GPS for R1200GS

[HMR]

I know some people ridicule their tests but i find myeslf agreeing with a lot of their tests,

Well -

- First they tested only a subset of the Garmin models omitting a couple of the most interesting ones.

- Second they tested only how the GPS managed navigating in big cities while most bikers avoid driving in big cities.

- Third they had a complete newbee doing the test.

Imaginge how Ride Magazine would test a K1200S? They would probably put a beginner with a brand new drivers license on the bike and ask him to drive around in downtown London for a few hours! And then evaluate the bike's performace based on that? Nonsense!

 

[st247]

Well -

- First they tested only a subset of the Garmin models omitting a couple of the most interesting ones.

- Second they tested only how the GPS managed navigating in big cities while most bikers avoid driving in big cities.

- Third they had a complete newbee doing the test.

Imaginge how Ride Magazine would test a K1200S? They would probably put a beginner with a brand new drivers license on the bike and ask him to drive around in downtown London for a few hours! And then evaluate the bike's performace based on that? Nonsense!

Given that a lot of RiDES readers are probably new to sat nav's i think it was a good idea to have newbee doing the testing, after all whats the point of having a piece of equipment that you need a degree to operate. As for testing in the city, surely thats a better test of route recalculation and satelite reception than a quick trip down a couple of country roads.

 

[HMR]

Given that a lot of RiDES readers are probably new to sat nav's i think it was a good idea to have newbee doing the testing, after all whats the point of having a piece of equipment that you need a degree to operate. As for testing in the city, surely thats a better test of route recalculation and satelite reception than a quick trip down a couple of country roads.

Using people who don't understand for testing advanced equipment in an environment where nobody use it?

The same reasoning would apply to testing a K1200S or a Ducati 999 I assume. Since 95% of all bike riders are not competent to ride that kind of machines on a race track the only proper way to test them is to put a beginner with a brand new drivers license on the bike and ask him to drive around in downtown London for a few hours!

 

[PanEuropean]

Could you please answer me two questions?

1. Where can I get a good reliable download for the UK speed cameras, and whats the sequence of events to put on the 2720? Could you make it easy to follow (not Wanting to mess it up) does it have to be on the maps all the time or can i call it up when I want?

2. I tried to use it in a truck yesterday and there was no power to the unit, I know the cigarette lighter was live so thought the fuse had blown or a problem with the lead. Tried it in my car and it worked fine. Could it be anything to do with the truck being 24v? The SP111 I had before worked fine in various trucks.

Hi Del:

I apologize for not answering your inquiries earlier, I did not see your message until today.

Concerning your question 1, about UK speed camera databases - I don't have sufficient riding experience in the UK to answer that question. Personally, I use the speed camera databases published by www.radarfalle.de, which I have found to be extraordinarily comprehensive and well put together for coverage of the German speaking countries in Europe. Because I am based in Zürich, Switzerland and frequently ride in Germany, that suits my needs very well. This company includes all the countries of Europe in their database (it's about 12,500 cameras), I have only used it in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, but it has proven to have almost 100% coverage for the places I have been.

They charge €10 a year for unlimited downloads, and if you submit a new speed camera or a worthwhile correction to the database, they'll prolong your subscription for another year as a thank you.

To actually get the 'Custom POI' (Garmin-speak for speed camera) database into the GPSR, I use POI Loader, a free program that is available for download from Garmin. This application reads a CSV (comma separated values) document - typically something we would view in Excel or a word processor - and imports the data into the GPSR. radarfalle.de lets you download the datafiles in 4 different formats (you can only load one format at a time into your GPSR), the formats include grouping by velocity, grouping by type, etc. It would take quite a while to explain all the concepts behind it, but suffice to say that I use the 'All speed cameras, all accident points in one file' format (in German: Trennung nach einzelnen Kategorien), and this gives me warnings of each speed camera along with the speed rating of that camera, and a custom icon to identify the type of camera (traffic light, Gatso, whatever). I just launch POI Loader and choose the 'automatic' process - it burps everything up into the GPSR without asking questions, and takes about 60 seconds to do so. I upload a new file - which over-writes the existing file - about once a month, or before any really long trips.

About your question 2, concerning voltage - I know that the SP III supported anywhere from 12 volts to 28 volts (28 being a common aircraft system voltage). I don't know what range of voltage the 27xx supports. I have advised the hardware dudes at Garmin in Kansas that 24 volts is a common bus voltage for HGV's in Europe. In North America, everything is 12 volt. I am pretty sure that my newest GPSR, the 2820, supports 24 volt operation, but I am not sure what the specs for the 26xx and 27xx are.

Regards,

Michael

 

[PanEuropean]

BTW, if you do want to use the databases from radarfalle.de, but you don't read German, just write the webmaster and tell him what you want to buy. He speaks English very well, and so far, I have been quite impressed with the quality of their customer service.

Michael

 

[st247]

Using people who don't understand for testing advanced equipment in an environment where nobody use it?

The newbee that took part in the testing only actually did the "Ease of programmming test" as Ride thought that this would be "a good measure of how easy it was to plan routes"

The reason that they tested, using a different rider/operator, in London was because they were advised by the AA that "GPS was at it's least effective among tall buildings, intense traffic and complex one way systems."

The actual units tested were based on manufacturers recommendations. Obviously it's not an exhaustive test, and i'm sure that some peoples favourite models were omitted, but magazine tests of any item rarely are.

The same reasoning would apply to testing a K1200S or a Ducati 999 I assume. Since 95% of all bike riders are not competent to ride that kind of machines on a race track the only proper way to test them is to put a beginner with a brand new drivers license on the bike and ask him to drive around in downtown London for a few hours!

You could carry out a test of any type of bike, with any type of rider, and get a result that is only actually of any good to the rider that actually did the testing. Almost everyone will have different ideas about what is or isn't a good handling, fast as feck, good looking bike. All your getting, as with this test, is an opinion. The difference with Ride is that they actually try to make it a meaningfull comparison. Other mags will usually just show you what the latest thing is, which they've probably been 'gifted' by the importer/manufacturer.

 

[Mutley]

Using people who don't understand for testing advanced equipment in an environment where nobody use it?

As far as being written from the point of view of a newbie is concerned, the vast majority of us are new to GPS, it's a relatively new and certainly emerging technology. The artcile was very well written from the point of view of introducing riders to GPS. When I first bought my Quest I had a Ducati. I asked some questions about it on the Sporting Club Ducati site and got zero answers! I think that lets you know where other groups of riders are in terms of GPS adoption.

As for the environment tested, I use mine in town all the time. In fact I'd suggest that the best thing about it is the ease with which I arrive at destinations rather than cruising the streets asking for directions. Of course I have a unit that swaps into my car and that's actually where it gets most used.

I found the Ride test to be pretty good overall