Hi guys, how do I get into this GPS speed thing, are there any rules to it. whats a good GPS to buy and where from? Cheers for your help.

yes it can get windy here but it can be gusty, lake keepit is the pick of places around here Its not far from gunnedah.it has everything you need a shop,ammenities and BBq's and plenty of fresh water to sail.

Big W are selling sandisk SD 2G cards for $10.00. Bought 2 yesterday at Greenhills Big W, inserted it into my GT31 and it seemed to work OK.

AUS4 said...

Garmin Fortrex 301 or 401 or Garmin Edge 205 or 305. Far superior to GT 31, dont believe the GT 31 bull****. No problems like all the GT problems you read. Even my Garmin Fortrex 201 which is 8 years old reads the same speed etc as my GT 31.

Never had any probs with my old garmin or my gt31. Both read almost identical speeds, closer than i have seen seperate navi units read. Yeah I reckon the navi so much better than garmin debate is a load of cr@p but the navi is quicker to download being it's best feature.

Aside from that some people just play with stuff more than they should- if it works dont muck with it.

The main difference is the stored data, not the display. So if you're serious about analysing or posting from data, the GTs are more accurate. If you just want an armband speedo it doesn't matter so much.

kato said...

Thats because it took 6mins+ to down load (Garmin) v 30sec (Gt 31).Times that by 30 people =a lot of time wasted plus the navi records for months and the garmin is only good for 8 hrs worth of track points and goes flat. But i do like the small screen,its easy to read. In 6 yrs of doing this GPS stuff i,ve killed 5 garmin and 1 GT 11. Buy both. and have fun

I use "Load My Tracks" takes all of 10 seconds to down load my Garmin !! and who sails longer than 8 hours in one day.

If you want to do more than 200km you'll probably have the gps on that long.

I used a Garmin 201 just strapped around my wrist for a few sessions, but it went wrong. After carefull drying out, it worked again.

I then placed it in a small rigid thickish plastic box with snap on clipped lid, (fully waterproof), placed that in a pouch with belt, and put it round my waist with the pouch at my back. It worked, but gave silly readings at times. e.g. 65 m.p.h. spike in a force 5! (I'd like to believe it, but---)

Currently it is inside an Aquasack strapped to my upper arm. It reads properly, but the tightish fastening needed to prevent it slipping restricts muscle flexing.

Are there any proper, strapped, right sized waterproof wrist fastening containers? If not, how do others use this model? (If i fasten it inside my wet suit neck the buttons will keep getting pressed.)

I can't believe this old croc of a debate lives on! The GT-31 is DESIGNED for windsurfing speed sailing. It is technically FAR superior in the accuracy and reliability of it's saved data. There is simply no doubt about this. All the technical gurus agree on this.
It also has the Genie feature that allows instant feedback at the end of every run in the top speed reached and the best 'x' seconds (usually set to 10 seconds).
The SD card can save years of tracks without the need to clear or overwrite.

As far as waterproofing goes, both GPS are the same. I had to have 2 Foretrex gps in the Pre - GT-11 days because one was always away being replaced or repaired, even after we started using protective packs for them. I had at least 4 replaced under warranty in the first couple of years! All electronic devices are bound to give some problems when used in the hostile environment of sail water. You just hear more about the GT-11/31 now because that is what the vast majority of people have got. I have got better at keeping my GPS's dry now.

Downloading: Could not be simpler with the GT's. Flip out the card and slot into card reader and a a few seconds later you have not just you vastly more accurate tracks, but lots of other backup data that tell you if it is reliable which the Garmins (or just about any other GPS) do not have.
With the Garmins, we had threads running constantly on download problems. The cradle clips were/are notoriously unreliable and a pain in the arse to carry around without losing. You needed a serial to USB conversion cable to use the Foretrex on most computers. There were whole forum threads on getting you computer to recognize the serial to USB converters, loading drivers etc, and when you did get them to work they were tediously slow with most programs as has been mentioned. And that was just to get your data! Sure, there are still threads on troubleshooting firmware upgrades with the GT's but they still work fine if you just leave them alone with the older firmware, and it is not hard to find someone to do it for you if you are not technically adept.

The GT-31 has revolutionized the sport of GPS speed sailing. It is now technically possible to sanction GPS world records with great accuracy or just go out and sail for days on end without having to worry about losing your sessions by overwriting.

The GT-31 is the recommended, and in some cases only accepted, GPS for gps speed sailing competitions.

If buying a GPS for any type of competition windsurfing or even fun posting, its a no-brainer: GT-31.

^ Thems fight'n words, Wood Duck. Looks like a showdown at noon between Daffy & Duck

PS - From what I've read, what Andrew doesn't know about GPS's, isn't worth knowing.

nebbian said...

Wood Duck said...

When are you going to stop comparing 10 year old Garmin 201 technology with new GT 31 ??
Try a newer Garmin model, there is plenty of them, and yes they have had USB for the last 5 years.
Next you will be comparing a 1970 Ford Falcon with a 2010 Holden.......... Get off your SOAP BOX !!

It's not just Sailquik who's on that soap box...

As the administrator of the GTC site, I see a lot of tracks. We would much prefer that people use a GT-31 because at the moment it's the only device that saves doppler and trackpoint info on their file. Garmins don't do this, no matter how new they are. We use both sets of data when verifying tracks.

If you are just a sunday sailor who wants to be a part of the site, then fine -- we have no worries about you using a garmin. But if you're serious about speed, it's pretty much mandatory that you use a GT31. If you decide to use a garmin then you will create more work for us, remember we're volunteers here!

Tell me this then, when I go to KA72 to download my Garmin and a GT 31 from the same day, all readings are the same except for two which read .03 difference. Two GT 31 would be out by that much. What is the problem?

Back to the orignal poster. If you are still in the market for a GPS, probably a Navi GT-31 is the go. As mentioned previously there is a large knowledge base here so if you have any issues then with it then there is a fair chance someone will be able to help you out.

If you already have a GPS, it does the job and you are happy with it then keep using it.