Do I have to?

[L CC]

My trusty Etrex Legend HcX is giving up the ghost. I bought it second hand from frankie and I suspect it'd been around the world a couple of times before I then had it on my bars for 2013/14/15.

It cuts out when I go over a bump, (presumably that's the battery connection issue?) so I have to run it permanently off an external battery, and now the mini-USB socket is also giving up- the socket is worn, so the cable falls out, and I have to weave the cable around the bars to keep the charge cable at just the right angle for a connection.
Has anyone had any success at long term repairs of these? I have access to standard parts (sockets, battery holders, soldering facilities) and even men-with-skills-who-work-for-cake but I don't really want to flog a dead horse if it's never going to be back to reliable condition.

I have an Edge 500 for training. Mr Smith has a new Etrex 30- and hates it. I can't imagine I'll be any more tolerant of its foibles.

Does the panel think that the breadcrumb trail of the 500 (assuming I can keep it charged) is enough for DIYs? I can see that in conjunction with a routesheet it'll be OK for calendar events? I get bored of the same roads so I do envisage actually needing the navigation. Using my phone isn't an option as its sustained some damage to the charging socket so even with loads of battery power at my disposal I can't rely on it to be being charged.

Or do I have to spend the £££ on something with mapping? I'd really rather not buy anything as I already have devices, they're just not working!

[jhob]

Whilst I don't have an answer to your question I would also be interested in the answers as my legend HCX also seems to be exhibiting the cutting out problems.

I use a garmin 500 too and would not want to do any sort of navigation with it.  I do often upload courses to it so I can get notified if I go off-route, or the if the HCX auto-routing sends me on a road I didn't intend to go down.   But following the line on the screen as a reliable method of navigation I would say is not viable. 

I've also found that sometimes the 500 will just stop displaying the breadcrumb for not apparent reason.  It will normally start displaying it again after a while but if it's your only source of navigation you'd be scuppered.

I'm not a route sheet user BTW so YMMV if used in conjunction with that.

[vorsprung]

Your options are

1) get another second hand Etrex Legend HcX.  There is one on ebay atm £99

2) get an etrex 20 or 30.  A 20 in new condition is £90 to £120.  I have one.  I only hate it because it is a GPS.  Mr Smith could load all the maps on it as he has already had the practice

3) if you have a "smart" phone there are programs that make it into something like a GPS.  They aren't very water proof

4) you could find a super genius that can repair these tiny fiddly things.  Cost would probably be more than the above ideas

[mrcharly-YHT]

My legend HcX died in this way. I did strip it down and soldered wires from the (spring) battery contacts to the board and that improved things for a while. But only a while - and then it got to the point where any sharp tap made it turn off.

Couldn't see anything obvious in the design that made it vulnerable; I suspect a soldered dry joint or similar.

[L CC]

Your options are
1) get another second hand Etrex Legend HcX.  There is one on ebay atm £99

I didn't pay £99 for this one!

2) get an etrex 20 or 30.  A 20 in new condition is £90 to £120.  I have one.  I only hate it because it is a GPS.  Mr Smith could load all the maps on it as he has already had the practice

I can put the maps on it, but I'm not sure he could cope with the in-use swearing

3) if you have a "smart" phone there are programs that make it into something like a GPS.  They aren't very water proof

Not an option as I have managed to bugger the phone the phone also has charging issues

4) you could find a super genius that can repair these tiny fiddly things.  Cost would probably be more than the above ideas

This is probably the easiest- I work for a manufacturer that has people who make things with PCBs and stuff. But if it's not going to work long term....

[simonp]

I replaced my eTrex Vista HCX with an Etrex 30 (which I am happy with, FWIW).

You can have it if you want it, along with mounting hardware. Think I've had it since around the time of PBP 2011.

It has an SD card with a bunch of maps installed. Not sure about the licensing issues, I think they're tied to that device so you might be ok to use what is on there.

[L CC]

You can have it if you want it, along with mounting hardware. Think I've had it since around the time of PBP 2011.

Yes Please!!

YHPM

[Kim]

I successfully fixed the cutting out on my old Vista HCx by soldering in bodge wires, but I was never happy with the robustness (or indeed long term waterproofness) of my attempt to re-attach the rubber trim.

