Yellow Etrex Problem !

[+dgc808]

Hi All, Just got a 2nd hand Etrex (yellow) off Ebay today ! Or so you would think ! Put in a few way points of a few of my own caches and 1 off Geocaching.com. So i could test it out ! Got too with in 20 feet of one of my caches and the gps told me to turn around and go the other way . Tried the waypoint off geocaching.com (i already knew the location of the cache) but same again got within say 5 to 10 feet of cache and the Gps said go some where else. So i thought is it setup right ? spoke to some one on Geochat and he said it was. So i thought ill way point my house and then go down my street and around the corner etc ! and the use my house waypoint to get home ! Set the waypoint then went down the street and around the corner ! Chose my house waypoint and set off for home everything was going ok until i got within say 30 feet of my front door and then the GPS said turn around and go in the opposite direction ! At this point alarm bells start to ring and im thinking have i bought a dodgy Yellow Etrex off Ebay ? (Thinking too myself should have stuck with the good old Garmin 12XL (Which i still have). Any help greatly received, im hoping i have just set the new Yellow Etrex up wrong and that i can get it sorted out ! (Otherwise its 57 quid down the pan)

 

Cheers DGC808

[barryhunter]

It sounds to bme like its working right. [by the way I have the same GPS and confirm see this all the time]

 

Consumer GPS's generally have a maximum accuracy of about 6m or 30ft, there are times it can be worse than this. (eg when under trees or in between houses, basically anything that obscures the sky)

 

Because of this once you get within about 30ft, the GPS is only really guessing at the position, the real point could be anywhere within a big circle. And because its only a guess it can 'wander' round, you only notice the jumping because you are so close to the target.

 

If you where getting bigger inaccuracies it could be other problems like datum (only worry about that unless it comes to it or the differing formats that the position coordinates are quoted in...

 

The fact that you don't see this will the other GPS, could just be the difference in how it works, where is doesn't 'jump' around its guess so much, the actual position isn't likly to be more accurate.

Edited November 9, 2006 by barryhunter

[+dgc808]

Hi Barryhunter, Thanks for the reply on this post, i wish some one had told me that the Etrex Yellow was as problematic as this before i bought it ! I have been using a Garmin GPS12XL for about a month now (Just seeing if i liked the Geocaching thing 1st) and had no problems what so ever with it ! If i had know that the Yellow was prone to these problems i would have not bought one and stayed with the 12XL ! I thought it was hard enough to find caches with the 12XL when i was stood right on top of them How do people find them with an Etrex (yellow) if it could be out by so much as 30 foot. Sent an Email to Garmin to complain about my Etrex, if they come back and say that its working the way it should i might just sell my Etrex (yellow) on Ebay and go back to my GOOD OLD GARMIN GPS 12XL

 

Cheers DGC808

[+kayak-cowboy]

Hello fellow Geocachers from across the BIG pond.

I have a Garmin Legend, and what you describe sounds perfectly normal. Most GPS units are only accurate to around 15 to 20 ft. So when you get close to the cache hide it could possibly tell you to go the other direction. You have to be moving or the GPS could do a boomerang effect. Very rarely have I found a cache that was right where the GPS zeroed out. There could be many variables to the accuracy, including tree cover, anything obstructing the view of the sky. Also, the hider of the cache may not have taken the time to get the best possible coordinates.

If you still don't like the Etrex yellow, you could always hook it to a Laptop computer for routing on mapping software. That is how I use my Etrex yellow. Works great!

[barryhunter]

For what it's worth I think the eTrex (yellow and from what I hear from others the whole range) is an excellent GPS.

 

I doubt you are getting any 'real' better quality with the older GPS, it sounds like its just that GPS 12XL doesn't 'jump' around so much, giving a perceived 'accuracy' at slow speeds.

 

I suspect it does this because it 'averages' it's position for a while to get a 'stable' position, because of this process there will be a time lag between you moving and the position updating on screen. (when moving you won't observe this as its always just a few step behind)

 

It's actually this 'responsiveness' that makes the eTrex a useful device. (certainly more responsive than my more modern GPSmap 76C)

 

Personally I would say stick with the eTrex and try it out, with a bit of practice you should get the hang of 'following the arrow'. A useful trick is to walk in a circle (location permitting!) around the location watching the 'center' that the arrow points to and that will be pretty close to your 'ground zero'

 

(edited for typos, grammar, and spelling

Edited November 9, 2006 by barryhunter

[+dgc808]

Hi Barryhunter, I think i will continue to try the Etrex (yellow) over the next week or so (Ive paid 57 quid for it so im going to try it) and see if i can actually find any caches with it ! I maybe getting too set in my ways with my 12XL that anything new/different takes a bit getting used too. I will stick with it for a while and see what happens (fingers crossed).

