A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
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Sweep
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Sweep »

thanks for the time you took over that lawnet - I was never much cop at physics at school and in truth even as I wrote my post I had an idea there was something wrong with it somewhere :)

On low self discharge I agree with you generally, and only tend to buy those sorts these days.

But non low self discharge (and I have a fair few) are not a great problem I think in a GPS - as you will be going through the battery pretty quickly.

I tend to think low self discharge is more important for lights, particularly back-up ones.

Of course you may demolish my view :)
Sweep
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Mick F
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Mick F »

Sweep wrote: I think in a GPS - as you will be going through the battery pretty quickly.
Depends on what you mean by pretty quickly.

My Montana will go for 12hrs or more on the set of three Eneloops.
Mick F. Cornwall
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RickH
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by RickH »

I've (sort of/partially) gone the other way - using a cycling computer (edge 1000) for walking. I found the OSM based mapping shows most paths & at least for pre-plotted route you can tell if you are on track & where you are. It doesn't record your speed very well as there isn't a "walking" mode to smooth movement a bit. For just logging purposes I use the Hike+ IQ app but that doesn't have access to the maps. Improvements in hardware/software means that maps should now be accessible on newer units.

For OS maps I have a subscription with Anquet that gives me access to the full set of 1:50k & 1:25k maps updated twice yearly. Their OMN app gives access to the maps (which can be downloaded for offline use) on my phone complete with a GPS fix.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
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andrew_s
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by andrew_s »

Mick F wrote:It's not pirate mapping.
It's removing the lock code so you can do what you want with the map.

Scenario:
If you bought two different maps from Garmin on two separate SD cards, how could you use them in one Garmin device?
That was the situation I found myself in.

Unlock the codes, and copy both maps onto one single SD card.
That way, you can use the menu to toggle between the maps on screen as required.

I don't have a problem with that.
I have Kindle and Kobo e-Readers, and routinely remove the encryption/copy protection so that what I buy for one can be read on the other.

However, selling copies to other people isn't morally defensible.
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Samuel D »

andrew_s wrote:Do you have one, or is this based on internet rumour?

I don’t have one but an acquaintance did before he returned it for a refund. Battery life was abysmal and there were both random and reproducible lock-ups. Frequent restarts are unacceptable on a tracking device, but to add insult to injury they sometimes lost data.

thelawnet wrote:This is called AGPS and means you can get a fix much faster than the standalone device I used a decade ago, because the phone already knows roughly where it is.

That’s often how A-GPS is described but when I looked into it a few years ago I got another story. The A-GPS device downloads from a server the latest ephemeris and almanac data (where the satellites are, etc.). At cellular data speeds this can be done on demand almost instantly whereas listening to a GPS satellite’s looping data dump at submarine-like baud rates can take minutes, plus the signals are so weak (as Brucey described) that this download is often interrupted in urban canyons. With practically instant ephemeris and almanac data, the phone can essentially perform a hot fix in cold-fix situations. This works stunningly well. I can get out of a metro in Paris and get an accurate fix in typically under ten seconds with my phone. Sometimes it does it in five seconds! This is a genuine GNSS fix with the Wi-Fi radio dead. Sci-fi stuff, really.

thelawnet wrote:In addition, battery life can be extended using smaller and less detailed screens.

And screens with no backlight. My eTrex 20 is more readable with the backlight off than my Edge 520, but they both work tolerably well in daylight (better in sunlight than cloudy conditions). Wahoo’s popular Elemnt and Elemnt Bolt models take this further by using monochrome displays that have far higher contrast in bright light with the backlight off than any phone or colour Garmin with the backlight on, and at negligible power draws.

It is the moving map (and often cellular data for the moving map) and display that consume the bulk of the power these days. The GNSS chips are impressively efficient. My phone will run for days with GPS tracking, but only a few hours for navigation. I know some Android phones have longer battery lives with the display on but my point is that it’s not the GPS receiver that is the power problem any longer, in phones at least. Wearables may be another matter.
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Mick F
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Mick F »

andrew_s wrote:However, selling copies to other people isn't morally defensible.
Depends on what is meant.
If you copy them and sell them - say on eBay - I agree that's wrong because you could sell dozens of copies ........ and make a profit.

