RR: I've Got Crusties

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/stories/profile.jpg

hehehe
check out the elevation.....74' to 140'

god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

I rode in the eastern valley today. Picture to follow (not a typo, I took
about one picture). I thought it was cold at about 50 something degrees.
Brrr to your photos!

Now go get liberated....some more.

Gary

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/stories/profile.jpg

hehehe
check out the elevation.....74' to 140'

god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone would
get a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles, though.
Even on the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and NG
Topo.

Quoted message said:

Now go get liberated....some more.

LOL!

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot said:

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and
NG Topo.

NG TOPO is so behind the curve it's not even funny.

I picked up a neato book recently.
http://www.makeyourownmaps.com/

It reviews about 18 different mapping softwares, pro/con, screen shots and
much, much more. I got it because NG TOPO pisses me off about 6 different
ways, and I was getting kind of boggled and overwhelmed looking at all the
different programs out there.

"small change" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ride-A-Lot said:

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and
NG Topo.

NG TOPO is so behind the curve it's not even funny.

I picked up a neato book recently.
http://www.makeyourownmaps.com/

It reviews about 18 different mapping softwares, pro/con, screen shots and
much, much more. I got it because NG TOPO pisses me off about 6
different ways, and I was getting kind of boggled and overwhelmed looking
at all the different programs out there.

I agree. $100 for each freeking state! I stopped at 3 states. Irritating
is the lack of new topo maps as most are dated in the 60's.

I haven't tried the other softwares yet.....time

Gary

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/stories/profile.jpg

hehehe
check out the elevation.....74' to 140'

god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone would get
a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles, though. Even on
the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after rebate,
so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It uses USB and
not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and NG Topo.

How does usb stop you from using NG Topo? Can't you assign a port to match
the usb port? I had to do that when I use my laptop since it has no serial
port. It didn't see port 1 but something like port 5.

Gary (flat ride = at least I rode)

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

>
> http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/stories/profile.jpg
>
hehehe
check out the elevation.....74' to 140'

god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone would
get a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles, though.
Even on the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and
NG Topo.

How does usb stop you from using NG Topo? Can't you assign a port to
match the usb port? I had to do that when I use my laptop since it has
no serial port. It didn't see port 1 but something like port 5.

Gary (flat ride = at least I rode)

It looks for a com port. Do I need the special cable that NG sells?

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot said:

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb wrote:
>
> "Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
> news:[email hidden]...
>
>>
>> http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/stories/profile.jpg
>>
> hehehe
> check out the elevation.....74' to 140'
>
> god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the
> gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone
would get a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles,
though. Even on the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google
Earth and NG Topo.

How does usb stop you from using NG Topo? Can't you assign a port to
match the usb port? I had to do that when I use my laptop since it
has no serial port. It didn't see port 1 but something like port 5.

Gary (flat ride = at least I rode)

It looks for a com port. Do I need the special cable that NG sells?

Usually Garmin or whomever sells various cables for their units.

Gary, check out topofusion... it links up with the terra server and the topo
server for anywhere in the us. Even if you buy the full version it's still
only $40 for the whole US. The demo is pretty good, and the file format is
not proprietary. You will find that the terra server aerials are more
accurate than the topo maps; some topo data is 20-30 years old. One of the
things that makes me mad about NG topo - thier *.tpo file is proprietary,
and the only way you can convert a route or track for use in another program
is to upload the route back into the gps, and download into a different
program. Don't tell me about comma delimited files, I think they are a pain
in the ass. NG T is way behind the times - many of the other mapping
programs have a *.gpx option that works with just about every other program
out there.

Penny

GeeDubb said:

"small change" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ride-A-Lot said:

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google
Earth and NG Topo.

NG TOPO is so behind the curve it's not even funny.

I picked up a neato book recently.
http://www.makeyourownmaps.com/

It reviews about 18 different mapping softwares, pro/con, screen
shots and much, much more. I got it because NG TOPO pisses me off
about 6 different ways, and I was getting kind of boggled and
overwhelmed looking at all the different programs out there.

I agree. $100 for each freeking state! I stopped at 3 states. Irritating
is the lack of new topo maps as most are dated in the 60's.

