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Garmin GPS III


Pharisee

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Does anyone use or have any experience of a Garmin GPS III (not the GPS III plus)?

 

I've just found some on sale for £150 inc.VAT and was wondering about getting one. They're new, not second hand.

I know they're old and have been replaced by the GPS III+ and the newer GPS V but they have a decent antenna and will probably work better under tree cover than my Etrex (which when all said and done isn't exactly brilliant under trees)

 

Comments, anyone ??

 

John

 

Age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

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Go for it. My old GPSIII cost me over £300 and was wonderful until I came a massive cropper on my mountain bike and smashed it. Despite its age, it's a more sophisticated machine than the cheaper Magellans. True, my new Meridian gets a 4 satellite lock whilst I'm sat in the middle of my bedroom, but it's a less accurate machine away fron all but the densest tree cover. The GPSIII eats batteries though.

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quote:
Originally posted by Pooter:

True, my new Meridian gets a 4 satellite lock whilst I'm sat in the middle of my bedroom.....


 

Right.... the thought of girl only caches hadn't occured to me icon_biggrin.gif

 

I've already ordered one, should be here tomorrow, hopefully.

The deciding factor was the nothing to do with geocaching. The speedo on my ol' Honda has fallen apart and a new one is astronomically expensive icon_frown.gif

This thing will sit nicely under the fairing screen on it's velco stuff and give me a real-time accurate mph reading. It'll be easily removeable and I should be able to hardwire a plug into the bike's electrics. I'll still be able to use it for lunch-box hunting, of course. icon_smile.gif

 

John

 

Age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

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quote:
Originally posted by Pooter:

True, my new Meridian gets a 4 satellite lock whilst I'm sat in the middle of my bedroom, but it's a less accurate machine away fron all but the densest tree cover. The GPSIII eats batteries though.


But don't forget that with geocaching, your gps is only as accurate as the one that was used by the cache owner when he planted the cache.

 

That's why we have a rule that caches are placed at least 35feet apart from each other. Otherwise you could find Hornet's caches two at a time. icon_cool.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gificon_cool.gif

 

[This message was edited by Slytherin on February 26, 2003 at 12:46 PM.]

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[/but don't forget that with geocaching, your gps is only as accurate as the one that was used by the cache owner when he planted the cache.

]

 

You don't have to tell me that. I reckoned that the Relic Hunters used some real dodgy equipment when I was hunting in the Galloway Forest last weekend

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quote:
Originally posted by Pooter:

ps - how do you do quotes?


Like that. icon_biggrin.gif

 

Or, for a more helpful answer, you can do it in three ways.

a) Click on the quote_reply.gif above the post you want to reply to.

:D Click on the quote.gif in the Instant UBBCode section of the Post A Reply page

c) Do it manually, like this:

 

[ONION]Painted the bath red, and was delighted with the result.[/ONION]

 

replacing the word ONION with QUOTE.

 

SimonG.org

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quote:
:

 

I've already ordered one, should be here tomorrow, hopefully.

The deciding factor was the nothing to do with geocaching. The speedo on my ol' Honda has fallen apart and a new one is astronomically expensive icon_frown.gif

This thing will sit nicely under the fairing screen on it's velco stuff and give me a real-time accurate mph reading. It'll be easily removeable and I should be able to hardwire a plug into the bike's electrics. I'll still be able to use it for lunch-box hunting, of course. icon_smile.gif

 

John


John,

 

I've used my Garmin III+ on my bike for a number years and the map and track logs are great. A lap of the Nürburgring ring in Germany was awesome.

 

If you get a copy of GarTrip you can play back your route overlaid on a map with live speed read out.

 

Two things to watch though:

1) The speed readout on my GIII+ is about 8% low. I don't know why this but it's the same in mph or km/h.

2) Make sure you turn the logging off if there is any chance you may exceed the posted speed limit. icon_biggrin.gif

 

Take care

EAP

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quote:
1) The speed readout on my GIII+ is about 8% low. I don't know why this but it's the same in mph or km/h.

2) Make sure you turn the logging off if there is any chance you may exceed the posted speed limit. icon_biggrin.gif


 

Vehicle speedo's are normally calibrated toa higher level, thus making you think you're going faster than you really are. Formula one race teams use GPS to calibrate speedometers... go figure!

