Electronic Compass Settings on 60csx and vista hcx

[+Wanderer7]

Can anyone help me with the compass settings on my 60 csx and Vista HCX? They are both on default settings right now.

 

My issue is that when geocaching and navigating to a cache using the compass page, the compass needle points in the wrong direction about 50% of the time. I have recalibrated both several times, this doesn't help much.

 

I end up having to use the map page to ensure I'm headed in the proper direction.

 

I have used both a Vista Cx and 60 CS in the past, and those compasses worked perfectly 100% of the time. My conclusion is that the high sensitivity compasses on the 60 csx and Vista HCX somehow need to be set up differently.

 

My 60Csx developed an unrelated problem a few months back and was replaced by Garmin. The replacement unit has the same compass problem as my original unit.

 

In frustration I bought the Vista HCX....same problem again. The compass will point to the opposite direction, even though the distance readout is correct.

 

Help?

[+julianh]

How far are you from the cache when the compass starts to spin wildly? On my Summit HC, I get a really good direction indication until I am about 10 metres from the GZ, and then it can go a bit haywire. I believe this is because at very short range, your calculated GPS location can be jumping around by a metre or so every second, and every "virtual jump" (i.e. your calculated location changes, but you are actually standing still) results in a possible change in bearing and distance to your target. These effects are negligible when more than 10 metres or so from GZ. I have never seen my magnetic compass point the wrong way altogether when I am some distance from the cache, unless I hold it incorrectly. (Have to hold the unit level for the magnetic compass to work.)

 

What speed do you have set up to switch to magnetic compass? I have mine set so that at 5 km/hr or more I am using the "GPS compass", but switch to magnetic compass when below 5 km/hr. This means that when driving or walking purposefully along a track, I am just using the GPS to compute my direction of travel, but when standing still or moving slowly, I use the magnetic compass. This setup works great for me.

 

Also, check the time delay that you have set before the GPSr switches over from the "GPS direction" indicator to the magnetic compass. I have it set for 30 seconds. This means that I have to wait 30 seconds after slowing down before the magnetic compass switches on, and for the first 30 seconds that I am stationary (or travelling very slowly), I have no compass at all, because the "GPS direction" indicator is useless when stationary and at extremely low speeds.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited March 19, 2008 by julianh

[gallet]

http://gpsinformation.net/main/gpsbearing.htm