How often are you riding in Hawaii?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb said:

god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone would
get a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles, though.
Even on the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and
NG Topo.

How does usb stop you from using NG Topo? Can't you assign a port to
match the usb port? I had to do that when I use my laptop since it has
no serial port. It didn't see port 1 but something like port 5.

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do
they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe with
the ability to map on topos.

Thanks,
Greg

--
"Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late
The battles we fought were long and hard
Just not to be consumed by rock and roll" - The Mekons

G.T. said:

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb wrote:

>
> god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone would
get a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles, though.
Even on the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and
NG Topo.

How does usb stop you from using NG Topo? Can't you assign a port to
match the usb port? I had to do that when I use my laptop since it
has no serial port. It didn't see port 1 but something like port 5.

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do
they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe with
the ability to map on topos.

Thanks,
Greg

Don't get mine - Magellan 400. You can't hook it up to anything other
than Mapsend, which sucks. I guess that's what I get for $150.

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Phil said:

GeeDubb said:

"small change" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
> rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though.
> It uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google
> Earth and NG Topo.

NG TOPO is so behind the curve it's not even funny.

I picked up a neato book recently.
http://www.makeyourownmaps.com/

It reviews about 18 different mapping softwares, pro/con, screen
shots and much, much more. I got it because NG TOPO pisses me off
about 6 different ways, and I was getting kind of boggled and
overwhelmed looking at all the different programs out there.

I agree. $100 for each freeking state! I stopped at 3 states.
Irritating is the lack of new topo maps as most are dated in the
60's.

I'd venture a guess that very few usgs topo maps have been updated in the
last 20 years. The survey is very underfunded. And with the terra server
it's easy enought to get recent info.

Penny

G.T. wrote:> So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift

Quoted message said:

suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do
they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe
with the ability to map on topos.

Thanks,
Greg

garmin extrex vista.

The big deal on them is whether you want color display, and the ability to
have "map" storage. Most people I've talked to that have the top end version
end up not using the upload map feature, which is different from uploading
tracks, routes, or waypoints. The garmins seem to hold up pretty well to
abuse. They can all interface with map programs.
Maybe you should ask for that book I linked to. It has a whole chapter on
the different gps' too.

P.

G.T. said:

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do
they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe with
the ability to map on topos.

I have a Garmin eTrex Legend. It's new enough technology to have a
pretty sophisticated lcd screen, but not color. Uses Serial connection,
which is good.

It has ridden on my bar mount through some pretty horific days.
It has been dropped to rattle down onto sharp rocks. Seems
pretty robust.

As for display, mine has several display modes, one of which is
the "stats" mode. What's pretty cool is that the stats mode is
configurable. Out of the box, it displayed "trip miles" and "total
miles" which were almost always the same, along with max
speed, avg speed, moving time, total time, etc. But not current
elevation. So I dropped "trip miles" and added "elevation".

Not sure if mine has the option for clock time. You'd have to be able
to set timezone, since they get their clock time from the GPS system.
I don't need that on my display since I always wear a watch.

Mapping on topos is something that is done in software, after the
fact. What's important is flexibility in data transfer between unit
and PC. Serial communications is the tried and true way, supported
by traditional software.

My buddy got a high-falutin' Garmin unit about this time last year,
just after I got this one. His had USB connectivity, which turned
out to be useless with all the software he was able to scrounge up.
That trick about "assigning a port" to your usb could be a work-
around he could have used. But I'm just as happy to use old skewl
serial communications.

Still learning about what all can be done with data downloaded
from GPS.
--
Tom Purvis
http://www.arkansasvalley.net/tpurvis/

"Phil, Squid-in-Training" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:H7jnf.10853$fz5.10171@dukeread04...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb said:

"small change" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ride-A-Lot wrote:
> Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
> rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
> uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google
> Earth and NG Topo.

NG TOPO is so behind the curve it's not even funny.

I picked up a neato book recently.
http://www.makeyourownmaps.com/

It reviews about 18 different mapping softwares, pro/con, screen
shots and much, much more. I got it because NG TOPO pisses me off
about 6 different ways, and I was getting kind of boggled and
overwhelmed looking at all the different programs out there.

I agree. $100 for each freeking state! I stopped at 3 states.
Irritating is the lack of new topo maps as most are dated in the 60's.

