phiscocks
-
Posts
22 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by phiscocks
-
-
The rubber gasket has once again started to come off my Hcx.
Last time Garmin fixed it at no cost other than shipping.
I didn't want to be without it for a week + so I ordered the gasket and glue tape.
Now that I have them, anyone replace it themselves? The glue tape looks like it is pre-cut and some sort of peel and stick.
TIA!
-
A co-worker's Vista HCx shows Bravo 2 on the test screen. This unit was purchased new in September of last year. SW version 2.7 also.
Are you SURE they got away from the MediaTek chip?
-
Anyone do a comparison while wearing a pedometer? Just wondering what the ped shows vs. the GPS.
.... If you don't trigger a track point you won't get a distance but the distances are still piling up on your odometer because the coords are drifting all over the place. Sitting and having lunch may pile up odometer distance more than the distance you accumulate by searching a cache area. It all depends on the current positional accuracy of the GPS (how much coordinate bounce is going on.
Very true. However, many etrex H series (high sensitivity - vista, summit etc) users have reported odometer under-recording!
My problem (walking/running) with a recently purchased EtrexH is that the trip odometer consistently underestimates actual distance, as shown by the tracklog and verified by downloading to Tracklogs (UK PC software with OS 1:25000 mapping). The tracking is 'spot on' - Tracklogs can display every trackpoint and the map confirms their accuracy.
Running is 'pretty good' - about 4% underestimate over 3.5 miles. However, on a recent 12.5 mile group walk, with stop for lunch, my EtrexH odometer said 10.1 miles, despite 'perfect' tracking. Two other walkers' Legends gave 12.4 and 12.5, as did my downloaded track.
FWIW, I've contacted Garmin by email:
Subject: Trip odometer very inaccurate
Message Body:
On a recent 12.5 mile walk, the trip odometer showed 10 miles. The
tracklog was perfect - shown by uploading to MemoryMap and Tracklogs.
Tracklogs shows position of every recorded trackpoint on a
1:25000 OS map and they were spot-on! Gpspassion forum postings suggest
this is a common problem with Garmin 'H' high sensitivity receivers
which may have been fixed for the Summit H and Venture H with a very
recent (Jan 08) software update. Is a similar update planned for the
Etrex H? And when?
Garmin reply:
"There is no known issue with the eTrex H under recording distances. ......"
Apologies if this is somewhat offtopic, since not Vista HCX, but it seems to support the view in a number of threads here and on GPSPassion that there is a general software issue in the handling of trip distance for Garmin high sensitivity units(?)
-
I use a Mountainsmith Exposure II camera case. It fits great. It has a small outer compartment that I keep an extra set of AA batts and a single AAA maglite in.
I picked it up at a local sporting goods store for $14.
See here: Mountainsmith Exposure II
I am looking for ideas for a case to store this unit. Some of the cases that are made seem to be a little big for the extrex models (010-0117-02). Any ideas close to this case would be appreciated.
-
I'll second that!
I was out caching along a creek with my 2 month old Vista HCx. Ground gave way and my HCx found a large rock screen first. Smashed.
Came home called in and asked what I needed to do to get is serviced. Nice guy on the phone felt bad for me and it was the first they had in for a repair (according to him).
He offered to fix it under warranty! I said they didn't need to do that it was my fault but he insisted.
Off it went. 7 days later I had a brand new unit from Garmin! Wow!
Customer for life.
BTW I have 3 buddies that now have them with a 4th putting one on their XMas list.
-
One other thing that it could be is...
Your position is represented by the center of that little triangle pointer not the tip. If you reference from the tip it will seem like you are 20-30 feet off.
Watch this at an intersection and you will see what I mean.
-
I have the Vista HCx. A coworker has the 60CSx. In side by side comparisons we have the same results.
We have done a number of comparisons and the result is the same.
I like the size of the eTrex and the screen is bright and crisp.
I have been is some heavy tree cover and the Vista HCx has performed perfectly.
Batter life is as stated and I have to believe that just like with computers (which is really what these are) there are improvements all the time. I'm betting the Vista has a faster processor that uses less power.
Go play with both and make you decision. I don't think there is a bad choice either way.
-
Is there a preferred setting. I have mine now set to 3 mph for 30 seconds.
Did a few caches today and it was right on. Life is good!
-
Regarding Garmin, are you saying that if you buy one of their DVDs for your GPS, and then a couple of years later you buy a new DVD, the software wont work on the new GPS unit? Man, that's pretty rough, most software you are allowed to move it around to a few different computers so long as the computers are owned by the same owner. I would think if you buy Garmin software you should be able to use it on any Garmin unit you own.
