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Vista HCX Trip Odometer FIx?


sli23sli

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I took a hike today up a steep hill. We had three GPS units and reset them at the very beginnning of the hike. I walked slightly further, but not a mile further, than my friend did who had the Legend HCx and ForeTrex. Here is a picture of the three GPS units at the end of the hike, as well as an image from the Track Log. I have the latest firmware on the Vista HCx.

 

c5968b05-3a5e-46dc-acae-92b26c14ecc3.jpg

 

e19ecaaf-5e79-44cb-803c-77370bcb2d3e.jpg

 

According to the Track log, I only hiked five miles while the Trip Computer said I went 5.61 miles.

Maybe Garmin thinks people will be happier if they see that they walked farther and weren't shorted...
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I took a hike today up a steep hill. We had three GPS units and reset them at the very beginnning of the hike. I walked slightly further, but not a mile further, than my friend did who had the Legend HCx and ForeTrex. Here is a picture of the three GPS units at the end of the hike, as well as an image from the Track Log. I have the latest firmware on the Vista HCx.

 

According to the Track log, I only hiked five miles while the Trip Computer said I went 5.61 miles.

 

I think it's important for everybody to be aware of the fact that comparing track logs and odometer readings is often like comparing apples and oranges. They are not the same thing. The odometer reading keeps track of the total distance that you have moved while a track is a very general representation of your movement based on a minimum movement factor (track setup for distance, time, auto).

 

What this means is that when you walk continuously down a trail and don't stop, your track and odometer should be very similar. If you are geocaching and you stop to find a cache, all of your wanderings around the cache site will add to your trip odometer but not necessarily add a track point. If you'd like to test this, set your track interval (in track setup) to 1 mile and then walk around your yard. The trip odometer will record distance but you will never put down more than one point for a track.... your track distance will be zero until you travel 1 mile from your start point. This is an exageration of what happens when you leave your track setup on "auto". If the GPS doesn't think that you have moved far enough or changed direction significantly it won't put down a track point. This is a good thing because we would run out of track points very quickly if points were put down continuously and you would get track point "puddles" every time we slowed down. It does this when you set the track interval to 1 second... which will probably improve your track to odometer accuracy but makes the track far to dense in my opinion.

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I took a hike today up a steep hill. We had three GPS units and reset them at the very beginnning of the hike. I walked slightly further, but not a mile further, than my friend did who had the Legend HCx and ForeTrex. Here is a picture of the three GPS units at the end of the hike, as well as an image from the Track Log. I have the latest firmware on the Vista HCx.

 

c5968b05-3a5e-46dc-acae-92b26c14ecc3.jpg

 

e19ecaaf-5e79-44cb-803c-77370bcb2d3e.jpg

 

According to the Track log, I only hiked five miles while the Trip Computer said I went 5.61 miles.

Maybe Garmin thinks people will be happier if they see that they walked farther and weren't shorted...

Do you think that the extra .61 miles was added up wandering around the caches?

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It does however, "hang" in the Transferring Data screen on the GPS itself and doesn't automatically reboot like when you update the main software, and requires a power off/ power on cycle.

 

Mine hung on the "Transferring Data" screen too. Although it seems to be working fine (and shows version 2.60), I'm a little concerned about it not "rebooting" automatically. How can I be sure everything loaded up properly and completely?

Where can I find the information of what version I have downloaded?

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I took a hike today up a steep hill. We had three GPS units and reset them at the very beginnning of the hike. I walked slightly further, but not a mile further, than my friend did who had the Legend HCx and ForeTrex. Here is a picture of the three GPS units at the end of the hike, as well as an image from the Track Log. I have the latest firmware on the Vista HCx.

 

c5968b05-3a5e-46dc-acae-92b26c14ecc3.jpg

 

e19ecaaf-5e79-44cb-803c-77370bcb2d3e.jpg

 

According to the Track log, I only hiked five miles while the Trip Computer said I went 5.61 miles.

Maybe Garmin thinks people will be happier if they see that they walked farther and weren't shorted...

Do you think that the extra .61 miles was added up wandering around the caches?

If that were true then that's an average of 178 feet of searching per cache. Since hiking caches are typically easy to find and she was with two other people that seems too high to me.
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In the GPS...

Go to main menu screen, then setup, then system, then hit the menu key, and select "software version"

 

Now if you meant on your computer, well, you cant really. Mine said nothing of which version it was, either one that I got for 2.50 update, but neither did the 2.60 that I got using webupdater...

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I took a hike today up a steep hill. We had three GPS units and reset them at the very beginnning of the hike. I walked slightly further, but not a mile further, than my friend did who had the Legend HCx and ForeTrex. Here is a picture of the three GPS units at the end of the hike, as well as an image from the Track Log. I have the latest firmware on the Vista HCx.

