Choosing a GPS unit for round-the-world cycle expedition

ride-earth · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 11, 2007 Posts: 3

Hi,

Just thought I'd get people's ideas on this. Later this year I'm going to be leaving the UK to cycle round the world, over 3-4 years minimum. (Usually when I post this on a forum someone will snort with amusement and post a sarcastic reply to the effect of it's impossible/you'll never do it/are you going to cycle through Iran haha/etc - please refrain from this as I assure you that I will be doing exactly that!)

I really want to log all of my travels using a GPS unit, so that I can (amongst other things) post Google Earth files for my journey on the expedition website. It would also be useful for navigation between major landmarks/settlements. I've been considering a number of units and wondered if anyone had any suggestions. The main criteria are:

1. I need to be able to store lots of data and easily transfer it to PCs in internet cafes.
2. I need to be able to charge the unit every night. I'll be camping mostly, so the charging will usually be done using a solar charger that charges itself during the day, and charges the device at night via a USB or 12v car charging connector. A solar AA battery charger is another option.
3. It's got to be rugged and bike-mountable

So far, the Magellan eXplorist 400 looks good, with its unlimited SD-card tracklog/waypoint storage, and USB data transfer feature that acts like a memory stick for getting the data onto a PC easily. However, I can't tell from the manual whether its Li-Ion battery can be charged via the USB cable. Does anyone know if it can?

Any other thoughts on this topic would be massively appreciated.

Cheers in advance,

Tom Allen
tom@ride-earth.org.uk

"Ride Earth" is the mission of Tom Allen and Andrew Welch to circumnavigate the globe by mountain-bike...

* Visit us online at www.ride-earth.org.uk
* Donate easily and securely at www.justgiving.com/rideearth

Pc-Mobile · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:34 pm Post subject:

Yes it can be charged via USB.

But you should consider a GPS using AA batteries (rechargeable) as you can have a few spare sets if you are to be without mains power for a couple of nights. With the eXplorist battery you need a couple of spares and you can charge only one at a time in the unit and probably only one each night.

Solar charger is a good idea but not always practical as they tend not to work satisfactorily unless you are buying expensive (000s) and heavy ones.
_________________
Pc-Mobile
http://pc-mobile.net/gps.htm

BoPeep

philpugh · Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:55 pm Post subject:

I would second a GPS that uses AA batteries - you might not get the chance to do a recharge every night.

GARMIN eTrex VISTA or LEGEND may be well worth looking at. Don't know the Magellan unit but the microSD card for the GARMINs are inside the waterproof battery compartment - keeping the elements at bay.

I'm a long time user of GARMIN handheld GPS units - and a great fan of their ruggedness/reliability.

Good luck on your venture (and I thought the C2C cross-England on mountain bike was a long way!!)
_________________
Phil

ride-earth · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 11, 2007 Posts: 3

Cheers for that advice. AA batteries definitely sound like the best option. My only worry was finding a unit that could be used in USB Mass Storage Device mode so that I can transfer my data to the PCs in internet cafes without any special drivers or software. I spoke to a chap from Garmin yesterday who said he thought it was possible on some of the eTrex series but wasn't sure. Does anyone know if it is possible on the Vista/Legend, for example? I looked at the original eTrex manual and there's no USB facility mentioned...

missing_user · Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: -7

Take a look at the Garmin GPSmap 60csx.

It store unlimited 'tracks' on the SD card, with any effort after initial setup.
It can receive tracks and routes from the PC.
It is water-proof.
It uses AA batteries.
All data is transferred via the USB.
It is rugged with special fiitings available for bicycles from RAM.

http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap60csx/

If you need further details post here!!

ride-earth · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 11, 2007 Posts: 3

That certainly looks like the best one I've considered in terms of features, but it's slightly out of my budget range unfortunately!

missing_user · Joined: Aug 30, 2008 Posts: -7

I would approach Garmin UK and ask for them to sponsor you by donating the unit, in return for reports on the unit. Good publicity for them!

Anyway, look at the prices on ebay for a new unit from USA, far cheaper than any in this country. I bought mine from there, on eBay!

MaFt · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 11:52 am Post subject:

i can't help on the device side, but have you seen this site: http://www.ttsm.com/

we had it shown to us at CeBIT and it looks quite impressive. basically, you upload your trips and can replay them on google earth, as well as viewing other peoples trips etc. it's all free and you can also post photo's at certain points - if you have the time set correctly on your camera it will automatically post them at the point you were at when the picture was taken.

MaFt

	PocketGPS
	Web