parrothead61348

I too was having problems with my Veture Cx. I posted previously. I upgraded to 2.6. In the meantime I also bought a etrex yellow off ebay, just to compare. I set a cache up using both units. Took about 10-15 minutes for both to stabilize to the same readings. Waas on the Venture was enabled. True North on both. 7 ft accuracy on the Venture. 13 ft on the etrex. Waited for the FTF. The finders stated that the cords were perfect and they were three ft from the cache. I have to say I believe the upgrade to 2.6 fixed the problem.

I use True North and still have problems. I received a cheap etrex yellow today. I'm taking them both out Geocaching this weekend to see how they compare. Will post my results............

Geognerd Thanks for setting me straight. I started at a witness post across the road.(east) That is where the numbers matched. There were some remains of a concrete post and re-bar. Probaly the station? So this test shows my Venture CX to be accurate. Today I did a cache, that I was approx 110ft off.??????? Thanks again for your help............

Below are pictures of a benchmark test with my Venture CX last weekend. The Benchmark is MF1470. It is a location adjusted benchmark. The cords are N 41 16.994 - W088 57.992 My GPS is sitting on top of the benchmark. If I am doing this correctly, my Gps is off 100ft. If I did this wrong, please let me know. Thanks...

I have pictures of my benchmark test that show my inaccuracy. How do I upload to my post? Thanks

Yes I installed the new 2.60 firmware update, with the same results. Also done a hard reset after the update. When I first bought and used this unit, I was very impressed. It seemed to put me within arms lengths of the cache, and the arrow seemed consistent. Now it is terrible. Weird???

My first post on this forum was on 9/15/06. I've been reading it daily to see if any answers to this problem were discovered yet. For the last month I have not really been able to use my Venture CX. Same problems inconsistent readings, bouncing GoTo arrow. I got disgusted the other night after returning from a Did Not Find and bought a cheap etrex off eBay. Waiting for it to arrive. I will go check it against my Venture CX, and post the results. I contacted Gamin through e-mail (3 days to respond) and phone ( 20+ minutes of holding. The answer was the same, hard reset. No difference at all. Checked an adjusted benchmark, 97 ft off. How do I convince Garmin that this unit is inaccurate?? Will post my findings after i get my cheap etrex. Lets keep this post going and send the link to Garmin.

Regarding my previous posts above on my Venture CX. I took readings before and after doing a hard reset, which was suggested by Garmin. My unit had been consistaintly off 30-50 ft east of the actual cache. Before a reset my readings were N XX 18.067, W XX 04.460. After a reset my readings were, N XX 18.068, W XX 04.463. Both readings were done at the exact location, 7-8 sats locked, stabalized for 15 minutes, and WAAS disabled. In theory this should be more accurate then before. I did my same test cache a few days later and found the unit to be a little more accurate. The sky was clear, in dense tree cover, and 17 ft accuracy. However I feel that it took long to update and a very erratic GOTO arrow when standing near the cache. I also saw an improvement when holding the unit upright, screen facing toward you. I plan on doing some more caching this weekend and will post my results.

Below is my reply that I received from Garmin today. I will try this tomorrow, and post my results. I will take readings before and after a master reset and post my findings.......... Thank you for contacting Garmin International! I am happy to help you with this. It appears that the unit has gotten some corrupt data in it so to correct this I would suggest doing a hard reset on the unit. This will clear out all data in the unit and reset it to factory defaults and settings. However, you will lose all user information such as Waypoints, tracks, and routes that you have stored in your unit. If you wish to save this information before resetting your unit, you can save it to your computer using a PC interface cable and your Mapsource software. Following are instructions on how to perform a Master Reset on your unit: -With the unit turned off, press and hold the follow buttons: PAGE + ENTER, then press and release the POWER. The unit will power up asking if you want to release all user data. Select yes and the unit will be reset. After the master reset please place your unit outside so that it has a clear view of the sky for 25 to 30 minutes so that the unit can acquire new almanac data. I would also suggest updating your unit's operating system using the link below. http://www.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=1599 If you have any additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email or at the number listed below. Best Regards, Rick Patterson Senior Product Support Specialist Garmin International 1200 E 151 St. Olathe Ks, 66062 1-800-800-1020 www.garmin.com Fax 1-913-440-5488 AOL Users please select all text before clicking reply to ensure the original text is included in your reply. -----Original Message----- From: Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 9:28 PM To: Garmin Technical Support Subject: Tech support request for eTrex Venture Cx Contact Information: First Name: Dan Last Name: xxxxxxxx Address: xxxxxxxxx City, State, Zip: Oglesby, IL, 61348 Country: United States Phone: 815.883.xxxx E-Mail: @insightbb.com Product: eTrex Venture Cx Serial Number: Software Version: Problem: I have been using this unit for geocaching for approximatly two months and it worked great. Yesterday I was doing four Geocaches and when I was using the GOTO feature it was putting me approx 40-90 feet west of the actual cache. The laditude seemed to be correct, but the longitude seemed to be off. Also the pointer seemed to be going in all directions, with no pattern. I had a good satellite fix all times I tried new alkaline batteries, and also disable WAAS. That did not make any differance. I also created a Waypoint in my backyard when I first received the unit. Now when I goto it, it points 490 ft to the south of the actual point. Is there anyway that I can check/calibrate the unit. Thanks...Dan Request emailed to outdoor@garmin.com ------------------------- This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential material for the sole use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, please be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this e-mail or any attachment is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies. Thank you for your cooperation

