nfh
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Posts posted by nfh
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@Grasscatcher, I don't mean to be rude, but your insistence on saying that I am not aware of what all those different terms are is becoming a little bit inappropriate.
If I am talking about tracks, it makes sense to talk about track points;
If I am talking about routes, it makes sense to talk about route points;
If I am explaining how I use the trackback feature (and by that I mean how Garmin devices allow you to use it, even though it might not stick to the fundamental definition of tracking back), it makes sense to talk about trackback.
Nowhere I even grasped the idea that all of these terms are interchangeable and I really do not understand how did you come up with that conclusion.
Furthermore, every single reply of yours enforces the idea that you are the only one who knows what all these terms are and how a GPS is used, which you must agree that is not true. For instance, I had to create the video that I shared with you in order to make you realise that "Have you ever seen, or are you aware of any model of Garmin GPS that "automatically creates Routepoints" ?" does actually have a YES answer. Based on your previous replies, it is fair to say that you did not know that it was possible and I really hope that is not the reason for your rather harsh reply.
I am pretty sure that newer devices allow you to perform some actions better than old ones and I will not even discuss that. Nonetheless, the fundamental question of this topic, which I will not repeat again and again, still does not have a conclusive answer / solution. If you don't know how to do it, that is just fine, no one is obliged to know everything about their devices. But please don't make it sound like I (and anyone who is trying to achieve the same goal, as @happydutch) am not capable of using or learning to use a new device.
In the end I appreciate all the time you took to reply on this topic, and don't get me wrong for getting this out of my chest, but I think the original question by @happydutch is fair and you will have to agree that up to now no reply addressed an explanation for doing what we are asking about. And that is all I wanted in the first place, to find someone that has some more expertise than I on these devices so that he/she could help me figuring out how to do it. I'm somehow frustrated because that did not happen, but that is just how things are.
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No, I would say your understanding is right... that is my understanding of "trackback" as well, but as far as my experience goes, "tracking back" was the only way to follow a track on the old eTrex models. That is why you are allowed to select the point to which you want to trackback (I can select any point of a track and the unit will know if it should head backwards or forward on the track).
Furthermore, by doing this "trackback", I also get a straight line on my route from where I stand to the first point of the track (if I do not start from the beginning of the track), or to the nearest route point if I am far from the track. The "Where To" navigation on the 30x doesn't do anything like that.
But anyway, I was able to live with this ambiguity for many years, what I cannot live without is a feature like this in the 30x
. I still was not able to try the trackback feature on my 30x, hopefully that will do it. -
Ok, I fetched my old Vista HCx, created a GPS track with lots of details (points) in Google Earth, converted it to GPX and sent it to the GPS unit.
I also used this track to automatically create a route along it, as I mentioned before on my replies.
In the following video you can see what I mean:
The track is represented by the cyan line, whereas the route is represented in magenta as soon as I hit the trackback button.
As I zoom in the viewport, you can notice the difference between the route and the track (you can clearly see the detailed curves of the track and the straight lines of the route beneath it). That can be seen in the video as well.
And by looking at the "Distance to Next" field, you can see that there are route points being created based on the track:
And although I cannot demonstrate it in this video, as I approach sharp corners of the route I get a warning beep to tell me that somehow I have to turn (no turning directions, however).
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You have to test a Garmin Vista HCx device and use the "trackback" feature (the only way I know to follow a track on that unit) with "Off Road" option in order to see the "automatic route points" you are not aware of. The Vista HCx does create a route from the track, creates route points on "edges" of the base track and gives you warning beeps as soon as you get near those route points.
I am not making things up, this has been my experience with this GPS for so many years.
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I'm not confused about trackpoints vs route points... I am aware that trackpoints are points logged during the usage of the GPS unit while recording a track. I could even get into track segments (trkseg), track points (trkpt), route points (rtept), etc, that are part of the GPX format to state this, but I guess that is enough to pass the message that I am aware of the differences between all of them.
Thank you both for the tip about the trackback feature, I really did not know that it existed on the 30x. I'm not sure what was Garmin thinking of when they decided to "hide" this feature on such a deep menu/screen option (according to the video link provided by sussamb), when it is surely one of the primary actions performed on a GPS track and should be available right at the first screen when a track is accessed.
