Thoughts on best small GPS unit

[verticalflyer 11]

Anyone any thoughts on a lightweight very small GPS unit (mobile phone type size.) any info appreciated. Time to get some data and need a good unit that does not crap out with cold generally reliable etc etc

Thanks

Fraser

Dont just talk about it, Do it!

[LouDiamond 1]

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Anyone any thoughts on a lightweight very small GPS unit

Do a search on GPS. We have had this discussion many times and there are many good threads out there that will answer all of your questions. I also covered GPS receivers and technology in depth in my book Skyflying Wingsuits in Motion. Several people on the forum have the book already and they can give you insights on it.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[verticalflyer 11]

Thanks

Dont just talk about it, Do it!

[KrisFlyZ 0]

I have used a Forerunner 201 and it was pretty reliable as long as the unit had a good satelite fix until exit. I cannot give you any feedback on the Cold weather performance though.

Garmin did replace the unit for me when an upgrade to the software made the download of data not work any more. I believe a Forerunner 301 is available now.

Kris.

[Fordy 0]

hey fraser, i have the 301 for use on my bikes, the mapping is a little lacking in detail. i still have my extrex legend...

fordy

Fordy

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Hey Fordy,

The mapping on the 101, 201 and 301 units sucks compared to the units higher up in the line up. When you download it, it works just great. Because it is the software that is doing the drawing anyway.

If you are talking about the data lacking definition then I must say that I have not used the unit so much to have noticed that.

Kris.

[ernokaikkonen 0]

Of course the Forerunner series units don' t have altimeters in them. I've been using a Geko301 with good results. I used to have it on a chest mount pillow, and surprisingly had excellent reception. I have just built a really nice(if I say so myself) helmet mount for it. Maybe I'll even manage to get pictures(don't hold your breath, I'm still looking for the pictures I took of my ws-modified Atom Legend...)

[Sylvain 0]

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Of course the Forerunner series units don' t have altimeters in them. I've been using a Geko301 with good results. I used to have it on a chest mount pillow, and surprisingly had excellent reception. I have just built a really nice(if I say so myself) helmet mount for it. Maybe I'll even manage to get pictures(don't hold your breath, I'm still looking for the pictures I took of my ws-modified Atom Legend...)

When the Geko301 is mounted on the chest strap, can you look at the screen during flight to check altitude, vertical speed, glide ratio ... ?

-- Sylvain

[ernokaikkonen 0]

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When the Geko301 is mounted on the chest strap, can you look at the screen during flight to check altitude, vertical speed, glide ratio ... ?

Yes. Altitude, forward speed and vertical speed readouts work fine. Glide ratio stays blank for some reason; I think the glide ratio just isn't good enough for the unit to consider it gliding...

[obi 0]

Hmm, that's too bad, I heard the same from a friend who also uses the Gekko. I wanted to get that model too as it has all that I need, but glide-ratio is what's really important to me. Does anyone know of units that can display the glide-ratio in real-time? What about the eTrex Vista?

[unclecharlie95 3]

Hey Obi,

Etrex vista does show GR real time (with 2 sec refresh), problem is positioning it so you can see it in FF

Long flights
J

BASEstore.it

[LouDiamond 1]

I concur, the Vista will show it real time. I have used mine on a pillow mounted on my chest strap and am playing with a mount on my mud flap so that I can see it even easier. Only problem is the act of looking at the device is going to change your readout so it's kind of self defeating. I prefer to wait until I am on the ground and then Download the data to Paralog which will give you the glide ratio information at any point you want in the flight or you can play the jump back and watch it as it changes from exit to landing.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[unclecharlie95 3]

The Titan should be perfect for this application

BASEstore.it

[LouDiamond 1]

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The Titan should be perfect for this application Anyone tried it yet?

Yes, I have. It is still in a developmental stage but the application is dead on if you want to see ANYTHING while you are in flight. The Software side of the Titan will be left so that people can write applications that suit their specific need so you won't get stuck with just the typical data. If you want to see heading, course correction arrows, GR, altitude, hell the stock market prices, if you can write it the Titan will be able to display it.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[obi 0]

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...I have used mine on a pillow mounted on my chest strap and am playing with a mount on my mud flap so that I can see it even easier. Only problem is the act of looking at the device is going to change your readout so it's kind of self defeating....

I assume you wanna say that you have to change your body-position in order to see the unit and so you're changing your performance? Or am I totally wrong here?
I use an altimeter on a mudflap-mount (the wedge, which is mounted onto the mudflap, but the actual device is on a little platform further down) and it is super-easy to read while flying the suit. A gps mounted there should be the same, so that should solve the problem

[LouDiamond 1]

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I assume you wanna say that you have to change your body-position in order to see the unit and so you're changing your performance?

You are correct.

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it is super-easy to read while flying the suit. A gps mounted there should be the same, so that should solve the problem

That's the idea . However the Vista is more rectangular than square like an altimeter.I am still playing around with it so it can be mounted and seen easier.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[dmkellett 0]

I purchased an etrex vista in the states because it was considerably less than in RIP OFF BRITAIN, however it seems to only have a map for the USA installed on it´s memory. Does anybody know how to install a map of europe, or do I not need to do that to use it with paralog, ie will it log the data of the jumps wherever i am in the world using just raw coordinates and then will paralog do the rest. I have not used either the gps or paralog yet.... but am wanting to learn in the next week or so how to measure my GR....

Thanks,

Darren

[obi 0]

Garmin told me that you cannot change the Basemap, that's the map you are reffering to. There are different models for the US and Europe and so on. You can upload maps into the device though, but you have to buy them and they are expensive, at least the interesting ones for Europe are (the topo maps). But you only need to do that in order to display the map on the device for navigation (which is the big bonus of models like the Vista). For recording flight-data you won't need a map at all, that's why I originally wanted to go for the Geko...

[LouDiamond 1]

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Does anybody know how to install a map of europe, or do I not need to do that to use it with paralog, ie will it log the data of the jumps wherever i am in the world using just raw coordinates and then will paralog do the rest

Yes and No. You can buy Garmin's WORLDMAP software and use it to download your GPS tracks. The maps are crude to say the least but it gives you pretty much world coverage and allows you to save your data although it is very limited in detail, ie: not skydiving/wingsuit specific. Paralog can handle a GPS receiver directly and Download the data to your logbook and then you can view it in the jump profile for all the line and graph data or click on the "show 3D map" feature and see the flight overlayed on satellite imagery using Google Earth.


If you plan on using your GPS for actual navigation, having detailed maps is handy as you can see all the roads and other information that is supplied when you download a map into your GPS. You don't need maps in your GPS for Paralog to handle your wingsuit data. Paralog is skydiving and specifically wingsuit centric in the information it displays and it is usable on every operating system out there(Win, MAC, Linux) to include palm devices. Garmin software is Windows only.

edit to add jpg

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING