Garmin Zumo GPS thread.

Discussion in 'Gear & Accessories' started by jasonsmith, Nov 3, 2009.

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What do you have?

  1. Zumo 550

    30 vote(s)
    50.8%
  2. Zumo 660

    10 vote(s)
    16.9%
  3. Older Zumo

    4 vote(s)
    6.8%
  4. Want to get a Zumo.

    15 vote(s)
    25.4%
  1. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    That is my plan, either hiking or BMW1200GS type work. Just need the BMW...
     
  2. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    Billy I agree with you that we need to stay focused and failing to do so will result in a very bad thing. That being said this thread is not a debate about whether or not gadgets are safe or not, this thread is about the Zumo GPS and whatever is associated with it. Sounds like a good thread idea though, would like to take part in it if you decide to start one.

    :wink:
     
  3. BonusVFR

    BonusVFR New Member

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    Think it would be better to get a handheld for hiking or maybe the Nuvi 500/550. Not sure about the 660 but the 550 only has about a 4 hour battery life. I have done a few hikes with it but turned it off to save the battery. THe result incomplete track log but at lest you can get a fix of where you are.

    The Zumo does well for my off road work although the hardcore GPS guys such as those on advrider rag on its track handling capablitiy. You learn to work around its limitations. Just like bikes there is no perfect GPS depends on what you are using it for.

    Play with the free Topos first...that is what I did before pulling the trigger. Not sure there is much difference between any of them on the actual roads/trails in the mapsets...you are paying for other things like routing & POIs etc.
     
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2010
  4. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    I hear ya. Would have to pack at least 3-4 batteries if I planned on camping someplace quiet. It's hard to not wanna make this into the do everything perfect device but your right, nothing is perfect. I really would like to play with tracks though, the problem is, I can't find a decent free topo map of Canada or the North West including Canada except the Ibycus version which is giving me issues sadly. The 660's track capability has improved significantly since the last update. It's all doable but like you said it needs a bit of patience. It does seem that Garmin is quite interested in making it a very good tracking device though which is good news.
     
  5. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

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    Hey Jason, The GS1200 is too big for me so I pick the 650, Check out my photo... :)
     
  6. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    No you've made me jealous... this is payback isn't it Scuba?
     
  7. BonusVFR

    BonusVFR New Member

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    I can not recall any other sites for free Topos. And I stopped looking when I found what I wanted. I have heard about Ibycus but I have CRS about the subject.

    The Zumos do very well with recording tracks ....months worth actually. I play alot with tracks on the PC. I download them and look at them on City Nav and my Topo maps...looking for possible offroad trails. Sometimes I convert to a route after cleaning them up a bit.

    For every tour, I have a file with my planned routes and what I actually did (tracks)..........every time there is a difference. So much for perfect planning!
     
  8. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

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    Not at all, I have my eyes on the 800 but short in cash so I pick up the 650 to learn :) will get the 800 later on.
     
  9. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Thanks for the heads up and the agreement that we need to stay focused. As far as the rest of that BS about the level of lecturing a seven year old and somehow forgetting that for the most part the net is anarchy, IMO, not bad, even the play on words made famous by Martha Stewart.

    Like I aways say, "Screw the safety, I have my gadgets that will show me the way to Heaven." I didn't really say that, but you can quote me if you want.

    Any good words about the other brands or moose recipes? Any downloads for Harleydoods to get them from one dealershop to the next? Worldwide WalMarts ect? How bout an uplink showing the last location of the unit when it exceeds say six times the force of gravity like when ya T-bone an elk or one of those green cars or one just for the dudes who are buying one of those new VFRs with the tiny tanks.

    I knew damned well when I bought this little hundred buck and change TomTom there would be some sort of pissing contests associated..
     
  10. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    Along with John's security knob post above here's another decent security option for your zumo. With the knob and this your Zumo should be safe... in theory that is. I would never leave it unattended, if someone want's it bad enough it will go bye bye.

    TOURATECH-USA Equipment for MotoAdventure from Germany

    [​IMG]

    It adds even more vibration proofing to an already vibration resistant device. A cool add on for constant off road work.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2010
  11. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Jason. Stop posting these do dads. I am running out of money.
     
  12. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    It's an addiction Randy, I just can't stop cold turkey.
     
  13. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Randy,

    For what all that stuff costs with insurance and the known hazard of "instrument" riding and now jamming your face into those Star Wars weapon like mounts and knowing that VFRs are not the greatest offroad bikes in the world, my advice is to save up and buy yourself a nice used offroad bike.

    Save a couple of Loonies for some ziplocks and hit this site for maps. This is what the big boys use to ride The Baja.


