Ifinder Bug?

[+Tahoe Skier5000]

Well I think I might have found one...

 

When I was trying to navigate my track back today, my GPS had issues trying to follow the route. I selected the track from the menu, hit "navigate", then it created a route for me. Okay... So I proceeded to the first waypoint on the route as the GPS told me to do. Once I got to the first waypoint (or as close as I possibly could due to obvious GPS inaccuracies; say within 10 feet), I started for the second waypoint on the list. The only problem was that the GPS would not leave that first waypoint! It kept pointing towards that first waypoint, and the distance counted up as I walked headed towards the second waypoint. So I tried walking back towards the first waypoint to see if I could trigger the GPS to acknowledge that I had arrived.... It didn't do it. I tried getting as close as I possible could, but it still couldn't figure out that I had arrived.

 

Now I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out on electronics, but this is a peculiar case... I'm guessing its either a software bug (i.e. lowrance programmed the thing to trigger an arrival at 0.00 feet from the waypoint, which is nearly impossible!), or I'm doing something wrong... do I keep walking further out?

 

I sent my problem to Lowrance TS and hope they can figure this one out, but for now...

 

I'm comparing this feature to Garmin's tracback which seems to work by triggering an arrival once the heading pointer exceeds 90 degrees perpendicular to your path.

Edited June 26, 2004 by vw_ev

[gm100guy]

I went and checked the manual and it metions about pushing exit when your arrival alarm going off when you get to the waypoint. You need to push the exit key and it then goes to the next waypoint.

 

I find with all gps's that I have used I don't use the auto feature but just follow the plotted trail on the screen to backtrack.

And sometimes instead of a waypoint I add a icon for features that I want remember on my return and use for reference..

 

Edited June 26, 2004 by gm100guy

[+Tahoe Skier5000]

Interesting indeed.... My arrival alarm is actually turned off; I did so when I got the unit. I'm wondering if maybe thats where the bug is... Anyone else want to confirm?

[kb9nvh]

Interesting indeed.... My arrival alarm is actually turned off; I did so when I got the unit. I'm wondering if maybe thats where the bug is... Anyone else want to confirm?

Hey, I was checking out the ifinder and now see that it includes a waterproof version. Also, the pro model and waterproof model have a bigger and higher resolution screen. Which one did you get?

[+Tahoe Skier5000]

Interesting indeed.... My arrival alarm is actually turned off; I did so when I got the unit. I'm wondering if maybe thats where the bug is... Anyone else want to confirm?

Hey, I was checking out the ifinder and now see that it includes a waterproof version. Also, the pro model and waterproof model have a bigger and higher resolution screen. Which one did you get?

I have the basic iFinder (screen resolution 160x120)

[+khb8468]

I have the arrival alarms turned on, and I was initially bothered that the alarm would trigger too soon. I'd be backtracking, the alarm would go off, I'd hit exit, and it would be pointing me to waypoint 2 when I was still 500 feet from waypoint 1. Maybe not a problem going down I-80, but certainly not good deep in the woods. This, I discovered, is easily fixed by changing the distance for the arrival alarm. It defaults to something like 0.1 miles, and I just reduced it. It has been working fine since then.

 

I'm planning to be out tomorrow, so I'll try turning off the alarm to see if I can replicate your experience.

[+Tahoe Skier5000]

I have the arrival alarms turned on, and I was initially bothered that the alarm would trigger too soon. I'd be backtracking, the alarm would go off, I'd hit exit, and it would be pointing me to waypoint 2 when I was still 500 feet from waypoint 1. Maybe not a problem going down I-80, but certainly not good deep in the woods. This, I discovered, is easily fixed by changing the distance for the arrival alarm. It defaults to something like 0.1 miles, and I just reduced it. It has been working fine since then.

 

I'm planning to be out tomorrow, so I'll try turning off the alarm to see if I can replicate your experience.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing your story.

[+khb8468]

I took the iFinder out today and tried to replicate the problem you were having. I could not. I turned off the arrival alarm and went out walking. After about a mile, I had it navigate the trail (first selecting Reverse Trail). As I walked along the trail (using the navigation page), the iFinder identified which point on the trail I was heading toward. When I got close to the point (within about 50 feet), the iFinder would automatically switch (without popping up the alarm), to the next point on the route. This continued back to the starting point. The only thing I can think of, unless there's some problem with your unit, is that you have the arrival distance set very low. I have mine set to .01 miles, or about 50 feet. What is yours set at? Since you said you turned the alarms off, I wondered if you might have also set the arrival distance to 0.0?

 

Good luck!

[+Tahoe Skier5000]

I took the iFinder out today and tried to replicate the problem you were having. I could not. I turned off the arrival alarm and went out walking. After about a mile, I had it navigate the trail (first selecting Reverse Trail). As I walked along the trail (using the navigation page), the iFinder identified which point on the trail I was heading toward. When I got close to the point (within about 50 feet), the iFinder would automatically switch (without popping up the alarm), to the next point on the route. This continued back to the starting point. The only thing I can think of, unless there's some problem with your unit, is that you have the arrival distance set very low. I have mine set to .01 miles, or about 50 feet. What is yours set at? Since you said you turned the alarms off, I wondered if you might have also set the arrival distance to 0.0?

 

Good luck!

I know where I screwed up... I didn't select reverse route. Therefore, the GPS was, and should have been pointing me towards the first waypoint since that was the destination.

 

Sweet, so now everything works perfectly on it.

 

Thanks for the help

[+khb8468]

Great! And thanks for your advice on getting this unit. I was debating between a few different units, and your comments enticed me to try this one. It was a great choice.