Your Garmin help, please

Right - question.

I created the following route with the intention of downloading it to a friend's Garmin:

http://www.plotaroute.com/map/3304

On hitting download it comes up with the following message:

"Due to Garmin device limitations, only a maximum of 100 directions can be downloaded with the route. This route currently has 244 directions, so only the first 100 will be downloaded. You may want to delete or combine some first. You can also download the route without directions if you wish."

Presumably there are so many directions because this is 100 miles on tiny roads.... Deleting / combining would be a mega ballache - what happens if you "download the route without directions" - would we still be able to use it for navigation?

I can't tell as I don't actually have the device that we'll be using....

Cheers!

Need to know what device it is.

It's an 810 - ta

I've hit its limit. I don't know what it is but I think it has to do with how many waypoints you have in an individual route or points in a track or something.

What you might be able to do is download the route, open it in basecamp and then remove unnecessary points. I've seen an Optimize Route function in basecamp but from what I read last night it's buggy.

Another option would be to split it into two or more parts, Route01/Route02/etc. That gets around the waypoint limit on the device.

But, because the 810 will do the turn-by-turn for you automatically, you could download the track without directions and the Garmin will probably sort it out for you after you add it to NewFiles, blah blah.

Ok thanks - will see what happens when my mate puts it on there and maybe try and split it up if it goes nuts

Possibly not the right place for this but I came across these really good looking garmin mounts:
http://edge-mount.bike/

Bit on the steep side compared to a peice of molded plastic but look the part.

Those are the mounts made by Morten Tillquist. Looks like he's gone all pro with a web shop. They're nicely made mounts - I've got one, with another one ordered.

Wiggle currently doing the Performance and Navigation bundle for only £219.99.

Cracking price for the full bundle; unit, cadence/speed sensor, HR strap and European maps. In my opinion.

Check handtec they're always cheapest.

£178.90 for just the plain unit, which is really all you need, given OSM maps are free and work well (better than my out of date Garmin maps in fact).

The OSM maps are a bit of a pain if you want the whole of Europe easily accessible though, aren't they? I could only find the OSM maps of Europe in three separate files. Ended up deciding that Wiggle's offer of 66 quid for a Garmin MicroSD card with the whole of Europe on it was worth taking up, given the time it would take to get the OSM maps up and running.

You can generate the maps for whatever area I thought. It's what I did for Majorca (that was only small area though so maybe there's a limit)

Anyone using an eTrex for navigation?

I can't find the info I want on the web and maybe someone can shed some light.. Does it come with maps? If yes, what kind of maps? If yes, what's the coverage of the pre-installed one? Can I install OSM maps like I do on my 800?

I am really tempted by the AA batteries for touring but I am not sure I can justify it over the 800 I already have.

^^ You can, but there's a limit on the free on-line map-generating tools, and none of them will produce an all-Europe map. I don't think there's a technical reason why you couldn't have an all-Europe OSM map - I just couldn't find anywhere to download one, or any way to create one. In the end, I decided that spending 66 quid was better than wasting any more time trying to avoid having to.

Anyone using an eTrex for navigation?

I can't find the info I want on the web and maybe someone can shed some light.. Does it come with maps? If yes, what kind of maps? If yes, what's the coverage of the pre-installed one? Can I install OSM maps like I do on my 800?

I am really tempted by the AA batteries for touring but I am not sure I can justify it over the 800 I already have.

Not really. They come with a basemap which isn't really a map. It's VERY limited.
I've not tried OSM on the eTrex but it looks possible :http://forums.mtbr.com/gps-hrm-bike-computer/how-can-i-get-openstreetmap-background-my-etrex-20-a-875417.html

If you already have an 800, why not get the extended battery pack or carry a charger/batt pack?

^^ You can, but there's a limit on the free on-line map-generating tools, and none of them will produce an all-Europe map. I don't think there's a technical reason why you couldn't have an all-Europe OSM map - I just couldn't find anywhere to download one, or any way to create one. In the end, I decided that spending 66 quid was better than wasting any more time trying to avoid having to.

How much of Europe will you see in one go though? Why not just create the three smaller ones (if that's required) and keep them on your SD card?

I used this for price finding.

www.satnav-discounts.co.uk/gps/product/cycling-gps-latest-releases/garmin/garmin-edge-510/

How much of Europe will you see in one go though? Why not just create the three smaller ones (if that's required) and keep them on your SD card?

Possible, but a right ballsache as you'd have to create each map separately and manually, while making sure that collectively they included everything. The trouble is that the map generating sites are set up to do country-by-country maps, whereas the continental rides I do have a distinct tendency to cross national boundaries because that's where the big interesting lumpy bits are. So for me faff>benefit given the relatively modest price of the Garmin mapset. But, as ever, YMMV.

My G705 has died AGAIN, fucking thing. It shut down and dwont turn back on, I could probably buy another battery but it hate the pissing thing now. So do I buy an 800, an 810 or a touring?

800, unless you own more than 5 bikes, in which case an 810.

Its £218.99 atm on crc which makes my choice easier

What's the battery life like on a 500 vs. an 800?

According to Mr. Garmin it's 18 hours for the 500, 15 hours for the 800. However, since both of these numbers are clearly bollocks, who knows?

Yeah, I was looking for some anecdotal. Nevermind. Stupid 1000 has even less than the 800. Bigger screens >>>

The trouble is, it depends so much on how you use them. If I keep on proddling my 800, turning the backlight on and switching pages all the time, I can kill the battery in under 8 hours. Leave to do its own sweet thing, and just look at one page of numbers, and it'll do considerably more. So doing a proper back-to-back empirical test would be tricky.

Anyway, if the battery life's not enough then just buy another one and switch over at a convenient moment...