Leave GPS turned on all the time?

[Point2Point]

I have been leaving my Vista in the car - plugged into the cig lighter and leaving it on all the time. Was just wondering if anyone knows if that is a bad idea?

 

I mean, I know electronics don't wear out from being left on, but is there a good reason to turn off your unit and reboot it occassionally? Or any other reason to shut it off?

 

Thanks

[+RiverCacher]

I've heard that cig lighter adapters can do sketchy things to electronics if they are used too much, but I don't have any further information on that.

 

Scott

 

Lynchburg, Virginia

[+Egnix]

I'm not a car guru, but I've read that it's hard on the alternator when you have things running off the battery when the car isn't running....

[+Criminal]

I sometimes leave my Garmin V turned on in the truck while I'm at work. There is a certain place I can park and receive the WAAS bird. It's cool to come out after work and see 8' EPE's. I don't think it's hurting the truck in any way. I think the radar detector draws more juice. It’s actually good for the GPSr to be left on once and a while to download the almanac data. As for leaving it on 24/7, I can’t see any benefit.

 

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What is the price of experience, do men buy it for a song,

Or wisdom for a dance in the street.................

[+NuBi]

The draw that your GPS has on the car battery is very minimal. As soon as you run the car, the alternator charges the battery up... No problem.

 

The only problem you *MAY* have is if you DC adapter fails and causes too much power to go into your GPS, but that is unlikely because the DC adapter has protection built into it and the GPS does too to prevent this.

 

My guess is you run more of a risk of someone breaking into your car to get the GPS!

 

NuBi

[+microtek]

Loran, when it was the primary navigation units, typically had a Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator (TCXO)that got more accurate as it refreshed. GPS's use on board clocks that do not refresh and don't need to. Soooo. Leaving it on does nothing. The current draw is mice nuts much like a cell phone. Radar detectors however have power hungry gun diodes and FETs the get hot (400 deg F, enough to melt a dash) and should be powered down. Hope this helps and is not too geeky..MicroTek

[+Alan2]

Isn't it possible high heat in a car sitting in the hot sun while you are away will increase the possibility of electronics failure? I;ve nOticed my windshield RAM mount gets pistol hot when I return to my car. Can't imagine that kind pof heat would be good for my GPS if I left it too.

 

Alan

[+apersson850]

I would assume the obvious risk is that someone sees it and smashes your window just to steal it. Maybe assuming it's a phone, if it's an eTrex. And if you leave it on, while it's lying under the seat, it will probably not be able to receive anything anyway.

 

Anders

[Kerry.]

There's no good reason to reboot. Actually I collected some data from a unit last week which I first turned on in 1997, it's been running/recording 24 hours a day ever since without problem.

 

The only thing it's worn out is one UPS and 2 external backup disk packs.

 

Cheers, Kerry.

 

I never get lost everybody keeps telling me where to go

[Kerry.]

There's no good reason to reboot. Actually I collected some data from a unit last week which I first turned on in 1997, it's been running/recording 24 hours a day ever since without problem.

 

The only thing it's worn out is one UPS and 2 external backup disk packs.

 

Cheers, Kerry.

 

I never get lost everybody keeps telling me where to go

[Point2Point]

Thanks for the comments.

 

I wasn't at all worried about damaging my car, that's not really an issue. Was just wondering about any effects on the GPSr.

 

I guess this all stems from the fact that I don't really like the power-up hassle of the Vista. The touch-hold power button doesnt give any tactile feedback when you press it and you have to wait a second or two to see if the unit is turning on - or if you didn't quite press it right and it's waiting for a little more finger pressure to turn on. It's always a guessing game.

 

Then the boot up process takes another minute or so and brings up the satellite screen. My default screen choice is the map screen, so then I have to click over to that.. Just a hassle every time I get in the car to go through "the launch sequence".

 

I have no problem just throwing the unit in the center console when I leave the car parked where someone might see it. That's easy. But if someone does ever steal my car, well I guess they get the Vista as a bonus.

[ejmct]

My cigarette lighter turns on and off with the ignition so I can't leave my GPS on if I wanted to.

 

Does anyone know if there is a documented or undocumented feature In the eTrex Vista that enables the unit to automatically turn on when it senses current through the power cord and off when it doesn't sense power?

 

Thanks!

[+apersson850]

It has been asked a couple of times, but I've never seen any GPS that can power on automatically, except those intended for fixed installation in a car.

 

Anders

[Point2Point]

I'm actually using the aux power outlet in my Grand Cherokee,, it stays on all the time. It's not actually the cig lighter

[+Jamie Z]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Point2Point:

...the power-up hassle of the Vista. The touch-hold power button doesnt give any tactile feedback when you press it and you have to wait a second or two to see if the unit is turning on - or if you didn't quite press it right and it's waiting for a little more finger pressure to turn on. It's always a guessing game.

---

My Magellan Meridian is like this. I've even changed the settings to give me a beep for each button press... but even with the beep, there is a slight delay between when you press the button and when the unit beeps.

 

On startup, a quick tap of the power button is enough to power it up, but you have to stare at it, and listen carefully for about 1/2 a second to see if the button-press went through. And then there's the either-wait-15-seconds or press-enter-three-times hassle to go through.

 

And to turn this darn thing off, all I have to do is hold it wrong or put it in my pocket.

 

Jamie

[+Jamie Z]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Point2Point:

...the power-up hassle of the Vista. The touch-hold power button doesnt give any tactile feedback when you press it and you have to wait a second or two to see if the unit is turning on - or if you didn't quite press it right and it's waiting for a little more finger pressure to turn on. It's always a guessing game.

---

My Magellan Meridian is like this. I've even changed the settings to give me a beep for each button press... but even with the beep, there is a slight delay between when you press the button and when the unit beeps.

 

On startup, a quick tap of the power button is enough to power it up, but you have to stare at it, and listen carefully for about 1/2 a second to see if the button-press went through. And then there's the either-wait-15-seconds or press-enter-three-times hassle to go through.

 

And to turn this darn thing off, all I have to do is hold it wrong or put it in my pocket.

 

Jamie

[+freestyle_freddy]

I have a Garmin 12CX & left it on the dashboard turned on during our 1 month honeymoon 6,000 mile trip out west & back 2 years ago. The screen developed a shadow like computers used to before screen savers. This made it very difficult to read info behind the shadow. I sent it back to Garmin & they replaced the unit no charge.

[Steak N Eggs]

My radios in the truck (ham radio) and my gps I never turn off. Even if I do not drive them for a few days.....

 

"My gps say's it RIGHT HERE".

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