Am I understanding that right? I might have to fire off a letter to Garmin if they are getting that stingy. Last letter I fired off to Garmin I ended up having a VIP call my at home on a Saturday.
If you buy a DVD and activate it for a GPSr, and then later buy a new GPSr, you will not be able to use the maps on the new GPSr. Garmin does this to try to prevent the (apparently rampant) sharing of map software among GPRr owners. I understand why they do it, but their maps are so dang expensive there really should be a way to continue to use them if you buy a new GPSr.
Wow, that is a rough policy, liken to Microsoft saying if you buy MS Office and then buy a new Dell, you must then buy a new version of Office.
I think I'll call Garmin and question that policy. I have always got by with lats & lons & a topo, might have to stay with that.
Regarding a Micro SD card, is SD a type of card, or a brand? Do I need any micro storage card, or a SD Micro card?
This new stuff is confusing.
Um, you can just call Garmin and get a new unlock code for the new unit. Not a big deal takes 5 minutes.
-
Ok this is weird.
I did another test with a friend that has the exact same GPS. Side by side we get the same coordinates so that part is working fine.
Next I noticed that I had tracks on with about 20% used. Turned it off and cleared it and the checked the bearing pointer. It was much more steady or fluid in it's movements. Hmm that is weird. It also appears that the map page North pointer will react more quickly when starting from a stop. Previously it would be stuck indicating North in an incorrect direction.
So we are nearly back to "normal" behavior before the latest firmware and chipset update.
I still think one of these updates has made the bearing pointer more erratic when standing still and trying to get an indication on the waypoint lock.
-
Yep I have calibrated the compass multiple times.
This morning I parked in my usual parking spot at work. Took an average waypoint mark (10 samples) and put those coords in Google Earth. Google Earth shows the coordinates 28 -29 feet from the marked location. Grrr
Next I will have 2 others I know with Vista HCX units use those coords and see where it puts them.
I will also compare side by side with all three marking the same spot.
We will see what we get.
It just doen't seem to bee a accurate as my original Vista HCX but maybe I'm being overly critical just because it is a replacement.
-
Anyone else notice some strange behavior with their VistaHCX after the latest firmware and chip update?
I have a replacement unit from Garmin (smashed my other one) and I loaded the latest updates.
I get erratic bearing pointer results on the compass page. The pointer may be 90 to 180 degrees off but the distance to destination will be going down as I walk.
Also, the North indicator on the map page will seem to freeze in a non North direction for long periods of time or until I push the quit/ exit button.
Finally it just doesn't seem to get me as close to "ground zero" as my other unit did. Maybe it is just the caches I picked today.
Anyone else see any strange things with the updates or maybe it is my imagination.
TIA
-
I use GSAK to send waypoints into my Garmin unit. The difficulty/terrain always come in as 1/1 even if that's not really the case. Is there a way to get the true values to show up automatically?
This is what I use on my Garmin. It should get you what you are looking for.
%con1 = One letter indicating the container type
%dif = Difficulty in full
%name = Cache name
%ter = Terrain in full
%typ1 = One letter indicating the cache type
This is what I have in GSAK:
%name D(%dif) T(%ter) C(%con1) TR(%ter)
-
Those versions of GSAK/GPSBabel were around before the H units shipped so they don't include the knowledge that those models support the longer names.
It'll be fixed in a future version.
The comment thing is something else; the unit just plain doesn't hold as many as the size of the window makes you think it'll hold. Edit it by hand and see if you can fill it. If you can, then we need to revisit that limit in the code, too.
Yes. Further research shows that the notes field ony accepts 30 characters despite having the appearance of more space. It would be nice to have a few more characters but oh well.
Hopefully having more than 10 in the name field will be updated too.
Thanks,
-
I have noticed this problem also. I ended up just switching back to the 10 characters because it is not that big of a deal to me. I think that we need to adjust the settings in GSAK and the HCX in order to make it work.
I've tried to adjust GSAK to send more characters but it didn't seem to make a difference. I'm wondering if there is something different with the new H models vs. the older models.
How many characters can a 60 take for example?
-
I can't seem to get GSAK to fill the 14 char. waypoint name for this unit. It always stops at 10 even if I have it set to 14. Also it seem to be cutting off the notes section short of what that can hold also.
Anyone else have this problem or know if it is a know issue?
TIA
-
For me the compass works fine it is the bearing pointer that is erratic.
