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12 May 2010
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GPS is for navigators. Be they on land, sea or in the air.
Satnav is GPS that is dummed down by software for the masses so they can find a McD's/tesco's/the way to their mates house while avoiding speed traps etc.
I know someone (car driver), who says it shows him when a sharp bend is coming up FFS!
They all use the same data, but can display in differing coordinate formats.
Find yourself a nice cheap Garmin 276c in good condition and some extra memory cards and load it with SmellyBikers Wonderlust maps.
They are enough and you never know, you may be able to contribute back the Wonderlust DB.
John
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Nostradamus Ate My Hamster
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12 May 2010
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You say potato, but I say potahto. I count five, but you count four. And there was something about SatNav as well.....
I liked the look of the site--very classy, very smooth. I didn't really try to check into it, since this morning I was planning to have a tire delivered and installed and be out of here....but now it looks like I'm stuck waiting for at least another day. Sigh. I'll have a more thorough look later on.
What I'll say from the start is that I'm always trying to check up on websites while I'm on the road, and the ones which take a long time to load I stop bothering with. Same with threads on forums like the HUBB which include endless photos; I can never wait around long enough for the page to finish loading, so I've learned who to avoid completely. It's different if I'm home with reliable, fast connections.
Don't know if that applies to your site, or if it's of interest.
enjoy,
Mark
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12 May 2010
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This is what you need ! I'm putting one on my DRZ.. I wonder if touratech make a bracket ! ??
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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.
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12 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
This is what you need ! I'm putting one on my DRZ.. I wonder if touratech make a bracket ! ??
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You kill me! I hope you'll make it to the Mini HU Meeting in Inverness at the end of May
Cheers,
Andy
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"...and in the end the journey is the destination..."
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12 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
This is what you need ! I'm putting one on my DRZ.. I wonder if touratech make a bracket ! ??
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No No No No, what you need is one of these https://sites.google.com/site/threew...he-sun-compass
None of this daft riding in the dark so you can have a quick look up Orions Belt at Uranus business.
Andy
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12 May 2010
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Hehehe!
Back to the topic
I've looked at 276C in comparison with the 60CSx ?
The 276 looks like a full blown navigator's tool and is really expensive when compared to 60CSx and to be honest hard to get as there's a newer 278 on the market now. The 60CSx sounds really good and is I guess reasonably priced at 203 quid on ebay.
I think we'll go with the 60 series.
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"...and in the end the journey is the destination..."
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12 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyWx
You kill me! I hope you'll make it to the Mini HU Meeting in Inverness at the end of May
Cheers,
Andy
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I'll try... Depends if the sky is clear so I can fix a bearing ! Otherwise, No !!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie
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I don't know who Orion is, but I'm sure he won't be too happy with you looking at his anus..
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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.
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12 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markharf
I liked the look of the site--very classy, very smooth. I didn't really try to check into it, since this morning I was planning to have a tire delivered and installed and be out of here....but now it looks like I'm stuck waiting for at least another day. Sigh. I'll have a more thorough look later on.
I can never wait around long enough for the page to finish loading, so I've learned who to avoid completely. It's different if I'm home with reliable, fast connections.
Don't know if that applies to your site, or if it's of interest.
enjoy,
Mark
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It definitely applies. I've downsized the photographs trying to avoid loosing the quality but the entire site - all photos and galleries including backgrounds etc. is about 50MB in size so hopefully you shouldn't have too much problem viewing it. It's definitely very important IMO. The photos need to open rapidly and hasslefree or nobody will waste time to wait for their download.
Let us know how you get on I'd be definitely very interested in hearing your thoughts. Same goes for all you other geezers outthere!  Let us know what you think about the website!
Cheers,
Andy
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"...and in the end the journey is the destination..."
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12 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyWx
It definitely applies. I've downsized the photographs trying to avoid loosing the quality
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See if you can find something like Atomic Web Page Size Calculator - Web page size and download speed calculator. to check how fast your site loads to others on the net.
