Author Topic: GPS conundrum.  (Read 2837 times)

Hillhiker1

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #15 on: 19:54:43, 27/04/19 »
Phone for phone calls, GPS for navigating..

alan de enfield

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #16 on: 20:21:24, 27/04/19 »
Phone for phone calls, GPS for navigating..



Agree.


When the GPS battery is flat you can still call for help - or, when the phone battery is flat you still know your way home.

ninthace

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #17 on: 20:28:03, 27/04/19 »
Make sure you use good batteries, i.e. Duracell. A GPS will fairly chomp through poor batteries. Also carry spares. I use one of these to store them in
https://www.negeocachingsupplies.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=83_117&product_id=202


I stack them in opposite ends opposed when they're good. Lined up when they're bad. That way when I get home I know which to replace / recharge.
Can't speak for this model but the batteries in my Etrex30 last multiple trips.  I use Duracell.  Always have 2 sets of spares in a ziplock bag.  Check the battery display before you set off to see if you have enough charge for the trip.  Change before you leave home - best to use the spares from your pack and replace them to ensure battery rotation (I found that out the hard way)
Solvitur Ambulando

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #18 on: 20:31:16, 27/04/19 »
When the GPS battery is flat you can still call for help - or, when the phone battery is flat you still know your way home.

I take a USB power brick in a zip lock bag with me (leave it in my backpack actually, this is it's only job) capable of recharging my phone more than twice and the phone battery lasts over 9 hours in GPS only usage. I'll also be carrying spare batteries for the GPS. Something really terrible would have had to happen for me to run out of power, broken leg and no phone signal maybe.

Ninthace you need a battery charge meter to check your batteries! Or did you leave the spares there until they went out of date?

ninthace

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #19 on: 20:34:24, 27/04/19 »
Ninthace you need a battery charge meter to check your batteries!
Gps has a cell display - that is good enough.  When it is down to 2, I swap (perhaps 3 if the next walk is going to be a long one.
Did you spot page 73?
Solvitur Ambulando

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #20 on: 20:42:14, 27/04/19 »
Gps has a cell display - that is good enough.  When it is down to 2, I swap (perhaps 3 if the next walk is going to be a long one.
Did you spot page 73?

I'll just carry 2 lots of spares and let the batteries run flat I think, swapping them before they run out seems wasteful.

I had a look at the Marine setup page yes and checked it was the same in the manual for the earlier model taxino8 has kindly gifted me (it is).

Pitboot

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #21 on: 21:05:15, 27/04/19 »
I don't understand - you got a gps that you haven't used for a long time.  You finally updated its software so now it should be good to go and now you want rid?  Software updates are usually fairly quick, especially if you keep it the unit to date and they really don't occur that often.  Never mind, Rob Goes Walking is looking for one - why don't you PM him?
Sorry for the delay in my response, a busy few hours at start of shift.
The time and date is now reset. Can't say the same re the software. It's an etrex summit HC, no slot for extra memory so the maps it can store are limited. Downloading another map is a cumbersome process, and you have to erase previous maps to get any useful memory. I would offer it for sale except that I don't want to saddle the buyer with faulty goods, if that is the problem, and in any case it's obsolete by current standards.

Hillhiker1

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #22 on: 21:08:33, 27/04/19 »
I don't swap my batteries until the GPS beeps to tell me they're low, and even then I just keep my eye on things. They'll still last a couple of hours or more in that that state.  :D
If it beeps when I power it up I change them there and then to save me faffing about with it later.

alan de enfield

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #23 on: 21:17:23, 27/04/19 »
My GPS has Lithium batteries which last 12 hours +
I just re-charge / top up every night from my 'power bank' or Solar panel (if the Sun is still shining)



It has an 'adapter cradle' which in an emergency could use 3x AA batteries but never needed.


Every thing is rechargeable from either the power bank or the solar panel.


VHF Radio transceiver
Kindle
Head Lamp
Garmin GPS Watch
SatMap GPS
Phone


The power bank recharges from the solar panel.
« Last Edit: 21:23:33, 27/04/19 by alan de enfield »

taxino8

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #24 on: 21:28:09, 27/04/19 »
I use Eneloop Pro rechargeable in mine and carry one spare set. They store for months without losing charge and last for ages.

sussamb

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #25 on: 21:48:54, 27/04/19 »
I use them too, they are excellent  O0
Where there's a will ...

ninthace

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Re: GPS conundrum.
« Reply #26 on: 21:50:00, 27/04/19 »
Sorry for the delay in my response, a busy few hours at start of shift.
The time and date is now reset. Can't say the same re the software. It's an etrex summit HC, no slot for extra memory so the maps it can store are limited. Downloading another map is a cumbersome process, and you have to erase previous maps to get any useful memory. I would offer it for sale except that I don't want to saddle the buyer with faulty goods, if that is the problem, and in any case it's obsolete by current standards.
Now I understand.  I had an Etrex Summit ages ago, went through batteries so fast I kept it switched off.  I could load routes but it had no map capability so all you saw on the screen was a wiggly line - got quite good at bendology.  Useful too for recovering the line if you strayed but basically it was very much a back up to map reading.  It still sold me on gps though because it never got lost.  ViewRanger was in its infancy and only run on Symbian phones.  It was a battery gobbler too.  While there was a map of sorts the software itself was horrid.  I wouldn't bin the gps though - send it to the Science Museum.
Solvitur Ambulando

 

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