How often are you riding in Hawaii?

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

not often enough! why, you got Hawaii NG Topo you're trying to get rid of?

Gary

G.T. said:

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do
they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe with
the ability to map on topos.

I have a Garmin 276c, but it's not for MTB use.

I just don't get the GPS plot-your-route/total climb/ave. pedal strokes
per cubit thing though (despite a GPS being helpful on a certain kind of
muddy ride a few years ago).

GT wrote

Quoted message said:

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like something
that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do they all
display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe with the ability
to map on topos.

Thanks,
Greg

Mine is the Garmin Etrex Legend. It has all sorts of features including all
that you listed plus a lot more I don't use. I opted for this one because
of its memory capacity (which I'm sure has been increased since I bought
several years ago. I had to buy the serial cable and I also bought the
Garmin Mapsource software (kind of lame). I have the NGTopo state series
which gives you the states in overview but not close up. I also bought the
bike attachment of course.

http://www.garmin.com/outdoor/

Garmin even makes a gps with a two way radio but then you need to be with
someone else who has a radio you can communicate with.....

Here's a GE with route overlay from the ride we did. I just updated my
Garmin software and it has a link directly to GE so no more fiddling around
with NGTopo unless I'm riding in AZ, CO or ID.......
http://www.pchospital.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=2920
Mapsource allows for a profile but I haven't figured out how to save it to a
jpg file yet.
Gary

pete fagerlin said:

G.T. said:

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars.
Do they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe
with the ability to map on topos.

I have a Garmin 276c, but it's not for MTB use.

I just don't get the GPS plot-your-route/total climb/ave. pedal strokes
per cubit thing though (despite a GPS being helpful on a certain kind of
muddy ride a few years ago).

Well, I specifically want one to map some unmapped desert trails and
off-trail (legal) stuff in the desert so we can easily repeat the ride.
These areas aren't nearby so we can't burn them in every weekend.

Plus, much to JD's consternation I want it to more easily convince him
it's time to turn around.

Greg

--
"Destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late
The battles we fought were long and hard
Just not to be consumed by rock and roll" - The Mekons

G.T. said:

GeeDubb said:

"Ride-A-Lot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

GeeDubb wrote:

>
> god I'm sitting here chuckling...... :-) when did you pick up the gps?

You like that, huh? That's why I put it there. I knew someone would
get a good laugh from it. It makes for a very fast 15 miles, though.
Even on the SS.

Costco was pratically giving them away. I think I paid $150 after
rebate, so I couldn't resist. I am not thrilled about it though. It
uses USB and not serial. That makes it useless with Google Earth and
NG Topo.

How does usb stop you from using NG Topo? Can't you assign a port to
match the usb port? I had to do that when I use my laptop since it
has no serial port. It didn't see port 1 but something like port 5.

So what GPS's do you guys have? I'm looking for Christmas gift
suggestions and I know virtually nothing about them. Would like
something that isn't going to fall apart mounted on the handlebars. Do
they all display altitude and time? Cumulative distance? Maybe with
the ability to map on topos.

I'll recommend Garmin as a brand, but I'm sure my model (12CX) isn't in
production anymore. It's been very durable. I've only used it flying,
but it's gotten bounced around for a couple hundred hours in the cockpit
(glider-we fly in the rough air the weeny power guys go around), banged
around in my tool box, and dropped on the tarmac too many times to count.

Shawn

Per G.T.:

Quoted message said:

Well, I specifically want one to map some unmapped desert trails and
off-trail (legal) stuff in the desert so we can easily repeat the ride.
These areas aren't nearby so we can't burn them in every weekend.

You probably want to use it in conjunction with something like
www.TopoFusion.com.

You choose the area and TopoFusion lets you download a USGS topographic map of
that area; then you upload the Lat/Long points accumulated in your GPS and
TopoFusion plots them as an overlay on the map you've downloaded.

Doesn't work that well on dialup, but if you've got broad band, it's *really*
slick.

Ditto www.GoogleEarth.com, but with satellite photos and if it allows uploading
GPS coords, I haven't found the feature yet (haven't looked, either).

I find the TopoFusion maps more useful for most things that the sat images.
--
PeteCresswell