I'm just so confused about GPS

[piperjim]

Spot Tracker

I don't have one, so am not speaking from experience....but I've seen maps of routes that bikers have taken, using their Spot Personal Tracker. From their website:

"HOW IT WORKS:
Once activated, SPOT acquires and sends your GPS coordinates to your SPOT account and, if you choose, Shared Pages and SPOT Adventures Live Maps, automatically every 10 minutes for 24 hours or until canceled. Track Progress must be reengaged to continue beyond a 24 hour tracking session. Creating a SPOT Shared Page allows you to share your GPS route with your friends and family easily in near real time on the web through a personal link. You can make your Shared Page private or public. Your choice! Just share that URL with your friends and family and they can easily track your adventures. You can also link your SPOT Messenger to SPOT Adventures, a social portal, where you can set up a profile and blog with others sharing their SPOT Adventures. On SPOT Adventures, your Shared Pages can stream in a Live Map widget that you can use on your own personal or event sites."

Like I said, I don't have one. I use a refurbished GPS, non-waterproof. When it looks like rain, I put a zip-lock bag over it. I say I'm resourceful, my wife says I'm cheap.

 

[widebmw]

I don't have one, so am not speaking from experience....but I've seen maps of routes that bikers have taken, using their Spot Personal Tracker. From their website:

"HOW IT WORKS:
Once activated, SPOT acquires and sends your GPS coordinates to your SPOT account and, if you choose, Shared Pages and SPOT Adventures Live Maps, automatically every 10 minutes for 24 hours or until canceled. Track Progress must be reengaged to continue beyond a 24 hour tracking session. Creating a SPOT Shared Page allows you to share your GPS route with your friends and family easily in near real time on the web through a personal link. You can make your Shared Page private or public. Your choice! Just share that URL with your friends and family and they can easily track your adventures. You can also link your SPOT Messenger to SPOT Adventures, a social portal, where you can set up a profile and blog with others sharing their SPOT Adventures. On SPOT Adventures, your Shared Pages can stream in a Live Map widget that you can use on your own personal or event sites."

Like I said, I don't have one. I use a refurbished GPS, non-waterproof. When it looks like rain, I put a zip-lock bag over it. I say I'm resourceful, my wife says I'm cheap.

A SPOT Tracker and GPS have nothing to do with each other, they are not the same.

 

[piperjim]

A SPOT Tracker and GPS have nothing to do with each other, they are not the same.

WideBMW: Did you read the OP?

"I don't want a GPS that shows me the little window that's supposed to look like the road laying out ahead of me and dictating when and where I should turn. I want one that shows me a map view with a little dot to represent me, a hihglighted path of where I've been , and all of the many choices at my disposal...I basically want a topographical map that moves with me so I won't have to keep pulling it out of my tank bag and refolding it. Preferably I can plug it into the bike so it will stay alive for 8-12 hours at a clip. When I get home, I'd like to capture the data related to my ride, give it a cool descriptive name, and save it for posterity."

A Spot would capture the data related to his ride, allow him to print a copy and save it. That is one of the things he wants, and he won't have to hook up cables to his computer to download data. Just an idea for him to consider.

I know that a Spot and a GPS are not the same, but they are similar in that they both receive data from GPS satellites and calculate location based on those data.

 

[marchyman]

A SPOT Tracker and GPS have nothing to do with each other...

Sometimes they do....

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtdItemDetail.jsp?item=30785

 

[dbrick]

If you have an iPhone, there are good apps that will track your route and even give you speed at any given time along the route. It is not perfect, but it will certainly map where you have been driving.

Ducati makes one.

Rob,

What are some names of the apps you're talking about?

 

[Mike_Philippens]

I think that for a map guy the best thing is the Garmin GPSMap 62 (I have the old 60 model)

It's made for hiking primarily, but mountainbikers and off road bikers also love them. They're sturdy little devices which can be operated handheld as well. As with all Garmin devices, you can put topographical maps on them, so you can even navigate on the little backroads.

When you don't really need the GPS for telling you exactly at which point you need to turn, but still want to know where you are, consult a (little) map, and have a triplog, the GPSMap is perfect. You can view the triplog on your PC of laptop with the Garmin software. From within the Garmin software you can easily call Google Earth to show you the route you've recorded.
I used one on my trip from The Netherlands to Dakar (Africa) on my Yamaha XT and even in the desert it's brilliant. I just had a list of waypoints of the camp we needed to be at night and the little arrow pointed in the right direction.