Anyway, the original question remains and it seems there is no clear answer to that. For what I see, I have to conclude that the 30x simply is not able to automatically create route points from a saved track similarly to what the Vista HCx does.
Unless the "trackback" feature you have just told about is the anwser to my question, based on what 93RyanB says in another forum thread about the very same question. At this moment I cannot try this as I am at my workplace, but as soon as I get the chance I'll try the trackback feature to see if it behaves just as my good old Vista HCx behaved.
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@Grasscatcher, I guess you are right... when I mentioned "waypoints" I could as well refered to them as "route points".
Anyway, what I wanted to determine on my original question is if there is an easy way to navigate / follow a track on the eTrex 30 as easy as it as on the old Vista HCx.
As I mentioned before, all I had to do in order to follow a track on the Vista HCx was to trackback a track (which could have as much as 500 points) and the GPS unit would take care of creating as many route points as needed to navigate through that track.
I can even say that I must have used routes in my Vista HCx 2 or 3 times at most, and I was expecting the same from the 30x unit. I mean, the used did not even had to know what a route was, he/she only had to deal with tracks in order to use the device.
By the way, are your instructions based on the eTrex 30 or 30x unit? I cannot recall seeing any option to save a track as a route, or to trackback a track (one is supposed to save a track with reversed points and navigate it afterwards in order to trackback a track to its beginning point).
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Hi,
I am reviving this topic because I own a Garmin eTrex 30x for a few months (I upgraded from a Vista HCx which I've been using since 2007).
This is one feature that I still did not manage to figure out. In my old Vista HCx all I had to do was to select a track, select trackback and the GPS unit would make a beep not only for each waypoint, but also for sharp corners on the track (which I guess are automatic waypoints generated by the GPS unit).
In my new 30x I simply cannot do this. I can use the "Where To" feature to follow a track and have the Distance to Destination information, but I do not get any beep of any sort when I am following a track.
Does anyone know if this is even possible with these new eTrex units?
One other question: is there a way to make the unit beep as soon as you wander off the track, so that you don't have to keep looking at the display to make sure you are on the track?
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I'm using Trackmaker to setup some waypoints that will be used on a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx GPSr.
For some reason Trackmaker doesn't allow me to use more than 10 characters for a waypoint's name.
Is there a way to overcome this issue?
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You also need to change the FID in the .TYP file, this tells Mapsource/GPS how to draw the different items.
Hope this helps.
I now realise that forcing a specific FID for the mapset doesn't change the FID of each map. Is there a way to do that for each .img file of a MapSource mapset, as well as for the .TYP file that you mentioned?
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I have a map, which I want to change its map ID (FID).
It is a topo map and when I use GMapTool to change its FID, the resulting map is different. The coloured areas that refer to types of landscape are gone.
Does anyone know why does changing the FID of a map with GMapTool changes (or disables) some parts of that map?
PS: I'm adding a single IMG file with the topo map and splitting it to MapSource files while changing its FID to another value and the PID to 1.
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I already tried that before, but as far as I realised, that only deletes the waypoints on the data loaded to the PC, it doesn't affect the waypoints stored on the GPS.
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[...] Oh yeah, don't trust the trip meter for distance measurement (very inaccurate), and don't save your track! Load it as an "active log" directly into Mapsource and then save it there. Saving a track on the unit can seriously degrade the track accuracy if it has too many points (some sort of rounding routine is used to save memory space).
I never rely on saved tracks for viewing the path where I passed. To do that I copy the GPX files that are created on the microSD card (those GPX files have all the information, as opposed to the saved tracks).
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I now want to downgrade it again to the 2.80 version, but I'm not sure if that is possible or if it poses some sort of risk for my GPS unit.
It should be possible, but what is the reason you want to downgrade?
GermanSailor
I mentioned it before on this thread: I'm under the impression that this new version is slower than the older one.
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lee, I was holding it with my right hand, in no particular way (back of the device to the palm of my hand, so that I could take a peek at the map once in a while).
jmundinger, can you provide me any link for that product, so that I can find a place where it is sold?
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That's the beauty of the "auto" setting......it's not a fixed distance. If you're going in a straight line, it logs fewer than going around a curve. Sharper curve, more points are logged than traveling around a gradual curve.