Think about using a javascript plugin like "Lightbox" so you only load a thumbnail... those interested can click to enlarge
Example: BikerBytes: Alternators and Things
John
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13 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redboots
Think about using a javascript plugin like "Lightbox" so you only load a thumbnail... those interested can click to enlarge
[/URL]
John
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I would absolutely stay away from any site that did that. The site has to be seen the way it is, no clicking this to look at a photo, if it is not there, it I won't go looking for it. Just my personal opinion of course
Back to the subject - If you want a routable GPS, make sure you can read the screen from where it sits on the dash, handlebar or whatever to where you are sitting in a normal riding position. The last thing you need or want to do is to stop and read it, it has to be useful on the move when riding through traffic, if that is what you are using it for. If it is just to record the days tracks, then put it in the tank bag out of sight and it will still work.
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13 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redboots
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Thanks for these links! I'll check these out! As far as the images on the web are concerned I'm using Lightbox but the images you see as thumbnails on our website are actually the images you're seeing in lightbox although just shown as smaller (they're not resized or resampled in anyway). This way as TS mentioned what you see is what you get. Each image is about 100-200 Kb so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to view it.
Quote:
Back to the subject - If you want a routable GPS, make sure you can read the screen from where it sits on the dash, handlebar or whatever to where you are sitting in a normal riding position. The last thing you need or want to do is to stop and read it, it has to be useful on the move when riding through traffic, if that is what you are using it for. If it is just to record the days tracks, then put it in the tank bag out of sight and it will still work.
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The first continent ahead of us is SA. To buy routable maps to cover SA might be quite a lot of money I think. I'm thinking about the GPS more for figuring out where I am and if my heading is roughly right to get me where I want to be rather than travelling through City Centre on a turn by turn basis.
What I need the GPS to do is to show me a map of where I am, give me my coordinates, have a compas and a capability to use routable maps if I need it to. Does GPSmap 60CSx do that? I know it says it does that on their website but is that actually the case?
Andy
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13 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyWx
... What I need the GPS to do is to show me a map of where I am, give me my coordinates
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I doubt very much if Garmin could get away with claiming something that their units cant do and why would they. Every one that post on the 60csx all seem to think they are a top bit of kit. When my 276c dies, that type of unit will be on my list, but a unit with a bigger screen will probably tempt me
Just a question... why show your location in the degrees/mins/seconds format rather than the the more common decimal degrees?
Regarding a mount for your chosen unit GPS unit, explore all the RAM mount options before you stump up for the overpriced TouraTech unit. After crashing on the KKH my mount was as much use cheese and ended up securing it with a couple of rubber bands cut from and old innertube.
I now use a ball that is U clamped to the bars and a stubby RAM joint attached to the plastic cradle with another ball on it. I think it will be more "flexible" when you drop the bike.
John
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13 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redboots
Just a question... why show your location in the degrees/mins/seconds format rather than the the more common decimal degrees?
Regarding a mount for your chosen unit GPS unit, explore all the RAM mount options before you stump up for the overpriced TouraTech unit. After crashing on the KKH my mount was as much use cheese and ended up securing it with a couple of rubber bands cut from and old innertube.
I now use a ball that is U clamped to the bars and a stubby RAM joint attached to the plastic cradle with another ball on it. I think it will be more "flexible" when you drop the bike.
John
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The degrees/mins/seconds format probably shows that I haven't used a lot of GPS in my time - and I would say it is true. As you can see the website is stylized for old times (with some success I guess - I wanted a little more design but we had no time or tools to do that - we'll get there as I'm reviewing the website design as we speak) so we wanted to give the coorodinates the only way we know them from our sailing days on tallships which always was degrees/min/seconds.
I will definitely explore the mount idea for the unit. For me going to Touratech is always the last resort
Thanks for the advice!
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13 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyWx
What I need the GPS to do is to show me a map of where I am, give me my coordinates, have a compass and a capability to use routable maps if I need it to. Does GPSmap 60CSx do that? I know it says it does that on their website but is that actually the case?
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Yes - providing the maps you install on it are routable.
Just one note (if you didn't already know) the 60CSx does NOT have a voice function - it will not speak to tell you where to turn, just indicate on screen.
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13 May 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dave ett
Yes - providing the maps you install on it are routable.
Just one note (if you didn't already know) the 60CSx does NOT have a voice function - it will not speak to tell you where to turn, just indicate on screen.
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That's absolutely fine. To be honest using the GPS systems that talk to you I found that they're speaking either too late or too early
All I need is to know roughly in which direction I'm going and let the GPS guide me for the last mile or two really just to get to the right street I guess.
Since the 60CSx does that I'm quite confident it's the best gear for overlanding when it comes to the abilities and price.
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