gazza said:
Gazza,
After you pointed this problem out the other day, I decided to switch it off briefly if I needed to do this. Its re-boot time is so quick, it's probably the quickest option...
Mike
Using the SP 26xx Remote Control on a Motorcycle
- Thread starter PanEuropean
- Start date
Gazza,
After you pointed this problem out the other day, I decided to switch it off briefly if I needed to do this. Its re-boot time is so quick, it's probably the quickest option...
Mike
K2R
Guest
Problem determined
Its the ambient light level. Today is overcast somewhat but bright anyway. If I'm shaded to some degree it works fine. If not, it stops. I can lean over slightly to shade the light path and it works.
Pan, are you testing the 276C? That model is very popular here in the states with riders, especially those coming from the 176. I've seen one, skimmed over the manual, but no hands on time and its sort of a toss up in my opinion, in function and price. It all depends on what you want out of a unit. I do think the add on keypad (Nav II) would make the 2610 the clear winner in my book.
Its the ambient light level. Today is overcast somewhat but bright anyway. If I'm shaded to some degree it works fine. If not, it stops. I can lean over slightly to shade the light path and it works.
Pan, are you testing the 276C? That model is very popular here in the states with riders, especially those coming from the 176. I've seen one, skimmed over the manual, but no hands on time and its sort of a toss up in my opinion, in function and price. It all depends on what you want out of a unit. I do think the add on keypad (Nav II) would make the 2610 the clear winner in my book.
Mick_rw
Registered user
I take it...
that whilst you are all pushing buttons you do it from feel whilst keeping your concentration on what is happening on the road.
Mick
that whilst you are all pushing buttons you do it from feel whilst keeping your concentration on what is happening on the road.
Mick
K2R
Guest
Correct. Its not a problem as I only use a few of the buttons. I really wish that Garmin would offer an add on for it with zoom in/out and the thumb stick. That seems to be all its lacking.
BurnieM
Guest
The GPSmap 276C looks to me to be ideal for motorcycle use except for one feature;
continued use of non-standard, small and expensive data cards.
Give me a GPSmap 276C with everything identical except the data card and I would leap at it.
continued use of non-standard, small and expensive data cards.
Give me a GPSmap 276C with everything identical except the data card and I would leap at it.
PanEuropean
Registered user
Gazza:
About wiping the screen in the rain - try using a tissue such as Kleenex or similar. The software is such that if it detects a 'very large finger' (not sure how to describe it better - what I mean is pressure or touch over a wider than normal area) it disregards the input and nothing happens.
Interesting to note that the BMW Navigator II has one extra command in the display settings - "Disable Touchscreen" - it's there for that exact purpose, to prevent map panning when you wipe rain off it. But, using a soft tissue applied to the whole height or whole width of the screen at one time will avoid the map panning problem.
A quick way out, if the map does pan, is to just touch the page key on the GPSR. That restores the screen to normal map mode from pan mode.
'Pan'European
Burnie: I agree with you - the quality of the display, most especially the level of detail and the readability in sunlight, is absolutely stunning on the GPSR's that use the same screen as the 276C. It is unfortunate about the small capacity chip, though I think that is because of the primarily marine nature of the 276 - the boaters just don't cover the same distances that we riders do. Also, there's a whole whack of marine GPSR users out there who already own BlueChart software that they bought pre-installed on Garmin chips, long before the BlueChart CD's were introduced - I think Garmin is trying (by staying with the older chip format) to give them an upgrade path that will avoid additional expense when those folks move from an older marine GPSR to a 276C.
I'll guess further that if and when Garmin releases a primarily automotive version of a GPSR that uses the 276C display technology, it will have a heck of a lot more storage capacity, because 99.9% of the automotive users are off the chip standard and onto the CD standard now. I'm just guessing, though.
About wiping the screen in the rain - try using a tissue such as Kleenex or similar. The software is such that if it detects a 'very large finger' (not sure how to describe it better - what I mean is pressure or touch over a wider than normal area) it disregards the input and nothing happens.
Interesting to note that the BMW Navigator II has one extra command in the display settings - "Disable Touchscreen" - it's there for that exact purpose, to prevent map panning when you wipe rain off it. But, using a soft tissue applied to the whole height or whole width of the screen at one time will avoid the map panning problem.
