Suitability of etrex legend for audax?

[andrew_s]

When I'm feeling flush (unlikely any time soon!) I'll spring for the edge 800 and that will hopefully be the last cycling gps device I ever need.

I doubt it.
The Edge 800 has a built in lithium battery, and lithium batteries have a finite life. I would expect that after 5 or 6 years you'll find it won't last a normal day's ride.

[Kim]

As far as most people are concerned, an Etrex is just some brick-shaped thing that is not an Edge 800.

What's an Edge 800?   

[frankly frankie]

Oh, some bit of flim-flam mislabelled as a GPS   

[Ningishzidda]

The e-  TREX is so named because it resembles a block of cooking fat.

When the owner gets so frustrated with its manufacurer's nomenclature, the owner throws it at the Cucking Fat.

[StuAff]

When I'm feeling flush (unlikely any time soon!) I'll spring for the edge 800 and that will hopefully be the last cycling gps device I ever need.

I doubt it.
The Edge 800 has a built in lithium battery, and lithium batteries have a finite life. I would expect that after 5 or 6 years you'll find it won't last a normal day's ride.

Battery replacements are about a tenner.

[Ningishzidda]

On a Legend without Autorouting, IMHO, the ‘string’ ( FF's ) method can be used with success.

Using Mapsource and Metroguide, let Mapsource create a route from start to finish.
Drag and drop the pink line to approx. 50 yds after every junction so the route is a series of straight lines between Viapoints
On the screen, where the pink line changes direction, that is shortly after a junction.
As you ride up to the junction, you will see which road to take to get to the ‘elbow’ in the pink line.

The Waypoint count will be 2, as the Viapoints after each junction do not count as Waypoints, and will not appear on the Waypoint list in the handset.

Without Autorouting, it is critical you observe the pink line quite often. After 200 km, you will be looking for the large pink line across the fields where the screen shows it.

[Kim]

Except it'll be a dotted line, because it's a mono screen.

I actually preferred this to the mess of colours on the later units, but I find that colour is a poor substitute for decent contrast.

[frankly frankie]

the ‘string’ ( FF's ) method can be used with success.

I deny that attribution.  It's one way to skin the cat, but it's not how I'd do it, I like my waypoints ON the junctions.

As to watching the line like a hawk, I think the most useful thing with Direct routing is to have the 'Distance to Next' field visible.  That way you only have to take notice when you see it count down to 200m or so.

If the pink line has disappeared across the fields somewhere but your 'Distance to next' is saying 4km, it's not really a problem is it.

[Ningishzidda]

Sorry Francis.

I kinda remember the 'string' method being advised for users of Metroguide without Autorouting.

The 'after junctions' advice is mine. On the eTrex Legend, as the cursor passes over a Viapoint or Waypoint, the screen blanked for nearly two seconds, making visual check of correct road difficult.

This development was after missing the correct exit off an Island in Buxton. Amidst heavy Sunday tourist traffic.

OP might want to check this out.

[Kim]

+1 for route points just after junctions, when I do that kind of routing (with autorouting it's usually better to put them in the middle of stretches of road).

Consider the case of approaching a roundabout with many exits (which is usually the sort of situation where it's least convenient to stop and fiddle with navigation stuff).  If the waypoint's in the middle of the roundabout, it doesn't tell you anything useful and the straight-line direction to the next waypoint may well be deceptive.  If the waypoint's just after the junction, you get a line from your current position pointing to the correct exit.

[frankly frankie]

No problem.  'Before' 'On' and 'After' all have their adherents, and all can argue their case convincingly.

Screen blanking sounds like a combination of over-detailed map and under-powered processor.
The OSM map certainly now suffers from extreme detail overload in some urban areas, but fortunately recent Garmins have more powerful processing capability.

[drossall]

My HCx comes up with a little flashing arrow as I approach turns, so I should already know which way I'm going (though maybe not early enough on a major road with a roundabout).

The problem with relying on points at or near junctions is on minor roads, where you can't easily tell, even from an OS map, which roads will appear to be the major ones - so either you have a point at every junction, in case "straight ahead" turns out to be "bear left as the main road goes right", or you hope, and ignore all road markings when assessing the direction to go.

Auto-routing can be very unreliable. There were cases being shared on here not too long ago of being sent round 20 miles because the software thought that there was a gap where there was not. And you don't know whether the GPS will produce the same route as the PC software.

