[OSM-talk] Choice of GPS for bicycle use in London

Mon May 22 11:55:21 BST 2006

Andy

Your image doesn't make it clear whether you are using the official
handlebar-mount from Garmin or not.
Can you expand on the fixing? How robust is it on rough ground?
I have a Trex which I was about to source the handlebar mount from
someone to save carrying it on neck cord!
Cheers
STEVE

Steve Chilton, Learning Support Fellow
Learning and Technical Support Unit Manager
School of Health and Social Sciences
Middlesex University
phone/fax: 020 8411 5355
email: steve8 at mdx.ac.uk

Big Shave for Wateraid - after PICTURE at:
http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/gem/bigshave.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: talk-bounces at openstreetmap.org
[mailto:talk-bounces at openstreetmap.org] On Behalf Of Andy Robinson
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 11:05 AM
To: talk at openstreetmap.org
Subject: RE: [OSM-talk] Choice of GPS for bicycle use in London

Yes, my Garmin eTrex Legend (B&W) produces poor track data (ie very poor
accuracy) in the urban canyon and below tree cover (leaves really do
confuse the poor thing). The resultant track is clearly a Garmin fudge
and mostly it would be better if it did not record it at all. I hadn't
thought of transferring the NMEA data rather than the Garmin format from
the GPS but will do some testing on this and see if at least the poor
data can or cannot be weeded out effectively.

There is no doubt that the older eTrex range is poorer than the more
recent 60's. In fact we used the two in parallel in Manchester the
weekend before last and the 60's definitely performed better although
all were a long way from ideal in the inner city with track definition
average or poor at best.

What is really needed is a like for like comparison between the various
units in these difficult areas of coverage. At the moment it's pretty
pointless heading into the city centre with these traditional handheld
units. For Manchester I have found the historic maps and local
observation and pictures is more accurate than the gpx for laying down
the compact street layout.

See here Manchester city centre, northern quarter:

http://www.openstreetmap.org/index.html?lat=53.4805950801913&lon=-2.2329
32&z
oom=14   

However, when away from the city centre, that includes normal
residential areas, industrial estates and rural settings I find you
can't beat the simplicity and general ruggedness of the Legend when
mounted on the bike as
this:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Image:ETrexLegend_onbike.png

Cheers,

Andy

Andy Robinson
Andy_J_Robinson at blueyonder.co.uk 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: talk-bounces at openstreetmap.org [mailto:talk- 
>bounces at openstreetmap.org] On Behalf Of Barnett, Phillip
>Sent: 22 May 2006 10:10
>To: talk at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: RE: [OSM-talk] Choice of GPS for bicycle use in London
>
>That's annoying. I've just bought a Garmin Legend CX, partly to take 
>part in OSM, and it's a bit galling if that unit generates bogus data. 
>Can anyone confirm this happens on Legend CX?
>
>(It's also annoying that I can't get track logs directly out using my 
>Powerbook, but have to turn on my ancient PC in the basement. I was 
>hoping to do some logging in North Wales this summer, but editing will 
>be a pain - and may have to wait indefinitely. Anyone have an update on

>Garmin's 'Mac support in 2006' statement?)
>
>Phil
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: talk-bounces at openstreetmap.org 
>[mailto:talk-bounces at openstreetmap.org] On Behalf Of Christian van den 
>Bosch
>Sent: 21 May 2006 16:59
>To: Emil Vaughan
>Cc: talk at openstreetmap.org
>Subject: Re: [OSM-talk] Choice of GPS for bicycle use in London
>
>Emil Vaughan wrote:
>
>> I'm not clear on what would be the best for osm, as this will 
>> probably
>
>> be the only thing I use it for.
>
>I've been using an eTrex Vista with handlebar mount here in Cork, 
>Ireland; mostly it works quite well, but is pretty useless on narrow 
>streets, especially given Garmin's stupid, stupid, stupid "oh. I've 
>lost signal. let's extrapolate track log points according to the course

>and velocity at the moment I lost signal".
>
>This might not sound like a big deal, but in the city I most often lose

>signal when turning a corner into a narrow street, so the Garmin 
>extrapolates according to some course being followed mid-turn, 
>resulting in a nice plausible-looking straight line of completely bogus

>points.
>
>The Garmin's NMEA output at least tells the truth, but still gives very

>little useful data on narrow streets, so I've just picked up a Sirf 
>Star III-based Holux 213 for $35 on eBay. This should by all accounts 
>work happily in the depths of my backpack, where I can hook it up to 
>some small device like a PDA, subnote or perhaps a Linksys NSLU2. You 
>mentioned a Zaurus - you wouldn't have a good (cheap, reliable) source?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Christian / cjb
>
>http://www.cjb.ie/
>
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