Garmin Vista deaf as a post

Qwerty <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Hi ,
I've recently bought a vista but every time i whip it out for a quick
fix it hasn't got a clue. A mate of mine has got some sort of PDA and
he reckons it works in his house ! He got rid of his Garmin because it
seemed a bit deaf. I now put it in the lid pocket of my rucky so it can
see most of the sky. I can appreciate the path loss twix satellite and
humble me and I've only a tiny antenna but are they all this bad ?

Mine isn't! I can usually get a fix on the window sill if the
satellites are in the right part of the sky, but they aren't designed
for indoor use. :-)
Have you got it set on 'Battery Save'?
Have you got any batteries in it?!
Good.

Has it got a clear view of the sky? How many satellites is it picking
up, (if any)?
--
Gordon Harris

Qwerty said:

Hi ,
I've recently bought a vista but every time i whip it out for a quick
fix it hasn't got a clue. A mate of mine has got some sort of PDA and he
reckons it works in his house ! He got rid of his Garmin because it
seemed a bit deaf. I now put it in the lid pocket of my rucky so it can
see most of the sky. I can appreciate the path loss twix satellite and
humble me and I've only a tiny antenna but are they all this bad ?

tks,

Here are a number of suggestions, from a very satisfied Vista user
(with perfect tracklogs from all over UK, Europe and Africa to prove
it).

1. Be aware that the patch antenna of the Vista works best almost
horizontal, ie the Vista should be almost flat on its back with the
Etrex logo pointing towards to sky.

2. In poor conditions (canyons etc or under heavy tree cover), watch
the 'satellite' page which will show you how good the signal is, and
allow you to orient it for best reception.

3. Be aware that the Vista (and lots of other gps) take ages to get
an initial fix, and may never do so in a poor signal area, especially
if on the move. This applies in spades if the thing has moved some
distance (ie lots of miles) since the last time it had lock, or if
some time has elapsed since the last lock.

4. Humans get in the way of gps - ie if you hold it close to you, and
bend your head over it, it can't see any satellites. Check this using
2. above.

To put this all the other way round ... I get perfect tracks by

1. turning on the gps before I start walking, and leaving it alone
with a good view of the sky until it locks on.

2. carrying it horizontal in an elastic loop on one shoulder strap
of my rucksack, from where I can reach it if required. On my hat
would be good if I wore one !

3. not using 'battery save' mode.

HTH

Jim Hutton

Qwerty said:

I've recently bought a vista but every time i whip it out for a quick
fix it hasn't got a clue.

A GPS is notoriously bad for getting a "quick fix". They work best when you
leave them switched on all the time (while you're out walking that is).

How long are you switching it on for? You may have to wait a few minutes.
The further you've moved from where you last had a fix, the longer it will
take. Likewise, the longer it's been since you last used it the longer it
will take. If it's been a while since you used it and you've travelled a
long way, it can take ages to get a fix. When I bought my latest GPS, I
think it took maybe 10-15 minutes to figure out where in the world it was!

And that was with a clear view of the sky! As Jim said, with a poor view it
may not have got a fix at all.

Go somewhere with a clear sky view and turn it on. Wait... Then keep
waiting, it may take a while. :-)

The more often you use it, the quicker it'll get a fix.

Paul

Paul Saunders said:

Qwerty said:

I've recently bought a vista but every time i whip it out for a quick
fix it hasn't got a clue.

A GPS is notoriously bad for getting a "quick fix". They work best when you
leave them switched on all the time (while you're out walking that is).

How long are you switching it on for? You may have to wait a few minutes.
The further you've moved from where you last had a fix, the longer it will
take. Likewise, the longer it's been since you last used it the longer it
will take. If it's been a while since you used it and you've travelled a
long way, it can take ages to get a fix. When I bought my latest GPS, I
think it took maybe 10-15 minutes to figure out where in the world it was!

And that was with a clear view of the sky! As Jim said, with a poor view it
may not have got a fix at all.

Go somewhere with a clear sky view and turn it on. Wait... Then keep
waiting, it may take a while. :-)

The more often you use it, the quicker it'll get a fix.

Incidentally today I cycled in to work, and carried my 60csx *inside*
my ruck sack whilst recording a track. I haven't looked at the track
in detail yet, but a quick glance doesn't suggest any problems, which I
was really pleased with. The route I take is mostly off road and in
some cases, well quite a lot of cases, surrounded by woodland. So the
fact that the 60csx was inside the walls of my rucksack, albeit on the
top, and the route I cycled being surrounded by woodland, that makes
for some good performance.

Dundonald said:

Incidentally today I cycled in to work, and carried my 60csx *inside*
my ruck sack whilst recording a track.

I've recorded tracks inside a rucksack pocket with my GPS12 in the past, and
I recorded many tracks inside a padded mobile phone pouch too. Also inside
my padded camera case on some occasions.

Paul

Paul Saunders said:

Dundonald said:

Incidentally today I cycled in to work, and carried my 60csx *inside*
my ruck sack whilst recording a track.

I've recorded tracks inside a rucksack pocket with my GPS12 in the past, and
I recorded many tracks inside a padded mobile phone pouch too. Also inside
my padded camera case on some occasions.

