How do you use GPS for navigation?

[Ham]

To convert a track into just about any format known to man (and reduce the points along the way if needed) _ gpsies.com is the way to go.

[Somnolent]

Vista HCx + OSM
3a + 7

[PloddinPedro]

Basically method 6 for me. Load a plain Track (or Tracks if a longer ride - I prefer a "rich and detailed" Track rather than a heavily filtered one, so as the Garmin is limited to 500 trackpoints per Track, I'll often use several Tracks rather than just one long "thin" one. They can all be activated simultaneously so appear as an unbroken journey. Or I can turn off specific sections if there's any "figure-of-eight" nonsense which could confuse things.)

I generally use a Map62 or a Montana. Both of these can "navigate" a Track. In "Follow road" mode they will give me progress data such as Time or Distance to Destination, though there's no "Off Route" warnings or turn-by-turn pop-ups, but I find the latter more trouble than they're worth.

I also put in User Waypoints for Controls and Infos, and attach Proximity Alerts, to the Infos especially, so I don't go sailing past them in a daydream!

Map62, Montana, City Navigator (Topo in the Map62) plus OS card for optional detail. Plus Edge 705 for backup.

[andygates]

High-detail routing hasn't - for me - repaid the effort with any bonus over low detail. 

I mostly use the GPS as a live map, and use my route sheet (or general intent).  This was how I did LEJOG, because with a little trick - nudge the joystick so the map freezes - it's incredibly battery-efficient.  Route precision mattered little and was often changed ad hoc ("this looks pretty" or "that looks hilly!").

If I use waypoints, they'll be pretty minimal: just start, finish, gotcha's like blind turns, and a handful of town centres. 

In the car I'll use full twatnav turn-by-turn mode.  Driving is about the destination; cycling is about the journey.

[Kim]

High-detail routing hasn't - for me - repaid the effort with any bonus over low detail. 

I mostly use the GPS as a live map, and use my route sheet (or general intent).

Yeah, I do tend to use the GPS (with sufficient homework) as an alternative to a route sheet.  In the absence of somewhere sensible to mount one, route sheets are a liability given my uncanny ability to mangle numbers and place names in short-term memory.

If I'm not following a specific route, it'll be a couple of waypoints (mainly for quickly finding on the map, rather than navigating to) and live map mode.  Or I'll ignore the GPS entirely and it'll be along for the ride as a data logger.

[PloddinPedro]

................... with a little trick - nudge the joystick so the map freezes - it's incredibly battery-efficient. .....................

That sounds clever - are you talking about an Edge 705?

And is it that freezing the map screen in panning mode is cheaper on power than leaving the map rolling or actually cheaper than any other mode e.g. the Trip Log/data screen?

[frankly frankie]

People have been known to ride around in that mode for weeks on end saying "my GPS is broken" 

... I prefer a "rich and detailed" Track rather than a heavily filtered one, so as the Garmin is limited to 500 trackpoints per Track, I'll often use several Tracks rather than just one long "thin" one. ...
I generally use a Map62 or a Montana. ... Plus Edge 705 for backup.

I could be wrong, but I think all three models you mention don't have the 500 points limitation.

[Glover Fan]

I'm very rigidly stuck in the 6 camp. For both audaxes and general rides as I don't know the area very well.

Advantages: I never get "lost".

Disadvantages: Plotting a route on a google based map is great, but it doesn't give you an idea of hills. So you can end up doing hillier rides than you may have wanted.

Use a Garmin Edge 705

[Jaded]

BikeHike will show you elevation if you want.

[andrew_s]

1 mostly, with 4 for times when I'm somewhere strange and don't want to stop and check a map too often.

When on tour it's easy enough to enter the waypoints for 4 straight into the GPS (60CSx or Vista HCx) from a 1:250k or 1:400k map in the morning, or to change a route mid-ride. Any time you are auto-routing, you've got to keep a sanity check on where you are going and be prepared to ignore the instructions.

