Etrex 30 on 1000km+ rides

[andyp]

hi,
this is an LEL question, but it applies to all really long rides so i thought i'd better ask it here... i just wanted to ask if it's safe to rely on auto save when full to collect the full tracklog of the ride? and whether there's any other housekeeping tips / routines i should follow to maximise the chances of a sequence of tracks that can be joined together after the ride.
thanks
Andrew.

[frankly frankie]

I'd have thought 'daily' would be a safe setting.  You won't fill the tracklog in a day's cycling (unless you've set the recording interval to something silly like 'every 10m' or 'every second'), so a daily save will produce a set of overlapping tracklogs.


And you can at least test the 'daily' archiving in advance ...

[Hillbilly]

I've done several multiday rides with my eTrex 30 (600s).  Auto save hasn't failed me yet.  I have mine set to auto archive when the track is full (which I think is the default out of the box).  You get several files (and the current log) which you can then edit in a text file (effectively treating each archive as a track segment which you then paste in order).

[andyp]

hi,
thanks good to know both methods are tested and work.

For joining tracks i use the free garmin software 'basecamp' - that might be easier than joining text files?

thanks again,

andrew.

[andyp]

hi,
For the record, I trusted the Auto archive 'save when full' option, and it worked flawlessly.

One thing I did discover was that if you want the etrex30 to calculate and display your overall average speed during the ride (probably only useful when audaxing because it tells you if you're above the required minimum or not), then you have to leave it switched on all the time.
Andrew.