Mini-USB ports are a work of Stan (hate micro-USB all you want, but at least it has the springy bit in the easily replaced cable).  I doubt you could replace the socket on an eTrex non-destructively, as it's potted into the case.

[L CC]

I have access to potting compound (many of our products are IP67 and a few IP68 ). I might set the engineers a challenge. As I run it off an external battery anyway I could (get them to) hardwire cable in. What's the worst that could happen?

[Wobbly John]

Unfortunately GPSs have turned out to be another disposable product, with the manufacturers not offering support or repairs after a few years.

There are bargain older eTrexs out there - I paid £5 for my Venture HC, another £2 for a memory card - with downloaded free OSM mapping, it does most of what anybody needs.

Also there are cheap 'smartish' mobiles out there - I can use my old Nokia (you can get them on ebay for £25ish) as a sat nav in the car or a GPS on the bike (and run it off the dymano hub!). It doesn't need a sim card and I can load routes/download maps via a computer...


...However: water. 

Oh, and using a touch - screen on the bike is 

[frankly frankie]

You can't go far wrong for £5, but this -

1) get another second hand Etrex Legend HcX.  There is one on ebay atm £99

I don't think this is a good option any more,  I think you would have to be very lucky to obtain a good HCx second hand now.  Maybe if it's a 'refurbished' item from a reputable vendor. 
Sheila and I have 4 HCx models between us (we each take a spare when on tour - often it gets lent out so we don't actually have to carry it far) - two of these are as new as they can be, that is, bought as end-of-line stock - but all four are now flakey to some degree and liable to cut out on bumpy roads.
Really, we're almost in the same situation as fboab now, though we haven't got to the external power stage.

I also have an E30 but I do find there is lots not to like - I've toured with it 3 times but each time I went back to my spare HCx, flakiness and all, mid-tour.  But for the future I honestly don't see much alternative to learning to love the E30.

[mrcharly-YHT]

If the power issue could be solved, smartphones are a serious option. I've grown to like google navigation and it's certainly easier to design routes on a phone (than an HcX). Are there apps that display average speed and elapsed time (so important for audaxers). There are cases/bags that are waterproof and yet allow you to use a touchscreen.

[L CC]

I've got RWGPS premium and it certainly displays some stuff on the Ride screen, but I must admit although I've used it for navigation my phone is bigger on the bars than I'm comfortable with, so I had it talk to me. That was AWFUL. You download maps in advance of your ride so don't need mobile data running, and I already use the website for route planning. It's really not too bad at all. If I do have to buy another device I might try a cheap smartphone.

Now that I've knackered the charging socket of my current phone, though, it's not something I'm going to contemplate just now.

I honestly don't see much alternative to learning to love the E30.

This is my fear. Everything I'm doing is delaying the inevitable, in the hope Garmin do something better. By which of course I mean 'better suited to my specific needs'.

[Wobbly John]

I run Viewranger as a GPS on the phone, which will do more than most GPS devices. Although I think you only get a time elapsed and route progress chart when following a route on the map.

Although Viewranger makes it's money though map downloads, I got a 'UK roadatlas' mapping, that they had as a free download, which is saveable and transferable - I copied & pasted the file from the old phone to the laptop and then to the new phone (running a different op-sys and a newer version of Viewranger.)

[simonp]

I've switched to recording rides and monitoring data (such as HR) using phone. I refuse to put my phone on the bars.

I'm interested in the new Wahoo GPS but I get on well enough with the Etrex 30 despite Garmin arbitrarily removing features that I found useful in the HCX.

[vorsprung]

Unfortunately GPSs have turned out to be another disposable product, with ..

Oh come on.  Consumer electronics have always been like that.  You knew when you bought it for really too much money that in a year or two after being dropped a couple of times it would start to turn itself off and there would be nothing you could do about it.  'Unfortunate' perhaps but get real.

Also there are cheap 'smartish' mobiles out there - I can use my old Nokia (you can get them on ebay for £25ish) as a sat nav in the car or a GPS on the bike (and run it off the dymano hub!). It doesn't need a sim card and I can load routes/download maps via a computer...


...However: water. 

