Touring - Advice Needed: I don't want to buy a GPS, but...

Every couple of years I post a question or two about GPSs here and then go back to using maps.

Here goes again: I am researching my trip to Germany and I'm having trouble finding detailed maps. Many members have given me links to sites that will plan your tour for you and then create a GPX file that allegedly can be used on GPSs.

At this point I'm thinking this is a great idea, but how do I know which GPS to buy. I want a hand held with removable batteries, colour screen, GPX compatible, SD card slot and other useful features. I want to spend less than $CDN200.

Some ideas please.

I haven't used a gps much while touring, but have for hiking and sailing. They work very well for the uses where I have tried them. Uploading and downloading waypoints, routes, and tracks is pretty straight forward, but methods may vary depending on brand.

If you want to use gpx files I think you need to use a Garmin GPS or convert the files.

I toyed with using my GPS for the TA this past Summer, but it could only hold about one state's worth of data at a time and I didn't want to take a computer to upload data on the road.

Garmin Legend HCx - my recommendation, fairly new to the market, has high sensitive receiver.

Magellan Explorist 500LE - will do what you want except it isn't nearly as customizable as the Garmin.... Far less data fields to choose from. Magellan is discontinuing production of this unit though.

If you need European mapping software for detailed roads for the units, be prepared to shell out.........it's more expensive than the American mapping software.....

Good luck!!!

Try searching this "Deutschland FAHRRADWEGE". Basically German for "German cycle routes". Most of these will have to be translated. Not sure where to get them, but there are comprehensive maps of cycle routes in Germany. Bon Temps

I think once you're in Germany proper, you will find tons of cycling maps. E.g. in Belgium, I went into a tiny travel bookstore in Bruges and they had numerous cycling-specific maps.

In the interim, you might want to check out Multimap. (www.multimap.com) They have a "directions" feature that you can set to "Walking." While I am not an expert on German cartography :), it does seem like the "Walking" function will pick small-scale roads rather than highways.

I also prefer to have as few electronics on tour as possible. That's just me though.

This will run you a little more than 200 but you can use it for so many other things I found it very worthwhile. I use a Palm TIX with a bluetooth GPS receiver. Free GPS Software for it is here.
http://www.cetusgps.dk/
This software allows scanning paper maps at 72 DPI and loading into the Palm PDA so you don't need to purchase expensive GPS specific maps for use with it. You can also fetch maps from Google and Yahoo.
DX has a new SiRF III GPS unit for $61.68 here.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.10614
http://www.dealextreme.com/productimages/sku_10614_1.jpg
You can also use the Palm PDA for e-mail and Internet access and with a a few SD cards you'll have plenty of storage room for maps, photos, and videos of your tour.
I also charge and run my Palm TIX and the GPS receiver from my dynamo. Here is the circuit.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/all-standlightUSB-1.jpg
The 4 NiMH batteries regulate the voltage and current of the dynamo providing clean power for USB devices connected to it for recharging. You should only charge USB devices in daylight hours with S1 open so the LED lights are not on. At night you should only run the LED lights and no USB devices.

I want to spend less than $CDN200.

Some ideas please.

That's not much money for a GPS.

If you want to do it cheap, you don't need color or even built in maps. I used to take trips and still do many times without even looking at the map. These trips would envolve over 50 turns which the GPS was programmed to guide me through each turn. My first GPS had no color and a very basic map and was able to travel over 60 miles a day.

Here's all you need.

1. Copy of Microsoft AutoRoute Europe. - $40.00 USD
2. Used GPS. Etrek Legend $125.00 approx. - No color
3. Energizer 15 minute battery charger. - $32.00 USD

I'm fairly certain AutoRoute provides you with the longititude/Lattitude coordinates for 37 European nations. Streets and Trips has this feature and those coordinates worked very well with Garmin.

Using Autoroute, you will enter these coordinates (stored as a waypoint) of each turn by hand into your GPS choosing roads that go through subdivsions instead of highways. These waypoints are then made into routes and you can store about 20 routes which will give you 20 days of travel.

A route will have about about 50 to 75 turns (waypoints) and will enable you to travel 40-60 miles or more.