They're easily mounted on the bike with a Touratech holder and a RAM mount. Great little devices. The latest series, the 62 feature orientation sensors (like in the smartphones). This means that the device doesn't need to be perfectly flat for the compass to be accurate. This applies only to the built-in electronic compass (which will work when stationary). When you move, the direction of travel is based on the GPS data (ie the satellites). Most GPS systems don't have a built-in compass, so when you're standing still and turn around, it doesn't know exactly in which direction you're looking. You need to move a bit for the GPS system to work out in which direction you're moving.

When you use this to wander around and you find yourself at a point where you want to return, you can either retrace your steps (that's a build in function) of set your home as a waypoint and let the arrow point you the way. It can also work out a route for you using the map, and give you a turn-by-turn guidance. But when you tell it to go there in a straight line, it just points the arrow in the right direction and tells you how many miles it is (in a straight line). You can work out a route by yourself. I tried that many times and it works very well. Even in a little village with a lot of side streets. When you approach the street where you need to turn in, you'll see the arrow starting to move slightly towards the right or left. With a little practice, you can work with it as with the bigger GPS systems.

I like the compactness of it, the fact you can use it on a hike too (the GPS receiver is among the best on the market, works even in a dense forrest) and the standard arrow-option to point the way. You can also specify what data is shown on the screens, so you can customize it to work the way you want it. It's a hikers tool! Great device!

The GPSMAP 62st comes preloaded with topographic maps for the entire US. The somewhat cheaper 62S model has the electronic compass and a barometric altimeter. The cheapest model 62 is just the base model without the compass and altimeter. The topographic maps can be bought seperately.

 

[Jim Rogers]

GPS All the Way

Have a now obsolete Garmin 765T, and a Zumo 660. Would never go back to a paper map as long as I live and ride (or drive). Granted, just using a GPS unit alone is a Royal PITA. And I would never recommend that except as a way to get 'unlost' or to find the nearest gas/police/hospital/etc or to go from address to address. But when coupled with BaseCamp ... IMHO, you cant beat it. The maps are extremely accurate, updated 4 times a year, and you can zoom to whatever level of detail you want. Drop in a couple of waypoints, and off you go. You can explore all you want and really figure out the best way YOU want to travel. Wanna see a satellite view? Just click a button and go to Google Earth. Still addicted to paper? Just print out the map. Did it take a while to figure out? Some, but not that much. Downside? If on a long trip, you might need to take a small laptop with you. YMMV

 

[HONDARIDER]

I think that for a map guy the best thing is the Garmin GPSMap 62 (I have the old 60 model)

It's made for hiking primarily, but mountainbikers and off road bikers also love them. They're sturdy little devices which can be operated handheld as well. As with all Garmin devices, you can put topographical maps on them, so you can even navigate on the little backroads.

When you don't really need the GPS for telling you exactly at which point you need to turn, but still want to know where you are, consult a (little) map, and have a triplog, the GPSMap is perfect. You can view the triplog on your PC of laptop with the Garmin software. From within the Garmin software you can easily call Google Earth to show you the route you've recorded.
I used one on my trip from The Netherlands to Dakar (Africa) on my Yamaha XT and even in the desert it's brilliant. I just had a list of waypoints of the camp we needed to be at night and the little arrow pointed in the right direction.

They're easily mounted on the bike with a Touratech holder and a RAM mount. Great little devices. The latest series, the 62 feature orientation sensors (like in the smartphones). This means that the device doesn't need to be perfectly flat for the compass to be accurate. This applies only to the built-in electronic compass (which will work when stationary). When you move, the direction of travel is based on the GPS data (ie the satellites). Most GPS systems don't have a built-in compass, so when you're standing still and turn around, it doesn't know exactly in which direction you're looking. You need to move a bit for the GPS system to work out in which direction you're moving.

When you use this to wander around and you find yourself at a point where you want to return, you can either retrace your steps (that's a build in function) of set your home as a waypoint and let the arrow point you the way. It can also work out a route for you using the map, and give you a turn-by-turn guidance. But when you tell it to go there in a straight line, it just points the arrow in the right direction and tells you how many miles it is (in a straight line). You can work out a route by yourself. I tried that many times and it works very well. Even in a little village with a lot of side streets. When you approach the street where you need to turn in, you'll see the arrow starting to move slightly towards the right or left. With a little practice, you can work with it as with the bigger GPS systems.

I like the compactness of it, the fact you can use it on a hike too (the GPS receiver is among the best on the market, works even in a dense forrest) and the standard arrow-option to point the way. You can also specify what data is shown on the screens, so you can customize it to work the way you want it. It's a hikers tool! Great device!

