What GPS do you use? in Technical Forum

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What GPS do you use?

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Thermsd	What GPS do you use?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 33 Jan 23 12 10:02 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : gps, tracking I am new Catrike owner and am finding myself venturing further from home with each ride. I want to track my rides and map them, just for my own amusement. I am not into heart rate monitors and being an old fart cadence is not an issue either. I am looking for accurate tracking , mapping, speed and distance. I live in Central Florida so mountains and canyons are not an issue but many of the trails have tree coverage. I have tried using a couple of GPS tracking programs with my smartphone with spotty success, mostly they ran my battery down faster and sometimes managed to capture the entire route. I am considering a mounted GPS unit, my LBS carries a few of them with a very wide range of costs. Finding a place to mount it is not an issue, that topic is well covered in this forum((thanks to all). I have also found other threads that covered this topic but with new GPS units emerging all the time I would like some feedback about the newer models. I would like to say that cost is not an issue but in reality it always is, I will pay what is needed to get the desired result and not have to worry about having issues with it in the future. What I am looking for is: What GPS unit do you use? What Manufacturer? Effects tree coverage? Battery life, will it last for a 100 mile ride? Does it interface with a software package (installed or online)? Any other information you feel appropriate that will aid me in making a decision would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much.. Rich Epps CTE2158
Cunobelin		#1	[-]
Posts: 251 Jan 23 12 10:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Garmin Edge series is excellent and works well with Catrikes. The Cadence sensor also works well. I have never had a problem with lost signal on normal roads including normal tree cover, and some remote areas like the forested areas of the Scottish Highlands. Battery life is in hours rather than miles, and I have done centuries with mine, without issue. The ife has been 11 hours, but you can extend this with many of the USB based battery extenders Software is an issue (or not) as the Garmin Training Centre is not popular.There are though lots of others both for MAC and Windows based systems for the training analysis elements. If you want to simply plan and download routes for review the Garmin Basecamp is reasonable. You can also use any of the online planners to create routes.
Oldfrt		#2	[-]
Posts: 224 Jan 23 12 3:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I got a Garmin Dakota 20 late last year, I havn't used it much but it seems very accurate and easy to use. The base map is not very good so I added the city maps by download on to a 8 gig flash card, I plan on getting a terrain map on CD so I can get the routing software to lay out routes. The batteries last about 8 hours on 2 regular AA's, I usualy carry four in my seat bag for lights. The screen is reasonably easy to read in the bright sunlight and can be adjusted for brightness. I ordered two bike mounts so I can mount it on either bike, in the car or while walking, it has multiple profiles and they can be tweeked to your preferences. It is about as big as a cellphone but twice as fat.
flyjets		#3	[-]
Posts: 179 Jan 25 12 3:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	http://connect.garmin.com...activity/embed/142994970 Look at the above link to see the kind of detail the Garmin Edge uploads. If you click view detail you will see more detail also push player to be blown away. Ian
Thermsd		#4	[-]
Posts: 33 Jan 25 12 6:34 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Flyjets, thanks so very much for that link, I am blown away at the detail and the player feature. I greatly appreciate it.
KirkCTR537		#5	[-]
Posts: 787 Jan 29 12 9:01 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've used the Garmin Edge 705 and then an 800 for several years. Even a 3000 mile cross continent ride this last Summer.Their software is nothing to write home about but there is plenty of third party stuff out there. Other then that they are pretty good machines. CTR - 537 Yellow Road CT7 - 538 Candy Blue 700 CTE - 539 Bengal Red Expedition CTE - 2259 Candy Purple Expedition
noses		#6	[-]
Posts: 32 Feb 27 12 5:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Garmin GPSmap 62s Battery life isn't a problem because they can be replaced. And how should we know how long it takes you to trade 100 miles? 8-) On a 40 hours ride I usually chew up three sets of batteries but I'm wasting a lot of energy keeping the light on during the night. eTrex would be an alternative (if a stamp sized display is large enough for you). I've tried an Oregon but the touch sensitive display is annoying if the light is coming in at the wrong angle (this may have been improved on the Montana series but who wants a brick that size?). The eTrex Vista didn't support all the map features I want (like having a lot of gmapsupp.img files I can activate as needed, e. g. to find the nearest bank to take a quick nap). Edge are toys with their built-in batteries that cannot be replaced and their routing abilities are abysmal. Buttons tend to be the better choice for me; it's easy to mess things up wearing gloves using a touch display but entering text using the buttons is no fun at all so you better add all the waypoints you might need at home as looking up an address and finding a route to it might take you a few minutes (it's easier to look for a point on a map and tell the device "take me there without discussions"). A few times I had to rely on Garmin's routing on a Topo map (which once took me across a cemetery at night – mind you, they are a bit different in Europe – when I asked it for the shortest route to the next station) and the results were not even close to "good". If you need it to find your way home in an emergency you might be better of buying a pigeon.
