OpenStreetMap
Just recently got hold of a Garmin Etrex Vista HCx. seems to work OK just need to get use to it. I suspect it will eat batteries, so rechargeables are on the shopping list along with a microsd chip. Have done footpath traces around Cliffe/Cliffe Woods area which came out ok. Had to update the mapsource s/w twice to bring it up to date (ver 6.16.2) would have thought it would have gone to the latest version in one go.
Discussion
Cummentu di wilpin lu 16 September 2010 ê 16:27
Batteries on Etrex should last you between 10 to 15 hrs; just be careful: the rubber ring might come off when it's really hot; it's a great tool; have just changed mine after 3 yrs of almost daily use - screen can get scratched too.
Cummentu di gmhofmann lu 17 September 2010 ê 09:46
my batteries work more than 20 hours with my etrex Legend HCx. Type: NiMH, 2400 mAh
Cummentu di Anna_AG lu 17 September 2010 ê 20:30
Yep - NiMh 2200mAh should get 10-20 - used mine every day on a recent bike trip. For good GPX data I set the unit to log once per second, settings in track log setup. Ensure that you tick Log Track to Data Card. The 100000 point internal memory track log fills up in about 3 hours ( 3600 points / hour ) but the SD card will never fill up. A GPX file with one second logging generated to the SD card is only about 5-8 MB for 12 hours.
Make sure you check out the OSM sourced Garmin img maps from Cloudmade ( http://downloads.cloudmade.com/ ). These give you 'last weeks' OSM compile, country by country
Cheers bri
Cummentu di kevjs1982 lu 18 September 2010 ê 13:47
Rechargeables are a no brainer My 2700mAh NiMH batteries last an absolute age - over 24 hours when I've accidentally forgot to turn off. They can drain quicker when it's cold though (below five degrees).