 

Cheers DGC808

[+NickandAliandEliza]

Hi Barryhunter, Thanks for the reply on this post, i wish some one had told me that the Etrex Yellow was as problematic as this before i bought it ! I have been using a Garmin GPS12XL for about a month now (Just seeing if i liked the Geocaching thing 1st) and had no problems what so ever with it ! If i had know that the Yellow was prone to these problems i would have not bought one and stayed with the 12XL ! I thought it was hard enough to find caches with the 12XL when i was stood right on top of them How do people find them with an Etrex (yellow) if it could be out by so much as 30 foot. Sent an Email to Garmin to complain about my Etrex, if they come back and say that its working the way it should i might just sell my Etrex (yellow) on Ebay and go back to my GOOD OLD GARMIN GPS 12XL

 

Cheers DGC808

 

If you think this is problematic - I'll take it off your hands for £30...........but then again I'm toooo honest. There's nothing wrong with your etrex. Virtually everyone on here starts with the yellow (unless they're made of money to begin with).

 

If you ask me which I'd rather have - the yellow etrex would win. Just wait till you drop the 12XL a few times or get it wet.

[+FollowMeChaps]

...........(edited for typos, grammar, and spelling

 

Did I hear the cry "Nanny State"?!!!

 

FollowMeChaps

 

PS: You can't beat the good old yellow! Maybe it's an older non WAAS/EGNOS one?

[NickPick]

I too have a yellow etrex.

 

One problem that no-one has mentioned yet is: Have you checked that you've got the correct datum set. For entering waypoints form geocaching.com, you should have the display set to H DD MM.MMM, and the datum set to wgs84. If you've managed to set the datum to osgb36, then all your entered co-ords should be around 100ft away.

 

One other check you can make is to place your etrex on a fence post or something, leave it there for a few minutes, and mark a waypoint, then go away and come back 30 minutes later, and watch the arrow as you return. It'll probably be around 5 metres away. You could also put both your etrex and 12 next to each other and compare the readings. The reason for this is that the error when you set a cache/waypoint could be 5m (15 feet) or more, and the error when looking for it could be the same amount. If both errors are in the same direction, they'll cancel out and you'll be spot on top of it, but murphy's law dictates that errors are always opposite, so you'll be twice as far as the reported 'Accuracy'

 

If you've got a data cable, it might be worth checking your firmware version and upgrading it to the latest. It won't give you waas or anything, but there are a few issues which later versions have fixed (although I don't think any were to do with accuracy)

 

Hope this helps.

[+purple_pineapple]

just another vote in the pro-etrex camp! It sounds like its behaving perfectly well, and is working as it should. As Nick says above, its possible the datum is wrong, but you tend to be well out with that, rather than 30 feet or so....

 

We have an etrex camo (same as the yellow but easier to lose ) and have found about 560 caches. Sometimes its a bit out, but generally only under trees or when the original coords are a bit ropey!

 

We will upgrade at some point (to a Sirf III chipset) but uuntil then, the etrex serves us well!

 

Dave

[+Jonovich]

I find with the eTrex it's always worth taking your time and let the GPSr settle down. It's also worth checking back onto the main status page to see what sort of signal quality it is receiving, problems like you describe are often seen when the GPSr is not getting a good multi satellite fix. On a couple of occasions when I have had a reading indicating a further 30-40ft to go, I have stood still and watched that distance drop right down to just a few feet - this has been mostly when signal quality has not been good due to poor view of the sky from Tree cover.

Jon

[+McDeHack]

I have had the 'yellow' since I first started (see the date under my avitar) I sold it once but bought it back again when my 'mate' upgraded. (Fool). I have tried many other devices such as tomtoms. They work but never as well as the 'yellow'

[markandlynn]

We use a yellow as well sounds perfectly normal behaviour.

As you get closer to ground zero just slow down note the direction of the arrow and estimate the distance left on the ground from your etrex reading.

Then walk along that line slowly till the reading equals zero feet to go.

If under heavy tree cover go into a clearing or along a clear path and walk along the path to again get a direction and distance. Then find another clear path and do the same. Where the lines cross is where the cache should be.

 

or do the dizzy dance of walking slowly in circles until the distance equal zero

[+purple_pineapple]

 

or do the dizzy dance of walking slowly in circles until the distance equal zero

 

a favourite method of mine there... only just behind the 'walk to within half a mile of the cache and then follow the caching trail' method! GPS is optional for this one!

 

Alternatively, hunt in packs....

[+Bear and Ragged]

Yellow etrex = 300+ finds.

 

Just slow down as you get nearer the cache area, and start using your eyes to look for the hideing place!

[+The Blorenges]

dgc808, let me explain something to you...

 

This is geocaching you're playing now: You must understand that you can not expect the little arrow to always point exactly and precisely to the cache location. Occasionally it will (usually at times of the blue moon, when you've just seen a black cat or when the Caching Fairy is smiling upon you). The rest of the time you should expect to hunt, scrabble, get wet, muddy, stung, curse, trip up, find slugs, fall into streams and generally enjoy this fulsome experience that is geocaching.

 

You wouldn't want to miss out on all of this now, would you?

 

MrsB

[+The Cache Hoppers]

MrsB forgot to mention being chased by cows

[+Munkeh]

MrsB forgot to mention being chased by cows

don't call Mrs B that