Africa Twin Off-Road Sat Nav

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

I've been running my old Garmin Zumo 660 Sat Nav for a while. It's ok for road mapping, but once you go off-road, it shows absolutely no detail. Except 'Off-Road' and a curser in a green screen.

So I started to look around and came across this Garmin 276cx device. It's specifically built for off-road use and can be used on-road as well.

It has some really neat features.

- Waterproof, can withstand being submerged up to 1 metre. Ideal for dunking in a water crossing
- Rugged Power. It can be wired to the bike, which is what I've done, powered through the Eastern Beaver PC8 Fuseboard
- No Touch Screen, so you don't have scratches on it, and it's able to be MUCH brighter to look at, uses buttons instead - ideal when you've got muddy hands or it's very cold, or you have big gloves on.
- Can hold MULTIPLE MAPS. This is a very good feature as you can hold Raster, Vector, Birdseye, all sorts, and flick between whichever map suits your environment.
- Very accurate satellite lockon. Ideal if you're under trees, or between high buildings etc.

It fits perfectly on the Africa Twin, and looks factory fit in real life. Looks good. :thumb2

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

This is the Garmin City Navigator UK map, which is not detailed in any way, just meant to get you from A to B on the UK Road network.

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

This is the TalkyToaster Vector Map 1:50,000 scale, which is very very detailed.

Shows BOATS, Bridleways, Walkways, uncategorised roads, a lot of Ordinance Survey details. It's dynamic vector map shows more detail as you zoom into a specific area, while maintaining sharp details.

It's nice.

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

Then, if you wanted even more detail, you can switch straight over the the Garmin TOPO GB Pro maps, which are pretty much Ordinance Survey as you would see it on a paper map.

Ideal just to get more detail if you wanted to cross reference something while enroute.

:thumb2

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

Really nice bit of kit, and once all my Basecamp Byways are all mapped onto it, it should be really nice to use.

:beerjug:

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

Let me know if you want more details about it, happy to assist

More details on this thread here as well https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/498501-Garmin-GPSMAP-276Cx?highlight=276cx

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

To mount it onto the Africa Twin bar, which is 13mm, I bought this mount from Italy.

Fitted great, and keeps the profile very low. Just have to see how it copes over big bumps now, to see if it stays in place.

Owen Snell · Sep 3, 2019

I just use my phone on a quad lock mount with a Viewranger OS map subscription.

Warlord · Sep 3, 2019

Owen Snell said:
I just use my phone on a quad lock mount with a Viewranger OS map subscription.

The best option, for sure :thumb2

Kenik · Sep 4, 2019

What about screen reading in bright and direct sunlight? I see that Garmin 276cx screen is glossy.
My Zumo 595 with matt screen is not good in this conditions. I use sunshade :-((

Giles · Sep 4, 2019

Owen Snell said:
I just use my phone on a quad lock mount with a Viewranger OS map subscription.

I have ditched my dedicated satnav and am now using my phone in a quad lock. Tom Tom Go app has live mapping, auto redirect, and can take 7 (i think) way points .... :thumb2

Warlord · Sep 4, 2019

Kenik said:
What about screen reading in bright and direct sunlight? I see that Garmin 276cx screen is glossy.
My Zumo 595 with matt screen is not good in this conditions. I use sunshade :-((

Don't know, not used it yet. But I'll report back once I do use it in sunshine.

I put a screen protector on it, so if that causes issues I'll peel it back off

Kenik · Sep 4, 2019

Not bad idea with phone. But some times phones overheating, vibrations damages the charging connector and other iner parts. And i do not talking about rain (water resistant)...it is no good to find oneself in the middle of nowhere with broken phone.

Warlord · Sep 4, 2019

Kenik said:
Not bad idea with phone. But some times phones overheating, vibrations damages the charging connector and other iner parts. And i do not talking about rain (water resistant)...it is no good to find oneself in the middle of nowhere with broken phone.

Didn't like to say, but that's why I ditched the smartphone idea. Not saying that it wouldn't work, as obviously it does and is effective.

But this dedicated Sat Nav will do the job perfectly for off-road use as it addresses specific issues (with other devices) in an off-road environment.

As my bike gets a battering, it needs to be rugged in every way.

Warlord · Sep 4, 2019

It also runs off the Russian GLONASS satellite network, and WAAS aviation satellite network.

Which is why so many satellites appear on the GPS screen. So it's reliability to get a fix signal is supposed to be very good. :nenau

It also connects to my Garmin Inreach Explorer Plus Sat Coms device, so incoming messages can be displayed on the screen while riding.... even from other riders with the same setup and outside phone signal range. The messages are sent over the Iridium Satellite Network.

Timolgra · Sep 5, 2019

I have the older 478 which although is an awesome GPS, like this new 276 such a shame they didn't consider motorcycles when designing it by putting the buttons on the left.

Warlord · Sep 5, 2019

Timolgra said:
I have the older 478 which although is an awesome GPS, like this new 276 such a shame they didn't consider motorcycles when designing it by putting the buttons on the left.

Indeed. I've seen some people glue a 'chess pawn piece' to the rocker switch, which gives them better leverage when moving the curser around.... that seems a populer modification.

Owen Snell · Sep 5, 2019

Kenik said:
Not bad idea with phone. But some times phones overheating, vibrations damages the charging connector and other iner parts. And i do not talking about rain (water resistant)...it is no good to find oneself in the middle of nowhere with broken phone.

I have a water resistant S8 and a quad lock cover as well. Seems to work OK.

Warlord · Sep 6, 2019

Found a really neat trick off AdvRider forum to modify a Wii Controller thumb stick, and use double sided tape to stick it to the cursor controller button.

So when you're wearing gloves it's easier to move cursor around screen for input.

Works great :bow

.... and looks like it was always meant to be there :hippy

er-minio · Sep 6, 2019

The 276 has always been the big daddy of sat navs.
Nice object.
Bit of an overkill for most of us mere mortals.

Couple of notes, questions:

- Waterproof, can withstand being submerged up to 1 metre. Ideal for dunking in a water crossing

I think a normal zumo will survive dunking too.

- Rugged Power. It can be wired to the bike, which is what I've done

Same for any other satnav.

- No Touch Screen, so you don't have scratches on it, and it's able to be MUCH brighter to look at, uses buttons instead

That screen is a beauty. Always wondered how complex/long is it to input keyboard data with the buttons?

Can hold MULTIPLE MAPS. This is a very good feature as you can hold Raster, Vector, Birdseye, all sorts, and flick between whichever map suits your environment.

Question: can a normal zumo have multiple maps too? I was under the impression that it could.
I have a few DEM maps on Basecamp, never tried to transfer them on the device.

- Very accurate satellite lockon.

That is great.
BTW, my Garmin Edge 25 has GLONASS too

Question, how fast is it?
A few friends have the older model (quite a few years old now), and it was very slow at recalculating routes when missing waypoints, etc. I mean very slow. Not sure what the problem was there (hardware or misconfiguration).

Africa Twin Off-Road Sat Nav

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