Jump to content

Garmin vs Galileo System


fujitsu

Recommended Posts

On 10/12/2017 at 2:23 PM, RuideAlmeida said:

 

At least some of the last Foretrex already have support for Galileo...

Take a look here.

What's the purpose of the Foretrex series?

Can the Foretrex be used like my Garmin 64s where I can set it to record a track log at one coordinate per second?

Does the Foretrex 601 use AA batteries like the Garmin 64s?

It seems like the Foretrex 601 only have a patch antenna. How does that affect its accuracy when compared to the 64s?

Thanks!

Link to comment

I just read a review from Amazon and I hope Garmin have fixed it because that is a deal breaker for me. Can any other Foretrex owners chime in?

(1) The tracklog is saved as a continuous track, even if the device is turned off one or more times during navigation (regardless of how far you've traveled, the segments are connected by a straight line the next time you turn your device on). This is very annoying, because the resulting tracklog is full of wrong information, showing places where you've never been, and also because some crucial data (such as the time when each segment began) is missing. Both Foretrex 301 and Foretrex 401 are clever enough to break the tracklog into segments, each one obviously ending when the device is turned off. Why can't Foretrex 601 do the same?

(2) When you navigate a saved track, that track is shown on the map as a thin dotted line, indistinguishable from the track you leave behind as you move. This is quite inconvenient (for instance if you slightly deviate from the saved track and want to retrace your steps). Both Foretrex 301 and Foretrex 401 show saved tracks as thick lines as you navigate them, and show your own track as you move as a thin line. Why doesn't Foretrex 601 display these two types of track in such a way that they can easily be distinguished?

Link to comment

> What's the purpose of the Foretrex series?

Traditionally, Foretrex has targeted outdoor sports where size and battery life are key.  They target hunters, campers,  hikers, runners and cyclists (with the latter two moved more to Forerunner). As a geocacher, you'd probably trade a big color screen with cache info vs. a week of track logs from a single charge. Garmin (as the market leader) can afford to divide the market into many niches with specialized hardware.

Re: the Amazon reviews, this won't help you in the field, but once you get back to a Real Computer, GPSBabel's track filter can "fix" those tracks if they really are stored that way and not just displayed that way. (Which seems dumb, but I really do think that an artifact of that "conquer ALL THE NICHES" strategy, they start over from scratch way more than they should and forget the lessons of the market every few years...)

As for the original question, most of Garmin's recent devices have used MediaTek GPS receivers and several of their chips have had support for Galelio, Glonass, and others for some time. https://labs.mediatek.com/en/chipset/overview#Location Intelligence.  Of course, even once the chips support it, it takes a while to make it into Garmin's products and then into the firmware. As to the meta question on whether that'd make a noticeable difference in your geocaching experience: probably not. 
 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...