A quick way out, if the map does pan, is to just touch the page key on the GPSR. That restores the screen to normal map mode from pan mode.
'Pan'European
Burnie: I agree with you - the quality of the display, most especially the level of detail and the readability in sunlight, is absolutely stunning on the GPSR's that use the same screen as the 276C. It is unfortunate about the small capacity chip, though I think that is because of the primarily marine nature of the 276 - the boaters just don't cover the same distances that we riders do. Also, there's a whole whack of marine GPSR users out there who already own BlueChart software that they bought pre-installed on Garmin chips, long before the BlueChart CD's were introduced - I think Garmin is trying (by staying with the older chip format) to give them an upgrade path that will avoid additional expense when those folks move from an older marine GPSR to a 276C.
I'll guess further that if and when Garmin releases a primarily automotive version of a GPSR that uses the 276C display technology, it will have a heck of a lot more storage capacity, because 99.9% of the automotive users are off the chip standard and onto the CD standard now. I'm just guessing, though.
PanEuropean
Registered user
Hello everyone:
Well, about 2 months have passed since I mounted the 26xx remote on the moto, so I figured it would be a good idea to post a follow up.
So far, the remote does not seem to have been affected by water in any way. I have done a fair amount of riding in the rain, and it has become wet from the rain, and it still works. I decided, for testing purposes, to not remove the remote from the moto when I wash the moto (using a high pressure spray wand). I figure that since I never remove the GPSR, why bother removing the remote? The only problem with leaving the remote in place when the bike gets washed is that soapy water dribbles out the bottom side of the remote (out the battery compartment) for about the next half hour of riding. However, if you want to try this, remember it is at your own risk, because Garmin says the remote is not waterproof.
I have found that for the most part, I only use three buttons on the remote: Zoom In, Zoom Out, and QUIT. The quit button is sort of like an opposite direction PAGE button, as well as being handy for backing out of screens and getting back to the main map display. The 2 zoom buttons are quite useful.
As for the rest of the buttons, I have found it is actually more work to use them on the remote, then transfer my hand over to the screen, than it is to just use the touchscreen for everything.
So, in summary, having the two zoom buttons nearby on the remote is useful, but I have not found having the other buttons (or the 4 way joystick) to be of any use at all, because the screen can be panned around just by putting your finger (glove or not) on the screen and dragging in the direction you want. It was worth the $4 investment in the Velcro® to mount the Garmin remote on the bike, but I wouldn't spend any more than that on a remote control setup.
PanEuropean
Well, about 2 months have passed since I mounted the 26xx remote on the moto, so I figured it would be a good idea to post a follow up.
So far, the remote does not seem to have been affected by water in any way. I have done a fair amount of riding in the rain, and it has become wet from the rain, and it still works. I decided, for testing purposes, to not remove the remote from the moto when I wash the moto (using a high pressure spray wand). I figure that since I never remove the GPSR, why bother removing the remote? The only problem with leaving the remote in place when the bike gets washed is that soapy water dribbles out the bottom side of the remote (out the battery compartment) for about the next half hour of riding. However, if you want to try this, remember it is at your own risk, because Garmin says the remote is not waterproof.
I have found that for the most part, I only use three buttons on the remote: Zoom In, Zoom Out, and QUIT. The quit button is sort of like an opposite direction PAGE button, as well as being handy for backing out of screens and getting back to the main map display. The 2 zoom buttons are quite useful.
As for the rest of the buttons, I have found it is actually more work to use them on the remote, then transfer my hand over to the screen, than it is to just use the touchscreen for everything.
So, in summary, having the two zoom buttons nearby on the remote is useful, but I have not found having the other buttons (or the 4 way joystick) to be of any use at all, because the screen can be panned around just by putting your finger (glove or not) on the screen and dragging in the direction you want. It was worth the $4 investment in the Velcro® to mount the Garmin remote on the bike, but I wouldn't spend any more than that on a remote control setup.
PanEuropean
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Simialr opinion but formed it while getting bored sitting in the pasenger seat and playing with the remote. All functions except the zoom felt much easier and quicker using the touch screen. Especially trying to enter alpha-numeric data.