Here's an update on my above posts, pertaining to my Venture CX. I have a friend who is using a Rhino 120. We put both units within 2 feet of each other and let the readings stabilize. The readings on my Venture CX were off, .003 on longitude and .001 on latitude. compared to his readings on his Rhino. Both had an accuracy of 15-17 ft. Locked on 7 -8 sats. Waas disabled on both. When I moved my Venture to the cords that the Rhino was giving us, I was place appox 30 ft east. The exact distance that my last 6-7 caches have been off. I called Garmin tech support. I waited over 4 days for an e-mail response, which still has not come. After being on hold for approx. 25 minutes a tech answered. He blamed everything, but his mother, and Garmin, for my inaccurate readings. If I was trying to find a cruise ship in the Atlantic it would be fine, but finding a micro under leaf cover in the woods? I was very disappointed. Like geocachers didn't matter. I tried to explain that I used this unit for a few months and it was highly accurate. Then it seems to be erratic and off the same distance and direction. He stated that it didn't make any sense to him. It doesn't make any sense to me to buy a Garmin again! Thanks for letting me vent my anger...........

I posted two posts up. Here's an update. I contacted Garmin tech support by e-mail two days ago and still have not heard from them. I went out tonight to a previous found cache near me, just to test my Venture CX. The ponter pointed me to the general direction with no problem. Upon nearing the cords the pointer seemed to point in different directions and different distances. When I got to ground zero I had an accuracy of 10 ft. However the cache was not here. As in my post above, I went approx 40 feet to the West to find it. When I was standing with the cache, the pointer was pointing 34ft to the east. My last four caches had the same pattern. I used this unit for 3 months with no problem. I was down to about 5-10 ft normally. Is it possible to be off of calibration? Has anyone had a similar problem with being off the same distance and direction. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi I too bought a Venture CX when it first came out in May 06. I seemed to work great for the first couple of months. However last weekend I was attempting to do four geocaches. On the first one it kept pointing me into a busy roadway approx 30 -40 ft away, to the east. I gave up on that one. The next couple it was about 30 - 60 ft off to the east from the actual cache. On the last cache, I navigated to the exact cords, then went approx 50 ft west and found it. When I approach the cache, the pointer goes erratic, all directions and distances. When I first got my CX I set a waypoint up in my backyard, now when I GOTO it, it is pointing me 490 ft to the south. I really don't know what happened to the Venture CX, it seemed to work great at first. I have a good satellite fix, new batteries, WAAS enagled and disabled, guidance off road, and North up. Ideas???? Thanks

Here's my two cents worth. I bought a Garmin Venture Cx in May and was using it for Geocaching. It seemed to work great. Yesterday I attempted to do 4 caches. The first one it kept putting me in the middle of a busy road. I gave up on that one. The next three I found but they were all 30- 60 feet to the west of ground zero. I tried with Waas enabled and disabled. I also but in new batteries. Either thing made no differance. The laditude seemed to be right on, but the longitude was off. The pointer was also pointing in every direction. I had a good satellite fix. I also set up a waypoint in my backyard when I first bought my Venture. Now when I GOTO it, it is pointing me 490ft to the south of the actual location where I first measured it. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks.......????????

I'm fairly new to geocaching, so I'll start at the beginning. I'm using a Palm M130 with a Navman clip-on receiver. I'm using Cetus 1.2b for my Gps software. I download .loc files from the geocaching web site, convert them to pdb files using Easy GPS .loc to Cetus Gps Converter. I then install them using the Palm Install Tool, during a HotSync. They work fine. However my problem is that when I install another waypoint pdb file, I lose the previous one. I've installed multiple waypoint files during the same Hotsync, and I still end up with only one. I cannot create a waypoint database. Is there something that I am overlooking? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks In advance Parrothead61348