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Multiple trip meters


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Does anyone know if it's possible to have more than one trip meter on my Garmin 64?

 

This seems like a really easy feature that could be added. Even the cheapest bike computers have this capability. 

 

Another potentially useful feature would be track distance. For instance, I could select a start point on a track, then another point on that same track, and get that section distance. 

 

Garmin should hire me for my bright ideas, I actually use their product. Sometimes I wonder if they do.

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If you separate the track from the trip computer, the you can effectively have two trip meters. Use the current track view to see stats based on the track, and the trip computer to see another set of stats. Granted, the track and trip meters won't sync up exactly because tracks truncate points. But you'll get your stats for two different situations. A third can be gained by using the stopwatch - the stopwatch does record a separate track, but the stats on the GPS are limited to time (total and lap) and lap distance. 

The Oregon series has an ability to save portions of your current track, and I think the 64 series can too. But the best way to split or analyze sections of a track is to look at it on Basecamp, or any other software with similar tools. You'll have more precision and options. In the field, routing along a track to get to a destination is sometimes useful, but marginally moreso than direct routing. Basically, I use it when route-finding off-trail, and usually I'm just back-tracking. It's more useful to me to set up intermediate waypoints as checkpoints and just use direct routing as a more simplified form of map & compass wayfinding.

Edited by Mineral2
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I would like to be able to know various distances on my track as I am walking it. 

 

I would use various trip meters on my gps just like I would on any other device that has an odometer and more than one trip meter, which is all of them. Besides my Garmin gps. 

 

Does nobody hike besides me? Do you never want to know how long a specific length of trail is while you are walking it?  Let's say you are hiking, you are keeping track of your total distance, and you stop at a spot to eat or rest, or whatever. 

 

You know there is a lake, picnic table, or what not up ahead and you want to know how far. Gee, if only I had one or two trip meters, you know, like everything else. 

 

It's not like it's advanced technology, it would be a really simple software update. I can't believe it hasn't already happened. There are people that hike and backpack more than I do that would really like that. 

 

The track segment distance would be more complicated but multiple trip meters should have been done already.

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5 minutes ago, gitarmac said:

I would like to be able to know various distances on my track as I am walking it. 

 

 

Many Garmin GPSr have the ability to measure distances within the Map Page.

 

5 minutes ago, gitarmac said:

I would use various trip meters on my gps just like I would on any other device that has an odometer and more than one trip meter, which is all of them. Besides my Garmin gps. 

 

 

That description provides no new information for those trying to help....

 

5 minutes ago, gitarmac said:

Does nobody hike besides me? Do you never want to know how long a specific length of trail is while you are walking it?  Let's say you are hiking, you are keeping track of your total distance, and you stop at a spot to eat or rest, or whatever. 

 

You know there is a lake, picnic table, or what not up ahead and you want to know how far. Gee, if only I had one or two trip meters, you know, like everything else. 

 

Hiking is the primary use for my GPSr.

 

I can use the Map Page measure distance function to determine the length of a path if desired.

 

If you want to know the distance to any other location from your current location, that information is already available. The waypoint manager will display the distance to each waypoint, for example. Or you can select any place on the map and see the distance to that location instantly. Or, if you are using routable maps, create a short route on the GPSr from your current location to the desired location, and you can view distances between each leg of that route in several places on the GPSr as well.

 

Learning to use the tools already available is part of what makes using a GPSr enjoyable for me.

 

5 minutes ago, gitarmac said:

It's not like it's advanced technology, it would be a really simple software update. I can't believe it hasn't already happened. There are people that hike and backpack more than I do that would really like that. 

 

The track segment distance would be more complicated but multiple trip meters should have been done already.

 

Probably have not been done because they are not necessary, or have never been requested. There are already many methods to achieve what you desire.

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The distance on the map page is only linear distance. It doesn't account for curves or elevation. 

 

It would also be nice to be able to have a daily trip mileage in addition to a total mileage. 

 

There are other ways to get a crude estimation but they are no substitute for actual multiple trip odometers.  And such a simple easy feature. 

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6 minutes ago, gitarmac said:

The distance on the map page is only linear distance. It doesn't account for curves or elevation. 

 

It would also be nice to be able to have a daily trip mileage in addition to a total mileage. 

 

There are other ways to get a crude estimation but they are no substitute for actual multiple trip odometers.  And such a simple easy feature. 

 

I just created a route on my GPSMAP 64csx, along several trails, from once geocache to another, then just to some route intersections, etc, the selected Find > Routes > {my route} and selected 'Hiking' as the activity, then opened the 'Active Route' page and can see the actual distance (not as the crow flies) from each point to the next. I can even open the Elevation Plot page to see elevation data for the route ahead and behind me.

 

Only way I can think right now to get a daily trip odometer is to set the track manager to auto-archive your recorded track daily, then review them later to see daily distance traveled.

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If you have a routable map on your GPS (and you can get them for free from various locations that produce OpenStreetMap data compiled for Garmin GPS users), you can find out how far it is to a point ahead of you using routing. Your trip computer and your current track won't tell you what is ahead of you, it will only tell you what is behind you - how far you've walked since the beginning, or since you started tracking, or last reset your trip computer. 

You can create a route with multiple waypoints and display the distance to the next point alongside distance to destination. But having multiple trip computers won't give you that information.

Getting daily vs total mileage for a backpacking trip is easy. Save each track when you get into camp at the end of the day. You can then either reset the track, or continue logging. You can reset the track, but not the trip computer as long as they aren't synced. Or you could reset both. Personally, I tend to record a separate track for each day and when I get home, I can stitch them all together into one track to get total trip statistics, but also have the daily tracks for daily statistics and mapping.

I'm not really sure that Garmin's bike computers have multiple trip odometers. It's probably more like the stopwatch function where you can hit the lap button and save stats for what you define as a lap.

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8 hours ago, gitarmac said:

The distance on the map page is only linear distance. It doesn't account for curves or elevation. 

 

It would also be nice to be able to have a daily trip mileage in addition to a total mileage. 

 

There are other ways to get a crude estimation but they are no substitute for actual multiple trip odometers.  And such a simple easy feature. 

In case it eases your mind :unsure:: I can absolutely relate to what you're saying and would also like to use dual or multiple odometer in different situations.

 

The reason why I don't miss this feature too much is the fact that often the odometer (due to bad reception) gets significant jumps and a meaningful analysis of the true distances is only possible afterwards with Mapsource/Bascamp anyway.

 

Additionally I also would often make use of multiple navigations so I can continue my navigation towards a distant target while temporarily find and navigate to a POI (eg a cache B)) along the way and still keep an eye on the longer navigation and the presumably deviations from that route I might have to take.

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Some research I was doing this weekend on another subject made me think of this thread.

 

While the GPSMAP 64 does not have multiple trip odometers, some of the newer Garmin GPSr are capable of showing two trip odometers when configured correctly.

 

For example, the GPSMAP 66 and/or Oregon 7x0 series have setup options to allow the Trip Computer and Track Log Recording to operate together or independently. When configured to operate independently, the user can clear the Track Log data while not affecting the Trip Computer data. In the Trip Computer display, there are data fields that display only Trip Computer information (Trip Odometer) and others that display Track Log information (Activity Distance).

 

So, on these GPSr, you could let the Trip Computer run freely in the background while saving/clearing the current track log at desired locations, and be able to view a total trip odometer value as well as a current track log odometer value simultaneously.

 

Just an FYI.

 

 

Edited by Atlas Cached
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