Should you need more days, then you'll have to write them on paper and type them by hand into your GPS deleting older routes. I know this is time consuming but we are limited to 200 CDN! Typing 50 coordinates into the GPS and making a route out them could take an hour and a half.

Rechargable batteries are so important because you really need a fast charger and not one that takes hours. Stop at a coffee shop and recharge for free because you'll go through a set of batteries every two days.

Some how I get the feeling after what I just wrote, you're ready to buy maps! ;-(

...and then go back to using maps.Should that happen in this case, Rose Versand has an extensive selection of bike specific paper maps for Germany:

http://www.roseversand.de/output/controller.aspx?cid=156&detail=3&detail2=54

--J

I have a high-end Garmin 60csx, but I don't use it much. the problem is not the unit, but the awful software it comes with. It's too time consuming and tedious to make a route.
I'm waiting for the Apple iPhone version 2, which should have an integrated gps. Apple is known for their great user interfaces, so I'm hoping they get it right. So if I were you i'd just buy a really cheapee for now.
Also, like staehpj1 said above, it would be real nice to have a gps with enough waypoints to upload the entire route for a long tour. It's only a matter of time until gps's will have enough memory for this.

it would be real nice to have a gps with enough waypoints to upload the entire route for a long tour. It's only a matter of time until gps's will have enough memory for this.

That is the one area where handheld GPS units have not improved on for years. Usually 1,000 waypoints is the max they will accept and for a long distance tour, that isn't enough, and it's been stuck at 1,000 for at least five years that I know of. It's a shame because adv-cycling has all their routes loaded up with waypoints for a GPS.

Memory is real cheap now, you can buy a 1 gig flash drive at Walmart for 30 bucks now so I don't know why they don't put that kind of memory into the middle to higher end priced units.

Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=2448266397032082838,52.391370,13.516630%3B11992659913022845446,48.136190,11.578270&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=Am+Seegraben%2FB179%2FB96a+%4052.391370,+13.516630&daddr=Tal+%4048.136190,+11.578270&mra=cc&dirflg=h&sll=48.147992,11.543198&sspn=0.323446,0.508804&ie=UTF8&ll=49.908787,13.974609&spn=9.995388,16.281738&z=6&om=1) also has a nice route option. Previously I have always used 1:800.000 - 1:1.000.000 maps for planning purposes, but this year I'm using Google. However, I'm only using it to make rough distance calculations and how many days it'll take - on tour I take paper maps (unfortunately I can't remember what german maps I usually use).

However, I just bought a GPS logger (http://www.semsons.com/giphli.html) so I can see where I have been when I get back home..

I can't comment on germany specific topics, but I recently used a Garmin etrex Vista Cx to get me through a 2-week tour of Ireland. I originally had intended to use maps, but found out the GPS was only slightly more expensive. I'm glad I did, because otherwise the 750 mile tour would have been more like 1000! I swear by the thing now. I would suggest the Garmin Legend Cx. This is the same as the one I used, only without an electronic compass and barometric altimeter, both of which are quite unecessary on the bike. The Cx means it has a color screen (the 'C'), which is very readable in bright sunlight, and it also has a MicroSD slot for expanding the memory. The HCx is the same, but with a more sensitive antenna. I would say to forego that to save considerably on money and battery life. The antenna in the Cx is more than adequate, unless you're under tree cover for tens of miles at a time and have no idea where you're going.

You will need to get ahold of maps, though. They're expensive going through Garmin, but I know for a fact if you're one of those immoral fellas who can't afford $250 for some digital maps, its possible to download them and use them for free....

Hope that helps.

That is the one area where handheld GPS units have not improved on for years. Usually 1,000 waypoints is the max they will accept and for a long distance tour, that isn't enough, and it's been stuck at 1,000 for at least five years that I know of. It's a shame because adv-cycling has all their routes loaded up with waypoints for a GPS.

Memory is real cheap now, you can buy a 1 gig flash drive at Walmart for 30 bucks now so I don't know why they don't put that kind of memory into the middle to higher end priced units.

Good point.

