab.
Combined Tide, Sun & Moon, and Hunt & Fish tabs from the main menu into one celestial tab.
Added auto fuel, convenience stores, and truck stops to auto fuel group.
Increased maximum length of number when performing an address search.
Support added to enable/disable supplemental maps based on map families.
Halo highlighting of waypoints now supported.
Proximity Circles radius may now be adjusted through Map->Waypoint Setup page.
Automatically switch to North Up Orientation when zoom level is greater than 120 miles and the unit is set to Track Up Orientation.
New advanced heading line - Define heading line by distance or time.
Added various national grid location formats.
Changed pointer heading to remain in same direction when GPS signal is lost.
Changed Distance Measure behavior. Quit key will stop measuring but leave the map panned.
Improved route arrow drawing.
Battery Capacity Low warning improvements made.
Fixed European WAAS shutdown problem.
Fixed font size problem for cardinal lettering on Numerics page.
Changed waypoint naming so waypoints can now have spaces in name.

Changes made from version 3.70 to 3.80:

Fix to update navigation when you insert/remove a waypoint to/from an active route.
French translation improvements.

Changes made from version 3.60 to 3.70:

Corrected problem with European tides.
Corrected problem with manual route edit.

Changes made from version 3.50 to 3.60:

Improved non-volatile memory storage of WAAS/EGNOS ionospheric mask corrections.
Reduced delays in acquiring a position when using differential GPS.
Added Canadian tide support.

Changes made from version 3.40 to 3.50:

Fixed problem in CPO_RCV output.

Changes made from version 3.30 to 3.40:

French translation update.

Changes made from version 3.20 to 3.30:

Fixed problem with changing elevation units. Users are now able to change to meters without having to restart the unit.
Improved WAAS/EGNOS satellite selection algorithm to select the satellite with the most beneficial corrections given the unit's current position. A unit will not use a WAAS/EGNOS satellite if the unit's current position is outside of a given WAAS/EGNOS satellite's service volume.
Enabled CPO_RCV output. This allows for conducting high-accuracy surveying by post-processing our carrier phase data.
Added new translations for the French language.

Changes made from version 3.10 to 3.20:

Corrected problem that prevented a user non-volatile memory clear.

Changes made from version 2.08 to 3.10:

Fixed problem on the Tide page of displaying local time vs. station time.
Fixed topographical line-drawing problem.
Fixed problem of serial map transfer to a datacard via MapSource.
Fixed text inconsistency on the Units tab.
Corrected position of the map zoom scale legend.
Fixed cursor on the x-axis of the Tide page.
Added the ability for the user to change the style of a saved track on the screen. Saved tracks may be displayed in one of 16 different line styles.
Added support for South African Grid coordinates.
Added support for EOV Hungarian Grid coordinates.
Added duplicate interstate name support for exit searches.
Added support for Australian tide data.
Added support for Enhanced BlueChart Symbol sets.
Added a new 'Navaids' tab, which includes settings for Symbol Sets, Text Size, and Light Sectors.
Added Hungarian language support.
Added diacritics support for map text.

Changes made from version 2.07 to 2.08:

Corrected lockup problem when navigating a track back.
Corrected problem which would prevent the display of a nearest exit road search.

Changes made from version 2.06 to 2.07:

Restored compatibility with some 2MB data cards which was lost in rev. 2.06.
When reviewing a chart accessed by pointing to deep water on that chart, provide a 'Create Waypoint' option to allow waypoint creation as the default behavior.
Prevented some unnecessary map draws.
Corrected a problem that caused the unit to draw the Course Line incorrectly when a Man Overboard operation overrides a GOTO operation before the unit has a fix.
Fixed an error that prevented the Arrival alarm from re-triggering during a GoTo operation if the distance option was selected and the distance value was changed.
Fixed a problem where route lines were not being clipped properly on the edge of the screen when the route waypoints were close together.
Corrected a potential problem when adding the last available point to a route.
Unit now reports 'Blank Card' instead of 'Incompatible Card Format' when a card with no data has been inserted.
Corrected size reporting problem that occurred in certain types of data cards.
Updated language translations with corrections.
Improved distance and bearing calculations for higher map zoom scales.
Improved accuracy of map cursor operations.
Enhanced NMEA depth capability to support both DBT and DPT sentences.
Added light sector support to both the map page and the review page.
Increased the number of waypoints in a route to 254 from 50.
Added track area calculation to the saved track review page.
Implemented the display in configurable fields of route waypoint detail for the active route waypoint, next active route waypoint, and the destination route waypoint.
Added Czechoslovakian to the list of languages choices.
Implemented new Advanced NMEA setup item for setting the Waypoint ID output format. This should allow for backwards compatibility with a wider range of NMEA driven products, including older AutoPilots.

