BelchFire

Sometimes you don't need that kind of accuracy. Let's say you're only looking to find a canyon our a mountain pass. If you're on a 5 day extended hike, you'd rather have the battery life wouldn't you?

I was looking in the "what's your accuracy?" thread and I was embarrassed to post. I have a Vista HCx and I frequently see it going to 30 ft, and I leave WAAS on all the time. I'm in Georgia and if there's an "East Coast" problem, maybe that explains it. What satellites should I be watching for WAAS?

I got an automated response almost immediately: Perhaps if you sent out the correct shield to all of us the first time, you wouldn't have to double your C/S department. JMTC

Chalk up another disappointment. I ordered from the website and they specifically list a Vista HCx model. The invoice confirms that I ordered correctly. The shield that arrived today is labeled "Garmin eTrex C Series Screen Shield" and it's at least 3/16"" too tall and 1/16" too narrow. Phooey! I didn't even bother to take it off the backing card. Firing off an e-mail now, we'll see............

AK is Alaska by postal regs. AR is Arkansas, AL is Alabama, and AZ is Arizona. So now I'm curious how USA 45 figures this: Al. 3829............... Alaska? Ala 2107...............Alabama? Az. 6343...............Arizona? Ak. 3199...............Arkansas?

2GB card with 1985 segments of TOPO 2008 is 981.x MB. Looks like I'm limited to a 3-4 state area if I want to load CN, but I'm just guessing. Area for area, is CN smaller, the same, or larger than TOPO?

I've read in this forum that my Vista HCx has a map segment limit of 2025 segments, although I only downloaded 1985 when I loaded TOPO 2008. What I haven't done, however, is load another mapping program and thus is my question. If I buy CN 2008, will the map segment limit be a total of 2025, or will it allow me to load 2025 for CN and 2025 for TOPO as well?

I'm more interested in getting to the bottom of this issue than I am in busting on Garmin. I shared the post for three reasons: 1. This topic has gotten some attention on this board and this was a new piece in the puzzle. 2. Perhaps someone who knows something more about this technology than I (it wouldn't take much) could offer some explanation. 3. Share the suggestion with others in case they wanted to try it and then discuss the results. I also sent Garmin a follow up, more or less the same thing that I said in here. I received the following reply: It only cost 30 minutes of battery life to try this suggestion. If it works, great. If it doesn't, I'll have more information to share with Garmin as they continue to work on the issue. And, if this really is the solution and I didn't try it, I'd feel pretty foolish. Did you do it, and did you notice any changes in track log or odometer recordings?

That's actually pretty good. My Vista HCx took over 6 hours to load 1985 segments of TOPO 2008.

This could be very sad for many, many loyal Garmin users. Perhaps a Linux-like movement would rise to the occasion and offer open source firmware and maps ;-) I, for one, would SERIOUSLY look into Magellan products solely out of pure hatred for Micro$ux

2GB Kingston ..... working fine in a Vista HCx

That's exactly what I was thinking Klatch. No big deal, just do it. And do it every so often for the fun of it. Any interaction with a GPSr has got to be good.

Barkoff, Micro SD is a size, not a brand. Search Amazon.com or Newegg.com for "micro SD". I bought one with an adapter for an SD slot (as opposed to micro sd which is what the GPSr is looking for). Seems like I paid $25 for a 2GB micro SD and the adapter together. Kingston is a good brand as is Crucial or PNY.

Done! gallet, they list a Vista HCx on their page, but I'm still wondering if yours fits. Have you applied it yet? I ordered based on their page anyway, I'm just curious.

....or occupied. I'm thinking if this is a seasonal thing, there will be either 1) none, or 2) several people interested in it. If it's already occupied when you get there, what good is it?

I'm hoping it's your imagination. I haven't done any "true" navigation since my firmware upgrade, but everything is fine so far. I'll be navigating some this weekend in full goto mode, so we'll see..........

I bought mine at Amazon too. Free shipping if you're willing to wait a week or so. I did.

I have to give this a rousing round of applause. It's really a non-issue as "slow" means under 2.2mph. And it may be even less than that since the firmware upgrade; I haven't heard anyone say with any authority what the new number or algorithm is now. Perhaps the above quote should read "very slow movements". And it's not like you can't get an accurate number if you want it; the track log distance is still fine; always has been. I have a Vista HCx, and I LOVE it. You won't be sorry.

My Vista HCx was an upgrade to a camo eTrex (GREAT unit that served ALL my purposes admirably for years). I can't say that I've put mine through the paces like some users here have, but so far (less than a month), I've really enjoyed it and I've had no issues whatsoever with maps, waypoints, routes microSD card, or other internal issues. As a testament to the superiority of the chipset, I paid close attention to the time to locate itself straight out of the box. My camo eTrex routinely took 2 minutes to locate itself if I restarted it at the same place I turned it off. The Vista HCx, took less than 45 seconds on the first powerup. How's that for superior?! I just went through the web update process with no issues. I'm running ver. 2.40 as we speak. Regards, One Happy Camper

That's just AWESOME.

There is a lower limit of speed that signifies to the unit that you're not moving. That's how the unit differentiates between your normal movement and normal drift (which has got to be higher with the more accurate chipset; kind of a catch-22 for Garmin) and IIRC, that was the sticking point in the last version (2.2mph, I think) If you were dragging along at something truly pathetic, you might have spent a lot of time under the (newer, updated) minimum. What was your average speed?

Here in Montana we don't have a big problem with animals that smoke. Must be a British thing. next time you're in a petting zoo, carry a pack of smokes around in your pocket and you'll see how "popular" you are. Herbivorous animals will eat raw tobacco. As a teenager, I watched a pet whitetailled deer eat many, many cigarettes from his owner's hand.

I realize it's not exactly what you're looking for, but I read the following on another forum I frequent. It originally had pictures posted, but they're not showing now. I can't take credit, but it's a NEAT idea and it's easy to envision in your mind when you read the step-by-step:

AAAACK!!!! Don't tell me there's a problem updating firmware. Did I say AAAACK, yet? To do a hard reset, hold down the Page Button (upper right), the Click Stick (front of unit) and Power On while holding these two buttons. This will clear all user data, but you should get a confirmation of "Are You Sure" or something like that. Data loss or not, I'd think you don't have anything to lose by trying. Let us know if it works for you.

BINGO I give Garmin a thumbs up on this one so far. Sounds like, not only are they listening, but they worked quickly to get an updated firmware out there. Life is good.