Paul

My Legend certainly records tracks in the boot of my car. I've
forgotten to switch it off more than once and had a big surprise when
I downloaded it into Ozi.

Brian

(For email change closed to open)

Paul Saunders said:

A GPS is notoriously bad for getting a "quick fix". They work best when you
leave them switched on all the time (while you're out walking that is).

Agree with Paul...

When putting my boots on, I place the GPS on the car roof, this (so
far) has enabled the GPS to get a good fix. For the rest of the walk
it doesn't really matter whether the GPS is mounted with a good view of
the sky or not.

The only issue I've had was when descending Souther Fell on the way
back to the car, the condensation (going from very cool top to
sheltered sunny conditions (GPS was in inner jacket pocket)) coupled
with low batteries caused spurious recordings.

David.

In article <[email hidden]>,
214Fells <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

When putting my boots on, I place the GPS on the car roof, this (so
far) has enabled the GPS to get a good fix. For the rest of the walk
it doesn't really matter whether the GPS is mounted with a good view of
the sky or not.

Likewise with the exception that I used to carry my GPS 12 on my belt
and lost several chunks of track. Since carrying it on the shoulder
strap of my rucksack - no points lost at all.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

Qwerty said:

Hi ,
I've recently bought a vista but every time i whip it out for a quick
fix it hasn't got a clue. A mate of mine has got some sort of PDA and he
reckons it works in his house ! He got rid of his Garmin because it
seemed a bit deaf. I now put it in the lid pocket of my rucky so it can
see most of the sky. I can appreciate the path loss twix satellite and
humble me and I've only a tiny antenna but are they all this bad ?

tks,

Thanks for the advice. I do keep it switched on all the time but
whenever I pulled it out of my pocket is said "Unable to track satellite
<ENT>". It doesn't like being anywhere unless it is completely
unobscured. I've now got the case for it which has a belt clip so I'll
try it on a rucksack strap where I can also grab it easier.

hi ,
Doing a bit of surfing reveals the following :
from http://www.gpsinformation.net/etrexlegend.htm

What about RF sensitivity and use under tree cover?
We noticed in comparative testing that our test LEGEND unit seemed to be
somewhat less sensitive than some other Garmin receivers, because the
Legend and Vista have smaller antennas than say the GPSmap 76(S) and G-V
with which we compared. Perhaps Garmin has further improved the noise
figure in the newest receivers. Experiments under tree cover show all
the eTrex models to have more reception problems than other Garmin
receivers. Data scatter due to trees is about the same.

The newer models have a stub antenna sticking out the top so maybe
Garmin are aware of the marginal performance of the current antenna.

regards ,

Qwerty said:

Qwerty said:

Hi ,
I've recently bought a vista but every time i whip it out for a quick
fix it hasn't got a clue. A mate of mine has got some sort of PDA and
he reckons it works in his house ! He got rid of his Garmin because it
seemed a bit deaf. I now put it in the lid pocket of my rucky so it
can see most of the sky. I can appreciate the path loss twix satellite
and humble me and I've only a tiny antenna but are they all this bad ?

tks,

Thanks for the advice. I do keep it switched on all the time but
whenever I pulled it out of my pocket is said "Unable to track satellite
<ENT>". It doesn't like being anywhere unless it is completely
unobscured. I've now got the case for it which has a belt clip so I'll
try it on a rucksack strap where I can also grab it easier.

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the wonderful person
Qwerty <[email hidden]> said

Quoted message said:

hi ,
Doing a bit of surfing reveals the following :
from http://www.gpsinformation.net/etrexlegend.htm

What about RF sensitivity and use under tree cover?
We noticed in comparative testing that our test LEGEND unit seemed to
be somewhat less sensitive than some other Garmin receivers, because
the Legend and Vista have smaller antennas than say the GPSmap 76(S)
and G-V with which we compared. Perhaps Garmin has further improved
the noise figure in the newest receivers. Experiments under tree cover
show all the eTrex models to have more reception problems than other
Garmin receivers. Data scatter due to trees is about the same.

The newer models have a stub antenna sticking out the top so maybe
Garmin are aware of the marginal performance of the current antenna.

The antenna isn't the big issue, cr&ppy electronics is the big issue.
The new Colour eTrex models are reckoned to do pretty well, using the
same patch antenna (but you HAVE to have the patch antenna facing
upwards .. hanging from the belt won't work).

From experience, the 60C is about 10x as good as the B&W eTrex models,
but the 'Colour eTrex are supposed to almost equal it. The new 60/76 'x'
models with the Sirf chipset are even better still.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Advert:
My (European model) Garmin 60C GPS is currently available for purchase via
amazon.co.uk. £240 (and falling)..

Qwerty <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the advice. I do keep it switched on all the time but
whenever I pulled it out of my pocket is said "Unable to track
satellite <ENT>". It doesn't like being anywhere unless it is
completely unobscured. I've now got the case for it which has a belt
clip so I'll try it on a rucksack strap where I can also grab it easier.

In those circumstances switching off and on again might help to obtain a
fix. It seems to work that way in my experience.
--
Gordon Harris