The Way Finders

Coggins- Thanks for the reply. I don't think I said what I meant to say. I calibrated using the GPS elevation prior to seeing an elevation sign. I had calibrated the GPS without a known elevation or barometer setting. I was surprised that the GPS elevation was so far off when I saw the sign. I don't think the barometer is the culprit. The altimeter setting would have to have dropped .07 inches of mercury in the hour I was hiking. That is a fairly rapid rate of change for the weather (or lack thereof) we had that day. I assumed that the Vista uses only triangulation to determine elevation. Is this not true? Is there a barometric sensor in the unit? Julian- Thank you, too. I'll try your recommendations next time. PD

I'm from Texas, so I haven't paid much attention to the altimeter on my Vista HCx until last week. I did some hiking in the Rockies and got interested in tracking my elevation. My altimeter, without calibrating, was over a thousand feet off when using just the GPS elevation, even though I was tracking several satellites. I calibrated to a known elevation (9405ft) and began my 3 mile round trip hike with about 400 ft of elevation change at the halfway point. When I returned to my starting point, my altimeter showed 9475ft...doing the math, that's 70 ft off! I had similar or worse results in different areas around Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park over the next few days. I've been very happy with my Vista's lateral accuracy, so I was really surprised that the altimetry is so poor. Am I being too picky? Are there tips or tricks to the altimeter setup? Anyone else having this issue with the Vista? Thanks PD

Would Moagu convert this (for the Garmin)?

...as you were...

My Vista HCx has developed a squeak when I press the Quit/Page Button(on the upper right). It sounds like two sides of a seam in the plastic rubbing together. The button works as advertised, but with only a couple more months left on the warranty, I'm concerned about this. With my luck, the squeak will develop into a break shortly after the warranty expires! Is this something you'd try to get Garmin to fix?

Thanks Oz and Coggins. Oz's tutorial is very thorough and specific (which is what someone like me will need for a process like this). I've been googling a bit and have also run across MOAGU and Mapwel. Anyone have any experience with these programs? I cut my teeth on USGS 1:24s, so I'm more comfortable with that format. Having read a review and the FAQ for MOAGU, I think I'll try this first. A general question: can I "turn off" a custom topo on the Vista? I read that the Moagu can take a while to draw and redraw. Can I turn it off and back on later? I know my terminology is incorrect, but I hope I'm getting my point across...

I know this is self explanatory to many, however, I am one of the few folks on this forum who is not proficient with computers. I expect I'll be learning a lot as I go. My main question, so far is: Do I need to purchase a Garmin Topo or City Navigator to get started with this process? Or will Trip and Waypoint Manager be enough? My family got our first find last weekend and we are really excited about our next adventure! Thanks again for the help. (and I'm working my way through the 225 replies. I'm on #57!)

Total noob here. I bought a Vista HCx off of craigslist (with all the "In the Box" items included-MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager CD). I'm really interested in putting custum topos on my new Vista, as described here: Making Custom Topo Maps-Groundspeak Forums I don't have any Garmin Topo or City Navigator software. I'm not too interested in the Garmin software: I don't like the coverage areas of Topo 24K or the lack of detail of Topo U.S. I know I need a microSD card. I've installed Trip & Waypoint Manager on my laptop. Do I need to purchase additional software to run the downloaded and converted maps? Thanks!

Trying out an improvement...

New here. Just testing...