| Tips & tricks for using the Garmin etrex vista hcx hand held gps receiver. |
| Sunday, 04 November 2007 | |
 Since shortly,i have a Garmin etrex vista hcx
hand held
gps receiver.After my Magellan explorist 210 broke down completely, i decided not to get a magellan again. I am somewhat dissapointed in the mechanical strength of the magellan device, thats one reason. Another reason was Garmin has now the hcx version in its Etrex series which has a new chip that is much more sensitive. (I now receive over 6 satelites in our basement situated apartment, which with the magelan i was happy if i had one...) And.. it gives me the opportunity to be able to use the other brand. I started with setting up the device for my needs right away and soon found out that a lot of things can be done in a lot of different ways. As it was quit some work to find out how to use the device to fit my needs, i've written down what i did in order for others to maybe profit of it. Goals :
1.1 Have available thousands of geocaches in the device at all time and being able to easy uopdate it via GSAK, the geocache manager i use. 1.4 Having all the extra waypoints like trailheads an parkings spaces available in the gps Having the complete! hint text available in the gps 1.5 There is a geocache function available in the garmin. it however does only support a maximum of 1000 caches. and the room for text is too small especially if you want (like me ) to have the hint tekst in to it. I use GSAK for managing my geocaches on my laptop but i do not upload the Geocaches via the standard method to my Garmin GPS.. For me a better solution is using a macro called GarminCsvPoiExport.gsk in GSAK made by Rene Boe (alias "ProsperoDK") and downloadable at the GSAK discussionboard together with GSAK This macros exports csv files wich can be downloaded to the garmin as "Custom points" You can have as many custom points in the garmin as your sd card memory permits! I downloaded and installed the Poi Loader provided for free by garmin to upload "Custom Points" to my GPS. In this way i can have all (at this moment 1750 ) caches available in my gps Together with the complete hint information. I have made a directory called MyCustomPois on my laptop and have the macro put all the geocache waypoints in there. The mentioned waypoint icons (from the article in the discussionboard) are also copied to that directory 1.2 Seeing symbols on the gps map representing the different geocache categories on zoomlevels i want them to see. The zoomlevels the waypoints on your garmin are still visible are settable in the setup "map setup points" screen of the garmin to get to that setup screen; press the MENU/FIND key twice, select setup, select map, go right with the ROCKER on the gpsdevice to select tab "Map setup Points" You can customize the Maximum zoom level the "Map Points" are still visible.    Here are some snapshots the first two from a 2km zoom so icons are somewhat cluttered (but it does give a nice view of the available waypoints in thatarea ) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Left, snapshot of a map page on my etrex vista with some found caches (smileys) ,some self placed caches (Medal) and an unsolved mistery cache (questionmark) Right you see a found cache (Smiley) with Waypoints for Parking (green P) some traditional caches (green boxes) and the waypoint to a trailhead (Walker in blue) Also you see at the right a reference point to a cache (white round ball with blue core) 
 Left a 120 m zoomlevel on a Traditional cache (green container) with a reference point (White round ball with blue core) projected in a topographic map on the garmin etrex vista hcx. Right the start of a multicache (at the arrow) projected on a topographic map wit a zoomlevel of 200m 1.3 Easily find the nearest geocaches relative to the place i am at that moment, sorted on type of cache (tradiitional / multi etc) To find at any given position the nearest caches in the area , press hand hold the MENU/FIND key to go into find mode and select "Custom Points of interest" You will get up a list of ALL custom points of interest near to the current position. Press menu and choose option "Select Database" (Notice that you also see the option change reference here. you can change the position here from where you want to find the nearest caches!) Now after pressing enter after select Database you can select out of all your different Custom Poi files you have uploaded. so for example file Traditional which holds all the traditional Caches. (plus the hint holders so thats why you see them twice ... or even 3 times if the hint is very long)     1.6 Finding out the most convenient way to route to a geocache by starting with road navigation and ending with point to point navigation and use of the compass. First make some settings in the Garmin Etrex Vista hcx in order to be able to follow examples below press MENU/FIND key twice to get into themain menu screen and press setup to get to the Setup Menu. Select Routed and change Follow Road method to "Prompted" press the QUIT/PAGE key to get back to The "Setup Menu" and select "Heading" for the "Heading Setup" menu. Here set the values Siwtch to compass heading when below 2km/h for more then 5 sec.   The example explain for the situation that you have cityselect or any other routable map of the area you are caching in loaded and topographical maps for that same area loaded. It is not "neccessary"to have these maps in order to follow the example. The basemap in the Garmin knows all the important roads and will "turn by turn" route you at least for the part of the "Main" roads from where you are to the cache. This means that you have to find yourself the way from the place you are to the neares "main road" and from the "main road" to the road nearest to the cache. So get a good paper map with you to assist you with that. The topographic maps help you to get to the cache the last mile. The part where you have to find yourself a footpath or whatever way to get to the cache where there is no "road" anymore to get you nearer. The topographic maps give more infomation about the environment like elevation lines, small lakes an rivers etc. They give you reference points by showing hunman built objects on the map in a high detail. All this so you have a better chance of not ending up some meters from a cache with a river or obstacle seperating you from it. First step, bike , walk or drive to a place near to the cache by route navigation. Find and select a cache and show it on the map to see if it has aditional waypoints like trailheads or parking spaces nearby. In the example shown below i select The cache Doomsday, show it on the map, see it has a trailhead. move the mouse pointer to the trailhead and press enter. I Read the text from the trailhead waypoint and select goto. then choose the option follow road to get a turn by turn route to the trailhead of the cache where (according to the information) you can also park.      