Is there a way to get the Vista HCX to stop drawing straight track log lines all over my maps?!?

[dstedman]

I'm tired of my maps looking like I've flown over the entire area in an airplane. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about - you turn off your GPS, turn it back on after moving somewhere else, and boom - you have a straight line between where you turned it off and your new location. Why has Garmin decided to invent data for you? Seems like there should be a setting so that it doesn't "connect the dots" everytime you turn the GPS off and on.

 

Anyone know of a fix? I won't even comment on the whole drift/firmware issue. I will say that while this is the most feature-laden handheld GPS I've owned, it's also had the most problems for me. The latest firmware seems to have helped a bit, but in addition to the drift & mileage variations I get tired of things like the fact that if you are going less than 1.5 MPH (say, in a canoe while trolling) it wants to alternate between 1.5 and 0 MPH constantly. I know I'm not changing speed. Seriously...

[+hogrod]

you could turn off the tracklog until you actually need to use it, then you wouldn't get those track lines from the last place you had the unit on. I used to get those sometimes with my vistaCx, I NEVER get them with my 60Cx.

Edited September 9, 2008 by hogrod

[MtnHermit]

In my experience, those erratic tracklogs are the result of low batteries. Either put in a set of new alkalines or charge your existing NiMH's. Also be sure that the battery type is set correctly, as the voltage is different.

[dstedman]

In my experience, those erratic tracklogs are the result of low batteries. Either put in a set of new alkalines or charge your existing NiMH's. Also be sure that the battery type is set correctly, as the voltage is different.

 

Naw - this is the line you get between two points after turning off the gps for a while, then turning it back on at a different location. It's a straight line & it's Garmin's way of playing connect the dots. Does it in the car when plugged in as well. Thanks, though.

[+coggins]

you could turn off the tracklog until you actually need to use it, then you wouldn't get those track lines from the last place you had the unit on. I used to get those sometimes with my vistaCx, I NEVER get them with my 60Cx.

this is what I do and it work perfectly.

[+Chuy!]

You can also try clearing the track history or save the previous track if you need it.

[+trainlove]

On a Magellan if you wait about 5 hours, it will not connect the segments. But if you wait nearly a day, or multiples of days, and are within +/-5 hours of the time when you last turned it off then it will connect those segments.

Magellans actually do not have multiple segments, when you download a track file it's just a whole lot of <trkpt> points within one <trkseg></trkseg> block, Garmins do have multiple segments and therefore they shouldn't aLL ber connected on a unit.

 

Sounds to me like the programmers at Garmin are not always 1000% better than those hacks at Magellan.

[dstedman]

On a Magellan if you wait about 5 hours, it will not connect the segments. But if you wait nearly a day, or multiples of days, and are within +/-5 hours of the time when you last turned it off then it will connect those segments.

Magellans actually do not have multiple segments, when you download a track file it's just a whole lot of <trkpt> points within one <trkseg></trkseg> block, Garmins do have multiple segments and therefore they shouldn't aLL ber connected on a unit.

 

Sounds to me like the programmers at Garmin are not always 1000% better than those hacks at Magellan.

 

Yeah - it is silly. I'd like to not have to go through a bunch of menu items to tell it to do something that every Garmin GPS that I have ever owned before it has never done. I like seeing the tracks of places I have been, and I use my Vista HCX mostly in the car.

 

Really strange that a programmer would have decided that it would be a good idea to link every coordinate together. Understandable if the GPS loses satellite signal for a few minutes, but when I turn it off I am telling it "I'm not interested in anything that happens between now and when I turn it on again!". :-)

[highrolla7]

Like everybody else has said, turn off your tracklog. I turn it on when I need it to track, works great.

[dstedman]

I did figure out something interesting. It only connects the dots when the GPS turns itself off after losing power from my car. Meaning that if I manually turn it off when I turn off the car instead of letting it time down the 30 seconds after power disconnect, I don't get the dots connected. So this is a pretty easy thing to do to keep it from happening...

 

dan

[+Chuy!]

Good observation dstedman. Mine used to connect the points also, but it hasn't done it in a long time, about the time I started turning the GPS off manually 'cause you never know when you're going to need those precious 20-30 extra seconds of battery juice.