 

c5968b05-3a5e-46dc-acae-92b26c14ecc3.jpg

 

e19ecaaf-5e79-44cb-803c-77370bcb2d3e.jpg

 

According to the Track log, I only hiked five miles while the Trip Computer said I went 5.61 miles.

Maybe Garmin thinks people will be happier if they see that they walked farther and weren't shorted...

Do you think that the extra .61 miles was added up wandering around the caches?

If that were true then that's an average of 178 feet of searching per cache. Since hiking caches are typically easy to find and she was with two other people that seems too high to me.

On that hike, I was with only one other person who had both the Legend HCx and Foretrex, so the distance for those two units should have been exactly the same. As TG states, the caches were easy to find. We didn't wander around very much, although I did have to backtrack for a missed cache and that added about 850 feet to the distance I walked. :unsure:

 

So, anyway, here's another one for ya'll. :lol:

 

This is a hike I took yesterday.

 

43b94aa2-140f-4e6b-a493-76cb5e2d5212.jpg

 

I took pictures of the two GPS units at the end of the hike, but they didn't turn out, but these are the two xImage pictures. The GPS Map60CSx is on the left. My Vista HCx is on the right.

 

0fe1906d-2346-4f64-acf2-de307cf1a2c9.jpg __ 8c3e1858-0bc9-45f6-9daf-17d9a42ef630.jpg

 

The mileage is closer between these two units than it has been, but the Moving vs. Stopped time is really off . . . :unsure:

 

And, the mileage for the two GPS units is off from the 4.4 miles recorded by the Track Log.

 

Any theories . . . ? :)

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I took a hike today up a steep hill. We had three GPS units and reset them at the very beginnning of the hike. I walked slightly further, but not a mile further, than my friend did who had the Legend HCx and ForeTrex. Here is a picture of the three GPS units at the end of the hike, as well as an image from the Track Log. I have the latest firmware on the Vista HCx.

 

c5968b05-3a5e-46dc-acae-92b26c14ecc3.jpg

 

e19ecaaf-5e79-44cb-803c-77370bcb2d3e.jpg

 

According to the Track log, I only hiked five miles while the Trip Computer said I went 5.61 miles.

Maybe Garmin thinks people will be happier if they see that they walked farther and weren't shorted...

Do you think that the extra .61 miles was added up wandering around the caches?

If that were true then that's an average of 178 feet of searching per cache. Since hiking caches are typically easy to find and she was with two other people that seems too high to me.

On that hike, I was with only one other person who had both the Legend HCx and Foretrex, so the distance for those two units should have been exactly the same. As TG states, the caches were easy to find. We didn't wander around very much, although I did have to backtrack for a missed cache and that added about 850 feet to the distance I walked. :unsure:

 

So, anyway, here's another one for ya'll. :lol:

 

This is a hike I took yesterday.

 

43b94aa2-140f-4e6b-a493-76cb5e2d5212.jpg

 

I took pictures of the two GPS units at the end of the hike, but they didn't turn out, but these are the two xImage pictures. The GPS Map60CSx is on the left. My Vista HCx is on the right.

 

0fe1906d-2346-4f64-acf2-de307cf1a2c9.jpg __ 8c3e1858-0bc9-45f6-9daf-17d9a42ef630.jpg

 

The mileage is closer between these two units than it has been, but the Moving vs. Stopped time is really off . . . :)

 

And, the mileage for the two GPS units is off from the 4.4 miles recorded by the Track Log.

 

Any theories . . . ? :o

All I know is that you must be the Bionic woman if your top speed was 89.4 mph! :P:unsure:
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Why doesn't someone just go to the nearest interstate and walk from one mile marker to the next and see what the odomoter reads. I'm pretty sure the mile markers are set the proper distances apart. Plus you might find some hubcaps along the way or maybe a McDonald's cup.
You could just go to the local high school and walk around the track four times...

Even better idea.

 

Afraid of the freeway, and my local school track is in the bad part of town. So I went to the Gym, and walked a mile on one of those fancy treadmills with all the digital readouts and such. My track/odometer was way off. I think I need to send it in to garmin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:unsure:

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Why doesn't someone just go to the nearest interstate and walk from one mile marker to the next and see what the odomoter reads. I'm pretty sure the mile markers are set the proper distances apart. Plus you might find some hubcaps along the way or maybe a McDonald's cup.
You could just go to the local high school and walk around the track four times...

Even better idea.

 

Afraid of the freeway, and my local school track is in the bad part of town. So I went to the Gym, and walked a mile on one of those fancy treadmills with all the digital readouts and such. My track/odometer was way off. I think I need to send it in to garmin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:unsure:

:lol::unsure:
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I am sensing that there is a new problem (or maybe an older problem that I did not notice) I am guessing that it has to do with the altimeter, but would like some feedback. Since I have updated the software, my trip computer is always longer than the track log on my runs. This also seems to be the case with some of the above post.