[Ningishzidda]

I'm very rigidly stuck in the 6 camp. For both audaxes and general rides as I don't know the area very well.

Advantages: I never get "lost".

Disadvantages: Plotting a route on a google based map is great, but it doesn't give you an idea of hills. So you can end up doing hillier rides than you may have wanted.

Use a Garmin Edge 705

This adds to the fun.

[Toady]

BikeHike will show you elevation if you want.

As will Ben T's site, when he does the elevation bits.

[Ningishzidda]

BikeHike will show you elevation if you want.

Then add on 10% to get something closer to reality.

[frankly frankie]

If you think of a road as a kind of fractal surface, then all roads are equally (and infinitely) hilly.

[tom_e]

If you think of a road as a kind of fractal surface, then all roads are equally (and infinitely) hilly.

I shall bear that concept in mind next time I cycle up a hill, though I fear the physics will adopt a more direct thinking approach.

[andygates]

................... with a little trick - nudge the joystick so the map freezes - it's incredibly battery-efficient. .....................

That sounds clever - are you talking about an Edge 705?

And is it that freezing the map screen in panning mode is cheaper on power than leaving the map rolling or actually cheaper than any other mode e.g. the Trip Log/data screen?

It definitely applies to the Etrex range.

It definitely boosts battery life over rolling map - by lots.  It's more hungry than having it on a static screen.  I haven't compared against the data screen: that updates too, so I'd expect it might even be about the same. 

[Kim]

It definitely boosts battery life over rolling map - by lots.  It's more hungry than having it on a static screen.  I haven't compared against the data screen: that updates too, so I'd expect it might even be about the same.

When I had an ammeter on an eTrex Vista HCx, about half the maximum power draw was determined by how much the CPU was working - redrawing the map, switching between screens, file operations, that sort of thing.  A data screen with live GPS data, updating clock, etc. drew about the same as sitting on the main menu.  Which is what I'd expect unless the digit-updating code was stunningly inefficient.

I do find the battery lasts longer on the data screen, and will leave it on that if it's just doing logger duty.

[Ningishzidda]

If you think of a road as a kind of fractal surface, then all roads are equally (and infinitely) hilly.

The uphill bits and the downhill bits are so close together and pass in such a short time, they are un-noticeable to the human brain.
Only when the uphill bits are consistantly longer than the downhill bits, does our sloth witted human notice the trend.

[Andrew]

Only when the uphill bits are consistantly longer than the downhill bits, does our sloth witted human notice the trend.

How come hills seem steeper as my brain gets slower?

[Richard Fairhurst]

1. But since I'm often following NCN routes and the like, and I use OSM data with NCN routes highlighted, it might be a bit closer to 6. Legend HCx.

[Ningishzidda]

Only when the uphill bits are consistantly longer than the downhill bits, does our sloth witted human notice the trend.

How come hills seem steeper as my brain gets slower?

As you get aged, the brain softens and the tiny magnetite-maghemite crystals it contains move, giving the impression hills are steeper. 
This is also the reason why really old cyclists sit lop-sided on their bikes. Their brain is telling them to go one way, while their eyes tell them to follow the road. 

[Bianchi Boy]

I am a 6. man. I trace out the points on bikehike or GPX Editor. Reduce to 500 points for my eTrex Vista HCx download and follow the pink line. I have a little trick to stop me going wrong when day dreaming. I set the unit to bleep if I go off course by more than 100m.

I have tried to use routing and way points but I have never worked out how to make it easy. Maybe just me been thick!

BB

[Ningishzidda]

I am a 6. man. I trace out the points on bikehike or GPX Editor. Reduce to 500 points for my eTrex Vista HCx download and follow the pink line. I have a little trick to stop me going wrong when day dreaming. I set the unit to bleep if I go off course by more than 100m.

I have tried to use routing and way points but I have never worked out how to make it easy. Maybe just me been thick!

BB

Mine tells me when I've gone off course. "Turn around when possible!"