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GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

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BraCuru
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GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby BraCuru » Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:13 am

I am looking for a GPS device for a racer.
What I would like to see in my future tool is:
- waterproof,
- small size,
- simple connectivity with any PC (cable? bluetooth? wireless?)

I usually kite alone. Wish to have a gizmo helping me to analize my lonely crossings.

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby southflorida » Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:28 pm

Not exactly "small" ( a relative term), but still fits in a pocket, I use the Garmin Oregon 450. A wrist mounted GPS might be usable, but I don't like something on my wrist. The state of the art for wrist mounted units is "bulky" if you ask me.

I keep mine in my zippered pocket when kiting in a water tight bag. That also has the advantage of making the GPS float should it get away (the bag itself has flotation built in). I don't know of any GPS that might float, mine certainly won't.

That Garmin unit has the distinct advantage of re-syncing to the satellite signals almost immediately after losing signal if I go down. Any GPS will lose signal in a cm or less of of water. Also, even though my body shields at least half the sky, that is never a problem, that model has a very sensitive receiver so satellites on one side of the sky are more than enough.

Accuracy is superb. It claims 20 feet, but I routinely experience better than that. I know after I lay my tracks down on Google earth, and it's obviously nailing it to within better than 20 feet. There is a ~10 foot wide channel I kite right down the middle of, and you can see it on google earth.

It logs speed, of course, and track points every so often (programmable). It is very accurate for speed, so if you ever wonder how fast you can go, that'll tell you to within 0.1 mph.

I've got the tide tables in the unit, so I can find out exactly what the tides are wherever I go. Also, marine charts, so I can get an idea of where things are if necessary. However, it's impractical to use it as a navigation tool on the go unless you can do something like mount it to the bar - which I'm working on. It must be an exceedingly strong mount point or it'll get tossed and lost.

In another few years, all the features and sensitivity in the Oregon 450-like units will be crunched down into the size of a small wrist watch, but for the time being, it does the job well.

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby puchanix » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:36 pm

I use a Garmin 410 GPS watch which works great. I then use www.strava.com to analyze speeds, angles, etc.

Another option might be the new Nike GPS watch with TomTom.

Cheers,

A.

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby j0nes » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:15 am

Hi,

I have about the same requirements (e.g. waterproof, small / wrist mounted) but I also would like to know my VMG.

Which devices support this?

Jonas

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby gbleck » Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:16 pm

j0nes wrote:Hi,

I have about the same requirements (e.g. waterproof, small / wrist mounted) but I also would like to know my VMG.

Which devices support this?

Jonas
None. The old velocitec units had vmg but i don't think the new ones do. You could pick up a used on though. It's around the size of a smart phone but thicker.

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby swell » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:48 am

Are there any reliable GPS programs for a smartphone (HTC HD2) running on windows mobile 6.5 platform? Just found some free on the web, but they seem to be working only accasionaly and very inaccurate ..

thanks

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby chipmunk » Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:54 pm

WHICH GPS SHOULD I CHOOSE?
For GPS Kite Speed
http://www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default ... =gpsdevice

If you’re a new rider and you want to buy a GPS and start posting your speeds there is really only one option. Our recommended device is the Navi GT-31, the older version (GT-11) is still being sold and a very good alternative. For people really focussing on getting high up in the ranking the GT-31 is definitely the device one should buy. The device is easy to use and easy to download. The device can be set before going out on the water and with the help of Speed Genie, speeds are shown according to the pre-set time intervals.

http://www.sportstracklive.com/
tracks run over google maps just set up a Category ( Gps Kite Race )
Image
if you run play you can see it in real time

hope this helps

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby BraCuru » Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:02 pm

I haven't decide yet. Resumed searching after this racing season.
I looking something in a shape of a watch rather then a bulky device fitted by a duck tape to an arm..
I noticed that French racers use the Garmin Forerunner® 310XT.
Unfortunately this device do not deal with routes which seems to be the must for me.
I competed with other Polish racers in a long distance regatta at Gdansk Bay and lost a top places as we did not know where was a bloody top mark (appeared to be a navigational buoy). If we would have a device with a route entered before the regatta then...shame on us :oops:

New toy Forerunner numbered 910XT is going to be lauched next month. Does anybody knows its specifications?

What do you thing about smartphones like for instance Motorola Defy? It's waterproof but does it work so well as a dedicated device?

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby naishdude » Tue Oct 11, 2011 7:53 pm

BraCuru wrote:I haven't decide yet. Resumed searching after this racing season.
I looking something in a shape of a watch rather then a bulky device fitted by a duck tape to an arm..
I noticed that French racers use the Garmin Forerunner® 310XT.
Unfortunately this device do not deal with routes which seems to be the must for me.
I competed with other Polish racers in a long distance regatta at Gdansk Bay and lost a top places as we did not know where was a bloody top mark (appeared to be a navigational buoy). If we would have a device with a route entered before the regatta then...shame on us :oops:

New toy Forerunner numbered 910XT is going to be lauched next month. Does anybody knows its specifications?

What do you thing about smartphones like fo
r instance Motorola Defy? It's waterproof but does it work so well as a dedicated device?
Hi have a look here,
http://www.geonaute.com/en/notices/GPS

Go for the 500 or 700 (with or without heartbeat meter)
I use it to log my longdistance runs with the free raceboard.
Easy to use, and set, very logic.
It is sold in Decathlon stores ( Germany or Belgium or France ) I live in Belgium where there is a store pretty close to me, it cost 100€
http://www.decathlon.be/NL/keymaze-500-35058760/
here you can download the manual , and see if it would be something for you:
http://www.geonaute.com/sites/all/files ... com_EN.pdf
No idea if they sell through internet.
it works perfectly! and is water resistant, works with google earth etc..
Frank

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Re: GPS for racing. What would you suggest?

Postby j0nes » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:12 am

I have used my Motorola Defy for some race trainings now. Stored it in an Aquapac and put it under my wetsuit. I used the MyTracks app as a GPS tracking app. Worked fine so far, I could export this to gpsar and have a look at the statistics afterwards.

Jonas


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