Garmin Etrex 30

[clid61]

Considering getting one for uploading planned routes onto it , and using as a navigational aide . Opinions and advice welcome from any users. Cheers

 

[Deleted member 23692]

They are superb and often overlooked for the edge series

Unless you need a barometric altimeter and Ant+, then save a bit of cash and get the eTrex 20.

Both will run Open Street Map quite happily

 

[clid61]

Was looking at the 20, glad you mentioned it , cant see me needing a barometric altimeter and Ant + this side of doomsday

 

[Deleted member 23692]

I've been happily using the 20 since it came out and it's been faultless, and equally at home for hillwalking, cycling or recording accurate survey lines for work.

Maps come from either https://www.openmapchest.org/ or https://talkytoaster.co.uk/

 

[Ian H]

Having standard AA batteries is a bonus for long-distance riding.(or walking). Francis's gps website is brilliant for setting it up.

 

[clid61]

I bought one last year (Edit: it's an etrex 20), but despite several attempts both by me and by others who are usually good at this sort of thing I can't even begin to understand how to use the thing. I am seriously thinking of getting rid of it. I have heard from others that they can take forever to get the hang of.

How much ?

 

[Ian H]

I bought one last year (Edit: it's an etrex 20), but despite several attempts both by me and by others who are usually good at this sort of thing I can't even begin to understand how to use the thing. I am seriously thinking of getting rid of it. I have heard from others that they can take forever to get the hang of.

As mentioned above.

 

[outlash]

Another Etrex 20 user here and can't fault it. The only thing I would mention is get the official Garmin handlebar mounts for it, I bought a couple of cheap ones off Ebay so I could use it across all my bikes and it fell off several times. Still works fine though, gives you an indication of how tough it is. FWIW, I use velomaps: https://www.velomap.org/

 

[Deleted member 23692]

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...

 

[Blue Hills]

They are superb and often overlooked for the edge series

Unless you need a barometric altimeter and Ant+, then save a bit of cash and get the eTrex 20.

Both will run Open Street Map quite happily

+1part of the reason the 20 is often overlooked for cycling is that it is quite clear that many cycling shops don't stock it. It's too much like good value. Two points OP - if you get one, use a lanyard. The mount is generally very good but i discovered after a few years trouble free use that it isn't perfect. My 20 bounced off last week and has gone away to be repaired/revived. Point 2 - now superceded by the 20x.

 

[Blue Hills]

I bought one last year (Edit: it's an etrex 20), but despite several attempts both by me and by others who are usually good at this sort of thing I can't even begin to understand how to use the thing. I am seriously thinking of getting rid of it. I have heard from others that they can take forever to get the hang of.

see above re francis. I know what you mean. The instructions are pretty much non existent. But it is very good. Francis is your guide.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I bought one last year (Edit: it's an etrex 20), but despite several attempts both by me and by others who are usually good at this sort of thing I can't even begin to understand how to use the thing. I am seriously thinking of getting rid of it. I have heard from others that they can take forever to get the hang of.

See now there I am with you all the way, sister. I have mastered abour 5% my Etrex 20's functionality. But that 5%? Just wow!. I thought it had gone wrong on LonJOG but it turned out I had unpopped the microSD card when changing batteries. And that day in Rutland we found a bit of road where, according to opencyclemaps at the time... well... here be dragons. I will never forget Simon saying to me on the day we were going to be late for lunch "Off you go Greg. You have two splendid characteristics which we need. Assertiveness and a GPS"

 

[mmmmartin]

it took me a couple of years to finally master it but my etrex vista hcx has been brilliant in many european countries and a great help on loads of audax events. so much so that i bought a spare on ebay so when the original broke, which it eventually did, i had a spare. but i've moved on to the Garmin gpsmap 64 which has a memory several times the size of the vista hcx (10,000 waypoints not 500 - good for long audaxes following a track).

i think to really get to understand what they'll do you need to have someone explain it, then that person needs to spend a day with you on the bike so you get to use it yourself. for instance - how to get across an unknown town using a gps is a useful skill (look at its map, and tell it to take you to a small village just on the other side) - but then you need to set the "routing" to "delivery" - not "bicycle" cos it takes the pretty route, not "car" cos it likes main roads, not "walking" cos it follows footpaths and not "emergency" cos it does strange things. those on the Lowlands Tour in September will recall when we went round the back of someone's house along a small footpath cos Gordon had his gps routing set to "mountaineering" after his walk through the Alps. But both for following a pre-set "route" and a pre-ridden "track" they are pretty good. I like a paper map as well, though, for the overview.

for cycle touring it's indispensable i think. i use Garmin maps (expensive at £60) cos the routing is more efficient, Open Street Map (free for the first nine panels and £10 for life after that) is good but routing not so good, and the Open Fiets Map (free) are good but i think they definitely need a paper map (€25 for all of Benelux on waterproof paper) in sight at all times.

 

[vernon]

Was looking at the 20, glad you mentioned it , cant see me needing a barometric altimeter and Ant + this side of doomsday

I've had the Etrex 20 for several years and I've used OpenStreetMaps to navigate across France, Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia plus Washington State, Vancouver Island, Idaho and bits of Montana. It's operated faultlessly and is often overlooked as it's rarely flagged as a cyclist's GPS. It's my most useful cycling accessory.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

it took me a couple of years to finally master it but my etrex vista hcx has been brilliant in many european countries and a great help on loads of audax events. so much so that i bought a spare on ebay so when the original broke, which it eventually did, i had a spare. but i've moved on to the Garmin gpsmap 64 which has a memory several times the size of the vista hcx (10,000 waypoints not 500 - good for long audaxes following a track).

i think to really get to understand what they'll do you need to have someone explain it, then that person needs to spend a day with you on the bike so you get to use it yourself. for instance - how to get across an unknown town using a gps is a useful skill (look at its map, and tell it to take you to a small village just on the other side) - but then you need to set the "routing" to "delivery" - not "bicycle" cos it takes the pretty route, not "car" cos it likes main roads, not "walking" cos it follows footpaths and not "emergency" cos it does strange things. those on the Lowlands Tour in September will recall when we went round the back of someone's house along a small footpath cos Gordon had his gps routing set to "mountaineering" after his walk through the Alps. But both for following a pre-set "route" and a pre-ridden "track" they are pretty good. I like a paper map as well, though, for the overview.

for cycle touring it's indispensable i think. i use Garmin maps (expensive at £60) cos the routing is more efficient, Open Street Map (free for the first nine panels and £10 for life after that) is good but routing not so good, and the Open Fiets Map (free) are good but i think they definitely need a paper map (€25 for all of Benelux on waterproof paper) in sight at all times.

I once used my HCx to navigate a Luton van to Stoke Newington. I forgot it was set to bicycle. Had to make a few U-turns away from London traffic-free cycle routes before I turned it off!