    Perry-Castaeda Library Map Collection - UT Library Online
     
  14. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    Here are some screen shots of how the topo maps look when selected. Pretty cool. The best thing is using Garmin's Map Installer you can select any portion of a map that you want without having to install the entire thing, considering they are all fairly big.

    Here is the map selection screen, found in Tools/Settings/Map/Mapinfo

    [​IMG]

    Here are a couple shots of the Canada Ibycus Topo V2.1 map, currently one of the best non Garmin maps available.

    [​IMG]

    This is a shot Kelowna, BC.

    [​IMG]

    Here is the NW USA Topo map available at gpsfiledepot. Anyone know where this is...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  15. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    Reg I know I already answered this before but I tried something else out the other day. I connected my iPhone to my Bluetooth headset via cable as well as to the Zumo via Bluetooth. I also had the Zumo connected via Bluetooth to my headset. This way all the voice nav instructions and phone calls etc are sent from the Zumo via Bluetooth to the headset and the iPhone was supplying my music via the cable. So yes with this setup you could run Pandora, AOL Radio or anything else for that matter. My headset has no problem switching different modes and does it automatically. As long as you don't mind your phone being cabled to your helmet. The iPhone does not have the ability to send music over Bluetooth.

    iPhone - cable to headset
    iPhone - BT to Zumo
    Zumo - BT to Headset.

    I have a cool iPhone app called Adaptunes which increases or decreases the music volume depending on my speed. Plus the music sounds better when cabled anyway and only being cabled to your helmet means you can get on and off without forgetting and ripping your cables out.
     
  16. BonusVFR

    BonusVFR New Member

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    The Zumo 550 supports BT mono only. One of the great things about BT with the Zumo is that you really do not have to do anything special to enjoy most of the benefits on the MC. When I tour I turn on the phone BT and you pretty much know if an important call comes in without stopping. Also importantly you know whether you have a cell or not.........this can be a big deal out west sometimes.

    What do you do?
    [​IMG]

    Want to know if you have cell reception before you pull over and take off all the gear.
    [​IMG]

    I have a talk/transmit setup on one of my bikes but do not use it.....prefer to pull over. I used the Zumo cell status feature once in the back country when an R6 went off into the woods in front of me. After I made sure the rider was alive and more help arrived I went up the road watching the screen till I had a cell and called 911. The rider survived.

    Sure beats this. On the way to.....
    [​IMG]

    I am not a fan of more batteries on tour..............I have wires.
     
  17. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    I hate these tough questions...... You know it is not going to be good regardless.......IGNORE? Keep riding and enjoy as much of the day as you can I say.

    I have just used my phone applicaiton on the bike once so far while riding and I came across as unreadable. To much what sounded like static. And it wasn't cell coverage issue.

    I think what I might be experiencing is the mic too close to my mouth so I am working on that.
     
  18. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    Maybe if you drop down outta 7th gear the person on the other end could hear you rather than the mach force winds Randy :vtr2:

    It may be the placement as well as I noticed our mics don't have that foamy sorta cover that the boom mics have. Could be picking up all the air turbulence inside the front of the helmet.
     
  19. BonusVFR

    BonusVFR New Member

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    Here is something I found on Zumo Forums regarding wind noise. I have not tried it out but this is from Ed the guy who runs Edsets.com. He has looked at lots of high tech stuff to eliminate wind noise but thinks Low Tech might be the way to go. Inexpensive to try anyways!

    "Next best way is to take the energy out of the wind as in when you roll up the windows in a car and it's quiet inside. You can still hear outside because the road noise and vehicle noises are what you might call 'AC' signals or vibrations that can be transmitted by the stiff window, while it blocks out the wind buffeting outside. When you wrap a microphone with a tight outer cover, like a drum head, or diaphragm, you get exactly that effect, and the microphone can operate in it's linear response region and reproduce your voice nicely.

    SO, how do we achieve that if we have wind noise problems in a particular helmet? Heat Shrink. Low tech beats high tech: Use a 3/4" diameter tube, about 1.25 inches long for our boom mics, and 1" diameter for our surface mics (remove velcro) and simply center the mic in the tube and shrink it (hot glue over the mic wires entry for surface mics) till it is tight. Now you have a tight 'wind proof' diaphragm that will transmit voice and block virtually all the wind buffeting, and in my testing and from customers, you still don't need to yell into the mic, and this actually will crisp up the voice as well."
     
  20. jasonsmith

    jasonsmith Member

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    Wouldn't hurt to give that shot, I may even have some big heat shrink lying around too. Thanks Bonus.
     
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