Changes made from version 2.05 to 2.06:

Eliminated potential problem in transferring maps directly from MapSource for certain map sizes.
Corrected handling of waypoint deletion when leaving the Waypoint Edit page.
Fixed problem where the Anchor Drag alarm was not properly reset for subsequent alarm conditions.
Updated language translations with corrections.
Improved handling of map points used in Find and Navigation contexts.
Improved WAAS operation prior to completing the collection of the almanac data.
Made greater use of mixed case in the Map Setup page.

Changes made from version 2.04 to 2.05:

Fixed problem in NMEA output which could cause PSLIB not to be transmitted.
Corrected display of baud rate on the Communications tab page so as to properly leave room for the status.
Never use WAAS correction if a port is set to RTCM.
Corrected time axis values on tide chart for stations with UTC offsets of -10 hours.
Corrected a problem which could cause certain Marine Service points to not be found by the Find Menu.
Resolved an issue with the Find Menu Map Selection option which could prevent valid maps for Marine Services and Geographic Points from being displayed.
Corrected highlight behavior for toggling between Marine Service details and contact information when scanning the map.
Changed meter units overflow threshold to prevent sudden jumps to kilometers when there is adequate space for display in meters alone.
Always update a waypoint's data upon return to the user Waypoint Edit page. This corrects a problem where a waypoint's position, distance, and bearing was not updated after 'Show on Map' was selected and the waypoint was moved on the map.
Handled application of North Reference Offset in the Waypoint Edit page when projecting a waypoint so that the NRO of the reference or projected location can be applied, instead of the NRO of the current location.
Correctly handled the order of address street names and numbers consistently with the local conventions in the map region in which the address is located.
Fixed problem preventing next street from being shown on map page in some instances.
Draw spar buoys in their actual color instead of always black.
Displayed North reference source in bearing data where it was previously missing.
Made corrections to all text translations.
Sped up Find Menu category determination. Find categories now are only presented if there is a map feature of that type somewhere in the currently available maps. Find categories are also saved for several cards.
Enhanced Find Menu Map Selection option further by improving consistency in map selection between nearest and by name searches so that every attempt is made to use the same map family where possible.
Improved the visibility of the cursor on the tide chart, and made it moveable.
Improved consistency of the 'Declutter' map feature.
Improved the appearance of the pointer tail.
Improved Find Address/Intersection pages to be consistent in size and font usage with other Find related pages.
Displayed as the first item in the Nav Key Menu an option to reactivate the current Go To if currently doing a Go To to a point in the active route
Implemented progress indication for first-time card reads.
Implemented an 'Append To Route' option on the Waypoint Edit page to allow appending of waypoints to new and existing routes.

Changes made from version 2.03 to 2.04:

Allow individual classes of NMEA sentences to be disabled via an advanced NMEA setup page.
Added support for BWC, XTE and VTG NMEA sentences.
Added generation of 'Datum' NMEA sentence.
Restore Celestial and Hunt and Fish Pages' time & position to current time and current location at power-on.
Always update a waypoint's data upon return to the user waypoint review page. This corrects a problem where a waypoint's position, distance, and bearing was not updated after 'Show on Map' was selected and the waypoint was moved on the map.
Corrected a map drawing problem which caused country names to not be centered on their anchor point.
Go-From position is now properly remembered when the unit is turned off then on again.
Improve collection of WAAS data when tracking more than one WAAS satellite.
Update the map when transitioning to the next leg in a route.
Added translations for Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish.
Fixed possible lockup when calculating sun/moon rise and set times for extreme latitudes.
Integrated choice of 'Other Location' or 'Current Location' into the Find Menu itself for such pages as the Celestial and Hunt & Fish.
Corrected a map drawing problem which could cause bridges in BlueChart data to appear fuzzy, and slightly larger than intended.
Improved responsiveness and accuracy of unit reaction to insertion of a data card; especially when large data cards are used.
Optimized Find Menu to improve responsiveness for multiple Map types, such as Marine Service or Geographic Points.
Added Fishing Hot Spot Facilities support to the Find Menu.
Added an integrated Nearest and By Name tab page to the Find Menu, where Spell-n-Find is possible.
Improved Tide page operation by using the Find Menu for searching for nearest Tide stations.
Enhanced the Map Page with a new Declutter Option, allowing the user the opportunity to clear away detail from such itemsas: Businesses, Fishing Hot Spot Facilities, Geo Points, Spot Soundings, and Map Borders.
Added separate Map Setup options for Businesses, Fishing Hot Spot Facilities, and Marine Services.
Enhanced the User Waypoint Page with the capability to now project a waypoint based on other map data through the Find Menu as well as through directly setting the Distance and/or Bearing.
Added support for a new Swedish grid.
Always display airports when available in map data.
Corrected problem with speed filter not remembering previous setting when power cycled.
Added support for diacritic characters in map data.
Added the ability to find streets by each word in the name when supported by the map data.

