Satnav/Memory Map advice.

[Andrew Br]

Apologies is this is covered elsewhere (I haven't found it and I have looked).

I've used Memory Map to plan routes and, on the whole, I think that it's a great tool.
I'd like to be able to download the routes to a GPS and have it tell me where to turn when I'm out on the road.
Is it possible to get a GPS unit that will do this ?
I want something that's robust and waterproof (thus ruling out PDAs)  with long battery life.
I want to plot the routes on my PC and then download them straight onto the GPS.
I don't want to have to faff around changing file names, putting brackets around stuff, etc.

Chris N had a GPS on last year's Skegness ride and that woke itself up when a turn was approaching. That would be ideal but I don't know how Chris had got the route onto it.

Any suggestions on GPS units as well would be good.

TIA.

[jellied]

I wanted the same some years back, and it reminds me the difference between GPS that tells you where you are, and SatNav that tells you how to get there.

Any Garmin will let you down load a Memory Map route onto the device and will show you a trail of breadcumbs to follow, some will overlay this onto a physical map but none as far as I know will say turn left at the next junction and re-route if you miss the turning.

You can't go wrong with Garmin frankly - either the bottom end Geko right up to the top of the range jobs.

[frankly frankie]

I've used Memory Map to plan routes and, on the whole, I think that it's a great tool.
I'd like to be able to download the routes to a GPS and have it tell me where to turn when I'm out on the road.
Is it possible to get a GPS unit that will do this ?

Virtually any Garmin GPS will do this.  The more basic types can do it just by showing you a scrolling diagram of your route, so every time you come to a turn you can see the kink in the line which indicates what you need to do.

More expensive models can display a scrolling map, and these types will be able to display somewhat more meaningful turn instructions as well (eg 'Turn West onto Manor Lane').  However the map is generally an extra expense over and above the cost of the GPS.

With the right map on board, the GPS can 'autoroute' using your route as a basis, resulting in much nicer turn instructions and display, however I for one wouldn't rely on this, and I usually turn this feature off.  Other people seem to get on all right with it though.

So it just depends how far you want to get stuck in.  The Garmin 'Etrex' models which are really designed for walkers, cover the whole gamut from 'basic' to 'full-featured' and they work well on a bike - Garmin do a bike mount for them, get the 'large' one if possible.
A common recommendation is the Legend HCx or the Vista HCx - these are available for under £150 from Amazon.  The 'C' (for 'Colour') versions have better battery life than the non-C types.

If your computer doesn't have a Serial port then avoid the more basic GPS types that don't have a USB connection.  In any case, chances are that your next computer won't have a serial port ...

[Chris N]

Chris N had a GPS on last year's Skegness ride and that woke itself up when a turn was approaching. That would be ideal but I don't know how Chris had got the route onto it.

It was a bog-standard Etrex H - I upload the routes (plotted in Bikely [free, online], tweaked a bit in notepad by me following frankly frankie's and Greenbank's advice) via serial-Garmin cable [£30?] and GPSTrackmaker [free].

It automatically lights up 15 seconds before a turn (if you're following a route, at least) at night.  Lasts at least 18 hours on 2500mAh rechargeables, but has no on-board mapping, auto-routing, or expandable memory.

Works perfectly if you know exactly where you want to go (audax, for example) and can spend the time plotting the route beforehand.  I don't know if you'd need to mess about with the output from Memory Map as I've never used it.

[Andrew Br]

Thanks folks.
It sounds like it might be a winner then- MM and Garmin.
I don't need/want re-route and I'll always be plotting the route in advance so I just need it to tell me where/when to turn.
I'm not keen on the faffing about with routes though. Must grumble.

[frankly frankie]

Thanks folks.
It sounds like it might be a winner then- MM and Garmin.

Yes MM will talk directly with a Garmin, either Serial or USB.
I would be inclined to get into the habit of putting your turn waypoints fractionally before the turns.  Just a hairs-width.  This is because the 1:50,000 mapping isn't really accurate enough for you to be able to plonk the waypoint exactly on the junction - there could be an error of up to 30m say.  This may sound negligible, but if its 30m the wrong side of the turn, and you're travelling slowly uphill, you might not get a prompt until you've passed it.  So in MM always err on the side of 'before' the turns.   
You can set the GPS to give you a visual 'countdown' (in distance or time) to the next turn, which I find very helpful.

I don't need/want re-route ... I just need it to tell me where/when to turn.
I'm not keen on the faffing about with routes though.

I know what you're saying - but just to point out that that's why some people like the autorouting - the idea is to put less effort into the route yourself and let the GPS do most of the work ...

[Andrew Br]

I now has the Garmin and Memory Map (and I've managed to get the DVD drive on my PC working again )
Next step is to try to plot some routes and then download them to the Garmin.
No doubt I'll be back with questions.

[phil d]

One little niggle I have with MM (I don't have the very latest version - it might have been changed) is that I have to keep going into GPS settings to switch GPS connectivity on and off.  If it is on and the GPS is not actually connected, you keep getting an error message on-screen.

I never use the map on my Garmin - I prefer the "direction of travel" arrow.  While I appreciate the comments FF makes regarding putting the waypoint just before the junction, I generally put it just after the junction, so the arrow always points the way out of the junction from a fair way before the junction.  But I don't use the "warning" feature (largely because I can't find it!)

And to echo FF's comment about the mount - I always used to have trouble with the vibration turning the device off (Garmin twice replaced the unit, denying there was any problem).  Using the large mount, with a couple of wraps of an old innertube to cushion it from the bars, seems to have resolved the problem.

[Greenbank]

I never use the map on my Garmin - I prefer the "direction of travel" arrow.  While I appreciate the comments FF makes regarding putting the waypoint just before the junction, I generally put it just after the junction, so the arrow always points the way out of the junction from a fair way before the junction.  But I don't use the "warning" feature (largely because I can't find it!)

That's exactly what I do (waypoint after the junction). For a roundabout I'll put the routepoint on the exit road. I don't use the "warning" feature either (because the old eTrexes don't have it!)

And to echo FF's comment about the mount - I always used to have trouble with the vibration turning the device off (Garmin twice replaced the unit, denying there was any problem).  Using the large mount, with a couple of wraps of an old innertube to cushion it from the bars, seems to have resolved the problem.

My GPS mount is knackered and the GPS rattles around in it and turns itself off in no time. I now just put a ziptie round it and the mount to hold it in place.

Even then, with Lithium batteries and my GPS turns off when going over rough roads. With heavier and fatter Ansmann 2700mAh rechargables it rarely turns itself off at all (only the cobbles of Alston managed to turn it off on the ride up to Edinburgh).

[nuttycyclist]

On my old etrex I just put a bit of foam inside the battery cover - that held the batteries in place so it never turns off on bumps.

[phil d]

I don't use the "warning" feature (largely because I can't find it!)

I don't use the "warning" feature either (because the old eTrexes don't have it!)

I guess that would explain it