Jump to content

Should I try a 3rd Colorao 400t?


Recommended Posts

Taking my second unit back. Best accuracy I can get is 60 ft with WAAS on and Compass off and using 2.51. I can get withing 10 ft. of a three different Geocahes and then it says to go 30 ft. the opposite direction. This happened on all three caches???

 

Sorry for the multiple posts today, but I would like some feedback before I drive 80 mi roundtrip to REI.

 

What accuracy should I expect from this unit?

 

Is anyone keeping track of serial numbers and possible bad units - mine is 18Z013768?

 

Pls. Help !!! I've owned the following. Is it me or is it the unit. Some are saying they can get to within 1 ft. of a cache (I'm jealous) :D

 

Etrex Legend

Etrex Vista

Forerunner 205, 305, 50

60C

60CSX

Nuvi 350

Nuvi 760

etc.

Link to comment

In my experience, typical EPE on a Colorado that's working right (WAAS off, decent constellation) is usually 18 to 22 feet.

 

Like most high-sensitivity receivers, the Colorado is subject to random fluctuation in apparent position, particularly in situations where multi-path reception might be a possibility (indoors, in urban areas, near bluffs, and so forth). Depending on conditions, this can result in shifting distance and bearing to the cache even with the compass off. Some cachers believe the Colorado is worse in this respect (position fluctuation) than other high-sensitivity units. No idea whether or not this is true.

 

Some cachers have also reported large, persistent EPE coupled with even larger errors in actual position. The situation occurs infrequently and unpredicatbly. It appears that power-cycling the unit clears the problem. There seems to be a lot of speculation about the cause, including possible problems with the M chipset and/or the receiver code in the unit. So far, though, I have not seen anything conclusive.

 

Bottom line seems to be that if you observe persistently high EPE with a decent constellation, try power-cycling the unit to see if the EPE drops. If the unit always has high EPE (try this at different times, in different locations and conditions), it might be time for that long drive to REI.

Link to comment

I to just purchased a Colorado 400t and I have problems with it "jumping' around. I have had a etrex Legend and a CSX 60, I thought the 400t would be great (WRONG). It is hard to use over the other 2 machines. The main problem is jumping around, especially when you are on cliff or high point.

 

How do you "power-off" them, I knew how for the 60 but not this unit.

Link to comment

Like most high-sensitivity receivers, the Colorado is subject to random fluctuation in apparent position, particularly in situations where multi-path reception might be a possibility (indoors, in urban areas, near bluffs, and so forth). Depending on conditions, this can result in shifting distance and bearing to the cache even with the compass off. Some cachers believe the Colorado is worse in this respect (position fluctuation) than other high-sensitivity units. No idea whether or not this is true.

 

Some cachers have also reported large, persistent EPE coupled with even larger errors in actual position. The situation occurs infrequently and unpredicatbly. It appears that power-cycling the unit clears the problem. There seems to be a lot of speculation about the cause, including possible problems with the M chipset and/or the receiver code in the unit. So far, though, I have not seen anything conclusive.

 

Thank you so much for the most succinct answer to my question. Obviously there is a problem with the 400T. Hpwever, some users report perfect operation. I wonder if it is a particular manufacturing run or maybe even where they are located and the particular satellites they are recieving.

 

Either way I'm trading in for a 60scx tomorrow. I had just sold my 60scx for $180, now I must buy one for $400 - oh well.

 

Coem on Garmin - fix this issue!!!

Link to comment

>Sorry for the multiple posts today, but I would like some feedback before I drive 80 mi roundtrip to REI.

 

>What accuracy should I expect from this unit?

 

>Is anyone keeping track of serial numbers and possible bad units - mine is 18Z013768?

 

>Pls. Help !!! I've owned the following. Is it me or is it the unit. Some are saying they can get to within 1 ft. >of a cache (I'm jealous) :blink:

 

ok, i'm new at this, today was the first day out playing with the toy....

 

i was in san diego killing the day, and found a few caches, and didn't find quite a few....

i bought a 400t, after reading a bucket of feedback here, and figured if i didn't like it,

i'd take it back to REI....

 

i stuck the NT road set on a chip, and put that in as well.....