[Kim]

And you don't know whether the GPS will produce the same route as the PC software.

This is Garmin's greatest crime, I reckon.

Auto-routing on any platform is always going to have cases where it does something undesirable or unintuitive, that can't really be helped.  But there's no good reason why the desktop software (Mapsource, Basecamp, whatever) can't be made to emulate the routing algorithm of the device exactly, so that as long as they're using the same map they always give the same results.

I don't mind adding route points to persuade auto-routing to follow specific roads.  It's usually quicker and easier than creating a track from scratch.  The tedious bit is having to let the device calculate the route and then scroll around checking for inconsistencies between it and the desktop.

[Ningishzidda]

No problem.  'Before' 'On' and 'After' all have their adherents, and all can argue their case convincingly.

Screen blanking sounds like a combination of over-detailed map and under-powered processor.
The OSM map certainly now suffers from extreme detail overload in some urban areas, but fortunately recent Garmins have more powerful processing capability.

Screen Blanking.
eTrex Legend C with Topo GB.

Buxton, Derbyshire. 'Castleton Classic, 2005'.
Pass railway station and approach three traffic islands under two railway viaducts.

Was it loss of reception due to the tall brickwork? Was my Legend broken?
Anyway, I went round the third island completely until the screen came back.

'Don't you just hate it when that happens?' 

[jhob]

How well weather sealed do people find the etrex devices to be?

Trying to work out if I am likely to need any additional protection for it should the heavens open.

[Dibdib]

Never had an issue with my Etrex 20. Can't comment on the other devices, aside to say I think this topic came up in a recent thread and the general consensus was that they're pretty waterproof.

[fuaran]

Yes, they are very waterproof. The Etrex models are rated as IPX7, which means it should survive immersion in 1m of water for 30 minutes. So a bit of rain isn't a problem.
Though note the battery compartment is not entirely waterproof. If it has got really wet, it might be a good idea to take the batteries out and dry them off afterwards.

[jhob]

Brilliant, thanks for confirming that!

[Ningishzidda]

The eTrex legend was 'fairly' waterproof.

Is it the one with the rubber hinged stopper over the mini USB connector door?
Put a smear of vaseline round the rubber stopper.

The rubber bump strip around the body is held in place by double sided sticky tape. The double sided sticky tape is a plastic which also seals the button presses. If that's OK, it will be OK.

[jhob]

It has proprietary serial connector beneath a rubber flap on the rear.

The rubber bump strip is fine condition so should be ok

[Kim]

It has proprietary serial connector beneath a rubber flap on the rear.

Yeah, that was quite clever.  Gold-plated contacts flush with the case plastic, so even without the flap, there isn't anywhere for water to go.

The USB socket on the Vista HCx (and presumably all the other USB eTrexes) is potted in from the back, so should be similarly watertight, but I expect the connector itself to be vulnerable to corrosion if allowed to stay wet.

I'm still annoyed that the new (10/20/30) eTrexes use a mini USB socket rather than the industry standard micro USB.  I wonder if waterproofing had something to do with that decision, or whether it was just that they'd committed to that design before it became obvious that micro USB was going to be ubiquitous?

(Unintuitively, the micro USB connector is a more durable design than mini USB.  It was designed with charging in mind, so has a longer rated life, and puts the fatigue-prone sprung part of the connection in the male (cable) end rather than the female (device) end.)

[jhob]

When people mention taping up the foot on the etrex with 2/3 layers of electrical tape to help minimise the incidence of etrex jitter is this what is meant?

[frankly frankie]

Tastefully done 

Yes a nice tight fit is good.  But be sure the latching still works, with 3 layers it can get a bit marginal.  If possible find an old camera lanyard and have that wrapped round the bars, as well.

[drossall]

What Frankie says - as long as the latch works and it's a reasonably snug fit, it's fine. I usually just put a strip (two if necessary) of insulating tape into the channel on the mount before sliding the GPS into place, but you've done a posher job.

[Kim]

I've used a single layer of gaffer tape in the channel on the mount, rather than multiple layers of electrical tape.  I don't think it matters which side you apply the tape to, but the advantage of doing it on the mount is that: a) the tape is protected by the channel  and  b) you've not got a thing with sticky tape on it in your hand/pocket when the eTrex is removed from the bike.

The Dakota-style mount used by the new eTrexes doesn't rattle.