swisstrike		#7	[-]
Posts: 181 Mar 7 12 9:32 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I am old fashioned I ride with maps I use the GPS in the cell phone when really lost or when I need tricky directions On my 900 miles tour around florida I have used it a few times to locate hotels, gas stations, .. Maybe used it for a total of 20miles to get me to specific places
FatCat 700 007	iPhone with iBike	#8	[-]
Posts: 132 Mar 7 12 9:37 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I use my iPhone in the iBike. It turns the phone into one hellava GPS and bike computer. You can also save your rids as KML files and track all thos ANT+ sensors.
Cunobelin		#9	[-]
Posts: 251 Mar 13 12 1:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The biggest choice factor is journey length, or rather time. GPS on Smartphones eats batteries, and shortens life dramatically. They are only good for a couple of hours. Dedicated GPS like the Edge will last 8 or 10 hours. Both lives can be lengthened by the use of "packs" such as the PowerMonkey Apart from that it will be looking at position on the bike, screen size and readability. SOme will be easier to see than others. For instance you can get screens twice the size of the Edge if that is what you want. As posted elsewhere I use an Optima mount on the headset which is superb for visbility of the unit.
blufloyd		#10	[-]
Posts: 137 Apr 16 12 10:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ok unboxed the refurb 705 and fiddling with installs and mounts. It is obvious the cadence feature is not going to work right? Other than that any other bugs I need to know starting out? Maybe I should of just got a mount for the 76s?
hubzone		#11	[-]
Posts: 74 Apr 17 12 5:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I use a Garmin 605, Sometimes I will use my Andriod Verson of Map my Ride (iPhone app is better). The battery on the Garmin last forever.
blufloyd		#12	[-]
Posts: 137 Apr 17 12 6:28 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Stuck a bell computer on just cause I could I think... Be fun comparing the 2 in the morning...
Gator 7012		#13	[-]
Posts: 184 Apr 20 12 5:17 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'll use my Iphone.
rbarrett328		#14	[-]
Posts: 25 Apr 20 12 6:36 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I have been using a MOTOACTV GPS from Motorola. It has a few bugs but, overall, I like it. The MOTOACTV has some interesting features and a really nice color screen. The bike mount isn't included and cost $30.
Oldfrt		#15	[-]
Posts: 224 Apr 22 12 6:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I set up my Garmin Dakota 20 today with fresh AA alkalyne batteries for a ride. The ride lasted about 4.5 hours, the batteries indicated a near 75% charge (1 light of 4 went out). I used it excusevely for the map during the ride since I installed the route instead of using a route sheet. I have the backlight set low and it was easier to see it in bright sunlight than in the shade.
swisstrike		#16	[-]
Posts: 181 Apr 27 12 7:25 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	FatCat 700 007 wrote: I use my iPhone in the iBike. It turns the phone into one hellava GPS and bike computer. You can also save your rids as KML files and track all thos ANT+ sensors. Nice to see I am not the only Ibike user out there. Orderd my newton can't wait to get hold of it. It seems to be a terrific unit
billesbach		#17	[-]
Posts: 261 May 5 12 9:45 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I've just started using the free GPS program and service from Strava.com on my iPhone with the RAM iPhone mount. Check out the Strava web site to see all of the nice stats and history that it keeps for you. I particularly like the fact that I can upload my data directly from my iPhone at the end of the ride without having to connect the phone to my computer.
Dubeast		#18	[-]
Posts: 63 May 6 12 6:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I"m using a Garmin Edge 705 and like it but the cadence sensor has gone screwy... for some reason it starts out accurate but at some point it always ends up doubling the cadence. There's no way I'm hitting 150-160 cadence =P I'll replace the battery this week to see if that helps but has anyone else seen this on their Edge?
blufloyd		#19	[-]
Posts: 137 May 6 12 7:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I can't even figure out where cadence is on mine. I am still thinking it was a high dollar mistake. Anybody wants it for what I paid for it let me know...

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