 

here's my experience, for what it's worth.....

 

battery life: it's a large display, so i decided to see how long it lasts,

and locked the backlight on full brightness, permanantly on.. 7 hours

before it starts spitting up error messages.... seems good enough...

how long will a car battery stay up with the headlights on high, and

the stereo left playing? i figure it'll probably go 12 hours with a reasonable

time set on the backlight....

 

system glitches: none whatsoever.

 

accuracy without NT road chip: the topo is fine, the roads suck. 50 to 60 yards off.

accuracy with NT road chip: astoundingly accurate. i have 3 other auto gps's in

vehicles (all alpine, different configurations) and the accuracy with this is superior

to any of them.

 

accuracy to geodetic markers: i checked two, and one was within a foot, and the

other one was within 2 feet. so i'm happy.....

 

the first cache i found, was within 6" of where the unit said i was at ground zero...

second and third caches were within a couple feet.....

 

here's my thought on it..... if EVERYONE who is unhappy with the quality of their uint

returns it for a new one, and keeps doing it until they get one that they are happy with,

Garmin will click their QA program up a few notches... having 50,000 of them returned

during the months of may and june will provide far more impetus for fixing the problems

that sitting on hold for technical assistance with garmin...... the battery life is what it is...

but it seems that the quality control is sucky....

 

FulThrotl

Link to comment

>Sorry for the multiple posts today, but I would like some feedback before I drive 80 mi roundtrip to REI.

 

>What accuracy should I expect from this unit?

 

>Is anyone keeping track of serial numbers and possible bad units - mine is 18Z013768?

 

>Pls. Help !!! I've owned the following. Is it me or is it the unit. Some are saying they can get to within 1 ft. >of a cache (I'm jealous) :blink:

 

ok, i'm new at this, today was the first day out playing with the toy....

 

i was in san diego killing the day, and found a few caches, and didn't find quite a few....

i bought a 400t, after reading a bucket of feedback here, and figured if i didn't like it,

i'd take it back to REI....

 

i stuck the NT road set on a chip, and put that in as well.....

 

here's my experience, for what it's worth.....

 

battery life: it's a large display, so i decided to see how long it lasts,

and locked the backlight on full brightness, permanantly on.. 7 hours

before it starts spitting up error messages.... seems good enough...

how long will a car battery stay up with the headlights on high, and

the stereo left playing? i figure it'll probably go 12 hours with a reasonable

time set on the backlight....

 

system glitches: none whatsoever.

 

accuracy without NT road chip: the topo is fine, the roads suck. 50 to 60 yards off.

accuracy with NT road chip: astoundingly accurate. i have 3 other auto gps's in

vehicles (all alpine, different configurations) and the accuracy with this is superior

to any of them.

 

accuracy to geodetic markers: i checked two, and one was within a foot, and the

other one was within 2 feet. so i'm happy.....

 

the first cache i found, was within 6" of where the unit said i was at ground zero...

second and third caches were within a couple feet.....

 

here's my thought on it..... if EVERYONE who is unhappy with the quality of their uint

returns it for a new one, and keeps doing it until they get one that they are happy with,

Garmin will click their QA program up a few notches... having 50,000 of them returned

during the months of may and june will provide far more impetus for fixing the problems

that sitting on hold for technical assistance with garmin...... the battery life is what it is...

but it seems that the quality control is sucky....

 

FulThrotl

 

Full Throttle,

 

Was there tree cover where you were Geocaching? What does your accuracy (in feet) say on the Satelite page?l

 

To all:

 

Can't we all start logging serial numbers so we can detrmine which are good units ? I really do want one that doesn't "jump around" in readings.

Link to comment

I've heard if the first one isn't the one then it's the 4th one that's the charm.

I'm going for my fourth one now.

My first wouldn't even start up.

My second had a broken USB port.

My third works great, but the gasket is damaged and it's not field replaceable.

Hopefully my fourth will be the charm...

Link to comment

Taking my second unit back. Best accuracy I can get is 60 ft with WAAS on and Compass off and using 2.51. I can get withing 10 ft. of a three different Geocahes and then it says to go 30 ft. the opposite direction. This happened on all three caches???

