More basic GPS questions

[PaulF]

I'm looking a for a GPS. I have fairly basic requirements:

• it will probably only be used a few times a year
• maximum route is probably <150 miles so long battery life and large number of waypoints is not critical
• It needs to connect to a Mac - are these devices normally viewed like a USB drive or is the connectivity more complex?
• Just needs to tell me turn left/right here

I can get a Garmin eTrex legend for about 100 pounds, will it suit my needs or is there something that is better value?

Thanks

[Greenbank]

I can get a Garmin eTrex legend for about 100 pounds, will it suit my needs or is there something that is better value?

Yup, it's what I use for Audaxing, it got me up to Edinburgh flawlessly (using only 250 of the available 1000 route points) along with almost every other Audax I've done.

Garmin eTrex (as long as it is v3 firmware, v2 is limited to one route of 50 routepoints) plus bike mount plus cable (£20 for a Prolific PL-2303 based USB to Garmin cable from eBay) will come to roughly £100. Buying from a shop will pretty much guarantee you a v3 eTrex. Buy the eTrex 2nd hand from eBay and you might get a v2 (you can always ask the seller to check the firmware version).

Takes AA batteries, two 2700mAh batteries lasted me over 40 hours.

It works with a Mac with a bit of coercion (I can upload/download routes and tracks from my PowerPC Mac Mini). It's not as simple as appearing as an external drive.

It'll tell you whatever you program it to tell you. Take this route:-

Bicycle Path - LE3 at Bikely.com

At the start (B&B in Alston) it points me to the first waypoint down the road, the waypoint is named "C1 L" to tell me to turn left, the distance to the waypoint counts down, it's obvious that I need to turn Left at the T-junction. As I approach the junction the arrow (that has been pointing forwards) swings to the left. After I take the turn it moves on to the next waypoint (C2 R) and says that it's 400m or so away. The distance counts down, I see a turning on the right that coincides with the remaining distance, as I approach it the arrow swings to the right.

(The reason behind the odd naming scheme is that the point names have to be unique and you only have 6 characters to play with. The 'C' was because it was the third route (A got from me Putney to Thorne, B from Thorne to Alston and C from Alston to North Berwick.)

I keep following these instructions, if I go wrong it's reasonably obvious from the arrow. If a road is closed I make a guess at an alternative and try to get back on course, it generally points to the nearest point (unless you've just passed it).

If you want mapping then you'll be looking at 200 quid minimum (or 150 quid if you take a gamble on the non-complete coverage of OpenStreetMap).

[Jaded]

If you want I have a MicroSD version of City Navigator UK that's I'll be selling soon

[rogerzilla]

The Legend hCx (almost*) flawlessly got us from Oxford to central London in the dark, so I'd say it's worth it.  About £160 with mapping.


*there were one or two turns where it didn't provide directions (I was using it in auto-routing mode) but it was obvious from the map which way to go.

[PaulF]

Well I've bought the eTrex

Is loading a route as simple as:

• Create route in Bikely etc.
• export as gpx
• 'Process with GPS Babel
• Upload to device

[rogerzilla]

Yes, except if you use auto-routing you're limited to 50 points so you have to trick the unit into choosing the correct roads.  This is usually good enough for 100 miles or more, and you can break up a longer route into sections.

[Greenbank]

Yes, except if you use auto-routing

If it's a basic eTrex, like what he said he might be buying, then it doesn't have any mapping.

Well I've bought the eTrex

Is loading a route as simple as:

• Create route in Bikely etc.
• export as gpx
• 'Process with GPS Babel
• Upload to device

I'll try and collate my basic eTrex stuff into a webpage, there are a few bits scattered around on here written by me.

But, that's pretty much it. There are various tricks you'll find out for yourself, such as routepoint placement and naming, fiddling with the GPX file itself, etc.

jwo's page is good as are frankly frankie's gps pages.

[frankly frankie]

Well I've bought the eTrex

Is loading a route as simple as:

• Create route in Bikely etc.
• export as gpx
• 'Process with GPS Babel
• Upload to device

Is it a serial connection?  Does that work on your Mac?

Personally, I don't think anything involving GPS Babel can be called 'simple'.
(But it is very useful software and may well be a good option on the Mac )

Bikely outputs a Track.
This will probably need to be downsampled to 500 points, or it won't all upload to the GPS.
GPS Babel can do this and handle the upload all in one (provided you can get the connection to work).

You might consider getting Garmin's software to work under emulation - no-one's calling it great software but its a bit more user-friendly than GPS Babel, for straightforward upload/download tasks.

[Jaded]

There's Garmin software for the Mac, but it is a chocolate teapot.

I've been using a combination of web based stuff like bikeroutetoaster, Tracklogs (Latest Beta) (in PC on Parralells) and Ascent which is pricey but blows the socks off any other GPS software I've seen.

As long as your GPS is USB you should be OK. You can drag .gpx files straight to the GPS in the Finder.

[Greenbank]

Before everyone piles in with advice it might be useful to know which version of the GPS he bought.

If it's the old style yellow eTrex, as I suspect it is, then all of the advice about routing, mapping, USB, dragging things in the Finder is useless.

If it's a newer USB version (eTrex Legend, Vista, Summit, Venture) then I can leave you all to it.

[PaulF]

Before everyone piles in with advice it might be useful to know which version of the GPS he bought.

If it's the old style yellow eTrex, as I suspect it is, then all of the advice about routing, mapping, USB, dragging things in the Finder is useless.

If it's a newer USB version (eTrex Legend, Vista, Summit, Venture) then I can leave you all to it.

Well it's this one Garmin eTrex Legend Blue so it has 'base maps', but lacks routing and has a USB cable (from the picture at least). It should arrive at the weekend!.

[Greenbank]

Aha, fair enough.

You'll want their advice, not mine!

[frankly frankie]

But I think your point is still right GB - dragging GPX files in Finder won't work with this (or any) Etrex model.  It only works for more modern Garmins, the Edge/Colorado/Oregon types.  (For this reason they are a better match for alternative OS's provided you can accept their other various limitations.)

For the rest, you have to use software which can see the GPS for what it is (ie a GPS, and not an external drive).  GPSbabel can do this, AFAIK, and so, hopefully, can Garmin's own software.

[Martin]

couple more;

on Mapsource how do I devise several routes within the same ride (ie split a 400 into 4 sections in order to maximise the waypoints needed to keep it on route)

and if I've downloaded a route to the device that's a long way away (ie in Sweden) is it possible to preview it from the start point rather than wherever the GPS is at the time if I set it to Navigate by Follow Road?

[Martin]

Many thanks  there's a lot more to these things than meets the eye (or is written in the manual)

[Andrew Br]

Many thanks  there's a lot more to these things than meets the eye (or is written in the manual)

Amen to that.
YACF is much more use than the manual.
And smuttier, as a rule