Anyone getting decent results with a sub $50 GPS watch/band/etc?

Now that I'm covering some k's in the water I wouldn't mind mapping track and ideally speed as well.

Looking forward to the advice you receive.

Phone apps heaps out there, relive is pretty cool

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KBGhost said..
Anyone getting decent results with a sub $50 GPS watch/band/etc?

Now that I'm covering some k's in the water I wouldn't mind mapping track and ideally speed as well.

I have used just phone which I always take with me on down-winders. Google will give a basic tracking if enabled on android phone.
There are a fair few apps to do GPS tracking most have a physical training background so primarily based on that so running cycling swimming.
When my wife wanted a training partner for Hell of the West Triathlon, I loaded Runtastic & paid few $ for pro version.
This tracks what ever you are doing you manually start and stop it. I wanted the Pro version as it auto detects when you are not moving.
It is based on performance monitoring and gives a break down over time and distance with calorie counts etc it tracks speed and height change and gives charts of this plus GPS track on to google earth(maps) ... Primarily for running, It has a library of other activities you can log against so skiing, kiting, bike riding, etc this is symbolic - the output is basically the same.
Here is an example of the track which it does on Google - maps this is satellite view - screen dump from phone and resolution lowered.
The numbers are Kms. The track starts at Hervey bay in the carpark, goes to a sand island (used as the base for the day) with a loop to Fraser island. If interested can posted charts of same..
Cheers
AP

I ran a $49 Aldi watch for about 2 seasons before it stopped recording the km. Only problem is they don't seem to have them in stock any more so I picked up a second hand Garmin.

Horey, aldi watch sounds good and $1 under budget. I like the simplicity of a watch.

AP.. I have an old phone but would need an arm band and a clippie bag for waterproofing I guess. Would be a cheap solution for sure. If I can't find anything better I'll try it!

I think this should do speed, distance, and mapping. I just need to rock the pink

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KBGhost said..
I think this should do speed, distance, and mapping. I just need to rock the pink

Yep. My wife had this exact watch for her running and one of the straps broke. I took it out for a foil and it worked really well. you can do all the usual basic stuff like speed, pace, distance and overlaying tracks on Google Earth.

The missus, technically not cheap though

Perfect Duke I'm picking it up tomorrow. Just have to hope the strap doesn't break.

And yes Cauncy the missus was expensive to keep and even more expensive to get rid of. At least I have time to now

Had my first session with my lovely pink $40 Garmin forerunner 10. Thought I would post some pics just in case anyone's interested.

Very challenging conditions for me.

Wind: 24 gusting 30kts on the beach side of the hill, gustier on the lake. Big wind swell.

Foil Session #11
Unstrapped session #2
4.5m Solo session #1

Garmin works great. Battery Life is awesome.. been in standby 2 weeks and showing 3/4 bars.

Downsides: took 2 goes / 5 minutes to get a lock. Also can't change speed up knots. That's it.

I really struggled at first to make consistent power with the 4.5 in the gusty conditions and strapless. After I got the feeling for the tiny kite, I really worked on keeping my speed down. Conditions were too gnarly and I'm kiting all weekend, didn't want an injury.

Nice work KB. $40 well spent I'd say.