Magellan SporTrak Pro GPS

[+GOT GPS?]

There is a new Magellan:

 

Magellan SporTrak Pro

 

 

Wonder how it will compare with the Meridians?

 

My home page about GPS units and information

[+phantom4099]

I belive it will be a flop.

 

I don't see any real advantage over the meridians. It has the same screens and does the same things as the meridian. But it cost just about the same as the Gold, it has a smaller screen, the resolution it the same as the 315/330. The basemap is only 9mb compared to the Golds 16. The downloadable memory is fixed at 23mb (I am willing to bet the plain meridan 2mb basemap will work in it to free more room). when/if the meridans can store tracks/waypoints/routes to the SD card it will be even further out of date.

 

Of coures there is some good parts like being smaller and lighter, and not having to pay for SD cards. Some people would argue that the SD slot on the meridian is a potential week point.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[Best_Buddies]

This is strong competition to the eTrex line. It gives you almost the same memory as the Vista is approximately the same size.

 

Backpackers are VERY concerned with size and weight. Now, Magellan has something to offer these people.

 

-----

Any similarity between my opinions and reality is entirely coincidental.

--Harrkev

[basher_boy]

What kind of antenna does the Sportrak have? I can't find it anywhere. Has anyone out there bought one yet, and from where?

 

Basher_boy

[+user13371]

The web page for this gadget says "quadrifilar antenna' -- in other words, like the Map330 & Merdian models.

 

I'm pretty sure I saw one of these in the display case at the local "Bass Pro Shop" over a week ago. All this "new" and "coming soon" noise is confusing.

[basher_boy]

Does anyone know what the published aquisition times for this unit is. How does that translate to use realworld use.

 

Thanks in Advance

[+Cach-U-Nuts]

I was lucky to have the opportunity to do a side by side comparison of the new Magellan Sportrak and my Meridian Gold. They are practically the same machine. The aquisition times were the same. I took my usual lunchtime walk and came back to my reference lamppost. After sitting for just 30 seconds they had the exact same coordinates and the altitude differed by just 2 feet. I noticed that the Sportrak has 2 less screens than the Meridian. The Data screen (which has the strip compass at the bottom is missing and Speed screen which has a graphical speedometer is missing. I have these 2 screens turned off on my Meridian anyway so this is no loss. The Sportrak uses the same data cable as the Meridian but does not fit in the mounting bracket. I uploaded detailed street information with Mapsend and loaded waypoints from Expertgps just fine. It is narrower than the Meridian and fits nicely in my hand but it is still larger that the Garmin products. All in all I'd say it is a great unit. If I didn't already have a Meridian Gold then I would consider this one.

[darford]

Since the memory is fixed (no SD card), I assume you load the maps with the serial cable. The SD card is a major selling point of the Meridian, even if you do have to spend another $25 on an SD card reader.

 

For me, that's enough reason NOT to get a SportTrak and get a Meridian product. How long to upload a 23 Mb map at 9600 baud?

 

Same size as the Meridian, same screen, same (similar) firmware, same maps, same reception, less memory, slower (way slower) upload.

 

Tell me again why one would choose it over the Meridian? And as for the Vista, the SportTrak is a lot bigger, and no compass or barometer. How does it compete with the eTrex? If size and weight are an issue, the eTrex beats the SportTrak hands down.

 

Unless I'm missing something, I think Thales took a step back with this unit.

[Bagbug]

descriptions and features here:

 

http://www.thegpsworld.com/magsporpro12.html

 

They are saying : Superior satellite tracking in dense forests - Features an advanced Quadrifilar Helix antenna

Is it the same antenna ??

Anyone knows if it has the same "one quick press" power button ? (which I hate)

 

Bag

[+Cach-U-Nuts]

I just measured the screens on the Meridian and SporTrak. The width of the Meridian is 1 3/4 inches and the SporTrak is 1 1/2 inches so the SporTrak is 1/4 inch narrower. The height of both screens is 2 1/4 inches. The power button on the SporTrak works the same on the 2 units. It took me about 20 minutes to upload the entire state of Utah into the SporTrak using the serial cable. I don't understand why so many people make a big deal about the slow upload speed. Just start the upload before you jump in the shower and by the time you get dressed your upload will be complete. What's the problem?

[Bagbug]

What ? You dont bring your GPS in the shower with you ???

 

What about screen quality ? I found this about the Sportrack: Our exclusive "Hi-Brite" backlit screen is more visible in low light environments.

 

And now put your jacket, go out in dense forest and tell us if the reception is better on the Sportrak !!

 

Bag

 

[This message was edited by Bagbug on May 08, 2002 at 09:09 PM.]

[Bagbug]

What ? You dont bring your GPS in the shower with you ???

