Vista HCx - broken barometric sensor

[oxothuk]

After using my Vista HCx for less than a week, the barometric sensor suddenly stopped working. Symptom was that the elevation display showed 20000 meters and the ambient pressure display showed 0.00 millibars. Visual inspection of the porthole showed no obstructions (nor did I suspect any). I tried several things to see if they might fix the problem - change batteries, re-install firmware, hard reset (rocker-page-power) - without any improvement.

 

Fortunately I was able to exchange the unit for another one at my local REI, without any hassles. But I'm just wondering how reliable these sensors are. Since the Vista doesn't have an option to display GPS elevation instead of barometric elevation, the unit is pretty worthless if that sensor breaks.

[+Miragee]

I owned a Garmin Vista for about a year before getting a Vista C, which is still working fine. The Vista HCx I bought as an upgrade is also working perfectly.

 

It is a good thing you bought that unit at REI. Their return policy is the best, although Garmin's customer service is also excellent . . . you just would have had to wait for a new one to arrive after sending the defective unit in.

[gratefulHIKE]

barometric electronic sensors have been around for a while now, they are quite simple and quite accurate when calibrated right.......its like any piece of electronics though, sometimes you get a bad one

 

I mean ive had my magellan meridian platinum with the temperature and barometric sensor, and that still works flawlessly

[+allory]

Since the Vista doesn't have an option to display GPS elevation instead of barometric elevation, the unit is pretty worthless if that sensor breaks.

Pressing the menu on the satellite page gives the option of 'GPS Elevation'

[oxothuk]

Pressing the menu on the satellite page gives the option of 'GPS Elevation'

Right, but that only gives an instantaneous reading. There isn't any option of show "GPS Elevation" as a continuous readout on any of the other pages.