About half smart ! and conserves trackpoints...
Hey ! where did you go to HS? ......TX?
Is that the algorithm for the "auto" setting? I've always used my Vista HCx with auto+most often setting, but I wonder what does that mean exactly.
By the way, what settings would you consider to be ideal for logging a mountain bike ride or a jogging session in terms of distance and time? I purchased a small GPS logger (an iBlue 747A+) and I have to set it up with time interval and/or distance. I have set it up to record a point every 5 seconds and every 5 meters, but I still don't know for sure if that's too high or too low (or eventually the best choice
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I'm bringing this topic back to life because I never figured out a way to delete waypoints on the PC.
I mean, I can push waypoints from the GPSr to the MapSource application, but deleting them on the application doesn't have any effect on the GPS unit.
Is there a way to selectively delete waypoints from the GPS unit but using the PC?
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Last weekend I went for an 8Km jogging and while lacking a better way to transport my Vista HCx, I held it with my hand for the entire run.
I opened the GPX track on Google Earth and the track doesn't seem as smooth as I would expect.
If one carries the GPS on his hand (as well as swing it back and forth while running), can that significantly affect the GPS signal reception?
By the way, is there any accessory (Garmin or any other brand) that enables one to carry the GPS unit on the arm or wrist?
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Thank you all for your replies.
I had this feeling that my unit was slower after the upgrade and I was just wondering if that's just me or if in fact there is a speed diference.
I still didn't downgrade it, but now I know it is possible.
By the way, the unit's software isn't the only thing that can be upgraded. I remember there was also an upgrade being done to the GPS chipset.
Can/should this also be downgraded? And how can I tell the type (B/G/M)?
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Hi,
I my Vista HCx from version 2.80 to the latest 3.20 version.
I now want to downgrade it again to the 2.80 version, but I'm not sure if that is possible or if it poses some sort of risk for my GPS unit.
So, is it possible? Is it as safe as performing an upgrade?
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Is there a way to delete the waypoints stored on a GPSr using a PC? I own a Vista HCX and I would like to manage my Waypoints this way.
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obviously there is processor, screen and access speed differences..........one is based upon a design brought about two years ago and another is within the past 7 months........ive noticed that my CSX sometimes has issues processing the updating/switching screens since I first bought it, while I have seen no such issue with my HCX so far
But accordingly to what you said, one would expect that the Vista HCx would be faster than the 60 CSx.
I suppose that in the end it's just my impression and this isn't really an issue. Nevertheless as soon as I get the opportunity I'll do a side by side comparison in order to clear this out.
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Glenn, you're talking about the GPS chipset, and about that I do know that both models have different electronics.
I'm talking about the other hardware that makes the device... it must have a processor that handles every task besides processing the GPS signal, such as drawing on the screen, processing user input, etc.
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Hi,
Can anyone tell me how do these two units compare in terms of performance? I just purchased a Vista HCx GPSr and I find its drawing refresh rate quite slow.
I might be wrong, but I think that a GPSMap 60CSx unit that I tested was faster when redrawing the map while rotating the unit than my Vista HCx does.
Is there really a difference in terms of processing hardware between the two units, or is it just me?
Best regards,
Norberto
. I still was not able to try the trackback feature on my 30x, hopefully that will do it.
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Garmin eTrex 30 -- Track navigation question
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
It is somehow strange to say that you are trying to be of assistance, when your first concern is to try to show me how wrong I am about all these concepts related to GPS navigation... I did notice that this is somehow a pattern on some of your "assistances" (I'm not a first "victim" of your nice mood), but I've been participating in forums for so many years and the way this escalated was really a first for me.
You do realise that post #3 refers to something that I actually mentioned on my first post on this topic:
Using the "Where To" there is no guidance to the nearest route point if you are off the track/route, and there is neither an audio warning nearby turns (or what can be seen as a turn, since we are not talking about routing on a routable map).
Also, I am aware of what the Active Route is... but again it is not related to what I am trying to do... I don't need a list of waypoints. I think I could not be clearer than I was on the video I shared to describe what I am trying to do.
One possible conclusion is that more recent Garmin devices simply cannot do the same things that older models do. But don't worry, if somehow I find out how to do what I want to do, I'll make sure to update this topic.