This is a huge weakness as you basically have only 13 - 17 days of routes. I guess you'll have to carry a used handheld Mobile PC with you to store the Garmine maps. You might also carry the disks (maps) with you and install them on a library PC! I don't know how kosher that would be but it might be possible.

There are Mobile PCs selling on Ebay for less than $250 USD with GPS!

I still like the handheld Garmin units because you can use the Energizer 15 minute batteries. (recharger)

That is the one area where handheld GPS units have not improved on for years. Usually 1,000 waypoints is the max they will accept and for a long distance tour, that isn't enough, and it's been stuck at 1,000 for at least five years that I know of. It's a shame because adv-cycling has all their routes loaded up with waypoints for a GPS.

I just thought of something. the newer PDAs that have integrated GPSs basically are mini computers. Even if the GPS portion still would have a 1000 waypoint limit, perhaps we can bring the extra data with us on memory sticks, and the PDA will be able to upload a fresh batch of 1000 new waypoints to itself.

The Explorist 400-600/XL units can go over the waypoint limit by storing them on a SD card, then loading them up via directories... but you can't have more than 500 active waypoints at one time on the Explorist, or 200 with comments attached to them.

Source: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/lofiversion/index.php?t119662.html

Are 1:150'000 cycling maps detailed enough? In 2006 I bought a box of maps for €10.- that covered the northern half of Germany (the southern half was also available for the same price). It was printed on cheap paper, but for that price I couldn't complain. They lasted long enough. I believe they were from the German Cycling Club (ADFC (http://www.adfc.de/)), but I haven't found any reference to them online.

Update: Found them! They're available at buch.de (http://www.buch.de/) for the north (http://www.buch.de/buch/04601/961_radtouren_in_deutschlands_norden_16_bl_.html) and for the south (http://www.buch.de/shop/buecher/suchartikel/radtouren_in_deutschlands_sueden_15_bl/ISBN3-87073-336-5/ID4601962.html) for €9.95 each. Unfortunately, only the northern maps are in stock.

Nokia N95 "cell phone" (PDA / mp3 player / camera / whatnot) has a built in GPS too. I don't know what kind of limits it sets to waypoints, but you can buy additional maps directly with the device itself, not having to first download them to your computer. That alone is a step forward.

Regarding the 1000 waypoints limit, I doubt it's a memory issue. I have an ancient Magellan Meridian Color, and with the SD card slot there is room for all the waypoints I could possibly ever need. But Magellan's software is too stupid to use the SD in any reasonable way. If I want to use a route, it must be in the unit, not in SD. And I seem to remember there were other "features" that made transferring route data between SD and the device a PITA. The only thing it does well with SD is storing map data in there, so that's what I've used it for. I hope the software in their later models is more flexible in this regard.


I believe they were from the German Cycling Club (ADFC), but I haven't found any reference to them online.Rose Versand has ADFC maps (and many other maps as well), I posted a link to their online map shop a couple of posts back.

--J

The Explorist 400-600/XL units can go over the waypoint limit by storing them on a SD card, then loading them up via directories... but you can't have more than 500 active waypoints at one time on the Explorist, or 200 with comments attached to them.

Source: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/lofiversion/index.php?t119662.html

I just found a program called FrontBase that allows you to upload Routes and Waypoints to a Garmin GPS. I guess the 1000 waypoint limit is insignificant now. FrontBase is not a large program and you can store it on a CD-R along with the routes.

If you want, store the routes in Hotmail and download them to FrontBase right into your Garmin GPS at a library or any computer with internet access. You no longer have to install software at a library or carry the program disks to load the routes.

http://www.downloadjunction.com/product/store/4720/index.html

EarthNC is another idea where you can create routes on Google Earth and download them into your GPS.
I don't know if it requires to install the program on a computer or can work as a standlone like FrontBase.
http://earthnc.com/triptool

Boy, do I find this confusing.
I've found this Garmin at Tiger Direct

http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/Garmin-VentureHCx-G145-017.jpg

Even after I spend the 2 bills, I'll still need a Germany map (I think Germany and the Czech republic is the way it's sold), then I'll still have to download the GPX files and buy an adapter to fit it on my bike.

Grr.