The Machine Cat
Guest
What is it ?
PanEuropean
Registered user
A Garmin GPSmap 296, which is an aviation/marine/automotive combination unit. It is more or less the same (to look at) as the 276c, although the guts are entirely different - it uses a different processor, different system software, and has terrain and obstacle warning functions (a form of Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning, or EGPWS).
It's a very powerful, very capable, and very expensive (ca. USD $2,500, by the time you buy all the cartography) GPSR, but it does not do as good a job at any one task (aviation, marine, or automotive) as a single purpose aviation panel mount, marine panel mount, or top of the line automotive GPSR. But, to be fair, it does 95% of what the single purpose GPSR's do in each category, and it is blazing fast - simply awesome. The screen quality is stunning, like nothing you have ever seen before, unless you own a 276c. FYI, the purpose-specific panel mount units range in price from USD $3,000 to $15,000, and that's without installation costs.
The EGPWS feature is kind of useful for motorcycle riding, because where there are peaks and valleys, you can assume there will be twisty roads. But because it's designed for aviation use, you can't 'invert' the warnings.
The target market for the 296 is recreational pilots who do not want to spend the $10K to $20K that it would cost to install a panel mount GPSR in their aircraft, and who also want automotive autorouting capability in the same package. If you fit into that category, this product is superb.
Despite all the capabilities of the 296, and even giving due credit to the amazing quality screen display, the SP 26xx is still better for pure moto use because the SP 26xx gives the user more control over custom route construction criteria, and allows the user to create custom 'avoids'. The SP 26xx also has more data chip capacity, and uses generic CF cards, rather than the older Garmin proprietary storage cards that are used in the 276c and 296.
PanEuropean
It's a very powerful, very capable, and very expensive (ca. USD $2,500, by the time you buy all the cartography) GPSR, but it does not do as good a job at any one task (aviation, marine, or automotive) as a single purpose aviation panel mount, marine panel mount, or top of the line automotive GPSR. But, to be fair, it does 95% of what the single purpose GPSR's do in each category, and it is blazing fast - simply awesome. The screen quality is stunning, like nothing you have ever seen before, unless you own a 276c. FYI, the purpose-specific panel mount units range in price from USD $3,000 to $15,000, and that's without installation costs.
The EGPWS feature is kind of useful for motorcycle riding, because where there are peaks and valleys, you can assume there will be twisty roads. But because it's designed for aviation use, you can't 'invert' the warnings.
The target market for the 296 is recreational pilots who do not want to spend the $10K to $20K that it would cost to install a panel mount GPSR in their aircraft, and who also want automotive autorouting capability in the same package. If you fit into that category, this product is superb.
Despite all the capabilities of the 296, and even giving due credit to the amazing quality screen display, the SP 26xx is still better for pure moto use because the SP 26xx gives the user more control over custom route construction criteria, and allows the user to create custom 'avoids'. The SP 26xx also has more data chip capacity, and uses generic CF cards, rather than the older Garmin proprietary storage cards that are used in the 276c and 296.
PanEuropean
Attachments
Gecko
Registered user
gazza said:
Gazza, I'm with you on this - I can't see the point of a remote that is used just inches away from the unit. All the hassle of mounting it and it's another thing to not forget to take off when you leave the bike and then carry around.......way to complicated . I like my 60c - all in one simple and idiot proof
PanEuropean
Registered user
Gecko, Gazza:
I find it handy - much faster to operate - if I have the zoom in and zoom out buttons on the remote available. The "Quit" button on the remote, which functions sort of as a opposite-direction Page button, is also helpful. I don't use the rest of the buttons on the remote.
In summary, the only reason I use the remote on the moto is the one-press zooming in or out. I never bother to remove the remote from the moto, it just stays there all the time, stuck on with the Velcro.
PanEuropean
I find it handy - much faster to operate - if I have the zoom in and zoom out buttons on the remote available. The "Quit" button on the remote, which functions sort of as a opposite-direction Page button, is also helpful. I don't use the rest of the buttons on the remote.
In summary, the only reason I use the remote on the moto is the one-press zooming in or out. I never bother to remove the remote from the moto, it just stays there all the time, stuck on with the Velcro.
PanEuropean
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