• Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

GPS training

Forums New posts
Ikillbulls

Ikillbulls

0
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Rio Vista, TX
Once again I'm reminded that I'm not as smart as I think I am. I've given up on trying to learn GPS on my own. Does anyone know of any GPS classes offered in the DFW area?
 
I'm getting ready to buy me one, I wish I had a tutor! lol And gosh asking which one is like an oil debate!
 
woodsguy said:
I'm getting ready to buy me one, I wish I had a tutor! lol And gosh asking which one is like an oil debate!
Click to expand...

Based on having several, and not really knowing how to use any of them to fullest capability 'cause I'm an idjit and just fumble my way through, if you want neat stuff like topo maps in addition to being able to plot a course from A to B, a Garmin Montana would be my recommendation.
 
If you were in Austin I'd volunteer to give you a couple hours of info and lessons learned. The basics of going from point A to point B just as the GPS thinks you should are easy. As you've discovered, making it get to Point B the way you want to go is a bit more complex. And is different between brands and sometimes even model lines (Garmin Nuvi, Zumo and handhelds all have their quirks).

If you find someone teaching in DFW, post it up for others to know about. I do know that the REI down here does some basic GPS classes, but it is aimed at the hiker with a hand held unit.
 
The Bass Pro Shop in Katy is offering a work shop on fish finders and GPS's Dec 13 according to their web site. I am sure other locations offer similar classes. I just happen to see it while looking for a duck calling class. I have never taken any of their classes so I can not vouch for their effectiveness or knowledge.
 
WoodButcher said:
If you were in Austin I'd volunteer to give you a couple hours of info and lessons learned. The basics of going from point A to point B just as the GPS thinks you should are easy. As you've discovered, making it get to Point B the way you want to go is a bit more complex. And is different between brands and sometimes even model lines (Garmin Nuvi, Zumo and handhelds all have their quirks).

If you find someone teaching in DFW, post it up for others to know about. I do know that the REI down here does some basic GPS classes, but it is aimed at the hiker with a hand held unit.
Click to expand...

I guess the main thing I want to be able to do, is load tracks/routes from this or some other site so I can take myself!
 
If you want to use both tracks and routes, then you need to look closely at the specs of the GPS units to understand what they will do.

I have a GArmin Nuvi 500 - You can upload routes to it . But not tracks. I did ok with this. But it uses a car charger type power plug that plugs in with a mini USB. This did not work well due to vibration from the moto bike. Kept loosing contact after a while and power would go on and off. However this unit severed me well for several years. But not being able to up load tracks to it was a down side. There is a work around though.

I now have a Garmin Montana. I like it a lot. You can upload both routes or tracks. Plus the cradle mount that holds the unit when on the bike also provides power to the unit. Very solid power delivery. Much better than the Nuvi 500. Also the Montana can run from regular AA batteries or leave the rechargeable battery in there that it comes with.

Some folks don't fool with powering the GPS from the bike electrical. They just carry batteries.

So you really need to understand what riding you will do so the GPS will support your needs.
 
I see more than one model Montana, which one are talking about for bikes? thanks
 
So, no difference in being for a car versus bike?
 
You can get bike a mount &/or a car cradle.
 
The problem with the hand helds like the Montana is they don't do street navigation as well as the street units. When I first started riding it was on a dual sport and would have killed for a unit like the Montana. I had something else and eventually ended up with a Zumo 550. It did street very well, but off road wasn't as good as the hand helds at the time. I got a Montana a couple of years ago hoping it would be my one gps. I found that I liked the old Zumo better and wasn't spending enough time off road so I got rid of the Montana. Just picked up a new Zumo 590. It does all the street stuff my old one did and also handles routes. It'll be a couple of months before I know for sure, but it is looking good so far.
 
Rusty, when you say offroad, you talking trailriding stuff or forest service roads? I want this for use on my 990, so it won't see true offroad. But some of the places we go, they are just barely roads, lol.
 
Monterra seems to get some attention too, but seems it's a different ballgame to the others?
 