The GPSMAP 62st comes preloaded with topographic maps for the entire US. The somewhat cheaper 62S model has the electronic compass and a barometric altimeter. The cheapest model 62 is just the base model without the compass and altimeter. The topographic maps can be bought seperately.

This looks promising...time to do more reading.

 

[Polarbear]

Just something;

There's just something about seeing yourself on a screen That little GPS arrow says I'm here on the earth! I don't use mine for anything but watching that little arrow move about and my general direction of travel.. Love my maps. Just found a sign in Jerome,AZ, a remote mountain community, as I turned onto a gravel road to explore and exercise my GSA1200 adventure spirit. Sign reads, YOUR GPS IS WRONG, no entre, turn around! How many folks do you think get lost, reading/following GPS directions? A LOT do. Seen too many myself. That road above was a dead end, but clearly shown on GPS as a thoroughfare. I have a older Garmin 76CS mounted on my GSA and its a tool indeed, mostly for looks and my smiles seeing myself as that little "ARROW" wondering about the planet. Randy

 

[Omega Man]

There's just something about seeing yourself on a screen That little GPS arrow says I'm here on the earth! I don't use mine for anything but watching that little arrow move about and my general direction of travel.. Love my maps. Just found a sign in Jerome,AZ, a remote mountain community, as I turned onto a gravel road to explore and exercise my GSA1200 adventure spirit. Sign reads, YOUR GPS IS WRONG, no entre, turn around! How many folks do you think get lost, reading/following GPS directions? A LOT do. Seen too many myself. That road above was a dead end, but clearly shown on GPS as a thoroughfare. I have a older Garmin 76CS mounted on my GSA and its a tool indeed, mostly for looks and my smiles seeing myself as that little "ARROW" wondering about the planet. Randy

Wait till you meet a tractor trailer taking "the mountain shortcut" in Jerome.
I thought I was the only one with the 76cs. Have friends in Jerome Randy, your right on the signs. Gary

 

[32232]

This looks promising...time to do more reading.

I have the previous generation 60 series and like it so much I have no inclination to "update" to a Zumo-generation unit.

In addition to the features noted above, I really like that every information field on each screen is customizable to dozens of choices. That way the screen tells you the information you want to know, not what Garmin has dictated as on the Zumo or Nuvi models.

 

[pffog]

...

In addition to the features noted above, I really like that every information field on each screen is customizable to dozens of choices. That way the screen tells you the information you want to know, not what Garmin has dictated as on the Zumo or Nuvi models.

That is why I run the 276c/376c/478 family of units, TOTALLY customizable and easy to navigate with gloves on, plus a wider screen and brighter screen too.

 

[roborider]

Rob,

What are some names of the apps you're talking about?

The one I use is Diablo Super Biker by Pirelli (sorry, not Ducati). It is good as a tracker of where you have ridden. I know there are many apps that do this, but this one is good enough for my basic needs.

I only use it once and a while if I find a road that I want to remember for future use.

 

[bobs98]

Similar Situation

Hondarider,

I was looking for some of the same features: mostly interested in Waterproof, ability to download pre-planned routes, Mountable, and CHEAP. I ended up with the Garmin Nuvi 550 and auto moto bundle from GPS City. Combined with free download of BaseCamp from Garmin, I have been able to plan and import routes to the GPS and save and send the routes to friends as .gpx files. Will road test a long route in a week and a half.

So far, I like what I've seen. Hope this helps.

Edit: It also does the tracks which show nicely in BaseCamp.

 

[ultracyclist]

simple suggestion

Hondarider,
Your avatar indicates that you are in Adams, MA. There are several BMW Clubs in the New England/ NY Area. Yankee Beemers comes to mind.
Why not contact those clubs and ask if you could visit with riders who have GPS's-maybe even meet them at a coffee shop. In this way you could could see a variety of units and get some real time feedback.

A fellow rider told me: Find the unit that has the features you want with the biggest screen. Do not get overwelmed with nice features to have that you will probably never use.

FWIW, I am going thru the same process myself, and a Garmin unit is winning the race.

 

[richardak]

I think that for a map guy the best thing is the Garmin GPSMap 62 (I have the old 60 model)

+1

I have been using my 60CSx for years while out and about. In Alaska, you really don't need a GPS while on the road since there are so few. I have been using it to store tracks from walks, hikes and rides and download them to the computer. It also is a much more accurate speedometer (and easy to switch to metric when in Canada) than the one on my airhead. Waterproof, not cheap especially if you want the maps but I've been using mine for years.