Tech Problems With Garmin Etrex Vista

[Walybird]

I've been fooling around with a garmin etrex vista gps unit for almost a year, around lengthy cancer treatments, and can not get it to work beyond telling me where I happen to be at the moment...and certainly not interfacing with uploaded topo data.

 

My husband and I have used gps (Garmin, Apollo, Lowrance) in aviation for years, both professionally and in Search and Rescue. We "get" gps and wanted to use this for geocaching and hiking.

 

This etrex has been a disapointing, frustrating failure from the day we got it.

I'm looking for somebody willing to help us with it, even for a price. Talking directly to Garmin didn't help. I have a Lowrance with an aviation chip and am considering getting the land chip and selling the Garmin for a bargain price....any experiences with Lowrance?

 

Can you direct me to anybody, particularly in the Reno/Tahoe/Northern California area, that I could talk to who might understand some of the connection (to laptop) problems and upload of either mapsource or NG TOPO data. I'm sure if we could once see it done, it would no longer be a mystery. I would be willing to travel to meet with a person with the proper expertise, and heck, pay them or at least buy them dinner.

 

I will appreciate hearing from anybody

 

thanks

 

Cindy Ryan

Reno, NV

775.853.4057

walybird@sbcglobal.net

[+New England n00b]

Well, you might try the regional forum as well.

 

I might guess that you are using a serial port connection though, and you can't see the Garmin. Try making sure that the Comm Port the serial port on your laptop is actually COM1, and that COM1 is not being used by another device, such as an internal modem or some such. If COM1 is free, and the Garmin software is set to COM1, then I dunno...

[+NightPilot]

Well, you can stop wasting your time with NG Topo. No GPS that I know of takes maps from other than its own proprietary software. Mapsource should work, if you buy the maps from Garmin. Maps you have lying around or that come from other companies just won't work. Lowrance GPSrs don't get mentioned very often, so one must assume they aren't used very often. Perhaps there is a reason.

 

What specific problems are you having?

[+wvcoalcat]

I started with a Garmin 12XL and all was fine with Mapsource and Terrain Navigator. When I upgraded to a Vista, the mapping programs wouldn't recognize the new unit.

I downloaded (free) the updated Mapsource (v6.3) and Terrain Navigator (v6.03).

This helped me, but without knowing more specifics I can't guess if it'll help your situation.

[+briansnat]

What are the actual problems? I have a Vista and its an excellent unit. Very easy to use and it works with my PC quite well. I use Mapsource Topo and have no problem uploading the maps.

[+welch]

Might try Nevada geocaching and see if they can help find you a mentor.

 

Have you been able to send/receive anything from the vista? (like routes or waypoints)

 

e/

if you can't find someone close, you could also try posting your questions in the forum. Of course that not quite as good as being right there to show you

Edited December 20, 2004 by welch

[+briansnat]

Have you been able to send/receive anything from the vista? (like routes or waypoints)

 

If you can't send anything, check to see if something else is using your Com port. If you have a Palm Desktop and your Hotsync is enabled, this could cause a problem. Close the Hotsync and see what happens.

[+Kai Team]

I have an eTrex Vista and it works great - I've never had a problem with uploading or downloading. I'd be happy to help you, as will many others here, but you have to post your specific problem or symptoms, e.g.:

• What are you trying to download - waypoints, routes or maps?
  
• Mapsource is a Garmin brand name, with several products, e.g. Metroguide, CitySelect, Topo. What product are you using? What version?
  
• What steps are you following to download the data?
  
• What happens when you try - i.e. error messages, etc.
  

Without the specifics, the best I can suggest is that you read the relevant portions of the Vista manual. If you don't have the paper copy that comes with the unit, you can get it at the Garmin Website (click here). The manual has very useful information about setting up the unit for downloading and uploading. If it doesn't help, return here and post specific information!

[+Markwell]

Going to move this to the GPS Units and Software forum where there might be a better response.

[+Blaidd-Drwg]

I agree with Kai Team. I've used a Vista for over a year now and have had few problems. If you can explain exactly what you want to do, I bet many of the forum readers can help.

[Neo_Geo]

You can find a MapSource Tutorial video by CLICKING HERE. As was mentioned earlier, you need to use MapSource products to load maps INTO the Vista.

 

If you want to hook it up to the computer and download tracks and see them displayed on the computer against aerial photos or topo maps, then the Vista can do that too (check out USAPhotoMaps).

[+johnnyspud]

Have you been able to send/receive anything from the vista? (like routes or waypoints)

 

If you can't send anything, check to see if something else is using your Com port. If you have a Palm Desktop and your Hotsync is enabled, this could cause a problem. Close the Hotsync and see what happens.

I read this post after I was having problems with my e-trex not talking to my desktop via the serial port.

 

Disabled my palm Hotsync manager and Voila! Hotsync manager was reserving my serial port even though I sync through USB.

 

Thanks much!!

[+jrhoffman]

From the TOPO! website FAQ

 

GPS Troubleshooting - PC

 

GPS and COM port won’t communicate and I have used a Palm Pilot on my computer

Do you have a Palm Pilot? If so, locate the "Hot Sync" icon at the bottom right of your desktop screen and right click on the icon. In the pop-up window that opens, find either the “General” or “Settings” tab. Find and select the setting that enables the Hot Sync feature to run only when the Palm Pilot is running (rather than the default setting to not run continuously).

 

Until you have changed this setting, the Palm Pilot controls the COM port continuously. Adjusting this setting will free up the COM port for use by other applications (such as TOPO!) and should eliminate this error. If you continue to have trouble, send an e-mail with your name, e-mail address, and a comment about the technical issue you are experiencing to the TOPO! help desk at topo@ngs.org.