Vista Cx frequently off compared to eTrex

[+4KClub]

I've had my Vista Cx for 8 months and noticed pretty early on that the unit does not always hit the coordinates dead on. I even marked a waypoint in the exact same spot on my porch every day for over a week and it was usually off. It seemed most affected by cloudy/rainy weather (which makes sense). However, when we bought a yellow eTrex to have another unit in our team, I started to notice these two varied by 20' - 45' (usually 20'). For example, today we were out doing a multi. When we entered the coords for the next level, both units read about the same distance. But after we walked 30' - 50', the Vista Cx would read 20' further out than the eTrex. And once we got to the location of the coords, the Vista was 20' - 45' off and the eTrex was within 10'. We were under the same weather conditions - cloudy with flurrys. This was a 5 level multi, so I got to experience this 5 times. WAAS Enabled is set on the Vista. I would figure this would allow more accuracy.

 

Is this normal? Should I open a case with Garmin on this?

[+lastparrot]

All the "x" types of Garmin GPSrs seemed to suffer from an issue with reliability. I have had my Vista CX for a year and I can say that my accuracy was horrible compared to my fiance's Vista C. I complained to Garmin and they replaced it and the new one had a new issue. However the latest software patch seems to fix the issue...( you might continue to research this under a Legend CX but both suffered horribly) They don't list this apparent fix in the GPS software update, but after installing it and doing a hard reset, my GPS usually gets me closer than hers and tracks great. I am finally after finding the last 25 caches without more than 15 feet off (on bad weather or tight buildings nearby, i am able to trust it again.

[+briansnat]

I saw this complaint frequently when the units first came out, but as Lastparrot mentioned, the latest software version seems to have fixed it.

[+4KClub]

They don't list this apparent fix in the GPS software update, but after installing it and doing a hard reset, my GPS usually gets me closer than hers and tracks great.

 

Thanks for this information. It gave me hope. I noticed the Updates available for my unit did not have any apparent performance updates. I downloaded and installed the updates. However, I didn't notice any difference in performance when I was out geocaching today. It was still off my more than 10' frequently.

 

One thing I just noticed in your reply was you mentioned a hard reset. I did not do any reset to my GPSr and cannot find anything in the user manual. How do you do a hard reset?

 

TIA

[+N8OFP - Del]

Hard Reset:

With the unit turned off, press and hold the follow buttons: PAGE + Enter on the click stick. 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 for the unit to acquire new almanac data.

 

Another thing that drove me crazy the first time I took my Vista CX out caching was the compass setting. If you have the compass turned on and have not adjusted the default factory setting the compass activates at walking speed and can throw you off quite a bit. I have my compass set to activate when I have stopped moving for more that 90 seconds and that has seemed to fix a lot of issues I had at the start.

 

Also on any give day any GPS accuracy can and will be different. A lot depends on the view of the open sky and how well the receiver is receving the satellite data. I have seen two identical GPS units have a difference of 20 feet or more when locating the same waypoint. An interesting test is to turn on your GPS, make sure you track log is turned on. Set the GPS in one location with a clear view of the sky. Let the GPS sit in that location for serveral hours. Then look at the track log. It's amazing how the location / tracks drift even though the GPS has not moved. Now try the same test but move the GPS under a tree, or try it on a cloudy day and see how much more drift there is when the GPS doesn't have a clear view of the sky.

 

When Geocaching one of the items I display on my off road / compass screen is the GPS accuaracy. This will give you a good idea of the error factor you are dealing with. If your GPS accuaracy is 10 feet, when your GPS zeros out you could be with in a 10 foot radius of the cache.

[ImpalaBob]

GPS accuracy should never be expected to be better than plus or minus 30 feet. I've found caches off more than 60 feet. After years, caches often move so far away from the original hiding spot that the owner can't find them! We have 2 identical 60C units and they almost never coincide exactly with each other while walking to a cache. When moving in the car they are usually very close to each other. It is the moving and constant recalculations that make them more accurate. ImpalaBob