Garmin Etrex 30

[andym]

It comes preloaded with a hell of a lot of junk which I'm trying to dump/disable... god knows how many geocaches and different maps which I can't see me ever using, along with several 'profile' screens which I really can't see the point of. There is the option to use 'classic view'.. but that defeats the point of getting a newer one.

There's an option to change the order of the items in the main menu. Put the stuff you want (eg Track Manager and Waypoint Manager) at the top and then just leave the rest alone. It might come in handy one day - or you might never use it. Either way it's not going to cause you any problems. Ditto you can select which items you want show in the Page Sequence - I have Map, Main Menu and Satellite in mine. These mean you can flick easily to the bits you want.

I'd concentrate on working out how to use the features you want to use - eg it's worth spending sometime going through the setup options - eg units, screen brightness, backlight timeout, track recording intervals and a few more. The other set of important options are under map setup: zoom levels controls whether waypoints are visible or not, data fields controls things like the display of speed and time. It's also worth spending some time with the Find menu to find POIs.

And as always, and I know this is boring advice, but it really is worth spending time reading the manual. Yes I know where's the fun in that? But it's cheaper than selling the device at a loss because you haven't taken the time to read the instructions.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Cheers @andym. I've been using GPS/GIS for a good few years professionally so don't have any problems working/setting it up. I just don't like all the junk that it comes preloaded with. It would be nice if more stuff was optional, but I spose that's part and parcel of having a multi-discipline device that trys to be all things to all men.

 

[andym]

Cheers @andym. I've been using GPS/GIS for a good few years professionally so don't have any problems working/setting it up. I just don't like all the junk that it comes preloaded with. It would be nice if more stuff was optional, but I spose that's part and parcel of having a multi-discipline device that trys to be all things to all men.

Yeah. I guess it's a bit like all the stuff that comes with computers: if you're really techie you probably could get rid of it, but otherwise you just have to file it under 'life is too short'.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

... if you're really techie you probably could get rid of it

That's be me

Anyhoo, I'm slowly getting to grips with the 35 touch, and dumping the bloat at the same time. Overall I quite like it

 

[willem]

I am a happy user of an Etrex 30. It is mall and light, relatively cheap, and most of all, it is frugal with (AA) batteries. With good quality Ansmann rechargeable batteries I can ride for up to five days without changing the batteries. Therefore, for shortish trips all you need to take are a few sets of spare rechargeables. If you go for a month you may want to take a small charger. Even so, there is still no need for the hassle and expense of an EWerk or similar.

 

[doog]

I am a happy user of an Etrex 30. It is mall and light, relatively cheap, and most of all, it is frugal with (AA) batteries. With good quality Ansmann rechargeable batteries I can ride for up to five days without changing the batteries. Therefore, for shortish trips all you need to take are a few sets of spare rechargeables. If you go for a month you may want to take a small charger. Even so, there is still no need for the hassle and expense of an EWerk or similar.

Im still on the etrex Hcx Legend. until it breaks I guess but the things bombproof. I use lithiums and like you get 5 full days on a pair...3 pairs got me from Spain to the UK and 5 pairs (for a tenner) got me 1500 miles around Europe.

Its still an art to work out and download a tour after all these years but to me that's all part of the planning process and the enjoyment.. its well worth the effort mind.

 

[clid61]

Update : Downloaded and put onto SD card Uk map and Morocco map , very impressed ! Now finding out how to plot routes I can follow ,on Basecamp and upload to device , again any tips welcome

 

[andym]

Now finding out how to plot routes I can follow ,on Basecamp and upload to device , again any tips welcome

Bear in mind that if you do a route in Basecamp (or wherever), the unit recalculates it so the route you get may not be the route you thought you had planned. I think (but it may have changed) that the units uses different algorithms from Basecamp. To make things more complicated the route may be changed if you are using a different map on your unit from the one on your PC. The most reliable option is to convert the route to a track (I usually plot a route using the route tool and then convert it to a track).