Standing still it might indicate a wrong bearing when close to the target.
I did notice that if I turned it off and turned it back on it correctly indicated the bearing of the designated waypoint.
Waiting for a firmware update from Garmin.
-
I received my Vista HCx about 2 weeks ago. I also bought and loaded the Mapsource Topo 2008 DVD. This last week I went on vacation and used it extensively. On the car ride to the destination the device worked great, always tracking accurately and without issues. Once I arrived at the destination (1 13 hour drive later) I found out that the new 2.30 firmware had been released. I decided to upgrade and did so without problems. The next day I decided to go Caching.....that is where the problems began.
After selecting the waypoint and choosing "go to" we drove to the nearest parking spot without issues. Then as we started to walk the GPSr started to lose it's mind. If I stayed in "GeoCaching Mode" the compass arrow pointed in the wrong direction, if I would turn around and walk in the direction the GPSr said the arrow would suddenly switch to the other way. I switched to the map mode and observed the same behavior. I finally went back to GeoCaching mode and setup a data field to show the "distance to destination". By watching for the distance to decrease I was able to eventually get to the cache all the while the arrow pointed all over the place. I continued to complete 3 additional caches in the same area using this method. I turned the device on and off several times but it didn't make a difference. When we got back in the car and drove away the unit worked fine again.
My read on the problem is that at high speeds the device works well but when walking it doesn't know how to compensate for quick changes. Has anyone else experienced issues like these?
One last note...before this I have been using a Garmin Legend which worked great, never had issues like this.
I still have 2.20 firmware in mine and am not seeing that problem. I thought you could try reinstalling 2.20 as an experiment to see if that fixes it, but I just found out that Garmin didn't archive that version of firmware, so no way to backup.
You could also enable the compass at low speeds to see if that stabilizes the compass arrow. What are your compass threshold settings now for speed and time?
I too have had this behavior just today. Hmmm. Does anyone have a backup of the firmware 2.20 that we could roll back to? I don't see it on Garmin's site.
I have my settings set to <3 MPH for >60 seconds. I may set them back to the defaults and see what happens too.
-
I received my Vista HCx about 2 weeks ago. I also bought and loaded the Mapsource Topo 2008 DVD. This last week I went on vacation and used it extensively. On the car ride to the destination the device worked great, always tracking accurately and without issues. Once I arrived at the destination (1 13 hour drive later) I found out that the new 2.30 firmware had been released. I decided to upgrade and did so without problems. The next day I decided to go Caching.....that is where the problems began.
After selecting the waypoint and choosing "go to" we drove to the nearest parking spot without issues. Then as we started to walk the GPSr started to lose it's mind. If I stayed in "GeoCaching Mode" the compass arrow pointed in the wrong direction, if I would turn around and walk in the direction the GPSr said the arrow would suddenly switch to the other way. I switched to the map mode and observed the same behavior. I finally went back to GeoCaching mode and setup a data field to show the "distance to destination". By watching for the distance to decrease I was able to eventually get to the cache all the while the arrow pointed all over the place. I continued to complete 3 additional caches in the same area using this method. I turned the device on and off several times but it didn't make a difference. When we got back in the car and drove away the unit worked fine again.
My read on the problem is that at high speeds the device works well but when walking it doesn't know how to compensate for quick changes. Has anyone else experienced issues like these?
One last note...before this I have been using a Garmin Legend which worked great, never had issues like this.
I still have 2.20 firmware in mine and am not seeing that problem. I thought you could try reinstalling 2.20 as an experiment to see if that fixes it, but I just found out that Garmin didn't archive that version of firmware, so no way to backup.
You could also enable the compass at low speeds to see if that stabilizes the compass arrow. What are your compass threshold settings now for speed and time?
I too have had this behavior just today. Hmmm. Does anyone have a backup of the firmware 2.20 that we could roll back to? I don't see it on Garmin's site.
I have my settings set to <3 MPH for >60 seconds. I may set them back to the defaults and see what happens too.
-
I have a new Vista HCx and wondering if it is possible to have the compass show your bearing/ heading in degrees rather than NSEW.
TIA
phiscocks
Yes, you have three options: Cardinal Letters (NSEW), Degrees and Mils
Thank you! I found it and made the change!
-
I have a new Vista HCx and wondering if it is possible to have the compass show your bearing/ heading in degrees rather than NSEW.
TIA
phiscocks
Vista HCx rubber gasket replacement
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
Thanks for the info. It looks like the key is to scuff up the rubber gasket for good adhesion.