gallet
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Posts posted by gallet
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Google Earth is absolutely awesome. I use it now to get a good overall birds eye view of my intended trek. I've just finished scouting an area I haven't been to for about 15 years, prepared the sleeping bags, refloored the japara tent, got a steripen and so forth. I'll be using the gps to find the beginning of the track which is very hard to find and also I can use it with the help of google and a topo map, to find the tricky bit where I leave the track down to canoe creek, that's the final bit that leads into the Colo River.
Here I've marked the beginning of the track and where I'll leave it http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07353/screenshot_12.jpg
Here's a couple of close ups
http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07353/screenshot_13.jpg
http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07353/screenshot_14.jpg
And here is google earth overlayed over on of my old top maps.
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If you weren't into hi tech gadgets you wouldn't bother with a gps would you. The very fact that you read this post is enough to tell you that you do need a flux gate compass.
It's only $30 more. Chickenfeed plus you get a FREE that's right, free Barometric Altimeter with your Flux Gate compass.
You *will* be pleased to use your gps when you aren't moving or even just to orient your paper map.
Sure you could *buy* a good quality compass instead but that would cost you $30 anyway. Plus no barometric altimeter. Not only that but try getting your Silva compass to point to True North. Yes that's right, absolutely amazing, a compass that points directly North (whatever will they think of next) not to some ever changing magnetic north which sometime in the future will be pointing south, your Silva compass won't be much use then will it?. Your map grid is pointing North, you know it makes sense. Unless you like the challenge of working out the yearly magnetic north variations and applying the calculations.
PLUS, it's a fluxgate compass. Do you want to go through your whole life never having owned one? When the conversation is drying up imagine the look of surprise when you casually say at the dinner table, "it has a _flux_gate_compass" and when your amazed guests ask, "what's that" you will rattle off Wikipedia's explanation as if you actually understand it.
But wait, you say you *enjoy* doing doing the math? No worries you can set it to read magnetic north if you really want to. Yes with a fluxgate compass you can be a cutting edge luddite.
And the new Vista HCx uses very little extra power unlike the older models, in fact I haven't noticed any extra drain at all. It has been reported by those sorts of people who like to measure these things that the extra drain is about 5%.
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I'm just looking at a Vista HCx too. How much benefit do you guys find in having the compass and altimeter (over the Legend HCx, I mean)?
Basically I'm wondering if myself and OP would be better off saving a bit of money by going for the Legend instead.
Firstly to drag this thread back on topic, yes, I'd buy one again without a moments hesitation.
Regarding the compass it is worth noting that the battery drain from the new models regarding the compass is minimal compared with earlier versions. My old eTrex Vista would last a day on batteries, maybe about 10 hours and that's using the compass intermittently.
I've been using my new VistaHCx for nearly three days so far, using the compass all the time and the backlight a lot and it is still saying battery full.
Despite what some people might say, having a compass is very, very useful and it's definitely worth the paltry extra $30. I can guarantee you'll never notice the 30 bucks but you will notice not having a compass. There's no reason not to get the compass. Plus the Altimeter is a lot of fun too
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UPDATE
I have received a reply back from Sheildzone that indicates they will take it seriously this time. They are apparently sending the chaps down to pick up a couple of eTrex and go over their designs.
I will post a further update when I receive my replacement to let you know how it went. Should take maybe a week to get to me. I really hope it's OK because the Invisible Shield really does a fantastic job when it fits right.
FWIW, after looking closely at the bevel and manipulating the scan to bring out all the detail I can now see where the problem has been. The bevel itself is not constant all the way around as you can see if you shine a reflection on it. As the bevel goes around the bottom corner it tapers to where it disappears.
When tracing it is easy to mistake the point where the edge of the flat screen meets the bevel.
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It's handy to know that all the manuals are available online if you ever get stuck somewhere without it.
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That looks pretty good gunpowder but unfortunately they don't make one for the eTrex yet but I sent them a pdf file that I made for Shieldzone, it should be in the right format for their cutting machines.
I haven't heard back yet from Shieldzone so I might write to the president again. I mean if Sheildzone don't care and Boxwave will take this one board then we don't have to bother with companies who don't care about their customers.
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Regarding the price differentials between models it's all a bit meaningless these days. You get a lot of people say things like "I'm only a beginner and I don't want anything too fancy a basic yellow eTrex will do me just fine. But unlelss they are really tight on cash, it's a mistake. But it's a mistake that Garmin is happy to encourage because then they get to sell another one later. Another thing people don't consider enough is battery life. Believe me at the rate these things chew through batteries it does make a difference. Also note that the compass on the HCx is far, far more efficient than the old b/w Vista.