There are the "rugged" mobile phones, the Sony Experia Z ones and a "Active" version of the Samsung S6.  Waterproof phones do exist

Oh, and using a touch - screen on the bike is 

Have to agree there.  It's just a bad idea

[Kim]

Unfortunately GPSs have turned out to be another disposable product, with ..

Oh come on.  Consumer electronics have always been like that.

Well not always.  There was a time when even consumer goods were much more expensive and a lot less reliable, to the point where it was economical to repair them.  On a good day, they were designed with that it mind.  It's been a while since I encountered a consumer product with a schematic and diagnostic guide tucked into a slot inside the case, though.  These days you count yourself lucky if you can get into them with a screwdriver.

And then there's the Moore's Law factor.  GPS receivers are effectively computing devices^[1], in that it's reasonable to expect the next generation to be substantially more functional, for about the same cost.  They're only designed to last until they're obsolete, which falls foul of differing ideas about obsolescence.


_{[1] I know that technically so is a washing machine, but we're not (yet) expecting them to connect to a Windows >v-1 PC running Indesit Lanudro-link™ software for wash cycle customisation and firmware updates.}

[Kim]

Anyway, the E30 isn't that bad.  It's got some features annoyingly absent, but basically does the job as well as the HCx did, with about the same level of random gremlins.  At least the hardware's more sturdy.

[L CC]

I've switched to recording rides and monitoring data (such as HR) using phone. I refuse to put my phone on the bars.

To a greater or lesser extent, +1.
Not a great deal of help for navigation, though. And for some things I like constant feedback (if I'm supposed to be doing an hour at zone 3 with 90+ RPM I need to see some numbers for pretty much that whole hour- which is why I bought the 500)

[simonp]

I've switched to recording rides and monitoring data (such as HR) using phone. I refuse to put my phone on the bars.

To a greater or lesser extent, +1.
Not a great deal of help for navigation, though. And for some things I like constant feedback (if I'm supposed to be doing an hour at zone 3 with 90+ RPM I need to see some numbers for pretty much that whole hour- which is why I bought the 500)

For that I bought a wahoo rflkt+ which talks to a smartphone and also talks to ant+ devices making them compatible with a phone that only has bluetooth.

Still doesn't solve the navigation problem. But I could record the whole of PBP using one cache battery plugged into the phone inside my bag. Etrex 30 for navigation only, really.

[Wowbagger]

I still have my Vista HCx. it works very well. No problems with randomly turning itself off. The biggest problems are:-

rubber surround is held on with sellotape
the glossy finish is wearing off
the original (pretty crap) mount broke off ages ago and I use the RAM mount with bayonet fixings to keep it on the bars.  RAM don't make these any more and the bayonet hooks are wont to snap. Several people mentioned this problem to me long before it happened to mine, but the second fitting broke the other day. Because I had bought 3 mounts, one for each bike I use it on, I had three of the bayonet parts and I put the last good one on a couple of weeks ago.

However, it's about 7 years old and owes me nothing. I shall probably hang onto it, even though I have now bought an Oregon.

[jsabine]

Unfortunately GPSs have turned out to be another disposable product, with ..

Oh come on.  Consumer electronics have always been like that.

Well not always.  There was a time when even consumer goods were much more expensive and a lot less reliable, to the point where it was economical to repair them. 

Still is - or can be - economical to repair things, at least by replacing bits of 'em: I've just replaced the screen/digitiser on a c4 yr-old smartphone, and recently did the charging socket on another. Paying someone to do the work rather than buying cheap parts from ebay sellers would change the economics substantially, thobut.

[Vince]

I find the resolution on the Garmin bike GPS so low as to be near useless for route finding. When my Garmin dies (or I throw it over a hedge in frustration) I would give serious consideration to a 7" tablet with GPS and stick it in the map holder on top of my bar bag. I've not looked to see what navigation software is available, but I'm sure there must be something that will link up with OSM mapping.

[L CC]

I can't imagine a tablet being remotely robust enough for UK roads. Even if I were willing to ride with a bar bag - which I'm not. I don't think I use route finding on the fly enough to be bothered about the meagre screen size, either.

[L CC]

recently did the charging socket on another.

*pricks up ears and googles*