Montana or Zumo...
I have a Montana that I used for about 2 years and when I bought the current bike, there was a promotion that included the GPS, I do not know what is the Zumo equivalent to my Nav 4 GPS is, but I can tell is that for my road rides, the Montana was good.
I was able to use routes or tracks prepared by me or from others, but the best feature of the Montana is the screen visibility under any light condition.
I guess the latest Zumo have the same type of screen?
 
Last edited:
I'm no wiz but happy to show the basics of BaseCamp in the Dallas area. I'm Mac but the PC version is (now) pretty similar.
 
For GPS purposes I use offroad to mean going places where the GPS doesn't have routable roads or trails. So the sort of thing you must resort to using tracks instead of routes.

I'll type more when I get to my computer. This tablet is a pain.
 
Been using a Garmin 60csx for about 7 years now. Its not rocket science but you do need to put in a little time to get to know how to use these things.
If you go to a well attended and well planned Dual Sport ride, you will see most handlebars have "Handheld" units on them.

Im not knocking the Zumo's - but you have some limitations that handhelds allow.

Some common misconseptions are understanding the difference between Tracks and Routes. Rather than go all into that here, its is easier to just point to a post on ADV - http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=974877&page=5
 
WoodButcher said:
The problem with the hand helds like the Montana is they don't do street navigation as well as the street units. When I first started riding it was on a dual sport and would have killed for a unit like the Montana. I had something else and eventually ended up with a Zumo 550. It did street very well, but off road wasn't as good as the hand helds at the time. I got a Montana a couple of years ago hoping it would be my one gps. I found that I liked the old Zumo better and wasn't spending enough time off road so I got rid of the Montana. Just picked up a new Zumo 590. It does all the street stuff my old one did and also handles routes. It'll be a couple of months before I know for sure, but it is looking good so far.
Click to expand...

I could be missing something, but street navigation is more dependent on the maps you have loaded, at least on a unit as full-featured as a Montana. The Montana acts just like any of Garmin's street units if you have their route-able street maps loaded. Spoken directions, 3D view, instant routes, route aviodance, etc. whatever you want you can set it up as long as you have it in a car cradle--it automatically knows once you snap it in.

The only thing that I know of that a Montana gives up to a dedicated Garmin street unit is screen size. Maybe traffic updates, bluetooth, and some other stuff that too that I don't care about. Otherwise, it is every bit as good at street routes.
 
I disagree. The Montana did not handle on route deviations near as well as my Zumo. The detour fuction lets me miss a turn and get routed back to my preloaded and otherwise unchanged route. The Montana would either reroute, if allowed or requested, to a new route, ignoring waypoints on the original route or you would have to wing it back to your original route.

It worked fine if you stuck to the original route or just let it recalc and enjoyed what route it came up with.
 
Johnf3 said:
I could be missing something, but street navigation is more dependent on the maps you have loaded, at least on a unit as full-featured as a Montana. The Montana acts just like any of Garmin's street units if you have their route-able street maps loaded. Spoken directions, 3D view, instant routes, route aviodance, etc. whatever you want you can set it up as long as you have it in a car cradle--it automatically knows once you snap it in.

The only thing that I know of that a Montana gives up to a dedicated Garmin street unit is screen size. Maybe traffic updates, bluetooth, and some other stuff that too that I don't care about. Otherwise, it is every bit as good at street routes.
Click to expand...


Hmmm I have to agree with JohnF on this one, I have used my 60csx (with North America Streets 2012) in it right next to my Garmin Nuvi something - (the cheapest version of car model wally had on sale - LOL) while in the truck driving around town or country side, and they both re-routed the same when I veer off course, they took same path to get me back on original route.
Now having said that, I have found a few roads that are on the nevi that are not in the NA Streets 2012. That has more to do with the 2012 maps being 2 years older than the maps on the Nuvi I bought last year. So as long as the maps are the same - and you have the same options selected as in "Shortest or Fastest" route selected it seems to re-route the same for me.
If the Montana has TOPO maps loaded on it then I would expect it to route differently. My 60csx has both loaded so I have to select which set to use (I use streets 98% of the time) because when I am on TOPO maps it routes as if I were a hiker - straight from start to next via or waypoint and assumes I can travel in any direction regardless of street direction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top