ergomaniac

Select "Menu" and "recalculate"

The 60csx and the Vista Hcx have identical features so it's only a matter of which one feels better. I used a 60Cx for 2 years and have switched to the Vista Hcx. I prefer the brighter screen, smaller size and longer battery life of the Vista. I now prefer the click stick over the buttons on the 60Cx but that took awhile. Both GPS's have the same reliability and accuracy when caching or hiking. If your wife has small hands I'd go with the Vista... if she has large hands I'd still go with the Vista .

Now I understand your problem. I don't generally save tracks on the GPS because they get reduced in size (quality) so I didn't follow what you were trying to do. I think the only thing you have to do is check the "Show on Map" check box when you are saving the track and then select "OK" (not "Map") when you exit the track screen. This will get rid of the coord display bar at the top (you will have to cycle back to the map screen) and all of your tracks will be displayed. Unfortunately, the map will be zoomed way out if the saved track was large but once you zoom in all is well (I think others have complained to Garmin about the change of zoom scale after you save).

From your initial post I'm not actually sure I understand what you are trying to do but I'll make my best stab at an answer... I always add new tracks to saved tracks. I prep the new tracks in Mapsource by cutting them up, reducing the size to 500 points and I color them to something that is significant to me (and different than my active track will be). When I want to combine the new with the old I open the old set in one instance of Mapsource and open the new tracks in another instance of Mapsource and just copy and paste the new set into the Mapsource window that has my old saved tracks loaded into it (Select All/Copy/Paste). Then I upload the works to the GPS. Am I even close to understanding your problem or did I totally misunderstand the question?

There were quite a few threads a while back that discussed problems with the Vista Hcx but Garmin has resolved all of the major issues with this GPS. I've passed my GPS60Cx on to my son and don't miss it. I've noticed that there are very few threads lately that discuss the Vista Hcx... I take that as a positive indication that most of the Vista Hcx users are pretty happy with the unit. As for the features on the Vista Hcx, you will not find it simpler than the 60Csx, the features are the same... just different buttons to access them.

You may find this site interesting as well.

I picked up a Sierra Designs Gamma a few weeks ago (a friend has used it for the past year and recommends it highly). Very well made with lots of room for two 6 footers and weighs in at 5 lbs. I picked this model up at a very good price because it's last years model. The Sierra Designs Electron RC2 is a bit heavier (8 oz.) but has two doors and two vestubles; otherwise identical to the Gamma.

Depends on the situation... some things to consider: Carrying a heavy load in rough terrain - ankle height with good support Wet trails or grass but no creek crossings - gortex Creek fording or deep puddles -- quick dry (no gortex) Light load and/or trekking poles -- low tops or mid-height These are just a few very general guidelines but it gives you something to think about. I have three pairs of hiking shoes for various scenarios. Montrail full height leather/gortex, Hi-tec mid height and Merrell Ventilators low height. I really like the Merrells and will probably replace the Hi-tec with a pair of Merrell Ventilator Mid height boots as they dry out quicker than the Hi-tec. Gortex boots are great for keeping water out but they also keep water "in". Proper fit is everything, so try on all of the top brands mentioned in this thread and pick the one that feels right. Don't assume a boot will feel better once broken in, try to find a pair that feel really good off the shelf. Sometimes boots will break in and sometimes you've just thrown your money away!

I should have mentioned that not only do Metroguide Canada and Topo Canada auto-route but they use exactly the same road network for their mapping. Metroguide is nice because it has shaded parks and POI's that will take you to specific addresses for various businesses. Topo has the geographic feature names and contours. I use both products as they serve different purposes.

Topo Canada will auto-route to Geographic features (POI's and caches) but not to street addresses. Metroguide Canada will auto-route to street addresses, caches and POI's. Metroguide and Topo Canada are older but have better road detail in the outlying areas of Canada than City Navigator. The best thing to do before buying is to go to Garmin's site and check out the map coverage in each of their products for the areas where you will spend most of your time.

