quote:
Originally posted by Jrobb
I've been trying out the GT-11 for a bit and haven't used the overspeed function yet. Does it reset itself (turn off buzzer or led once below set speed)? How long does the buzzer or led go off? Or do you have to manually reset it? I'm about to send it back as I can't navigate the menus in the pac...at all without pressing the ts down. I like to interact with teh GPS enroute but I can't with the Aquapac. What are the various speeds you can set to alert to? I use Nautical units so best for kts if possible.
My typical routine is (with Fortrex) glance down. If I see 30+kts from a run it's a keeper so I reset and monitor till I get more over 30kts. I keep a running total in my head so I know what's what. If I'm hitting 32's I know to keep hammering till I hit 6 or 8 total in range for good avg.
Currently with GT in pac, I run around till I get tired and hope things went ok. If the overspeed works as I hope, I might not have to post this back to the vendor.
Overspeed: you cant hear it on the water, too much wind/water noise. And if you are doing over 30, you probably should be looking at the water state, not your GPS ** -> leave it off.
Reset only when over 30: A 500m run only lasts about 30secs or less -> the five seconds to reset the unit will affect your run too much. You will loose too much speed as you concentrate at hitting the buttons (even the Foretrex buttons). If you think that you have enough time to hit the reset button only when you are in the middle of a run, then you are probably wasting some top-end speed.
Aquapac: Using the GT-11 menus while it is inside the Aquapac, is very hard. To make it easier, some people use a little nylon washer (about 1mm thick) placed over the joystick -> makes the joystick bigger and the sharp edge of the washer makes controlling easier. Reseting the max-speed on the GT-11 is no harder than on the Foretrex, and you wont be changing screens, etc while on the water (unless you arn't actually sailing...).
Sending the GT-11 back: The GT-11 is about an order of magnitude more accurate than the Foretrex using the direction absolute position comparison. It is about 2 orders more accurate when using Doppler calculations. It is also capable of logging more than 4 hours of sailing.
If you are doing a comparison of different units, make sure do it for valid reasons.
** It is possible to use the "Speed" or "Max speed" readout to determine if you are going fast enough by the time you get to the middle of your run. This allows you to know whether to continue bearing downwind or head back upwind for another try.