 

Today I did a known 5 mile run. The trip computer said that I had traveled 6.1 miles. When I downloaded the track, it was exactly 5 miles. while looking at the track profile, it showed me starting at 40 feet (which I calibrate before every run). The profile had me going down to -989 feet, back up to -300 feet, down to -750 feet and all the way back to 20 feet at the end.

 

I know that there is less than 150 feet elevation change, so something is way off. I am guessing that all this phantom up and down is being added to the trip computer?

 

Any ideas

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Do you think that the extra .61 miles was added up wandering around the caches?

 

If that were true then that's an average of 178 feet of searching per cache. Since hiking caches are typically easy to find and she was with two other people that seems too high to me.

 

It's really important to realize what's happening here when you make these comparisons. The track is a filtered representation of your movement. Now you have to keep in mind that your movement is plus/minus the accuracy of the GPS, so in fact when you stand still the current positional accuracy of your GPS will make it think you are moving.... that's what coordinate averaging is all about when you do waypoint averaging. It's trying to average the coords to make a best guess of your position. All of these coordinate changes will be factored into your odometer reading but your track is filtered based on the track method you pick (auto, time,distance). If you don't trigger a track point you won't get a distance but the distances are still piling up on your odometer because the coords are drifting all over the place. Sitting and having lunch may pile up odometer distance more than the distance you accumulate by searching a cache area. It all depends on the current positional accuracy of the GPS (how much coordinate bounce is going on).

 

Comparing different units can be very misleading as well. My GPSMap60Cx has always put down more track points than my LegendCx and my VistaHcx when they are all set on "auto" mode for track placement. This will cause different track lengths between the units.

 

I've tested the new 2.6 release and it looks quite a bit better. There does still seem to be a problem with some of the other readings (max speed in particular). I think the max speed problem might be related to the fact that the Vista Hcx seems to start laying down points before it has a good fix. If the initial lock is 500 ft. away and the next second you are in the correct location your apparent speed would be pretty impressive!

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.... If you don't trigger a track point you won't get a distance but the distances are still piling up on your odometer because the coords are drifting all over the place. Sitting and having lunch may pile up odometer distance more than the distance you accumulate by searching a cache area. It all depends on the current positional accuracy of the GPS (how much coordinate bounce is going on.

 

Very true. However, many etrex H series (high sensitivity - vista, summit etc) users have reported odometer under-recording!

My problem (walking/running) with a recently purchased EtrexH is that the trip odometer consistently underestimates actual distance, as shown by the tracklog and verified by downloading to Tracklogs (UK PC software with OS 1:25000 mapping). The tracking is 'spot on' - Tracklogs can display every trackpoint and the map confirms their accuracy.

Running is 'pretty good' - about 4% underestimate over 3.5 miles. However, on a recent 12.5 mile group walk, with stop for lunch, my EtrexH odometer said 10.1 miles, despite 'perfect' tracking. Two other walkers' Legends gave 12.4 and 12.5, as did my downloaded track.

 

FWIW, I've contacted Garmin by email:

 

Subject: Trip odometer very inaccurate

Message Body:

On a recent 12.5 mile walk, the trip odometer showed 10 miles. The

tracklog was perfect - shown by uploading to MemoryMap and Tracklogs.

Tracklogs shows position of every recorded trackpoint on a

1:25000 OS map and they were spot-on! Gpspassion forum postings suggest

this is a common problem with Garmin 'H' high sensitivity receivers

which may have been fixed for the Summit H and Venture H with a very

recent (Jan 08) software update. Is a similar update planned for the

Etrex H? And when?

 

Garmin reply:

"There is no known issue with the eTrex H under recording distances. ......"

 

Apologies if this is somewhat offtopic, since not Vista HCX, but it seems to support the view in a number of threads here and on GPSPassion that there is a general software issue in the handling of trip distance for Garmin high sensitivity units(?)

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Anyone do a comparison while wearing a pedometer? Just wondering what the ped shows vs. the GPS.

 

 

 

.... If you don't trigger a track point you won't get a distance but the distances are still piling up on your odometer because the coords are drifting all over the place. Sitting and having lunch may pile up odometer distance more than the distance you accumulate by searching a cache area. It all depends on the current positional accuracy of the GPS (how much coordinate bounce is going on.

 

Very true. However, many etrex H series (high sensitivity - vista, summit etc) users have reported odometer under-recording!

My problem (walking/running) with a recently purchased EtrexH is that the trip odometer consistently underestimates actual distance, as shown by the tracklog and verified by downloading to Tracklogs (UK PC software with OS 1:25000 mapping). The tracking is 'spot on' - Tracklogs can display every trackpoint and the map confirms their accuracy.

