GPS and battery

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Expat
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GPS and battery

Post by Expat »

Had previously posted re my Garmin gps which kept on rebooting when trying to use on the bike and was basically no use at all, albeit worked fine in the car.


Recently found in the back of a drawer, a ten year old TomTom 920 that I bought new over here while on holiday for use in the rental car and had also installed in it, a sd card with UK maps for use when back in GB. Hadn't needed to use it at all for the past couple of years at least.

Anyway, decided to rig it up on the G3 today for a run out and guess what...........it works perfectly.

Result. :D :D :D
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Pharisee
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by Pharisee »

Expat wrote:Had previously posted re my Garmin gps which kept on rebooting when trying to use on the bike and was basically no use at all, albeit worked fine in the car.


Recently found in the back of a drawer, a ten year old TomTom 920 that I bought new over here while on holiday for use in the rental car and had also installed in it, a sd card with UK maps for use when back in GB. Hadn't needed to use it at all for the past couple of years at least.

Anyway, decided to rig it up on the G3 today for a run out and guess what...........it works perfectly.

Result. :D :D :D
Garmin did have a problem with some models (My GPSmap60-CSx was one of them) where the battery terminals didn't have enough 'spring pressure' to hold the batteries securely. A bit of vibration and the battery connection was lost briefly enough to cause the reboot. I had the same problem using it on my mountain bike along green lanes. I sent my GPS back to Garmin with a letter explaining the problem and they fitted new battery terminals free of charge. There was no problem after that.
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Expat
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by Expat »

John, reckon you hit the nail on the head there, as the Garmin works fine in a car but plays up randomly when on the bike.

Perhaps when I next get a sudden rush of blood to the head, i'll try it out on the Yamaha with differing vibration outputs! :lol:

Steve
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by Expat »

Here's an interesting explanation from leswaller in a different topic posted today.

Incidentally I have mounted a second converter which supplies power to my Garmin Sat Nav as Garmin units dont work unless you use their proprietary charging lead which will only accept 12v. Most other Sat Navs will work off 6v as the units themselves only require 5.4v.


Certainly explains the weird behavior of the Garmin unit.

Cheers leswaller :)o
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Tommy RE
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by Tommy RE »

Hi Steve,

I got over the Garmin voltage problem with my Enfield Continental by getting a 6 - 12 volt converter from Fleabay for about a tenner when I went over to the TT on it last year. it worked really well, just needed attaching to the relevant terminal on the battery as it had its own inline fuse. The terminals out from the converter were wired to a proprietary female cigarette lighter plug and I used the Garmin supplied lead. It was a bit crowded in the battery box though.

Thanks for your input regarding Popsie. Bet you didn't expect that snow in Florida though :shock:

Regards,

Neil
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by Expat »

Sounds like a neat answer to the power requirements of the Garmin Neil. Seems like my newly found TomTom unit is happy with 6 volts so I'll stick with that. :)

Like you, I used a lighter socket plugged into the pigtail permanently connected to the battery via a fuse and otherwise used for connecting the battery tender, or taking voltage readings from it, then onwards with the stock TomTom lead to the unit itself.

Regarding the snowfall here, yes, it's causing all kinds of pandemonium in northern parts of Florida and above but not likely to move down to the central areas where we are. Mind you, all day last Saturday and this morning were a chilly?? 50F :roll: , (still rode the bike though!), and tonight temps are forecast to reach the heady lows of 32F. :o so no bike tomorrow.

While we wouldn't want it to get to extremes, the cooler weather is for me anyway, a welcome change and a break from the brutal summertime conditions we get here, when gearing up and riding the bike is a rare thing and not particularly enjoyable for the most part.

Good to see the continuing progress with Popsie, onwards and upwards! :)

Regards, Steve
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by g5wqian »

i have one of those power bank usb chargers , 4.5amps , just fits in my pocket in bike jacket .
you can get usb leads any length and easy to route .
on my nokia phone i use HERE DRIVE satnav and it is much better than my garmin nuvi , plus you can use bluetooth devices in helmet or ear along with the nokia .

the garmin seems to send me down some weird routes like backroads but the nokia sends me down better and more direct routes .

i have an origine helmet with built in bluetooth and that will connect to my phone , but also have a couple or earbud bluetooth devices that also connect but the volume level is a little low unless the bike is quiet .

with the helmet inbuilt bluetooth it has volume control etc on the outside and plenty of loudness to it , and there is a feature on the nokia phone settings to correct the audio if its distorted .

usually my phone will run for 2 to 3 hours before it gets low if running satnav but i can plug it into the powerbank and then wont have that problem .

most of the time i just get on my bike and go and follow my nose but if i got somewhere i need to find i will use the satnav and bluetooth helmet .

beauty of the bluetooth helmet and the nokia phone satnav is that you also get alerted with a loud ding ding when the speed limit changes and you need to slow down , which even on a british bike happens quite often !! .

its good to be able to have these modern devices at our disposal and to also enjoy the old bikes and roads .

all the best with it
ian
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Re: GPS and battery

Post by Expat »

That's a good set up you have Ian. I do have my iPhone paired to an external headset for phone call and intercom use, music etc and recently got a charger pack for emergencies.

So are you saying you just get audio directions via the phone connection? I haven't tried that but feel I have more confidence in the directions if I can see them on a 📺 screen! :)

Agree with your sentiments re modern conveniences and old bikes.

Cheers, Steve
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