Gps

[marcja]

My (nearly!) brother-in-law does a lot of crosser riding (as in scramblers) and he's after a decent but low-priced hand-held GPS, similar to the Magellan's, so that he can plot the courses he travels.

I told him you can't beat a map and compass so I'm not really able to help him (though I am rather keen on the Magellan SporTraks) but I underdstand that could be a little difficult when your hurtling along on a bike

However, I told him ask bcuk and I'm sure to get answers, so any ideas would be greatly received?

Cheers,

Marc

 

[martin]

Argos have some cheap Garmin units IIRC the cheapest is about £90

 

[Andy]

I've just bought a Magellan Sportrax from ebay in the US, unwanted gift and it's come to £57 including postage and comes with magellans hard case for it as well. It will be my second one as the first one I bought wasn't waterproof so went back after getting damp.
I will do a better review after I've used it for a week touring on my mountain bike but I can give you a few pointers now.
It's quite big compared to some other units but has a very large screen that is easier to see when it's mounted on some bar handle bars, the speedo is easy to read. The handlebar mounting bracket costs £30 in the UK which quite franky I think is insane for what is really only a mobile phone holder. I have an cheap mobile phone holder with a broken vent clip for a car and a bracket that was for mounting lights on a bike, this should make a free holder that will do that same job One thing I didn't want on a GPS was side buttons, I thought it would make clapming it to a handlebar more difficult and also harder to use when mounted anyway.

There are a couple of units on ebay from the UK at the moment. One is the basic model (which I have) and the other is the pro, the pro has mapping features which if you can afford it would be useful

PS I ffound it really annoying that the instructings don't come printed (you get the getting started book). I didn't get a signal by my computer and think I'll have to print off 74pages so that I can learn to use it outside.

 

[flibb]

I use a garmin etrex, they are around £100 but you can get ebay US ones cheaper. Because its quiet small it lives in the top pocket of my day pack, along with some spare batteries. It proved its worth a couple of weeks back when Claire (wife) and myself were walking a coastal path down Devon. We were having a nice stroll when a bank of mist rolled in, visibility was very limited. Using the GPS I programmed in the coordinates of the the car park, checked my current position and then followed the arrow.

One thing I do with my GPS is to plot the tracks on to digital OS maps, I currently have 1:50k of the entire UK and 1:25K of some areas (mainly national parks). The software could be ideal for your nearly bro in law as he could upload waypoints to the GPS before setting out, and then download the track when he gets back, all on to OS maps. The software also lets you print OS maps at whatever scale you want, although there is a maximum printable area size.

http://www.memory-map.co.uk/

 

[Bumblebee]

The Garmin Foretrex comes highly recommended. Very small and light (for a GPS) and can be worn on your wrist or mounted on the handebar.

 

[Motorbike Man]

If you're going for something like an Etrex, there's no need to pay anywhere near £100!! I got a Cobra unit from Global Positioning Systems I've had top class service from them with one unit that just stopped working being replaced in a few days no questions asked. They do the Etrex for about £75. For a 'crosser, it would be worth paying the extra money for a proper handle bar mount as they will take a pounding. The other option, and this is what I do on my bike is to get a small tank bag and cut a block of foam to hold the unit. Works really well for me

 

[fungy]

Another site I know about is www.navcity.com the prices are not to bad.