Second step Navigate the last part to the cache with the compass. As soon as i have parked the car i can now switch over to the topographic map by switching off the city select map. this i do by going into the map setup page (see previous) and select, with the ROCKER The tab "Map setup information" Then select menu again and select hide CitySelect to hide ALL cityselect tiles at once) (Remember how you did this so you can switch the cityselect map on again when you want to route home after having found the cache.) The topographic map becomes visible on the screen. (if it is loaded in the gps for that area ofcourse) Select the cache press enter and then goto. The above selection screen between "Follow Road" and "Off Road" will come up again select "Off road" now. Select the compass page with the QUIT/PAGE key. Stand stil in order to get the built in magnetic compass to work. Hold the GPS completely horizontal with the front pointing from you. Now turn until the red needle of the compass is euqual to the top middle line. Now your gps compass is pointing into the exact direct line to the cache. In the right top field you can see the distance to the cache wich in this example is 232 meter. And the cache is located South West of the position from where your standing.  Get a line of sight and walk. (theres a white strip at the bottom of the garmin etrex vista hcs and a small white triangle at the top of the lcd screen which you can use to look over the device in order to get a good line of sight. Going to the cache in a straight line is in most of the cases not possible so with help of the topographic map / a paper map / eye sight you can searh yourself a way to get to the cache. As soon as you start walking the compass will switch off the built in magnetic compass and use the GPS to see what direction you are going. You do not have to keep it horizontal anymore to see the direction you are moving. As soon as you stop, and stand still for at least 5 seconds it will switch over to magnetic compass again. so you can turn into the right direction (if you do not want to wait 5 secons you can press and hold the QUIT/PAGE key in order to switch the magnetic compass on manually, you have to stands still though otherwise it will switch itself off again. As soon as you are close to the cache (within 10 to 20 meters) search for a place with open skies and no high cliffs / buildings right next to you etc. in order to have a good as possible sattelite reception. Allthough the etrex vista hcx is a very sensitive gps receiver which also in bad conditions like thick foliage / big buildings next to you will give you a good reading, it is allways a good idea to find the (reception wise) best possible place close to the cache to get its final direction. Now wait untill the built in magnetic compass is working again. turn until the compass is in the exact direction to the cache and count passes in order to cover the last meters to the cache. (repeat this step several times if neccecary) Good hunting! 2.1 Finding out the best way to navigate to a specific address (or actually a nearby parking area) Lets say you want to street navigate to the viking museum in Oslo Norway . First press and hold the MENU/FIND key to get into ythe find menu and choos the Addresses icon.   With the ROCKER key you can move through the different fields and then give in the address information. As the last field you fill in the streetname and while filling it in it will switch over to a select list. Select the one you want, in my case Huk and press ENTER This will present you with a match list ( in this case only one) from which you can choose. With the ROCKER switch select, then press ENTER.  You can.... now select "Go To" but....... Oslo is a big city and you will probably find no parkings space at that address. So ill explain the simplest way to find a parking area nearby. Select option Map and press ENTER to show the destination on the map.  From the map page press you can visually look for a place to park, move the mouse pointer there press ENTER en then choose GOTO to get a route to that place, OR.... Press and hold MENU/FIND key to get to the find menu ,.   Select the icon "Auto Services" Press shortly the MENU/FIND button and then choose "Select category" and press ENTER Now you get up the categories where you can select Parking. Press Enter to see a list of all the nearest Parking Areas.   Choose with the ROCKER one of the Parking Areas. On the bottom you can see how far the Parking Area is from the museum Choose one press ENTER an then select GOTO Choose Follow Road option and have the GPS calculate a turn by turn route to the Parking Space.  At the parkingspace go outside press and hold MENU/FIND to get into the find menu and select icon Recent finds. Select Huk Aveny 35 again (it should be the second option if you wollowed this demo) press ENTER and then select GOTO to let the gps guide you to the Museum. (If "Follow Road" navigation does not doe it for you select "Off road and with hep off the map on the gps navigate tour own way tot he viking museum . Now select the icon "Auto Services" Press shortly the MENU/FIND button and then choose "Select category" and press ENTER Now you get up the categories where you can select Parking. Press Enter to see a list of all the nearest Parking Areas. Being warned driving at a too high speed when close to known Speed Camera's Choose with the ROCKER one of the Parking Areas and press ENTER an then choos GOTO Choos Follow Road option and have the GPS calculate a turn by turn route to the Parking Space At the parkingspace go outside press and hold MENU/FIND to get into the find menu and select icon Recent finds. Select Huk Aveny 35 again (it should be the second option if you wollowed this demo) press ENTER and then select GOTO to let the gps guide you to the Museum. (If "Follow Road" navigation does not doe it for you select "Off road and with hep off the map on the gps navigate tour own way tot he viking museum . 