[Vista HCx accuracy update]

Figured some reading the posts on the HCx accuracy were tired of the ongoing posts that were negative. So I'm goiong to start a new one and see if we can get more positive stories.

 

My results are now based on real data over a three week period on the same trail (about 5.25 miles, in the woods, with hills and valleys, and three geocaches). First, the caches have been right on for all three weeks - as good as zero feet when held over one, and no worse than five feet (typically 3-4 feet).

 

The trail on the map below ranges from about five to a max of ten feet wide. There are THREE track logs superimposed on the map (in google earth) - each a different color. The results speak loudly that the unit works pretty darn good. Such was not the case before upgrading to 2.7/2.6 and doing the hard reset. I had droupouts and tracks that varied widely from week to week. By the way, WAAS is turned off. I forgot to turn it back on after the reset, and with results like this, why bother using it. Here's the map:

 

Awesome. Makes me happy I bought the Vista HCX.

[Viewing "breadcrumb" trail while hiking]

....................... There is not on/off switch that I know of.

 

 

Yes there is .

 

Main menu, Tracks, Track Log on/off

The assumption was made that the track log was on and the reporting party could not view them on the map screen. That's how I read his/her question.

 

I recently purchased this Gps myself and you can change the color of the track to one more visible (the default is small black dashes) under Main menu- tracks- setup. It will change the color of your bread crumbs, not just saved tracks.

[Garmin GPS III Plus]

I would buy a new unit. If you want functionality at a low price the Garmin Legend CX is on sale at www.costco.com for $140. This model has been discontinued because Garmin has Released the Legend Hcx that has a new High sensitivity reciever.

[Vista HCX Track log missing info]

Hello everyone. I am a new member. I did my homework and researched handheld Gps units for almost a year before settling on the Garmin Vista HCX bundle pack from REI ($350). I even visited this site several time to read threads about differant products.

I took it out for it's first hike on Saturday. I hiked to Hugo Peak. It is 2.5 miles one way and has an elevation gain of 1000 FT. I wanted to save the track so I reset the log and hiked up. Once I got there I saved and named the track. Then I hiked down and saved it again. When I got home I pulled the tracks up on Mapsourse and was dissapointed to find that it did not save the time traveled or average speed. The window had spaces for these fields but they were blank. That sucks. When I uploaded the data from the Vista it also uploaded some "active logs". These seemed to have all of the info from the tracks and the time and average speed. What the hell. I could just use these I think but I do not know how to end one and start a new one so that I could seperate the data from the hike up from the hike down. Also, I don't know how to name them. CAN ANYONE HELP WITH ADVICE ON THIS MATTER.

In closing I would like to say the Vista perfomed great and never lost reception once despite the fact that I was in very deep cover the majority of the time. I averaged a +- 25 or 30 feet acuracy but when iI took it of my belt and held it out iy dropped to the mid teens.

Thankyou everyone and sorry about the long post.