gps units

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ubarw

I use the Garmin Quest and love it - small, compact for your pocket and easy to read screen - has a lithium battery inside which runs it for about 20 hr's. and charges as you ride. You'd be happy with it.



Cal

Orange '03'

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ubarw, there are many different types of GPS units out there for different purposes and wallet sizes.

Myself, I use a Garmin Rino 120 which has a built in two wayradio with a range of 7 miles. This is a very simple hand held unit that I can attach to my Wing with a handlebar mount. The advantage I find with this unit is that I can take it on my boat, use it in my car or carry it in my pocket, but, it is only a point to point unit and does not have color maps like the fancier models(balck and white only and a small screen display area). You can interface with a computer and set up routes and waypoints and do uploads and downloads. It has a lot of features, but, you really need to study the manual to figure out how to work it properly. All in all I have found it to be an excellent tool for my needs, but, it's more of a universal GPS, although extremely accurate,and not so much a display/show toy that many Wing owners prefer.

I'll get a pic of it mounted on my Wing and post it here later.

Vic

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I have a Garmin GPSMAP76S. I made a custom bracket and power supply to use on my snowmobile but on my '84 Aspy I just slide it under the "straps" on the left side pocket cover. I thought about attaching a RAM mount to the right side pocket and using the power cord but changed my mind because the internal batteries last quite a while in warm weather.
The GPSMAP76S is one of many units which can store street level maps. Mine only holds 8mb of data - that's enough for about 1/2 of my home state of Michigan...as long as it's not the half with Detroit! (big cities take up lots of memory). Most newer GPS units have more memory or accept flash memory cards to eliminate the map storage problem.
I get a lot of use out of my GPS. I can download track logs of my trips and display them on a computer, etc. The better half and I also enjoy geocaching. Check out www.geocaching.com for more info on that.

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I've been having good luck with a PDA and CF card GPS running Routis software. I installed a 12V outlet through the front of the left fairing pocket, the PDA battery doesn't last much more than an hour with the GPS plugged in. I also just slip the thing under the pocket straps, haven't lost it yet. If I ever get off my duff I'll make up and adapter to connect the PDA audio so I can get the voice routing instructions. The thing I like about this set up is that with a 256M SD card I can get the five Western States all stuffed in at one time. If I only load Northern California I can get seven States in. The only down side is the screen washes out in bright sun. Had I the dinero I would probably get a dedicated mapping unit. I also have a handheld Magellan 320, but it doesn't have any mapping capability. Either one is handy for calibrating your speedometer. Speaking of which my 1500 speedo actually reads a bit slow, at an indicated 70mph my GPS and stopwatch both say we're doing 73mph. Good to know since I tend to run 5mph over on the freeway.

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I remember advice I once received when I was rag sailing and living
aboard. Head out on a dark, starless and moonless night. Disconnect you
battery cables and if you cannot make it back in safely, you have no
business being out there to begin with.

The first time my son and I tried it, we were hulldown over the
horizon. We thought we had our jetty cut well in hand and were about to
round up when I chickened out and lit off the GPS. Good thing, we
would have most likely gone hard aground in a real tricky area.

After that, we started practicing religiously. Finally came to the
point where together we can make it back in and even moor or enter a
slip on our old 30' sloop totally under sail. Later we learned to
put a 20' foot on a trailer under sail. We also both can do the sextant
thing.

Now I can wander about on my Wing with just a map. But a GPS is
nice, just do not sacrifice your basic nav skills to get it.

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Which way wrong way. Yes my old riding partner who used to bike with me on his Cavalcade, and we went on many cross country rides was amazed with my internal compass, which I guess I just took for granted and never gave it much thought. I trust you all know how to turn your watch into a compass,and I am not talking about those digital watches but the old style, ya know with the face. I won`t digress because you all know and I would be boring you all with those fancy GPS units with mega pages of manuals. I do agree, goldwinger 1984, they are handy fellows, but I will resist, but then I have never operated a cell phone, driven a hybrid, experienced hydrogen, and presently using dial up low speed internet service and sweep, not vaccum my floors. Am I stubborn or just poor, maybe a bit of both.