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GPS Trip Tracking?

R

RoscoeRules

Guest
Have any of yoos guys used a GPS tracking device for logging your rides? IÔÇÖm thinking about this $200.00 device
(http://www.landairsea.com/gps-tracking-key.html) to produce a visual trip log on my home computer that shows maps, times, speeds etc, etc for an entire trip. Often I forget every little town I ride through in my wanderings in northern IL, IA and WI and have relied on memory to record a dayÔÇÖs ride in a .doc file when I return home. Yeah, I could just refer to my road map, but often I donÔÇÖt follow a strict route to a destination and many times wander off to explore small towns well off my intended route. Anyway the reviews for this small GPS data logger are all very good and it looks interesting.
 
RoscoeRules said:
Have any of yoos guys used a GPS tracking device for logging your rides?
Click to expand...

That is the primary use for my Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx.

I have it set up so that my daily tracks are recorded to the microSD card. Track logging to the data card provides much greater detail than track logging to the usual 20 on-board track logs...and you also do not run out of memory.

When I get back from my month long tours, the track log is about 6 Mb in size.
 
I'm moving this thread to the GEAR subforum since it should attract more attention there, and is not Hexhead specific.

Just follow along.. :brad
 
GPSMAP 60Cx

The Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx is the perfect tool for the job. Full autorouting GPS and a long list of outdoor oriented features including tracks. This is the favourite unit with off-road riders.

I wouldn't trade it for any other unit on the market. (But then I'm one of those guys that the last thing I want on a bike is a Bluetooth phone or tunes blasting in my ear.)
 
32232 said:
The Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx is the perfect tool for the job.

I wouldn't trade it for any other unit on the market.
Click to expand...

You too, ehhh. When I saw what Garmin came out with (Colorado and Oregon), I got worried and bought another 60 Cx as a spare. The Colorado and Oregon are proof that the latest in most cases, isn't the greatest, but then, that applies to so many things.


32232 said:
But then I'm one of those guys that the last thing I want on a bike is a Bluetooth phone or tunes blasting in my ear.
Click to expand...

Ditto! I'm on vacation...I'm supposed to want to chit-chat on a cell phone. :scratch
 
RoscoeRules said:
Have any of yoos guys used a GPS tracking device for logging your rides? IÔÇÖm thinking about this $200.00 device
(http://www.landairsea.com/gps-tracking-key.html) to produce a visual trip log on my home computer that shows maps, times, speeds etc, etc for an entire trip. Often I forget every little town I ride through in my wanderings in northern IL, IA and WI and have relied on memory to record a dayÔÇÖs ride in a .doc file when I return home. Yeah, I could just refer to my road map, but often I donÔÇÖt follow a strict route to a destination and many times wander off to explore small towns well off my intended route. Anyway the reviews for this small GPS data logger are all very good and it looks interesting.
Click to expand...


If you do go with this would you please post a review? I've been looking at a similar product (http://www.trackstick.com/index.html) and would like some thoughts from an actual user!

Thanks!!
 
I'll be the third to state in this thread the Garmin GPS MAP 60CSx is the greatest tool ever. I use it along with the Zumo 550 and that also records all your tracks. Zumo is just not as reliable as the 60CSx.
 
I also have a Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx, but never thought about using it to log rides.

Do you use MapSource on your computer (I do)?

If so, do you use transfer-receive from device, to get the track from the GPS memory to your computer?

Barron
 
I use a Garmin Street Pilot 2720. You have to remember, when you pre-plot a ride using MapSource and transfer it to your GPS to tell you where to go, you are creating a route. When you use the GPS to remember where you've been, you're creating tracks. Tracks cannot directly be converted to routes, nor vice-versa. If you go for a ride, and when you get home you transfer your tracks to MapSource, its like it left a trail of breadcrumbs to record your trip. After I do the transfer, I manually create waypoints over the tracks, then delete the tracks, and connect the waypoints, thereby creating a route for the next trip. Hope that helps a little.
 
Barron_Williams said:
I also have a Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx, but never thought about using it to log rides.

Do you use MapSource on your computer (I do)?

If so, do you use transfer-receive from device, to get the track from the GPS memory to your computer?

Barron
Click to expand...

Yes and yes. There is a caveat that is worth mentioning. If you want to make sure you have all your tracks to download to the computer after a very long trip you need to enable "Log Track To Data Card" enabling much more memory for track storage. Those tracks will not transfer trough MapSource using the "Receive" button. You have to goto Setup>Interface> Then Select USB Mass Storage. That mounts your data card as an external drive were you can access and manually transfer the gpx files containing all your track data. The 60CSx stores them by date here. The manual sort of explains this on pages 27,28.
 
Most (all?) Garmin Nuvi's will create an automatic track log in the background. They can be used off-line with their MapSource software. Some, like my Nuvi 750, will allow you to view the track log right on the device.

One of the interesting benefits of the Zumo models is they allow you to convert a track log into a route directly on the device! But I did hear you can't reverse the start and end easily?
 
Now that youse guys are playing with track logs, try this... Off-load your GPS tracks into MapSource and clear out the waypoints and routes which leaves only the tracks. Save the file as a .gpx, and then play with uploading the .gpx file to either of these two sites:

http://gpsvisualizer.com or http://everytrail.com

Both sites are great fun creating and viewing maps and profiles.
 
I like to archive tracks for future reference but creating routes from tracks is not a desire of mine. In Mapsource I like to use the route tool to "pin" and trace the route to some previous tracks or just anywhere without a bunch of arbitrary waypoints stored.

K75Swim, those are neat sites.
 
GPS Tracking Follow-up

I phoned the folks at Landairsea about their tracking key. I splained that I just wanted to capture 4 or 5 hr rides so I could create map files showing the routes I took that day. The guy said that a 4 or 5 hr ride would exhaust the two batteries and would require a change. I thought that was too many batteries (they recommend lithium batteries!!!) to be buying and fooling around with so I dumped the idea for using this device.
 
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