GPS Accuracy Colorado 400i

[+rich731]

I am new to geocaching and to GPSs in general. I just bought a Garmin Colorado 400i as my first GPS. My question is, what should the GPS accuracy rating be? It's rated to get with in 10 ft. Mine usually hangs out in the mid 20's sometimes the low 30's (this is mostly in the car) however it's been as low as 12 and as high as 60. Also, sometimes it takes a while to secure a signal when I turn it on. Is this all normal? How does this compare to other units like the 60 CSx? I'm using 2 regular AA batteries and I have the GPS set to WAAS mode.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[+g-o-cashers]

I am new to geocaching and to GPSs in general. I just bought a Garmin Colorado 400i as my first GPS. My question is, what should the GPS accuracy rating be? It's rated to get with in 10 ft. Mine usually hangs out in the mid 20's sometimes the low 30's (this is mostly in the car) however it's been as low as 12 and as high as 60. Also, sometimes it takes a while to secure a signal when I turn it on. Is this all normal? How does this compare to other units like the 60 CSx? I'm using 2 regular AA batteries and I have the GPS set to WAAS mode.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Normally the Colorado and 60csx perform very similarly. I have both and over the last week I've been running some controlled tests that show these two units are usually with 10-20' of each other on any given day.

 

However there is a problem with the Colorado where it does wander significantly. The Colorado location error issue has been documented in this thread. The failure is characterized by a significant position error of 100-700' feet (even though GPS accuracy might only show 40-100'). The error is fairly persistent and only clears after being in good view of satellites for 10's of minutes or by power cycling the unit. It isn't clear if this issue affects all units or just some. There are people who don't seem to see it although owners of other GPS units with the same GPS chipset (Vista HCx) are seeing a very similar problem and there is some speculation that it is related to the most recent version of GPS Software (v2.6).

 

What you are seeing is pretty normal. When my Colorado isn't flipping out I normally see GPS accuracy in the teens and low twenties under very heavy cover in the woods. Anything above 30' and usually I'm in the situation described above.

 

GO$Rs

[+rich731]

I am new to geocaching and to GPSs in general. I just bought a Garmin Colorado 400i as my first GPS. My question is, what should the GPS accuracy rating be? It's rated to get with in 10 ft. Mine usually hangs out in the mid 20's sometimes the low 30's (this is mostly in the car) however it's been as low as 12 and as high as 60. Also, sometimes it takes a while to secure a signal when I turn it on. Is this all normal? How does this compare to other units like the 60 CSx? I'm using 2 regular AA batteries and I have the GPS set to WAAS mode.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Normally the Colorado and 60csx perform very similarly. I have both and over the last week I've been running some controlled tests that show these two units are usually with 10-20' of each other on any given day.

 

However there is a problem with the Colorado where it does wander significantly. The Colorado location error issue has been documented in this thread. The failure is characterized by a significant position error of 100-700' feet (even though GPS accuracy might only show 40-100'). The error is fairly persistent and only clears after being in good view of satellites for 10's of minutes or by power cycling the unit. It isn't clear if this issue affects all units or just some. There are people who don't seem to see it although owners of other GPS units with the same GPS chipset (Vista HCx) are seeing a very similar problem and there is some speculation that it is related to the most recent version of GPS Software (v2.6).

 

What you are seeing is pretty normal. When my Colorado isn't flipping out I normally see GPS accuracy in the teens and low twenties under very heavy cover in the woods. Anything above 30' and usually I'm in the situation described above.

 

GO$Rs

 

GO$Rs,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I was off by 200 something once but other than that the worst I've seen has be in the 60's. I do see the 30's quite often however. I've already got a repair number from Garmin if I need to send it in but I would rather not since I don't want to loose it for 2 weeks.

[+storm180]

I am new to geocaching and to GPSs in general. I just bought a Garmin Colorado 400i as my first GPS. My question is, what should the GPS accuracy rating be? It's rated to get with in 10 ft. Mine usually hangs out in the mid 20's sometimes the low 30's (this is mostly in the car) however it's been as low as 12 and as high as 60. Also, sometimes it takes a while to secure a signal when I turn it on. Is this all normal? How does this compare to other units like the 60 CSx? I'm using 2 regular AA batteries and I have the GPS set to WAAS mode.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Normally the Colorado and 60csx perform very similarly. I have both and over the last week I've been running some controlled tests that show these two units are usually with 10-20' of each other on any given day.

