Author Topic: New gps  (Read 23764 times)

Re: New gps
« Reply #150 on: 30 March, 2021, 09:55:38 pm »
Narrower than that , I can just fit a garmin 200 on top of a cross bridge which I mount a light on the bottom of.
A garmin 800/810 was to big to mount there as it caught my arms so I mount that on the stem but not enough room for the 1030 there.
It might fit if I go to a under instead of over bar tt set which I will try at some stage as I have some I’m going to try and manage with the 530 till then unless I see a discounted 830

Wowbagger

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Re: New gps
« Reply #151 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:28:04 pm »
My old Oregon 600 is not well. It still works, but there's a big black blot of dead screen in a faitly important place and the rubber on the back has a split in it. I'm aware that it's possible to buy a replacement screen and do a DIY job on it, but I'm not sure about the back. It certainly won't be waterproof in its current state.

I'm thinking about replacing it but I haven't kept up with what is current.

My uses for a Garmin are twofold: I like to plot a track on some software or a website (bikehike was always my favourite) and download it to the Garmin. Then I simply use it as a breadcrumb trail. It doesn't matter whether I am walking or cycling, that's pretty much the sum total of my usage.

I see that there are lots of Garmin watches around these days - at a price. I cannot envisage how my preferred uses would adapt themselves to a watch: the display would surely be too small for me to use it as a mapping tool - can you even load maps onto one of these watches? And if you are riding along navigating, you don't really want to be taking your hand off the handlebars for long enough to be making navigation decisions.

So I think I'm likely to want a bar-mounted/hand-held unit. I've always used AA batteries - the only two GPS devices I've owned are the Etrex Vista HCx and the Oregon 600.

Alternatively, has anyone successfully replaced the screen and the back?
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TimC

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Re: New gps
« Reply #152 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:38:26 pm »
Yes, you can load maps into some of the watches - and all Garmin mapping devices now come with some version of OSM installed. Adding new maps is fairly easy, and can be free - in exchange for some technical nerdology. I think pretty much all Garmins will do breadcrumb mapping. I wouldn't use any watch for mapreading while on a bike; the potential for disaster is obvious. OTOH, I always have the map - and only the map - showng on my Edge 1000 or 1030 that I use on the bike. The screen is big enough to make navigation easy, and the Garmin LED screen is more easily readable than a phone screen (which is what I'd use off the bike), particularly in bright sunlight. I reckon you can pick up NOS Edge 1000s (or even better the Edge Explore, which ditches most of the fitness stff which I'm guessing you won't need) pretty cheap. Decathlon have the Edge 1000 Explore at £189 just now. Clicky

Wowbagger

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Re: New gps
« Reply #153 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:46:29 pm »
I've been using OpenFietsMap downloads for years - indeed, it's quite possible that if you've ridden in Essex, Suffolk, Wales or Brittany, you have ridden on roads plotted by me! They are my preference. I pay a £19.99 subscription to Ordnance Survey to have maps on my phone - but of course they are dependent on having a signal, unless of course I've specifically paid for a paper map in recent years and downloaded an off-line copy.
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It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: New gps
« Reply #154 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:50:26 pm »
Ah - the very technical nerdology I was thinking of!

I have both OSMaps and viewranger on my phone, and they are great for walking. I certainly wouldn't normally use the Garmins for that - but I would carry one as a backup, not least because their battery life while navigating is better than my phone.

Viewranger allows pretty cheap downloads of OS maps. Through various offers, I have most of East Anglia on 25k now.

Wowbagger

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Re: New gps
« Reply #155 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:52:02 pm »
Thanks for the Decathlon link. I'm considering one now...
Quote from: Dez
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Wowbagger

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Re: New gps
« Reply #156 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:54:21 pm »
Incidentally, I found a couple of website with instructions on how to replace a duff screen, but the only place I found that was selling replacements in the UK was charging about £60. The instruction sites I looked at were saying <$20! Either they were very out of date or that's one hell of a mark-up.

It hardly seems worth pratting around with an old machine when a new one costs a lot less than I paid for my Oregon.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: New gps
« Reply #157 on: 11 April, 2021, 08:57:08 pm »
Thanks for the Decathlon link. I'm considering one now...


Excellent!

I really need a new screen for my 1000 - left it out in the sun one day, and when I swiped the screen to move to another view, it permanently marked the touch-sensitive layer. It still works fine, but is bloody annoying - so don't leave it on the bike in teh sun when it's 30+ degrees!

Kim

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Re: New gps
« Reply #158 on: 11 April, 2021, 09:03:18 pm »
I pay a £19.99 subscription to Ordnance Survey to have maps on my phone - but of course they are dependent on having a signal, unless of course I've specifically paid for a paper map in recent years and downloaded an off-line copy.

On account of the strong correlation between need for a map and poor cellular signal, I paid a one-off £50 for the entire set of 1:50k OS maps in Viewranger, which stores the maps locally.  There are other alternatives, Viewranger just happened to have the most functionally useful app at the time, but no doubt things have moved on.

Anyway, IME, OS maps on a phone or tablet work well on foot or to supplement a more rugged and power-efficient GPS receiver for on-bike road navigation.  I think we can safely dismiss watches as only being suited for recording data while cycling, unless you mount them to the handlebars, at which point the biometric stuff stops working and the screen is too small.


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Re: New gps
« Reply #159 on: 11 April, 2021, 10:13:21 pm »
How much memory does the entire country at 1:50k take up on an iPhone or android alternative?
Quote from: Dez
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Wowbagger

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Re: New gps
« Reply #160 on: 11 April, 2021, 11:03:39 pm »
Thanks for the Decathlon link. I'm considering one now...


Excellent!

I really need a new screen for my 1000 - left it out in the sun one day, and when I swiped the screen to move to another view, it permanently marked the touch-sensitive layer. It still works fine, but is bloody annoying - so don't leave it on the bike in teh sun when it's 30+ degrees!
Well, I ordered one, and the handlebar mount that Decathlon sell. Decathlon take an age to deliver - 10 days! - and they charge £4.99 for a home delivery. I could click-and-collect in store, but that seems to take just as long and ICBA to drive to Sodding Lakeside just to save £5.

I was reading the reviews of the bar mount, and there was some French guy who had broken two riding across cobbles. Or he might have been Belgian. Either way, they offered him a refund.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: New gps
« Reply #161 on: 12 April, 2021, 01:56:00 am »
I've got several out-front bar mounts, by various different manufacturers. They all seem fine. The 1030 doesn't fit on some of them, but I don't have that problem with the 1000. The on-bar mount that comes with the device is ok, but we all have far less bar space than we used to! And, while it will fit on the stem, if it's not at least a 10cm stem you won't get the thing on there without it resting on either the steerer head or the stem head. But; first world problems!