Sportrak

[+SterlingConnie]

Me and a friend went geocaching yesterday. We were both using the yellow sportrak.

At one cache we were trying to find, my gps was giving all kinds of bad info. It was telling me that we were 15 miles away from the cache and at times it would say I was several hundred feet away. Only once did I get a reading that matched what the other gps. It also showed that I was locked on to several satallites during the time I was receiving the bad info. Sometimes it would also show me moving and momentarily freeze when I wasn't moving.

When we left the area my gps seemed to return to normal, but my friends never messed up like mine, and we were using the same gps.

I was wondering if my gps may have a problem?

When I got home I read the logs for this cache and noticed that several people noted that they found the cache but it was about 200' from where it was suppose to be. But mine was showing a distance anywhere from 500' to 15 miles.

Edited December 8, 2003 by SterlingConnie

[+robert]

Make sure all of your settings are correct. Of particular interest is the datum as well as the latitude/longitude format defaults. If these all match up, you may have a bad unit.

 

Of particular interest to you may be a recent thread here:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=59514

 

Good luck

[+mustanglx]

Contact Magellan about your problem.

 

I have sent my Sportrak map for repair and I have found that Magellan is trying hard to make sure everyone is pleased with there handheld gps's. The Customer Service people are very easy to talk to and they do not talk down to you.

 

If you do have to send your handheld back for repair you will most likely get a bunch of new goodies in the box when you get it back.

[+robert]

If you've checked your settings and they're right on but you're still getting the problem, then send it to them. Don't send it to them when it's working fine just so you can get "free goodies". This will delay those who do have problems from getting theirs back in a timely manner and may cause them to change their procedures with regards to offering those tokens of appreciation.

 

edit: not implying that this is what mustanglx is suggesting, just making sure if it enters your mind to at least think about it first.

Edited December 7, 2003 by mrkablooey

[Karl360]

I do not have a sportrak but had simular problems with my Etrex.. It was saying really weird things, like being 100 miles away when it was only 20 feet away.. I then noticed that my batteries were EXTREMELY low.. changed the batteries and the problem went away..

[+Keith Watson]

I have a sportrack map and have had it go strange only twice. Once was while alking under hydro tanmission lines and the second while stading near a rock face. Both times the cache seam to be moving while I was standing still. If it was acting up and then worked fine after leaving the area try going back to that area if you can. Even though your buddies gps didn't act up my buddies displayed different readings than mine when near the rocks face.

[+robert]

I have a sportrack map and have had it go strange only twice. Once was while alking under hydro tanmission lines and the second while stading near a rock face. Both times the cache seam to be moving while I was standing still. If it was acting up and then worked fine after leaving the area try going back to that area if you can. Even though your buddies gps didn't act up my buddies displayed different readings than mine when near the rocks face.

A couple things... when standing still with a Magellan GPS, the unit will average its position, which can cause the distance to the cache to vary (and change!) The other thing is near a large rock face, GPS signal is bounced all around which can/will also cause various discrepancies in GPS readings.

 

[+Amazon Annie]

I'm another Magellan user and I have occasional days that the thing just doesn't want to settle down and work. I've even been out with someone with an identical unit (Sportrak Map) and we get different readings. There is a firmware update

being discussed in another forum :

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=59865

 

edit: Here's an older discussion but worth paging through:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...558&hl=firmware

 

I haven't taken the plunge yet as I've heard that there are some drawbacks (like extra button pushing to get to a 'goto') but some advantages (faster drawing maps!)

 

If you read the manual, it does suggest initializing your unit to speed up satellite acquisition. If you travel over 500 miles with your unit turned off or a complete loss of memory (hmmm... which I had a reset button!). I've done this occasionally and whether it fixed things up or maybe it was my imagination.. who knows!

 

Certainly the tree cover/cloud cover/surrounding rocks can have an effect plus the batteries level. I've experienced all of this. I start looking when I get within 10m of the cache. I've found that Garmin cachers and Magellan cachers rarely have similar readings. Good luck!

Edited December 7, 2003 by 1Short

[+phantom4099]

If this happens alot I would call magellan.

 

This problem can happen to any unit (and I pretty sure everyone will experience it if they use a GPSr long enough), so it may not be a problem with yours.

 

Wyatt W.

[+2LuknF8]

I, too, have a Sportrak Map (Pro) and have had times where the signal was bouncing me around a bit. I usually check my batteries (low batteries=poor performance) and then have re-initialized it. Most times this does the trick. Other times, it must be a Pookah in the clouds playing jokes, yes?