 | Home > Expedition & Overland > Navigaton - Garmin |
 
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| yobbie Member Since: 15 Nov 2010 Location: Isle of Wight Posts: 712   
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I have a Garmin Zumo 550 with Full European mapping for about 5 years mainly for use on the motorbike. I've just come back from Verona / Venice it has a traffic ariel & was excelent. I used a SD card with South Africa mapping last year and did about 2000miles on motorbike & car without getting lost.
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18th Sep 2012 8:09pm |
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| spudfan Member Since: 10 Sep 2007 Location: Co Donegal Posts: 4655 
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Still using vintage "Satnag" and I am very happy with it - or so I am told. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali 2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu 2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai |
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19th Sep 2012 6:05pm |
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| Mountain_man Member Since: 09 Dec 2011 Location: Right side of Offas Dyke Posts: 756 
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I use a cheap second hand toughbook with a GPS dongle. By using a programme called Franson GPS gate it emulates the garmin signal and allows you to run Garmin programmes. You can download Maspsource and N-route for free and get them working and then there is a pile of opensource maps out there for most of the world down to footpath and contour scale. There are also websites that let you convert barious formats so you can plan routes on say Memory map or Google maps and then transfer them to the garmin format and just follow the line on the map. It has worked faultlessly in Morroco, and all over Europe with ALL the gravel tracks marked and the full functionality you would expect from a garmin unit.
Check out the following links for more info to give you an idea. http://www.velomap.org/download/odbl/ http://www.velomap.org/tutorials/install-mapsource/ |
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19th Sep 2012 8:33pm |
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| TJ101 Member Since: 30 May 2007 Location: Taunton Somerset Posts: 3750  
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Steve
What Mountain_man says above,,  you have the very same toughbook now
Franson GPS gate ,Maspsource and N-route were on there, before it lost its OS California F1, 75th 110 "Kermit", 50th Ann V8, 90 V8 Hybrid, 55 Series 1 Main Brian James Trailer Dealer for South West UK |
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19th Sep 2012 10:14pm |
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| bpman Member Since: 21 May 2008 Location: Oslo Posts: 8069 
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Tim
have googled the apps above and have some more ideas ... cheers ! |
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22nd Sep 2012 11:27am |
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| Shocks Member Since: 17 Jun 2012 Location: UK Posts: 4 
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Just a though but ios6 gives turn by turn directions on iphones and ipads. Lots of navigation apps available too,
Might be worth checking out |
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23rd Sep 2012 4:47pm |
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| bpman Member Since: 21 May 2008 Location: Oslo Posts: 8069
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Garmin / DAB / Traffic linky ...
http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/sat...io-1095979 |
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24th Sep 2012 7:12am |
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| mudrut Member Since: 29 Feb 2012 Location: Stourport-on-Severn Posts: 80 
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Hi all.
I noticed this post and it has struck a chord with me as I have had a few enquiries in the same vein. The Satnav of choice for years has been the Garmin 276C, but it was discontinued some time ago and Overlanding type Garmin users have been continually disappointed with the offerings from the company. This isn't just my opinion by the way, it is echoed on forums across the globe. I tested the new Montana 650t on the 2012 trip, running it side by side with one of my 276C units. In short, it was great with a clear display and easy to use. It processes notably faster than the 276C, but was turn for turn with the older unit. The Montana is also usable on quads or bikes or even as a handheld. It works well for me because all my waypoints and maps are compatible with both units. I feel this is the first time that Garmin have produced a worthy successor. Having said all that, the Arctic run is very road oriented with just a few detours if you want to take them, so a TomTom or similar could easily fit the bill. For off-road oriented trips, I would choose Garmin every time. One of the teams on the 2012 intended to use an app on their iPhone. They reasoned that they were going to follow the convoy anyway. They found that the app needed a data connection to function which was going to cost a fortune so went without. Tony (Mudrut/Lincomb Farm) experimented with an app on an iPad recently in Australia to find the same thing. I suspect that they all can't rely on a data connection, but worth mentioning. regards Ian |
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27th Sep 2012 3:39pm |
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| The Boy Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: East Northants Posts: 1459 
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That was an interesting post Ian. I have had a 276c for years and hung onto it for the same reasons you have just quoted. Do you think it is now worth changing?
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27th Sep 2012 3:44pm |
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| mudrut Member Since: 29 Feb 2012 Location: Stourport-on-Severn Posts: 80
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The Boy - I need to have backup units in the event of a disaster so I have two 276Cs and now a Montana. If you have a 276C in good working order and are happy with it (I still am with mine), then I wouldn't suggest an upgrade is necessary unless uprated memory and processing are an attractive feature.
I didn't want to be in a position where I had to learn a new unit in a hurry in the event of an equipment failure just before a trip. If you have specific questions about the Montana, feel free to post or PM and I will try to answer. One of these days I will write a full review when I have a spare hour or ten. 
kind regards Ian |
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27th Sep 2012 3:56pm |
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| The Boy Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: East Northants Posts: 1459
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Thanks chap.
i kind of regard the 276 as an old friend now so more than happy to keep with it. OK the memory is small (by today's standards) and it is annoying that I can't use post codes for when I am out and about in the uk but have an old tom-tom to do that. |
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27th Sep 2012 4:01pm |
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| mudrut Member Since: 29 Feb 2012 Location: Stourport-on-Severn Posts: 80
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I know the old friend feeling, but.....
I am running the latest firmware (free download from Garmin) and City Navigator NT (various years) and I can navigate by postcode. In fact I have done since I can remember. I would take another look....... regards Ian |
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27th Sep 2012 4:14pm |
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| The Boy Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: East Northants Posts: 1459
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I will as soon as i get a moment thx
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27th Sep 2012 4:53pm |
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| bpman Member Since: 21 May 2008 Location: Oslo Posts: 8069
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I've been looking at the 650t too but the garmin trucker one looks interesting too with the DAB live traffic and bluetooth phone sync. No rush for me, so I'm going to see if they release something early next year.
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27th Sep 2012 6:07pm |
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