 

What about screen quality ? I found this about the Sportrack: Our exclusive "Hi-Brite" backlit screen is more visible in low light environments.

 

And now put your jacket, go out in dense forest and tell us if the reception is better on the Sportrak !!

 

Bag

 

[This message was edited by Bagbug on May 08, 2002 at 09:09 PM.]

[+Cach-U-Nuts]

I just noticed another differnce between the SporTrak Pro and the Meridian Gold. My biggest disappointment with the Meridian Gold was that it does not have channel markers in the database like my older Map 410 had. I occasionally go sailing and really enjoy having the marine navigation aids in the gps. I just checked the SporTrak Pro and was thrilled to see that it has the channel markers in it's database. To me this is a huge advantage in the SporTrak over the Meridian. If there is a way to get channel markers in the Meridian Gold then somebody please tell me how!

[robertlipe]

quote:

---

How long to upload a 23 Mb map at 9600 baud?

---

 

It doesn't matter, becuase that's not how it works. The protocol spec is clear that once you send a map or firmware upload command you must rendevous with the unit at 115Kbits/sec. If you drag out your stopwatch during a serial upload, you'll realize is't moving way more data per second than it'll ever push through the NMEA parser.

 

Of course, it's probably disabling all those pesky interrupts from the receiver circuitry so it can focus on slurping up the bits.

 

I haven't seen the trackers yet. It does seem like they missed the mark if they were trying to make an Etrex killer. The non-mapping unit still

comes closer in price to an eMap than an etrex, even though it does have a nicer feature set. But maybe the low end isn't business they want.

[Donad_D]

After following the link given above by 'Bagbug'(?) for the SporTrack,did I notice that the specs mentioned that it does have the "Strip Compass" & 'Speedometer' screens? (not that I use them anyway) Is this an error?

 

The SporTrak looks like a pretty cool unit, but as I already have a MeriGold I don't think it's going to be my next/backup GPS in the near future.

 

Donad_D

 

Lurkers of the World, Unite!

[Bagbug]

They really need to improve informations/distributions of their new products.

 

It still says "Coming soon" on the website. We all know its already available.

 

How come we get more informations from resellers(on the web) than from them ?

 

None of the resellers(stores) in my area knew about the Sportrack !!

 

[This message was edited by Bagbug on May 09, 2002 at 08:45 AM.]

[Avatar]

Having purchased Garmin eMap several years ago (pre-geocaching) I was looking to get a GPS with WAAS capability and a decent amount of memory. I purchased mine last week and, although I haven't had the chance to go geocaching with it yet, have compared it to the eMap for maping and accuracy.

[Avatar]

Since the SporTrak Pro has WAAS I assume it'll be more accurate than the eMap and it definately picks up more satelites than the eMap in cloud or tree cover.

[Avatar]

I do not think it is as good, however, as the eMap when it comes to navigating and plotting trips. For example the software (optional of course) will only allow you to create a route from existing waypoints - and the cities, interstate exits, and intersections do not act as waypoints in the software. If you wish to plan an out-of-town trip, it is first necessary to create every turn or intersection as additional waypoints.

[jfitzpat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by harrkev:

This is strong competition to the eTrex line. It gives you almost the same memory as the Vista is approximately the same size.

 

Backpackers are VERY concerned with size and weight. Now, Magellan has something to offer these people.

---

 

I'm sure that was Magellan's intent, but it seems like they are playing more to their weaknesses than their strengths.

 

The unit is still big and bulky by eTrex standards. But, the smaller screen seems a lot less usable than the Meridian's. From the unit I saw, it does not seem that Magellan increased the resolution (at least not significantly).

 

And, the basemap seemed terrible. Theoretically, it should be on par with the eTrex base maps, but it certainly wasn't for SoCal.

 

The one thing I didn't get to see is data rates. If the unit loads maps via RS-232 as slowly as a Meridian, I'd see that as a big problem. At least with the Meridians you can use an external writer for the SD memory.

 

And, I'd have to agree with another poster, if you care about ounces, the Vista is more instrument for the weight. Certainly, being able to drop my old altimeter helped me justify dragging mine to the mountains.

 

-jjf

[+phantom4099]

quote:

---

If you wish to plan an out-of-town trip, it is first necessary to create every turn or intersection as additional waypoints.

---

 

It is possible to use cities as a waypoint, just go to the route option and start a route, when you hit enter on a blank space scroll to city and choose the one you would like.

 

A faster way to create a route on the GPS (works with meridian and 330, so I imagine it works with the sport track) is:

 

1. hit menu, and go down to verticle profile and hit enter.

 

2. go to path check, and hit enter.

 

3. hit the "GOTO" button every where you want a leg of a route.

 

4. when done hit the "menu" key and choose save to route.