You'll probably find this amusing to read, it compares the SirfStarIII with the Media Tek chipset
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Robert,
Why do you want to get the 60CSx? There's a reason that Garmin is giving the rebate, (which you can also get from the ebay stores) and that must be because know that the new H series have come out the 60's are not worth the price.
Do you need to put an external antenna on it? Do you need to run a serial connection? Then why get the 60CSx? The better choice is the Vista HCx, it's at least as accurate and probably more accurate, the screen sizes are *effectively* the same except the HCx is brighter, and the battery life is much better in the HCx which makes a considerable difference.
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deltaf508
Hi Delta, let me cut to the chase here and get one thing straight. Getting the Vista HCx is a no brainer. It's not like comparing a really good sports car like a Dino Ferrari with say, your average ford ute, where the price difference is equivalent to mortgaging your house. No, the difference between the Vista HCx, the current Rolls Royce of hand held gps and say a piece of crap that will still get you where you need to be, like for example the basic yellow etrex, is only a couple of hundred bucks, peanuts.
I've just gotten rid of my old b/w Vista and the new HCx is astounding for it's accuracy, in Australia where we do not have WAAS it is still reading 3 metres where my old Vista would be lucky to get 6 metres. I did some blind tests today and it took me consistently to within two steps of the target.
And I now get reception in the middle of my house with a tin roof whereas I used to lose reception stepping onto my balcony. The software controls are pretty good but there is room for improvement though. It's bright and easy to read and the battery life even with the compass on all day is at least double my old Vista. Life is too short to get anything less.
The only annoying thing about getting the Vista HCx is that you will have nothing to pine over for quite some time. With regards to the 60CSx I can't imagine why anyone would want one unless they absolutely have to have a serial connection and an external antenna. The screen has no more resolution.
One other thing, you'll probably want to get an Invisible Shield for it but we have yet to establish which one is the one that fits properly, (see the "what's wrong with these people" thread) but we should have an answer within a week.
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i have the same probem with the hcx
maybe the hcx is a little bit smaller - i don't know.
shieldzone is a little bit to large
Thanks for reporting Freeday. If we can get a groundswell going we may be able to get Shieldzone to get their sizes right because their product is excellent.
All the sizes of the screens are the same for the colour models. Same for b/w models, that is even though the eTrex Summit is a low res screen and the eTrex Venture is a hi res screen, both the screens, being black and white, will take the same size shield. But Shieldzone nevertheless make slightly different sizes.
These different sizes do not reflect the actual size difference of the screens (because there is none) but these size differences are entirely due to the drafting department at Shieldzone making inaccurate files for the cutting machine.
At first I assumed that the error of measurement was just how it was. It was not until shieldzone sent me their original pdf files that they use to cut with that I realised that there is in fact a very bad design department who will make incorrect designs.
I am most astonished and surprised that Shieldzone will not fix this problem on their own. As I said earlier I have pointed out to them that the one they sell especially for the eTrex Summit (b/w model) is completely wrong but although I pointed this out to them a couple of months ago and they acknowledge this, they still will not remove it from their website.
This is why I have used the title "what is wrong with these people".
What Sheildzone are doing defies logic. Why would a company who makes a very good product want to sabotage their own product. It is really very strange.
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Same with me. I purchaced a Vista Cx screen for my new Vista Hcx. Sheildzone does not carry a specific Hcx screen. As stated the screen protector is just a millimeter to big. Because the screen is slightly recessed in the housing the extra bit curls and does not fit correct. I will be contacting the company but will also try to use a razor to cut the excess off of one edge.
Excellent, this is the response I was hoping for, if enough people complain then perhaps Sheildzone will respond. However I have just written to the person at shieldzone I have been corresponding with previously (send me a pm and I'll send you his private email address and name) and suggested that they send me two more shields, the one they have listed as eTrex C Series, and the other one called eTrex Legend C, as I know already know that the eTrex Vista Cx is wrong. Both the others may be right or they might both be wrong or one might be less wrong than the others. But until I find out which it's probably better to wait.
You will see how impossible these shields are to cut.