 

However there is a problem with the Colorado where it does wander significantly. The Colorado location error issue has been documented in this thread. The failure is characterized by a significant position error of 100-700' feet (even though GPS accuracy might only show 40-100'). The error is fairly persistent and only clears after being in good view of satellites for 10's of minutes or by power cycling the unit. It isn't clear if this issue affects all units or just some. There are people who don't seem to see it although owners of other GPS units with the same GPS chipset (Vista HCx) are seeing a very similar problem and there is some speculation that it is related to the most recent version of GPS Software (v2.6).

 

What you are seeing is pretty normal. When my Colorado isn't flipping out I normally see GPS accuracy in the teens and low twenties under very heavy cover in the woods. Anything above 30' and usually I'm in the situation described above.

 

GO$Rs

 

I thought that weird problem existed in earlier units according to some of the threads, not in the newer units with higher in number serial numbers. I have not experienced it with mine yet and my serial starts with 169038XXX.

[+g-o-cashers]

I thought that weird problem existed in earlier units according to some of the threads, not in the newer units with higher in number serial numbers. I have not experienced it with mine yet and my serial starts with 169038XXX.

 

This may be the case but I'm not convinced for one reason. The HCx owners (Vista, Rino) who share the same GPS hardware (MediaTek) and software (v2.6) are seeing the same problem. It wouldn't make sense to me that only some Colorados would see the problem if these are the only variables in the equation unless Garmin has done something to the hardware in the new Colorados to eliminate the issue.

 

GO$Rs

[+rich731]

 

I thought that weird problem existed in earlier units according to some of the threads, not in the newer units with higher in number serial numbers. I have not experienced it with mine yet and my serial starts with 169038XXX.

 

My serial starts with 18y0XXXXX, however, since it's only been that far off once I'm not sure if it's the same problem.

[+storm180]

I thought that weird problem existed in earlier units according to some of the threads, not in the newer units with higher in number serial numbers. I have not experienced it with mine yet and my serial starts with 169038XXX.

 

This may be the case but I'm not convinced for one reason. The HCx owners (Vista, Rino) who share the same GPS hardware (MediaTek) and software (v2.6) are seeing the same problem. It wouldn't make sense to me that only some Colorados would see the problem if these are the only variables in the equation unless Garmin has done something to the hardware in the new Colorados to eliminate the issue.

 

GO$Rs

 

Yeh I read about those issues on the HCx also. I have read that Garmin is replacing all the colorado units that have that issue if customers call about it. I have only had my colorado about a month but prior to buying it I called Garmin and asked a tech support rep about that issue and he told me that is was a problem in some of the older units that first came off their line and the issues were corrected in newer units with a hardware fix. He didn't get any more specific except for that. I don't know how true it is or whether he was just feeding me a line to buy a colorado.

[+g-o-cashers]

My serial starts with 18y0XXXXX, however, since it's only been that far off once I'm not sure if it's the same problem.

 

169 is the 300 prefix and 18Y is the 400t prefix. Its the next 3-4 numbers that sort of give you an idea where your unit falls into the overall build timeline.

 

My 400t is 18Y001xxx, a very early unit.

 

GO$Rs

Edited June 11, 2008 by g-o-cashers

[+rich731]

My serial starts with 18y0XXXXX, however, since it's only been that far off once I'm not sure if it's the same problem.

 

169 is the 300 prefix and 18Y is the 400t prefix. Its the next 3-4 numbers that sort of give you an idea where your unit falls into the overall build timeline.

 

My 400t is 18Y001xxx, a very early unit.

 

GO$Rs

 

Mine's 18y000xxx so that's even earlier. I think I might send it back for the repair/replacement. Have you had an experience with their service? Does it really take the 12 days they say it does?

[+storm180]

I have heard garmin service is superb. I have never used it but I heard it was quick