 

5. Activate this route as any other route.

 

6. If you have topo data loaded you can see the verticle profiole of the route if you hit enter instead of the menu key.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[Avatar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by phantom4099:

It is possible to use cities as a waypoint, just go to the route option and start a route, when you hit enter on a blank space scroll to city and choose the one you would like.

---

 

While that works great on the unit itself (providing you stay within the limited amount of waypoints per route), you can't do it on the PC which I generally try to use for planning my trips.

 

Another drawback I found in the Magellan when compared to the Garmin is the lack of ability of saving multible tracks and more than 32 waypoints per route. If you want to save a track you have to convert it to a route and then it only saves the 1st 32 unit-designated waypoints on the route.

[Best_Buddies]

quote:

---

Originally posted by David Eaton:

 

Another drawback I found in the Magellan when compared to the Garmin is the lack of ability of saving multible tracks and more than 32 waypoints per route. If you want to save a track you have to convert it to a route and then it only saves the 1st 32 unit-designated waypoints on the route.

---

 

The new firmware allows you to save your tracks to the SD card. Now, you can store HUNDREDS of tracks...

 

-----

Any similarity between my opinions and reality is entirely coincidental.

--Harrkev

[Best_Buddies]

quote:

---

Originally posted by David Eaton:

 

Another drawback I found in the Magellan when compared to the Garmin is the lack of ability of saving multible tracks and more than 32 waypoints per route. If you want to save a track you have to convert it to a route and then it only saves the 1st 32 unit-designated waypoints on the route.

---

 

The new firmware allows you to save your tracks to the SD card. Now, you can store HUNDREDS of tracks...

 

-----

Any similarity between my opinions and reality is entirely coincidental.

--Harrkev

[Avatar]

Unfortunately the SporTrak Pro is limited to 23Mb of user-accessable internal memory - not a memory card

[Avatar]

Unfortunately the SporTrak Pro is limited to 23Mb of user-accessable internal memory - not a memory card

[+phantom4099]

Yep, thats one of the reasons I said it would not be very popular.

 

Wyatt W.

 

The probability of someone watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions.

[Bagbug]

I really dont need more than 8 meg anyway (had a legend and it was already too much). I dont know what your doing with your GPS but for hiking and geocaching there is no need of more.

 

Many reasons why I prefer the sportrack. Its smaller, I dont need to buy memeory to upload maps, its cheaper (even more since I dont need that SD card). It has a better reception than the Meridian. It has a better high contrast screen.

 

Bag

[Bagbug]

"the eTrex beats the SportTrak hands down"

 

Well dont compare the Sportak Pro with the Vista.

You have to compare it with the Legend (8 meg, crappy basemap, crappy patch antenna, dadgum slow to lock, dadgum slow to scroll the map).

 

And no one need a GPS if it cant lock. Thats why I sold my Legend.

 

Believe me, eTrex just look cool, nothing more. Get a 76map/76s if you prefer Garmin.

 

Bag

[Avatar]

The last thing I want to do is spark a Garmin vs Magellin debate but, as I see it, my old eMap and my new SporTrak Pro were built for 2 different primary uses and I intend to use them as such. I'll rely on my eMap and it's Mapsource software for plotting trips and navigating in my car and rely on my SporTrak as my primary GPS once I head out on foot to find geocaches.

[Bagbug]

ok...just got done running several test s on the sportrak pro that was shipped to me yesterday, I will give you a few of my opinions and post the rest completely later in my forums at navicache.com

 

I took the sportrak, the Meridian gold and Platinum and placed them all next to each other in a clear sky with no coverage to block the units. When I did this and powered them all up at the same time it was the sportrak that found 3 sats before the Meridians found any, it then locked 4 sats before the Meridians were able to lock 1...in total after 3 minutes of waiting the Sportrak was able to lock 7 sats and maintain them while the Meridians both locked and maintained 6 sats.

 

I find the view screen on the sportrak a bit smaller than the merids, but it is also much clearer to view. The unit is light in the hand and comes with a lanyard that the merids lack.

The only thing I was not impressd with that the sportrak has was the fact that Magellan changed all the button icons so that I had to relearn what each was compared to the 330 and Merid line.

I will post some pix of side by side shots of the sportrak and the merids together so you can see how they compare size wise. I am looking forward to testing these against the Garmin line to see how well they do.

I have also found that in medium tree cover that neither the Merids or the sportrak lost sat contact and accuracy based on locating a cache were very close with all three units.

I'll add more as I get results.

[+GOT GPS?]

Here is the inside of the Sportrak Pro:

 

 

Another image of the size of the Sportrak Pro compared with the others:

 

Magellan SporTrak Pro GPS Receiver -Review

 

My home page about GPS units and information