sat nav help please

[simmo50]

i need a sat nav for my f800 gs, dont want to go to expense of a zumo.
want to pay between £80 - £130 including mounts leads e.t.c (used)
need one that i can get map updates for, and do different points on a route.

what suggestions do you have for the best to look out for

 

[Scuba-Sparky]

Hi simmo50

Go buy your self a TomTom 1 (may have changed label) stick it over the rev counter. Sorted! Good enough for me and my mates for tearing around Europe with. You can do a lot worse and buy a Garmin!

 

[richie]

Hi simmo50

Go buy your self a TomTom 1 (may have changed label) stick it over the rev counter. Sorted! Good enough for me and my mates for tearing around Europe with. You can do a lot worse and buy a Garmin!

Or stick it over the speedo as its own speedo will be more accurate... I prefer to see the rev counter....

 

[RAM-man]

Garmin Nuvi 1200 with UK & ROI maps from Halfords is at £70 ... was £90

Cradle RAM-HOL-GA33 is £10.16

Mount RAM-B-149ZA (short arm) is £31.61

F800GS Power supply CLC04BS (from Locatis.eu) €24.75 (£22.50)

I make that £134.27 Allow postage of course

 

[Bumpkin]

Garmin Nuvi 1200

According to the Garmin website (look under the 'specs' tab in the Maps & Memory bit) that unit won't do routes in the sense of specific user defined ones. Just A - B with a vai point in the middle. So it misses out on being anywhere near as useful as a Zumo.

I obviously depends on the needs of the OP but even if you think you can make do without this feature, believe me, you'll probably be making another purchase within a year if you try to make it follow a specific routes on a regular basis.

Something like the the Nuvi 1410 would work better, note that it says 10 under the routes section on the specs page. This means it can have that number of routes available and ready to route from the menus. However, you can still have many routes on the SD card and load them into the menus as you need them. This is obviously above your budget once you include the other parts you need though. Have a look on the likes of eBay, I managed to pick up a Nuvi 765t for £115 six months ago which works very well on the bike.

 

[simmo50]

does the 765t have an earphone socket to hear directions, cheers

 

[Bumpkin]

does the 765t have an earphone socket to hear directions, cheers

Sure does, here's the page on the Garmin website. I think it's now a discontinued product though you can still get it new (possibly NOH) from eBay and Amazon sellers. Currently SatNavEasy, via Amazon, are offering them for £115

 

[RAM-man]

change from earlier reply for 765T

Cradle RAM-HOL-GA26 is £10.16

other bike bits, mount and charger, same.

 

[Bumpkin]

other bike bits, mount and charger, same.

I'm not so sure about the charger. Plugging in a Mini USB tends to put the GPS into connect mode. There are ways to fiddle around and get it running in navigation mode but I wouldn't want to do that every time I mount the unit, cycle the ignition etc. This applies to running the GPS off a PC and when just plugged into a wall charger or automotive charger lead. I know that there are some chargers that have a set resistance to stop this happening with some phones etc but I'm not sure if the same applies to the Nuvi 765t or that the Locatis lead/adapter has this additional consideration.

The cradle that RAM-man suggests has a recess at the back to accept the Garmin car mount (well the important bit of it minus the sucker and arm). Have a look at this video which should clarify things for you. This means that you can use to Garmin automotive power lead and also have mic in via the 2.5mm socket (not sure if that works with a phone Bluetoothed to the GPS or not yet though).

The next issue reported by Schtum of this parish is that the Garmin automotive power lead has a plastic lump in it (on mine it's the traffic receiver, which I don't need on the bike) quite close to the male part that attaches to the car mount. In a car this will rest on the dash, however, on the bike it will tend to dangle putting strain on the socket which will eventually fail. There are third party adapters out there without this lump or you could use one of these which is the course that I have taken, powers straight off the bike, no 12v accessory socket required, best wired to a switched feed. The 765t runs off 12v though I'm not too sure how it copes with the 14-15v that you typically tend to get across the battery terminals on a motorcycle. On a recent ride-out Emily (the Garmin voice) stared to sound more like Julian Clary, not sure if that was due to over voltage though... I have one of these waiting to be incorporated into my home made loom when I find the time.

FYI: I have my 765t mounted within one of these rather than a RAM cradle... Sorry RAM-man

 

[Schtum]

It was actually the female connector in the nuvi car mount which failed on me due to the stresses imposed upon it by the power / trafficmaster antenna cable flapping in the breeze while I was using the 770 in a RAM mount on a rented GS in California.

My solution to the failed power/data connection was just to run the nuvi 770 by powering it via the USB connector. I've never had it go into connection mode when connecting it to a USB charger, only when connecting it to a PC.

 

[Bumpkin]

My solution to the failed power/data connection was just to run the nuvi 770 by powering it via the USB connector. I've never had it go into connection mode when connecting it to a USB charger, only when connecting it to a PC.

OK, I would need to test my 765 with a different range of automotive leads as the ones I've tried, as well as a wall charger, put it into connect mode.

 

[RAM-man]

Bumpkin, fair point and noted.

Chargers have been much discussed and I am more interested that the things that will work on a bike, as these many use chargers use a Vreg chipset design, but its the temp rating of the chipset, so when you use a car charger (and it has a 50 deg C rating) on a bike .. and its Summer, its hot .. and you're touring with new horizons beckoning, the last thing you consider is will it work or survive, that's my real point as its either overlooked or ignored or simply not considered. I know what I suggest exceeds that and has a higher rated Vreg chipset design and dissapates any heat.

Mini USB power charging does seem to be the direction that manufacturers moved towards 3 or 4 years ago. Garmin did change their car charger and the USB was fatter, so the aperature hole on early GA24, GA25, GA26 cradles were enlarged to overcome its fatness, the Locatis bike chargers never had this fit problem.

The Arkon case , know and have suggested it as well, Case and mount for the 800GS would be £50 plus charger cost.

 

[Bumpkin]

I am more interested that the things that will work on a bike, as these many use chargers use a Vreg chipset design, but its the temp rating of the chipset, so when you use a car charger (and it has a 50 deg C rating) on a bike .. and its Summer, its hot .. and you're touring with new horizons beckoning, the last thing you consider is will it work or survive

That's a valid point. However, the 765 and, at the least I presume, other 700 series Nuvis run of a straight 12v feed via the socket on the side of the cradle. One would assume that, if internally, it runs of 5v then there's a pretty resilient step down transformer inside the unit. Hopefully the Akron case won't push that too far in hot weather