Of course, there's no telling what level the police calibrate their Gatso's to, so best to not risk using yer GPS in court! icon_biggrin.gif

 

It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

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quote:
Originally posted by Omally:

quote:
1) The speed readout on my GIII+ is about 8% low. I don't know why this but it's the same in mph or km/h.

2) Make sure you turn the logging off if there is any chance you may exceed the posted speed limit. icon_biggrin.gif


 

Vehicle speedo's are normally calibrated toa higher level, thus making you think you're going faster than you really are. Formula one race teams use GPS to calibrate speedometers... go figure!

Of course, there's no telling what level the police calibrate their Gatso's to, so best to not risk using yer GPS in court! icon_biggrin.gif

 

It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...


 

I was more concerned about creating evidence that could be used against me in court icon_frown.gif

 

I'm not sure about the speedo being calibrated low, I find the same error on the bike, or in a range of cars. There are some vascar markers hear abouts and one day I'll go out with a stop watch and run a proper test.

 

All the best.

EAP

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quote:
Originally posted by Omally:

 

Vehicle speedo's are normally calibrated toa higher level, thus making you think you're going faster than you really are.


By higher level, you mean faster than they are supposed to, not more accurate.

quote:

Formula one race teams use GPS to calibrate speedometers... go figure!


Racing cars generally don't carry speedometers. I guess GPS would be useful for telemetry purposes though. The Garmin product sheet says mine is accurate to about 0.05 metres/sec - 0.2 km per hour.

 

-------

jeremyp

The second ten million caches were the worst too.

http://www.jeremyp.net/geocaching

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Just out of curiosity, I checked the speed readout on my Legend against the speedometer reading of my wifes Cavalier.

At a speedometer reading of 40mph the Legend was reading 36mph. This difference gradually decreased as the road speed went up until they were reading the same at 90mph. Then it started to go the other way. At a speedometer reading of 110mph the Garmin was reading 114mph. I susepct that that it's the speedometer that's not linear rather than the GPSr.

(Ahem... all test carried out on closed roads with a qualified test driver.)

 

John

 

Age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

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I have tried my etrex against all my different car and bike speedos that I have and not one of them read faster than the gps

Vauxhall Astra 70mph gps 62mph

Ford Mondeo 70mph gps 65mph

Ford Ka 70 mph gps 66mph

Suzuki Bandit 70mph gps 69mph

Piaggio Typhoon Scooter 70mph gps 62mph

Jeep Cherokee 70mph gps 68mph

 

I have tried it several different days with varying sattelite signal and have found the speeds to be consistant every time. I now drive by my gps indication of 70mph hoping that I wont pick up any speeding tickets along the way.

 

Overall the suzuki bandit speedo is closest to the gps right across the speed range and doesnt differ by more than 3% at any speed(road legal of course icon_biggrin.gif)

 

Hear about the 2 blondes that walked into a bar?

You would of thought at least one of them would of seen it!!

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quote:
Originally posted by Naefearjustbeer:

I have tried my etrex against all my different car and bike speedos that I have and not one of them read faster than the gps


In this country car manufacturers must fit speedometers that do not read slow. As it is almost impossible to make one that is 100% accurate, they actually aim at making them a little bit fast hence the reason your GPSr is slower than all of the examples you mentioned. The police OTOH always calibrate their speedometers so they know exactly how fast they are going.

 

-------

jeremyp

The second ten million caches were the worst too.

http://www.jeremyp.net/geocaching

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quote:
Originally posted by Pharisee:

...At a speedometer reading of 110mph the Garmin was reading 114mph. I susepct that it's the speedometer that's not linear rather than the GPSr.

(Ahem... all test carried out on closed roads with a qualified test driver.)

 

John

 


 

Glad I'm not a copper: I never do like taking my work home with me... icon_biggrin.gificon_razz.gif

By the way, my mate with a Triumph Speed Triple uses a GPS in much the same way as you; could be onto summat here icon_wink.gif

 

It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

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quote:
Originally posted by Naefearjustbeer:

I have tried my etrex against all my different car and bike speedos that I have and not one of them read faster than the gps

Vauxhall Astra 70mph gps 62mph

Ford Mondeo 70mph gps 65mph

Ford Ka 70 mph gps 66mph

Suzuki Bandit 70mph gps 69mph

Piaggio Typhoon Scooter 70mph gps 62mph

Jeep Cherokee 70mph gps 68mph


I'll add to your experimental readings with one of my own.

Toyota MR2 100mph, gps 95mph (on a private road etc etc)

 

Rich

mobilis in mobili

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