 

Sorry for the multiple posts today, but I would like some feedback before I drive 80 mi roundtrip to REI.

 

What accuracy should I expect from this unit?

 

Is anyone keeping track of serial numbers and possible bad units - mine is 18Z013768?

 

Pls. Help !!! I've owned the following. Is it me or is it the unit. Some are saying they can get to within 1 ft. of a cache (I'm jealous) :D

 

Etrex Legend

Etrex Vista

Forerunner 205, 305, 50

60C

60CSX

Nuvi 350

Nuvi 760

etc.

 

My unit said that i was over 100 feet from cache when my friends 60CSX said we were there and then found the cache within a few inches. Accuracy was 16 Feet.

SERIAL NUMBER- 18Z015529

Edited by GeoFevre
Link to comment

IS this serial number thing just a coincidence or could it mean something?

 

Mine is 18Z013768

 

I'm hoping that someone will pick up on this serial number and start a database.

 

All those out there with 400T that work flawlessly - what are your serial numbers ? :D-

 

hey seriously !!!

Link to comment

IS this serial number thing just a coincidence or could it mean something?

 

Mine is 18Z013768

 

I'm hoping that someone will pick up on this serial number and start a database.

 

All those out there with 400T that work flawlessly - what are your serial numbers ? :D-

 

hey seriously !!!

 

18Z003534 seems to work perfectly.....

 

current location:

N 33 43.936

W 118 00.695

 

now.... here is an idea.....

 

instead of posting cache locations, we could post locations of working colorado's,

and then people could look for *those*.....

 

FulThrotl

Link to comment

 

Full Throttle,

 

Was there tree cover where you were Geocaching? What does your accuracy (in feet) say on the Satelite page?l

 

To all:

 

Can't we all start logging serial numbers so we can detrmine which are good units ? I really do want one that doesn't "jump around" in readings.

 

in answer to your question..... there was no tree cover whatsoever, the stated accuracy was

alternating between 9 and 11 feet.

 

my unit was purchased at:

 

N 33 43.926

W 117 59.646

 

they have more of them, and maybe it's a good batch... YMMV

 

if your unit's accuracy isn't good enough to find the store here is a clue:

 

REI

Huntington Beach, CA

Bella Terra Mall

405 Freeway & Beach Blvd.

 

i went playing with mine again today, and discovered something that

may shed light on this problem, literally....

 

if screen brightness is turned way up, current flow is much higher.

when that happens, current flow on an alkaline cell becomes less

stable, and fluctuations occur.... this triggers the wierd power

management screen dimming and warning messages...

 

however, when the screen dimming starts and stops, it abruptly

changes the voltage on the batteries, by a small amount, millivolts,

and THAT affects location accuracy..... when the screen flickers,

the position flickers. it's a voltage drop issue.

 

i'm wondering if changing the type of battery that

you tell the unit you are using will modify the

power management in such a way that you can

trick the screen dimming bs to stop.......

 

i'm guessing here, but if i had to fix it, i'd start looking

at fiddling with the firmware, and the battery saving

code.... but first, i'd try this....

 

see how stable it is with a fresh set of batteries, and NO

backlight whatsoever, and backlight timer set to 2 minutes,

so it won't cycle quite so fast.

 

FulThrotl

Link to comment

Colorado 400t > 18Z013600

 

Bought yesterday at REI store #58, Northville, MI 48167 05/04/08 3:24 PM

 

GPS had Version 2.40, and chipset 2.60.

 

I upgraded it to Beta 2.51.

 

The problems:

Even after Master reset, I have problems with the Tracklog being one continuous track, without any breaks, and when walking, there are many jaggies in the tracklog off to the sides, where several random trackpoints show me walking up to 75mph on my feet. The compass when turned OFF, in the Setup Menu, still says HOLD LEVEL at random times. Another thing on Reception, is that this GPS was all over the place, and the antenna on these Colorados, is a shrunken stick type antenna, whereas the antenna on my 60CSx is a full sized stick antenna, and my 60 series GPS units all where good with reception and tracklogging. The biggest disapointment is that this 400t does not do segmented tracklogging, no matter what I do, I always have a single tracklog, unbroken. The tracklog problem persisted from V 2.40 to V 2.51, and through a master reset, so this GPS is going back.

