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Vista HCx tracking feature/approacing cache


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Posted

Hi, is there a way to just select when I want to start and end a track or does it always automatically start right when I turn on the unit? I do not necisarily want the entire track I went but rather just a portion...if i have it on driving from home to a cache location i just want it to track from where i start hiking to the cache but it tracks the entire thing...i know I can then go and select a portion of it but I didn't know if a start/stop option existed for it. Also...once I save a route, is there a way to tell the distance between the start and end of the track? Also the time the track began and ended? At this point I am unable to figure this out.

 

Second, when caching, I will set the coordinates to find and i follow my compass and will be lead right near the cache, but when it says I arrived at the location but then the compass turns off and stops tracking those coordinates because it thinks I have got there...but really i would like to have the compass stay on so I am able to circle a bit and get a feel for the area especially if there is weak signal and it is leading me around a bit and it isn't too accurate. Any ideas on how to make the tracking of those coordinates stay up instead of dissapearing?

 

Thanks for the help!

Posted

Hi, is there a way to just select when I want to start and end a track...

 

Yes, go to the Main Menu > Tracks page and press 'Save' you will then get a dialog box asking if you want to save the entire track, select 'No' and you will be prompted to enter a beginning and end.

 

or does it always automatically start right when I turn on the unit?

 

Yes.

 

...but I didn't know if a start/stop option existed for it.

 

Well it's sort a start/stop in that you can turn track log on or off in the Tracks Page.

 

Also...once I save a route, is there a way to tell the distance between the start and end of the track?

 

If I used a PC and therefore could operate Mapsource I believe that information can be retrieved there.

 

Second, when caching, I will set the coordinates to find and i follow my compass and will be lead right near the cache, but when it says I arrived at the location but then the compass turns off and stops tracking those coordinates because it thinks I have got there...but really i would like to have the compass stay on so I am able to circle a bit and get a feel for the area especially if there is weak signal and it is leading me around a bit and it isn't too accurate. Any ideas on how to make the tracking of those coordinates stay up instead of dissapearing?

 

I have not seen this behaviour when using Go To for a waypoint it does not stop tracking, it only does that if I arrive at a route point, not a waypoint. Someone suggested elsewhere that seeing as the compass is a bit erratic at close range you can use the lat long coordinates first moving N/S then E/W, but you are probably within the normal searching circle anyhoo. Further I find it difficult to believe that anyone would place a cache where an HCx could not get a good fix.

Posted
Hi, is there a way to just select when I want to start and end a track or does it always automatically start right when I turn on the unit?

 

Yes. Look at the top of the track page. There is an option to turn tracking on/off. My suggestion would be to turn tracking off and save the current log (assuming that you want to keep it). Then, clear the log and turn tracking back on when you want to begin logging.

Posted

Second, when caching, I will set the coordinates to find and i follow my compass and will be lead right near the cache, but when it says I arrived at the location but then the compass turns off and stops tracking those coordinates because it thinks I have got there...but really i would like to have the compass stay on so I am able to circle a bit and get a feel for the area especially if there is weak signal and it is leading me around a bit and it isn't too accurate. Any ideas on how to make the tracking of those coordinates stay up instead of dissapearing?

It sounds like the same problem we've had with our Vista Cx, although I hadn't made the mental connection to the proximity alarm; I thought it was something to do with the power source, because it seems to happen about the same time we disconnect from the adapter in the car and start using battery power. But that's usually when the "arriving at cache" alarm goes off, so maybe there is a connection. It's more than just the usual compass flipping you get when you're near the cache, or under heavy tree cover. We had those with our old Explorist 100 and knew when to put down the GPSr and start looking around. But with our Vista it starts around 50-200 meters away, sometimes even in open areas. The GPSr says it has 6m accuracy, but will tell us to go 80m one way, then 120m the opposite direction. We've tried recalibrating the compass at every cache, we switched from rechargable batteries to regular one, WAAS is enabled, battery saver is off. It's driving the other half of this team crazy, and if I don't buy him another Explorist 100 soon he's likely to chuck our new toy in the nearest pond. Any suggestions would be welcome.

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