Changes made from version 2.02 to 2.03:

Improved speed and reliability of autolocate operation.
Improved WAAS acquisition and reliability.
Widened text font vowels to improve legibility.
Enhanced Find menu operation to include Marine Services, Tides, Navaids, Anchorages, Wrecks/Obstructions, and Restricted Areas. The look and feel of the new Find menu now matches GARMIN fixed-mount Blue Chart units with the addition of Spell-n-Find as well as Address/Intersection lookup.
Added DGPS and Accuracy alarms.
Added support for 'Other Location' Find option on the Celestial and Hunt tab so position could be selected from the map.
Enhanced main menu unit settings with Direction Display option of Cardinal Letters, Numeric Degrees, or Mils.
Separated setting of Elevation units from Distance and Speed units.
Updated the Anchor Drag alarm with a persistent alarm sound until acknowledged so as to allow the user sufficient time to be alerted.
Improved retention of last highlight position on the Main Menu pages.
Enhanced Blue Chart map point review with the ability to jump to the exact chart associated with a particular point on the Data Card Information page.
Tide page now informs the user if the tide data is inaccurate.
Corrected NMEA input support for GPS-related sentences.
Improved Blue Chart map selection criteria for boundary conditions.

Changes made from version 2.01 to 2.02:

Correctly determined when and where the map should be drawn.
Corrected list order for units' page and configurable fields.

Changes made from version 2.00 to 2.01:

Prevented default Loran TD setup from being invalid.
Stored saved track point locations so that they don't move when being transferred back and forth between the unit and a PC.
Implemented optimized display redrawing.
Implemented improved palette and transformation capabilities.
Improved colors of bitmaps and added several new bitmaps.
Power-On now jumps to GPS page and will auto change to the map page upon obtaining a fix or canceled via a keypress.
Implemented correction in time field initialization in the active route page.
Implemented correction in data card detection on the disclaimer page when a data card is hot swapped while gathering copyright data.
Map drawing improvements added including fixes for symbol labeling and map outlines.
Highway field improvements to font selection based on scale added.
Implemented improved backlight limit checking based on available voltage and temperature.

Installation Instructions

It is recommended that you disable screen savers or other programs running on your PC while you go through the update process. Disruptions to the update process may render your GPS inoperable. If the transfer is interrupted, turn off the GPS and then turn it back on. Reboot your PC, go to step #9 and attempt the download again. GARMIN is not responsible for failed downloads of operating software to the GPS and factory resetting the GPS unit will fall under our Flat Rate Repair Policy.
Click on "Download" and choose to save the file to your computer.
Choose a location where you can easily locate the file by saving it to a location such as the "My Documents" folder or to "C:\".
Once the download is complete, go to the location where you saved the file.
Locate the downloaded file and double-click on it. This will launch the Win-Zip Self Extractor. This program compresses the data to allow for a faster download of the needed files.
A program window will appear asking you where to "Un-zip" the files. This is by default C:\Garmin. You can change this location if you like. Be sure to note where the un-zipped files are going to allow you to find them!
Click on the button labeled "Un-zip".
Once the un-zip process is complete, click on the "Close" button to exit the Win-Zip Self Extractor.
Open the C:\Garmin (or other folder where you un-zipped the files), locate the file named "Updater" and double click on it.
Connect your GPS to your computer using a GARMIN PC Interface cable to an open serial port. Turn the GPS on, place it in Simulator mode (refer to your owner's manual for instructions) and verify that the Interface Mode (found under the Main Menu page, refer to your owner's manual for instructions) is set to GARMIN, GRMN, GRMN/GRMN, or Data Transfer/Host mode.
Click on the "OK" button on the Updater program window to start the data transfer.

System requirements

IBM-compatible PC running Windows 2000 or later operating system and an available Com 1, 2, 3, or 4 port.
PC Interface Cable for your GPS unit. The PC Interface Cable may be purchased through your local Garmin distributor or ordered direct from our Online Store.