GPS questions.

[Flying Dodo]

I went for the SatMap last year, on the basis it had a bigger screen, which I could see far more easily than the Oregon, the fact it can take AA batteries or a built in LiPo battery, plus having OS mapping makes the navigation far better (I think).

It's easier to amend an existing route or enter a new one compared with the Oregon, but on the downside, it doesn't do on the fly re-calculation of a new route if you've gone off track, which I think the Oregon can do.

 

[marinyork]

This might help

There are a lot of free versions of the maps available of OSM, but this is the one I and several others use .

The free mapping is just a rendering of this and will show most/a fair bit of what is on there. Opencyclemaps is a layer or this and reduces the amount of information such as POIs and shows up cycle routes more clearly.

 

[400bhp]

Is there any software that would allow you to plot a ride on say mapometer.com and then transfer them into the unit as a course to follow?

Yes:

The 2 I use are:
-Bikeroutetoaster (my preferred one)
-Garmin's own (seems to have been recently added, is good but I'm not keen on the monochrome colour of the map on screen so it can be a little difficult to choose quieter routes)

There are others too.

 

[smutchin]

I'm surprised at the 3gs having dodgy gps ... its probably equivalent to my old htc desire with regards to hardware specification/build
quality and my old htc was excellent at sniffing out 10+ gps satellites whilst indoors.

Purely anecdotal, based on my own experiences - I tried using the Runkeeper iPhone app to record rides for a while but gave up because I found I was spending too much time correcting errors in the log.

I should add, though, that I had more trouble getting a GPS signal in built-up areas than rural locations. I once tried looking up my location when I'd gone a bit off route in the Lake District, somewhere near Keswick, and the GPS was fine but I couldn't get a data signal to download the map from Google Maps.

d.

 

[Cubist]

Well I managed to find an unused Edge 305 for 90 quid. Given that the research I did has told me I can get along with that level of technology I have spent the £200 I have saved on a new pair of Fox Forks for my next build..........

Thanks for all your help and advice everybody.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Bargain. Let us know how you get on with it.

 

[deadhead1971]

Having recently bought a garmin edge 800, my first bike computer (!) i've been dabbling with various mapping options.
I wrote an article about it here:
http://www.scarletfire.co.uk/2012/01/garmin-edge-800-why-you-shouldnt-bother-with-custom-osm-maps/
hope it helps someone out :-)

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Using OpenCycleMaps not to be confused with vanilla OSM, with a Garmin

Buy UK OpenCycleMaps on SD card for less than £20
Put in Garmin
Load your route
Ride.

Given that using a GPS with OS mapping is akin to looking at an real paper OS through a toilet roll tube may of us find OpenCyclemaps. The OCM has one significant advantage to OS mapping when used off road. The 'trails' have been drawn on the map by someone using a GPS. The OS maps have all sorts of compromises on them to allow the mapping to show the detail (most of which is superfluous to cycling) at the level required and sometimes the path you are on is some distance away, on the ground, from where it is shown on the map.

 

[yello]

Well I managed to find an unused Edge 305 for 90 quid..

Good find. My only quibble with my Edge 305 is storage space. It starts to overwrite itself after around 400km... but then it's not like I ride that far on a regular basis!

 

[Lien Sdrawde]

slowly worked your way up to top of the range!!

Lol, I was thinking the same. I'm going through the same process - could someone tell me how easy it is to plot a course for a technophobe?

Its not easy when the money in your pocket seems to increase in temperature on a daily basis.

 

[HLaB]

Good find. My only quibble with my Edge 305 is storage space. It starts to overwrite itself after around 400km... but then it's not like I ride that far on a regular basis!

Is that on a single ride? I'll have to remember and reset mine if I ever cycle that far