I had a similar problem with my old serial Palm and the only way I could fix it was to add a USB to Serial cable. For some reason the driver for the USB to Serial acted differently than my other com port... don't know why but I've never been able to get the PDA to work on com1 and I've tried everything. Might be worth a shot.

I'll ask the obvious, just in case... Under Device Manager do you see COM1 listed? If not change GSAK to point at whatever COM port is listed in device manager (you are currently pointing to COM1).

My son has the Petzl TIKKA XP and I have the Black Diamond Spot. You can't go wrong with either of these lights they are both excellent headlamps. My preference is for the Black Diamond Spot because it has multiple lights; a 1 Watt Hyperbright focused spotlight and a 3 LED Superbright light. The various lighting options are great for allowing you to pick the right amount of light for various tasks. My only complaint is that Black Diamond has greatly exaggerated the battery life at various settings. Battery life is really good but the times they give are unrealistic.

Did she have "Lock on Rock" turned on? Check her track against the Garmin mapping and see if it was jumping intermitently to a nearby road. I'm not sure how far it will jump to try and find a road but I do know it can be a fairly significant distance.

I agree! I haven't tried this yet but have been really impressed with some of the trail maps that others have prepared. I have used a couple of them that are in areas that I hike and one I used even allowed auto-routing on the trails! I've got to learn how to do that and all my track issues will disappear! From what I've read there is a bit of a large learning curve but I've bookmarked some of the detailed discussions on this forum and plan on trying that soon. Getting the trails onto the card is the real answer and will eliminate a ton of the track editing I do!

Grasscatcher: You've pretty much described how I manage my tracks when out on a trip with a few small differences. The tracks that I "upload" at the begining of a trip have all been edited with Mapsource editing and saved in what I call my track library. I divide the 1000+ point tracks from previous trips into 500 point tracks and name and color them appropriately (I color digitized tracks differently than the "walked" tracks), this is why I end up with quite a number of saved tracks. I also combine shorter tracks into larger groupings (aiming to get as close to 500 pts as possible) to try to utilize all of the available memory space in each saved track. The OziExplorer tracks tend to be really small because they are hand digitized point by point. I always prefix the OziExplorer saved tracks with "OZ" in the name so that I can delete them first if I need more saved track space when I'm out on a trip. Tracks that I download from the web can take up allot of the saved track space because I will only filter the tracks if I absolutely have to, mostly I just divide and save them. The post trip track editing I do is always done on the GPX files on the card, I never edit the tracks stored on the unit. If I'm concerned about running out of track space I will delete the uploaded tracks once I walk an area but I generally don't run out the active log (10000 points takes me quite a good distance when walking). I do use the track filtering available in Mapsource (under track properties) to control the loss of valuable track points. I find using the distance filter works the best for me when combined with the undo button I can keep "testing" the filter by changing the distance until I get a 500 point track to save.

That's not a problem, either. You can save your track log for each day, then clear the log and start over. In fact, if you don't do this, the log will eventually max out and clear the oldest data as it stores the newer information. You can also take advantage of another feature. On the track log page, select setup. From that page, select "data card setup" and on that page put a check in the box for "log track to data card". With this approach, you will have an automatic backup for the track data. As I said previously, I have already used up my saved tracks with tracks that I pull out of OziExplorer and Mapsource. I digitize trail networks from available mapping before I go on my trip and store them as saved tracks. I always write tracks to the card but they are only useful after I come back from a trip. Yes the active log overwrites itself but I can get about two weeks out of the active log on average.

