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Etrex Vista Compass


seige02

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Hello! I have a question about the Etrex Vista's Electronic compass. Whenever I am in a car, the compass seems to be pointing in one direction unless I were to make a turn, Etc. When I am out geocaching, the compass appears to go crazy and the arrow on the GPS points every direction. I have find myself traveling around and about instead of traveling in a straight line. Any ideas? Thanks!

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I similarly find that mine tends to swing back and forth, at times seemingly wildly. I have found that this is only when I am fairly close to the destination, and presume it is due to continually changing data from the satellites. I find that if I stop and hold it steady, or better yet, set it on a fencepost or similar, it settles down quite a bit. If I am quite close, like within 10', even then it will swing in any direction, as it sometimes thinks I am 10' south, then 7.5' northeast, then 5' west, etc.... which, of course makes it swing... Setting it down does a lot to quell most of the considerable changes though....

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quote:
Originally posted by seige02:

Hello! I have a question about the Etrex Vista's Electronic compass. Whenever I am in a car, the compass seems to be pointing in one direction unless I were to make a turn, Etc. When I am out geocaching, the compass appears to go crazy and the arrow on the GPS points every direction. I have find myself traveling around and about instead of traveling in a straight line. Any ideas? Thanks!


 

Best to turn off the electronic compass while in the car. It auto switches off over a few MPH, anyway. It also tends to point toward that big mass of metal rather than the correct reading, when you stop.

 

The electronic compass also needs to have the GPS in a level position. I haven't found any way to car mount and see it safely in a level position.

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The e-compass contains an actual magnetic field sensor so the metallic mass of a car would probably completely over-ride the weak earths mag field.

 

And when in your hand, it has to be completely level (screen facing the sky) and moved relatively slowly. Don't forget the compass has to be enabled in the setup and/or by push/hold the top right button for 5 sec until the little compass-like icon (3rd from right on top bar) shows up.

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I'm finding I need to calibrate my compass often. I've made a habit of calibrating every time I head out of the car and begin walking. I carry a pocket compass as well, and verify calibration to be certain the vista's bearing is accurate. I've also set up the Vista to show magnetic heading, so the Vista and magnetic compass agree when calibration works.

 

Since you'd have to hold a magnetic compass level to use it, holding the vista level is no hardship for me. In fact, the Vista's compass behaves very much like a magnetic pocket compass, reacting to level, nearby metal and electrical wiring.

 

Here's a tip; if the calibration is out, the unit says "hold level" almost continuously. Normally that display goes away when you're holding it normally.

 

As the previous posts say, turn off the compass when driving and biking. It's only useful when on foot. Or rowing maybe. icon_cool.gif

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I'm finding I need to calibrate my compass often. I've made a habit of calibrating every time I head out of the car and begin walking. I carry a pocket compass as well, and verify calibration to be certain the vista's bearing is accurate. I've also set up the Vista to show magnetic heading, so the Vista and magnetic compass agree when calibration works.

 

Since you'd have to hold a magnetic compass level to use it, holding the vista level is no hardship for me. In fact, the Vista's compass behaves very much like a magnetic pocket compass, reacting to level, nearby metal and electrical wiring.

 

Here's a tip; if the calibration is out, the unit says "hold level" almost continuously. Normally that display goes away when you're holding it normally.

 

As the previous posts say, turn off the compass when driving and biking. It's only useful when on foot. Or rowing maybe. icon_cool.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by seige02:

Hello! I have a question about the Etrex Vista's Electronic compass. Whenever I am in a car, the compass seems to be pointing in one direction unless I were to make a turn, Etc. When I am out geocaching, the compass appears to go crazy and the arrow on the GPS points every direction. I have find myself traveling around and about instead of traveling in a straight line. Any ideas? Thanks!


 

When you are driving at car speeds, a Vista (by default) will switch from Magnetic compass to GPS data inferred bearing. At car speeds, this is pretty accurate and steady.

 

At foot speed, if you have the magnetic compass off, it is common for the arrow to bounce around because a GPSr does not *know* what direction it is pointed, it infers it from position changes.

 

With a Vista compass turned on, you should get a nice steady indication towards the cache, provided:

 

#1: You have calibrated the compass (every time you change batteries)

 

#2: You are holding the unit steady and level

 

#3: There is no nearby metal (belt buckle, etc.) or EMI (2-way radio trasmitting) interferrence.

 

The 'bee dance' near caches is a normal GPSr trait. The compass in a Vista and Mag. Platinum are intended to correct this, but both have the same limitations as a normal magnetic compass, and both require calibration.

 

Good Luck,

-jjf

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If the compass starts turning around when you approach the destination, you aren't looking at the magnetic compass. You are looking at the bearing pointer, which may change in an erratic manner when you are very close to your target. This is since an error of a few meters may place you on the other side of the target.

 

The compass, however, as indicated by the NSEW letters, will still point in the same direction, provided you don't turn around like a maniac, yourself icon_smile.gif

 

Anders

 

Anders

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If the compass starts turning around when you approach the destination, you aren't looking at the magnetic compass. You are looking at the bearing pointer, which may change in an erratic manner when you are very close to your target. This is since an error of a few meters may place you on the other side of the target.

 

The compass, however, as indicated by the NSEW letters, will still point in the same direction, provided you don't turn around like a maniac, yourself icon_smile.gif

 

Anders

 

Anders

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