Always zoom in enough so you can see exactly what it is telling you to do. Always double check the route that the software has calculated.

I'm sure you're thinking 'yeah yeah yeah, whatever' but really this could save you a lot of hassle.

 

[Recycle]

Update : Downloaded and put onto SD card Uk map and Morocco map , very impressed ! Now finding out how to plot routes I can follow ,on Basecamp and upload to device , again any tips welcome

My information may be out of date (I have a Garmin Oregon 450t). Newer devices may support routing better than the older devices, but uploading planned routes from Basecamp invariably exceeded the number of route points allowed by the device and were unuseable. The only workaround I have found is to upload as a track, not a route. Garmin routing in my experience is crap.

 

[Blue Hills]

Garmin routing in my experience is crap.

a very sweeping statement. You just have to ensure, as others have said, that you are not asking it to route over too great a distance. Maybe absolute max 20 miles. In practice this is not a great problem. Unless you have just crash-landed from mars you probably know of other stuff en route to your final destination and can ask it to take you there. You may also of course have already entered these intermediate points. I have the etrex 20 and though the processor could be faster i generally find it excellent.

 

[Recycle]

a very sweeping statement. You just have to ensure, as others have said, that you are not asking it to route over too great a distance. Maybe absolute max 20 miles. In practice this is not a great problem.

Not true with a Garmin Oregon 450t. I haven't managed to do plan any urban journey of 10 miles or more without the route crashing, which rather limits the scope of the device.
If I remember correctly there is a limit of 50 route points (may be different on the Etrex). Routes I plan using Basecamp exceed this limit so frequently that I have given up. Using the native route planner on the device is torturously slow and has put me on some very unpleasant roads.

 

[Blue Hills]

I don't know that model but just looked it up - maybe a way cheaper Etrex20 would be better. You can use substantially more than 50 points in effect on the Etrex20 though I can never remember the limit - always have to look it up. I generally use point-to-point" routing between points which relieves the unit of most on-route calculations. It probably thanks me for it as I have a habit of wandering off the route to look at stuff and it would then be recalculating all the time. When I want to get back on route I zoom out and look for the magenta line on my openfietsmap or select one of the numbered route points I know is ahead and then get the Garmin to route me to it.Once I am at that point or nearing it I slot back into the point to point route. I use this system a lot and am now very comfortable with it. I do use the unit's inbuilt routing a lot to get me across London and it works pretty well.

PS - I have an idea that on point to point routing you can maybe have 250 points - that is ample - you can define a damn long route in country areas with 250 points. Just checked one of my routes on Basecamp - Manchester City centre to Whalley, Lancashire - about 170 points - I worked the route out on cyclestreets/basecamp and on the day I rode it, although most of the route was unfamiliar and some of it on obscure tracks, the Garmin never put a foot wrong - I just kept pedalling.

 

[Trickedem]

+1 on the genuine mount. I have an eTrex 30 and it is a great bit of kit. I couldn't get the routing/turn by turn instructions to work, so I just show a line on the map. I have an 800 which I use for turn by turn instructions.

 

[Basis]

I echo the above comment about cheap ebay copies - they won't hold the unit securely.

Never had a prob with the genuine ones. Even when hacked to make an out-front mount...

View attachment 308991

Did anybody rebuild this mount and has a kind of a "manual"?

 

[RobCyclist]

Hi yeah the osm was there already , I disabled the other 2 and now have no map at all . Ill get and SD card at the weekend and down load A UK map to it . Cheers for your help much appreciated, methinks Im gonna need more before the weekend is out !

Mate, if your still checking out maps. I recommend giving this website a try for your etrex. http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

I have been using the maps from this site, for a long time for my etrex 30. I use it for touring and very very impressed. Choose the Routable Bicycle option. They have all the national, european and local cycle routes on them.

You can search for supermarkets, fast food places, campsites, hostels, and there's an option for bike shops under the autoservice... it's open source data so lots of people have contributed to it. Really good site for maps and it's free.

Rob