Running is 'pretty good' - about 4% underestimate over 3.5 miles. However, on a recent 12.5 mile group walk, with stop for lunch, my EtrexH odometer said 10.1 miles, despite 'perfect' tracking. Two other walkers' Legends gave 12.4 and 12.5, as did my downloaded track.

 

FWIW, I've contacted Garmin by email:

 

Subject: Trip odometer very inaccurate

Message Body:

On a recent 12.5 mile walk, the trip odometer showed 10 miles. The

tracklog was perfect - shown by uploading to MemoryMap and Tracklogs.

Tracklogs shows position of every recorded trackpoint on a

1:25000 OS map and they were spot-on! Gpspassion forum postings suggest

this is a common problem with Garmin 'H' high sensitivity receivers

which may have been fixed for the Summit H and Venture H with a very

recent (Jan 08) software update. Is a similar update planned for the

Etrex H? And when?

 

Garmin reply:

"There is no known issue with the eTrex H under recording distances. ......"

 

Apologies if this is somewhat offtopic, since not Vista HCX, but it seems to support the view in a number of threads here and on GPSPassion that there is a general software issue in the handling of trip distance for Garmin high sensitivity units(?)

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Apologies if this is somewhat offtopic, since not Vista HCX, but it seems to support the view in a number of threads here and on GPSPassion that there is a general software issue in the handling of trip distance for Garmin high sensitivity units(?)
I think your point is relevant. I also think this issue is only with the non-Sirf chip GPSs made by Garmin. Edited by TrailGators
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Hi

 

I'd just like to thank everyone for all the information on the HCx units. I watched the odometer sage unfold and with the noted improvement with the latest updates I jumped in and bought a Legend. I mainly want it for hiking, but I also see the auto routing as a bonus.

 

Anyway having the update information earlier in this thread was very helpful and it was much less stressful given that the update ends with the unit hanging.

 

Cheers.

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Here are my findings after upgrading Vista HCx to 2.60

 

1. While using track log in vehicle, MPH is same as truck. ODO readings after 20 miles are 0.4 mi over the

Trucks odo., not to bad for 20 miles I guess, could also be truck ODO??

 

2. Walking less than 1.1 MPH and it will not read movement, however it will still lay the track properly.

If you spped up it will sometimes add in the distance lost but not the time stopped, It will not always do this though.

 

That is all I have found so far, not sure if this is good info or not.

 

Dennis

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Here are my findings after upgrading Vista HCx to 2.60

 

2. Walking less than 1.1 MPH and it will not read movement, however it will still lay the track properly.

If you spped up it will sometimes add in the distance lost but not the time stopped, It will not always do this though.

 

Dennis

 

The 2.6 upgrade is definitely an improvement and my Vista Hcx will occasionally indicate speeds lower than 1 mph (.6, .7, .8...) but only for a second, it can't seem to maintain it (speed just goes blank). When I walk very slowly with my Map60cx it displays fairly consistant speeds anywhere from .2 mph and up. The 60cx doesn't lose the ability to record slow movement the way the Vista Hcx does. Let's hope Garmin keeps fine tuning this receiver a little more. I hope it's not just an indication that the new receiver is inferior to the Sirf receiver.

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Well I see some people still having problems with there vista hcx not being able to keep up with the change from a car ride to a hike. Also the stop time and the moving time being off. I have only had my vista hcx for a week and havn't really tested any of this, but it seems that people have noticed some other annoyances. I didn't know how often they did updates to keep their GPSrs up to date.

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How do you guys explain this?:

 

82dd23a7-f9e1-4375-afca-240af6dddcec.jpg

 

compared to the Trip Odometer:

 

1b228d43-cd38-4f3e-b3d7-86db5d25a687.jpg

 

I feel like I hiked the nine miles . . . not the paltry 8.2 the Track log reported . . . B)

 

Also, we were not stopped for more than five hours, but it was very rugged terrain, so I was going under two miles per hour for a lot of the time. Is that what causes that? Is there a setting on my Vista HCx I've missed? Or, is this just the way it is, even with the newest firmware?

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How do you guys explain this?:

 

82dd23a7-f9e1-4375-afca-240af6dddcec.jpg

 

compared to the Trip Odometer:

 

1b228d43-cd38-4f3e-b3d7-86db5d25a687.jpg

 

I feel like I hiked the nine miles . . . not the paltry 8.2 the Track log reported . . . B)

 

Also, we were not stopped for more than five hours, but it was very rugged terrain, so I was going under two miles per hour for a lot of the time. Is that what causes that? Is there a setting on my Vista HCx I've missed? Or, is this just the way it is, even with the newest firmware?

Did anyone with you have a 60csx? I'd be curious what theirs read. I'd bet that the track log is right. Also were you running for part of the hike? Your max speed is high for hiking.
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