Etrex Vista Accuracy

[tykesplace]

I've read of some people with <5ft accuracy on their GPSrs. My Vista doesn't seem to go below 16ft or so. Wide open space or not. I've even set it down and walked away for a few minutes to let it get better bearings. Any other Vista owners with better accuracy that mine?

[+Red90]

To get below 16 feet or so indicated accuracy, you need to have picked up WAAS and held it for a while in addition to getting a good spread of satellites. WAAS shows as little "D"s on the staellite strength bars.

[+BlueDeuce]

16 isn't bad. Sometimes I can hit 11 usually though I'm around 18 - 22 due to trees and cliffs.

 

Also, don't forget to recalibrate your compass every time you change batteries.

[tykesplace]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure what WAAS is but I remember seeing it in the manual and settings. I assume I have turn something on to get a WASS so I'll do that and see what I get.

Also for the battery tip. I've already calibrated the compass but didn't know I should do it at every battery change.

[+BlueDeuce]

I've already calibrated the compass but didn't know I should do it at every battery change.

Oh yeah.

 

When you get within 100ft of a cache and it starts pointing you 5 miles away in the other direction, now you'll know why.

[tykesplace]

I haven't had any luck getting a WAAS signal. I think my location in Western Montana just east of the Continental Divide has something to do with it. I looked around and found this on garmin.com.

"For some users in the U.S., the position of the satellites over the equator makes it difficult to receive the signals when trees or mountains obstruct the view of the horizon. WAAS signal reception is ideal for open land and marine applications."

Being northern with mountains to our south, catching a sat over the equator might not be too easy.