2.2 Finding out the most ideal settings for the device in order to use it for turn by turn navigation. The following settings are my personal preferences in how I like the garmin to behave when in "Turn by Turn" navigation mode. In the default mode the device autozooms and it does not calculate for autorouting. So i want to swict autozooming off and put the Guidance mode from "Off Road" to prompted (i want to be able to choose for Off road when i am out of the car again and looking for a geocache, thats why i have it on prompted." The autozooming i want to switch off because i found it irritating that the map constantly zoomed out to the complete route during autorouting after having missed a turn and the unit recalulates the route.  Switch off autozoomingTwice press the MENU/FIND for the "Main menu". Use the ROCKER to select Setup and press ENTER. In the "Setup Menu" select the "Map" menu Press ENTER and then With the ROCKER select the "MAp Setup General" tab. Go down with the ROCKER and klick ENTER on the field Auto Zoom and switch it Off. Look at the picture on how i have set the rest of the settings. like "Orientation" Track up so you look at the map in the same way as the road before you, and it does this when zoomed in at least at a 5km level Lock on road is off here, you might consider switching it on.  Switch guidance Method from "Off Road" to "Prompted" Twice press the MENU/FIND key to get into the "Main menu". Then select with the ROCKER Setup press ENTER and then in the "Setup Menu" select with the ROCKER the "Routing" icon to get to the "Routing Setup" menu Set Guidance Method and Follow Road Method to "Prompted" select the button Follow Road options and press ENTER In the "Follow Road Options" I switched the "Calcualtion Method" to "Best Route" and have the device calculate routes for a Truch (i get beter results with that it puts me more on ongoing road instead offf small unpaved roads if possible.) These settins are very personal set them to your own needs. 2.3 Being warned driving at a too high speed when close to known Speed Camera's. The Garmin Etrex series support Proximity Alerts with attached speed warning possibility. Meaning it can warn you with a Alarm Sound when you are over a certain speed within a certain distance from a Point ofr interrest. That point of interest can be a speed camera a school a traffic light or whatever you want to be warned about. The easiest way to have these Points of Interrests is with GPX files. And the "Garmin POI Loader" any gpx file that you , with the help of the "Garmin POI Loader" upload to you GPS and that has a number in its name will have a speed/proximity alert functiioning. Speed Information This can be included in the file name or in the names of individual POIs within the file. POI Loader determines speed information based on the following information, listed from highest to lowest priority:
Proximity alert information This can be calculated automatically based on speed information. It can also be included in .gpx data files or added in Manual mode. POI Loader determines proximity alert information based on the following criteria, listed from highest to lowest priority:
If the file name contains "redlight", POI Loader assumes all records in the file have proximity alerts with a distance of 400m/0.25 miles. If a file contains "GATSO," "mobile," "SPECS," "safety," "speed," or "camera," but does not have a speed, POI Loader uses a default alert speed of 0, which means you will always be alerted. How do i to create these gpx files? It is easy just use mapsource for this Load in Waypoints you saved on your gps into Mapsource, creat waypoints from within Mapsource and save the waypoints as a gpx file, by means of the menu File / Save as / Save as type GPX format and give the file a name with the speed in it. For example if you have all the waypoints with speedcameras of 80kmh then save the waypoints as a gpxfile called fotocamera_80.gpx This file can then be uploaded to you gps with Garmin's Poi Loader and voila you will get a warning if your overspeeding. How do i get rid of the Standard Waypoint i allready put in? main menu/trip computer/left side option button//reset/ Can i use downloadable files on the internet which contain speedcam poi's and how do i convert them to gpx? Most files available for free on the internet come available in tomtom format (ov2) garmin format (gpi) comma delimited format (csv) To convert those files to gpx i use gpsbabel a free program that converts waypoints, tracks, and routes between popular GPS receivers. its a commandline utility but it comes with a gui that you can use for most of he conversions. What settings have to be made in the Garmin for Proximity and speed alert to work. For this you need the Proximity Alarms to be switched on and the tones belonging to the alarms chosen. Press twice the MENU/FIND key to get into the "Main Menu" and then select "Setup" and press ENTER to get into the "Setup Menu" . From the "Setup Menu choose the "Tones" Icon and press ENTER to get into the "Tones Setup"   In the "Tones Setuop screen take care mute is not selected. and use the ROCKER to select the button "Proximity Alarm Tones" to press ENTER on it. Here you can switch on the "Proximity Alarms" and choose tones for The different Alerts "The Proximity Alarm Beep" is the alert tone that goes of if you are OVER the speed within the proximity of a Custom Point that has proximity alarm, set up. Safe Driving! |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 09 December 2007 ) |
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