What I find most frustrating is that it is very likely that one of the 3 etrex colour sheilds that they have is correct, (or maybe two are) but there are people who will order the Vista Cx shield like you and I have done and get the wrong one, but there will be others (durtieshoes) who will not see a problem. Maybe my standards are too high or perhaps others are too low, it's difficult to tell.
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@'DocDiTTo
Have you considered simply trimming a millimeter off the shield you have so it does fit properly? In the time it took to write your initial post, I think you could have remedied the situation yourself
I had an opportunity to test this on one of the spare incorrect size shields that I was sent and I can confirm that it is pretty well impossible to cut a millimeter off them. I used a surgical grade swann and morton scalpel with an 11a blade. What makes it so difficult to cut is exactly what makes the shield so good. The shield has a sort of rubbery/elastic like quality which is why scratches disappear. If you trim too close to the edge then its rubbery qualities appear and it deforms, leaving a horribly mangled edge.
Miragee
I have gotten excellent service from the ShieldZone people, although it has been a while since I ordered from them. Maybe something has changed . . .
Let me be clear on this point. I have no complaints at all with the service at Shieldzone, they are courteous, patient, they want to fix problems and they act fast. It's all good with regards to service.
durtieshoes
I recently purchased (2) screen protectors from shieldzone, one for a Vista Hcx (ordered the one for the Vista Cx) ... I am very pleased with the one on my Vista
Yes I ordered the one for the Vista Cx as well but as you can see from the photos below the fit is not very good. I will try one for the Vista C and the Legend C (which in theory should all be identical to the Vista Cx)
My guess is that most people who put one on that does not fit properly will just think, "that's the way it is" and accept it. But bear in mind that Shieldzone do have an eTrex Summit shield for sale that will not fit anything.
Sheildzone have three different size shields cut for the Legend C, Vista C, and Vista Cx. I know how Shieldzone set up their blanks and the three sizes would indicate to me that they have actually drawn the shield three times in Illustrator and they have on file 3 different Adobe Illustrator pdf documents which they use to cut the blanks. I have measured shields from Shieldzone and compared them to the original illustrator files that they sent me and I can confirm their cutting machinery is very precise. That is the errors are not in the cutting but in the actual original files themselves.
As you can see from the first two shots you can see it's a perfect fit along the top and is also flush with the right hand edge (but do remember that an actual 'perfect fit' would be about .5 – 1mm inside the edge). On the third shot which is under different lighting you can see all the crap that collects under the edge that is too long. On the bottom shot you can see the fit on the right and left is perfect so it's easy to see the Shield has been fitted as 'square' as possible, ie it is fine on three sides, the top right side and the two lower sides.
I will write (again) to Shieldzone with the enclosed photos and see if they want to send me out the Vista C and Legend C shields to try, I will then report back here and publish the results.
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Have you considered purchasing from another retailer?
Not yet, but that's only because I assumed that no one else used this particular material.
Does someone else make shields that are equivalent material to the shieldzone? Because I may just ask for a refund instead.
I will report back here when I find out which of the three eTrex colour shields currently available from Shieldzone is the correct one. Perhaps if everyone who has a badly fitting one, sent it back, it may possibly make them want to only sell the right one and not offer the others, but I wouldn't bet on it.
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I don't know how to write this post without it becoming a huge rant, but I'll do my best.
For some unfathomable reason Shieldzone are supplying shields that are the wrong size, and they are doing this deliberately and wilfully which is really starting to p155 me off.
I just bought a Vista Cx shield which should be the right one for my Vista HCx because they have the same screen right? Well you would think so but the one I've just put on is too big. Not very much too big maybe just a millimetre but that's enough to make it not sit right. It can be a bit too small but it cannot be a bit too big.
Maybe I should have bought the eTrex C series shield, or even the eTrex Legend C series shield instead of the eTrex Cx series shield. I mean either one of the three should be right because the screens are all the same. But obviously the Cx is not right. So now I have to get them to send me one of the other ones. Hopefully one of which will be correct.
Why is this happening? Maybe Shieldzone enjoy sending me out free replacement shields. I have to say that shieldzone have been very helpful and kind in sending out replacement shields but I don't really want replacement shields, I just want to buy one that fits and get on with my life. Is this too much to ask?
I first noticed this problem when I bought a shield for my old eTrex Summit but by the time the shield arrived I had sold it and bought an eTrex Vista instead. Now you'd think that wouldn't be a problem seeing as the screens are the same size. But it is a problem because the correct shield for the eTrex Vista was the basic eTrex shield. In fact the correct shield for the Summit was also the basic eTrex shield.