However, If you buy one, copy it and sell the original to someone you know at half price, and they know what you are doing, it's as if you are sharing the cost 50/50.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Cunobelin
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Cunobelin »

Unless you want to add Heart RAte, CAdence etc, then most walking GPS will be suitable for cycle touring

Al you need to do is check they have a bike mount
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Briarej
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Briarej »

I've ordered Garmin eTrex 20x on Amazon and very satisfied https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Outdoor ... B00XLVF3BG
Great little gadget for geocaching. Easy to download caches, even for a dinosaur like me. And the success rate for finds has more than doubled compared to using a smartphone app. The accuracy is to within one foot rather than the five meters on the phone app. Haven't worked out how to put coordinations manually, but this is user error rather than the fault of the device. And that's why I always take my Suunto hiking compass :lol:
Not all those who wander are lost.
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Sweep
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Sweep »

Briarej wrote:I've ordered Garmin eTrex 20x on Amazon and very satisfied https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Outdoor ... B00XLVF3BG
Great little gadget for geocaching. Easy to download caches, even for a dinosaur like me. And the success rate for finds has more than doubled compared to using a smartphone app. The accuracy is to within one foot rather than the five meters on the phone app. Haven't worked out how to put coordinations manually, but this is user error rather than the fault of the device. And that's why I always take my Suunto hiking compass :lol:

Good choice but that's expensive.
I thought they were about £140.
I like the 20 series so much I have three, two20s and one 20x. Bought two second hand as spares as i know that the instinct of many industries when they have something cheapish that does the job will be to discontinue it.
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Samuel D »

Sweep wrote:I like the 20 series so much I have three, two20s and one 20x.

You might have these in storage, but if it’s convenient sometime, would you be able to take a photograph of the 20 and 20x displaying the same map, with the backlights off, side by side in direct sunlight? Or just tell us your comments on comparative display visibility with the backlight off.

When I checked them inside a shop, I had the impression the 20 had a more reflective display than the 20x, that is, the map was easier to read on the older unit. That’s with the backlights off, the default setting on daylight rides for me. I concluded I preferred the older eTrex 20.

The eTrex 20 has a more visible display with the backlight off than any of the Garmin Edge units I’ve tried. That and the much longer battery life are the main reasons I still use an eTrex 20 for navigation on long rides.
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Cunobelin
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Cunobelin »

Mick F wrote:Garmin 600 series.
Knocks spots off anything else.
Handheld, sits in a pocket, mounts on a bike or a motorbike, mounts in a car. It does everything.

Big and chunky and clear bright screen. All the maps you can think of to fit into it. Takes the standard Li battery or three AA batteries of any sort. Runs all day.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-GB/GB/p/523640
http://www.burrowsgps.co.uk/hiking/010-N0924-00.html


Car mount also has voice commands
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Mick F
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by Mick F »

Yep.
We don't bother with that though as we had a TomTom for navigation.
We have used the Montana with it mounted in a mobile phone cradle. It only beeps when it has an instruction.

The good thing about using a real GPS device, is that you can preload a route into it having studied the maps online and then connect up to transfer. A TomTom only follows what TomTom want you to follow.
Mick F. Cornwall
sophiemckinney
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Re: A reasonable walking GPS that's good for cycling too?

Post by sophiemckinney »

Tangled Metal wrote:I've looked into getting a new walking GPS unit for a few years now to replace my venerable gps60 that I've not used for years. It got me thinking that something newer with mapping could be a reasonable cycle touring GPS too. Mapping GPS units for cycling seem more expensive than equivalent hiking GPS units to me. A lot of hiking units can come with bike fittings too.

So any recommendations?

I've considered Garmin etrex 20 / 30 x or no x versions in the past. Cheaper the better tbh providing they are good enough.


Consider Garmin Foretrex 401. My friend has it and is quite satisfied.
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