I wouldn't let the comments here affect your decision to purchase the Vista HCx, it's a great little GPS. I originally started this thread to find out if anybody else was having the same problem that I'm having with "zinger tracks", not to debate how track collecting should work (but that's the fun of these forum threads... you never know where they might go). Learning that the altimeter puts down track points was new information to me so that's good to know. I've also owned a GPSMap60Cx for over two years as well and it's a very good unit that never has these weird track legs at startup. I don't have to do any work-arounds it just puts down reliable tracks. I have never seriously used the altimeter or barometer on the Vista Hcx but the electronic compass is growing on me. All this track nonsense aside, I still prefer the Vista over the 60Cx because of it's size and very bright screen. If I really thought the track issue was a show stopper I'd just use the 60Cx but as everybody here points out there are many work-arounds. I personally think Garmin will fix it but if they don't, I can live with it. Grasscatcher: Thanks for the suggestions. Clearing the track log might be alright for some, but I rely on the active log for my backpacking/fishing trips. The track log will have to last up to two weeks since I won't be near a computer. For me the saved tracks are only used for "uploading" tracks that I've prepared prior to my trips with OziExplorer or Mapsource. I don't have enough track storage left to offload my active log (and it wrecks the tracks anyway). If Garmin ever reads and writes the tracks to the media card, then these issues will all disappear but until that day, we all have to figure out the best way to work with a limited number of track points. Turning track logging on and off would work but I'd be concerned that the one time I really needed my tracks would be the time I forgot to flip them back on. You are correct about the elevation... I'm at sea level. Makes it really easy to calibrate the altimeter!

Shouldn't you go back to the map and compass forum?

It's people like me with our "DUH" ideas that keep putting pressure on Garmin to write software upgrades for their units. If we all relied on work-arounds we'd never see any improvements in their products! To illustrate the problem (for the non-believers) I've attached an image of an unedited GPX file that was stored on my media card. The track displayed in the image is the result of 2.8 mile walk that I went on. The second leg of my track (the first two are the bogus track legs at startup) is 6.3 miles long and my leg speed for that segment is listed at 22,675 mph. (I'm a fast walker!!). If you think this didn't skew my odometer reading well guess again... my average walking speed was listed at 11 mph (I guess I slowed a little after attaining 22 thousand mph on the second leg but 11 mph for a walk sounds a bit high to me). You can call this operator error... I'll call it a bug (and thankfully, Garmin is working on it).

Yeah that will really solve my problem... navigating back to my boat launch through a bunch of rocky reefs in a dense fog with a map and compass.

The complaint I sent to Garmin was regarding the problem with track lines connecting my current position to points that were placed in the wrong location at startup (before the GPS acquires a signal lock). I described this in my initial post. I don't care if the points are being placed to support the altimeter or if it's a high sensitivity receiver problem... I'm just glad to hear that they have acknowledged there is a problem and they are trying to resolve the issue. I'm also relieved to hear that it's not just a problem with my unit.

It becomes a problem for me when the bogus track points join up with my current location and produce a very long track leg that is part of my current track. It's not a big deal in Mapsource but when I'm navigating on the small GPS screen the extra (bogus) tracks can cause confusion. I got this response from Garmin: "I am happy to help you with this. This is a known issue and is attributed to the high sensitivity receiver and what is known as drift. Garmin is working to resolve the issue. " The response from Garmin would suggest that I'm not the only one that finds this annoying. Has anybody with a GPS60Csx had this happen? The altimeter/barometer causing the problem sounds reasonable but I've never heard the complaint from anybody using the 60Csx.

If bogus track points were produced on all Garmin GPS's then I'd accept that I'm fighting against designed funtionality and that would make it operator error. Since the bogus track points don't show up on my GPSMap60Cx I'll will continue to assume that it's a sloppy implementation by Garmin with their Etrex series (and others?). Giving me a work-around that hides the problem isn't an answer to me. How many times have you gone on an outing and forgotten to turn your track logging back on? For me, turning track points off is just too risky. I rely on those tracks to get home!

Thanks for the info, that would explain why my GPSMap60Cx doesn't do this, it doesn't have the altimeter. Now I really wish I'd bought the Legend Hcx!! I find the bogus tracks really annoying and the only reason I bought the Vista instead of the Legend was that the price was almost the same (I didn't really care about the "extra features" that the Vista offers although I'm starting to like the electronic compass...). Now if anybody asks me which one to buy I'll tell them to buy the Legend Hcx.