When I queried shieldzone they seemed to think I had a badly cut shield and sent me a replacement. Twice. It was some weeks later that I got to the bottom if it all. The correct shield for the b/w eTrex is the Basic eTrex shield and the special one they make just for the eTrex Summit, (not the Vista, Legend Venture or Camo) doesn't fit anything. How about that. They've got a whole bucket load of eTrex Summit shields that don't fit anything. I told them as much and that they'd be better just throwing them away, but no they still sell them.
After numerous emails to the people at shieldzone whose job it is to fix this, nothing has been done. In fact their website is now even worse than it was before.
They still sell their "special" eTrex Summit shield that doesn't fit anything at all, including the Summit. Here's a shot from their website showing three models of colour shields even though all the colour models are the same size. You can also see the old special eTrex Summit shield that won't fit anything. Notice how Shieldzone have cunningly put a picture of a colour model next to the basic eTrex shields just to throw you off the scent.
I've written to the President of shieldzone who put me onto his assistant but it has all come to nothing. And now I've got another badly fitting shield that I have to send back for another replacement that will take 2 weeks.
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Good point about a complete upgrade and antenna. But in all the side by side tests I've seen I have not seen the Media Tek chip perform worse than the SirfstarIII but I have seen improvements though. And this is with an inferior antenna! So on this basis is it not reasonable to conclude the new Media Tek is a better chip?
http://www.gpspassion.com/fr/articles.asp?id=175&page=5
http://www.naviboard.de/vb/showthread.php?t=21730
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Now that the H series eTrex Media Tek has trumped the MAP60 SirftarIII my guess is that a new generation of MAP60's will be released as soon as the old stock is depleted that will have a new Media Tek chip that is better than the one in the eTex H. Otherwise there is not enough difference between the models any longer.
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There's a reason that Garmin is doing a $50 rebate on the 60CSx. they know it's not worth the money now that the H series are out.
Regarding screen size. The eTrex has more pixels/inch than the MAP60 but the 60's screen is a tiny bit bigger, but it is only bigger because the individual pixels are a tiny bit bigger. In other words if you look at the HCx screen an inch closer then the effective size of the screens is the same.
As an exaggerated example ask yourself what is bigger a 17" CRT computer monitor or a 20" Television. The Television has a bigger screen but the monitor has effectively a bigger screen because the finer resolution means you can view it much closer.
Regarding the new Hi Res chipset, the eTrex use the new Media Tek chip, it's apparently a bit cheaper than Sirfstar but in all the tests I've seen at it's worst it is as good, and at it's best it is better than the Sirfstar, but not by much. It is also much more economical with the batteries.
In other words the Vist HCx basically makes the 60CSx obsolete unless you want a bulky unit with buttons on the front.
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OP,
There is no reason not to get a gps with a compass, you can always turn it off, but I can assure you it is extremely useful and at least as accurate as my silva compass.
Regarding the "battery hog" statements. This needs to be further clarified, apparently it depends on which unit you use.
I have seen some tests done on the German forums that indicate compass drain is minimal on the new H series, something like 5%
http://www.naviboard.de/vb/showthread.php?...+Stromverbrauch
you can translate the page well enough to get the gist of it at http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
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I know the Legend and Vista HCx use the Media Tek chip but I was wondering if the basic eTrexH also uses the same Media Tek chip or a different Media tek or a different brand.
Does anyone have any info on this?
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i have an etrek summit. its works well enough but i see a lot has changed since i started years ago.
are there any recommendations for a new gps? what are some of the new features i should look for if i purchase a new unit?
The best 'new feature' in the eTrex range is unquestionably the new Media Tek chipset designated by the H in the product name. Although I'm not 100 percent certain that is the chip used in the low end models like the basic yellow one. But it's definitely in the new VistaHCx, which is probably the one you want because it has the Compass like the Summit.
The new chips are getting rave reviews and are at least as good as the SirfstarIII chips and most often, better!.
I used to have a Summit and not having the 'pickstick' on the front is a real pain especially when trying to mark and name waypoints in the field. For my money life is too short to not get the VistaHCx. You can pick one up on ebay for $230 and sell your old Summit for $100
$0.02
The original steam operated transportable gps
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
It uses a single satellite travelling at a 1000k orbit and sends out a tone that a cipher machine computer type doohicky can use to nail down where you are to within 10 metres.
I want one.
it's in the first 5 minutes of this http://deoxy.org/watch/6766435316702593684