Link to comment
. I can get withing 10 ft. of a three different Geocahes and then it says to go 30 ft. the opposite direction. This happened on all three caches???

 

I hope you realize that is pretty normal for any GPS unit.

 

Fine, but how come numerous 400 owners (and 60scx owners) are claiming better accuracy ? Is it my Tree cover. The fellow from California claims excellent accuracy ,but has no tree cover.

 

You may be right and that is the problem. I never really used my 60c or 60scx that much, but I don't remember telling me my trails were over 100 ft.. apart on a 10 ft. greenway trial.

 

I also don't remember telling my cachce was on one side the road and then when I cross the road, it's telling that it's 60ft. over on the on the side I was on??!!

 

My 60scx also didn't say I was riding 80 ft. to the right on the road i am on, but the 60scx had a NT Road map and not the Topo.

 

Fiallny , if I go inside and leave it on a few minutes, my 400t tells me I have circumambulated several hundred ft. around my house - but I'll track that up to being inside and losing the signal.

 

The only way for me to knwo is to try another 60scx

Link to comment

I've had mine for a couple of months. Found maybe 100 caches. Accuracy is dead on. Sensitivity is close to the 60Cx. There is a little more drift than the 60cx, where you would have had 5 meters drift on the 60cx, I see 7.

Link to comment

Just an idea. Have you tried switching off your portable phone or, for that matter, any other high frequency radio transmitter you may be carrying? I use my GPS mostly while flying a balloon, and looking at the tracks on the PC later have the impression that 'jumps' in the track seem to coincide with the rare moments when I used my airband VHF radio, or when either my own phone or that of a passenger was used. There is fairly strong anecdotal evidence amongst balloonists that the use of a radio transmitter near a GPS can 'jam' it and throw off the positioning. Maybe for some reason the Colorado's receiver is more vulnerable to this.

Link to comment

Just an idea. Have you tried switching off your portable phone or, for that matter, any other high frequency radio transmitter you may be carrying? I use my GPS mostly while flying a balloon, and looking at the tracks on the PC later have the impression that 'jumps' in the track seem to coincide with the rare moments when I used my airband VHF radio, or when either my own phone or that of a passenger was used. There is fairly strong anecdotal evidence amongst balloonists that the use of a radio transmitter near a GPS can 'jam' it and throw off the positioning. Maybe for some reason the Colorado's receiver is more vulnerable to this.

 

No I don't have a cell phone on.

 

You fly a ballon in France?!!!

 

Wow - that sounds cool - can I hitch a ride? Sounds more fun than Geochaching:)

Link to comment

 

No I don't have a cell phone on.

 

You fly a ballon in France?!!!

 

Wow - that sounds cool - can I hitch a ride? Sounds more fun than Geochaching:)

 

Yep, I fly balloons. I have my own, a small one for 2 or 3 people (depending on temperature and altitude), and also fly for a French ballooning company as a freelance pilot, with larger balloons (7/8 or 10/12 passengers). Just this weekend I was very glad I had my 60CSx while flying with 12 people in the basket over the very varied landscape of the Parc des Volcans in the Auvergne (yes, volcanoes - dead ones, but over 100 of them): my altimeter/vario went dead halfway through the flight due to a battery problem. While flying you can't really fiddle around a lot with things like that, so I reverted to my Garmin to read off both altitude and vertical speed (I have set the trip computer to show both, along with my heading, bearing to a target, location and flight time). I can say that the vertical speed indicator of the 60CSx comes quite close to the precision and sensitivity of a real alti/vario combo. Good backup, that.

Look at Le Ballon Bleu, our website with some info on ballooning here and our little studio we rent to tourists. There are some caches near here (I have not started doing caching yet, I hope to get around to that someday, but someone else has set a few routes with multiple caches, riddles, the lot), just search for France - Combrailles or a position around 46°N 2.8° E .

 

Just an example:

 

meandrejoybleu3_300.jpg

 

In these deep gorges and with tree cover, better bring a GPS with a high-sensitivity receiver...

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...