Sorry if this has been posted before, whats the best and most reliable GPS to get and places to get in Sunny QLD

Well Al Green still has some GT11 for $150 or you can get the GT31 for around $220.
Im very happy with the GT11 I had it 2 years now still going strong.

ta Vando

Haggar,

I ummed and arred for ages between a Garmin model and the GT-31. I bought the GT-31 in the end, and now I am very glad I did. Easy to use, and the Speed Genie function designed especially for speed sailing means you literally don't have to touch a button all day once you start sailing.

Regards,
Harrow.

Get a Navi, either the older GT-11 for a discount or the new GT-31. All the guides and support here and on the GPS Challenge site revolves around the Navis. I've had a GT-11 for six months and its been fine beside myself making a silly mistake with the memory card.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, I'll do some reading

Forgot to fasten your aquapac again Haggar

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fitz66 said...

Forgot to fasten your aquapac again Haggar

Be quiet

Its only a GPS

I needed an excuse to upgrade

I wanted to feed the fish

It was a crap time anyway

I'm testing the units waterproofing

I'm an idiot

Stupid is as stupid does (whatever the f#ck that means)

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fitz66 said...

Stupid is as stupid does (whatever the f#ck that means)

Life is a box of chocolates.

you aint got no legs LT Dan

As Vando said, go straight to Al's and grab a GT11, don't root around

Jet and I have a GT11 each and despite the fact mine consistantly 10-15 knots slower than his they have given us no real trouble.
We place the unit inside a Glad Sandwich bag then fit the lot inside the Aquapac.
If the Aquapac is not closed properly the unit is still sealed inside the Glad bag.
The GT11's are waterproof to 1 meter,BUT they are not airproof and a GT11 inside a hot steamy Aquapac is a formula for disaster.The Gladbag provides the second line of defence,seems to work.

I do the same with glad ziplock bag inside aquapac, but also add a desicant pouch inside the glad bag with the Navi to hopefully keep the moisture completely out.

Simon at Boardcrazy carries the navi - he provides sd card and aquapac, as well as sets up the unit and flashes it to the latest firmware. His service is second to none.

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DAM71 said...

Simon at Boardcrazy carries the navi - he provides sd card and aquapac, as well as sets up the unit and flashes it to the latest firmware. His service is second to none.

Agree, this outlet "knows what we need" and backs his product sales 100%.

Thanks for all the advice so far Does the bluetooth on the GT-31 work OK and reliably. Is this standard or an option

bluetooth is a real time thing. Does not allow downloading of the stored data. Unless you have a use for live logging to a computer or PDA/phone it is of no use for speed sailing. Save ya money and go with the non bluetooth model.

hope I'm not hijacking the thread here but....
Just used my GT31 for the first time. When I transferred the data to my computer I realised they were contained within a file that had both text and SPD files. After checking back on my unit I realised I didn't have the SBN files turned on (which I have since done). Is there anyway of using the files I do have such as renaming them as SBN or GPX so I can read them in Realspeed?

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sick_em_rex said...

hope I'm not hijacking the thread here but....
Just used my GT31 for the first time. When I transferred the data to my computer I realised they were contained within a file that had both text and SPD files. After checking back on my unit I realised I didn't have the SBN files turned on (which I have since done). Is there anyway of using the files I do have such as renaming them as SBN or GPX so I can read them in Realspeed?

Sick_em, have you followed this ?
http://mtbest.net/setting-up-navi-GT31.htm
I prob wont read this until I get the unit, otherwise it wont mean anything to me

Hi Haggar,
Yeah I set my unit up as per the guide on the GPS Challenge website. I stupidly didn't switch the SBN file section to on and as a result my folder now contains just text and SPD files.
Hopefully they can be resaved or converted in some way. HELP!!

Have you tried opening them with realspeed as is????
The early GT11 firmware created a text file that we used to use without converting, I'm sure realspeed just opened it. But I can't check now I'm in Linux, and I haven't got realspeed to run in this operating system yet.

RealSpeed reads .txt files no worries.

Kerching! Thanks Decrep

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decrepit said...

Have you tried opening them with realspeed as is????
The early GT11 firmware created a text file that we used to use without converting, I'm sure realspeed just opened it. But I can't check now I'm in Linux, and I haven't got realspeed to run in this operating system yet.

Linux, wear the fox hat? you do get about a bit of late, decrepit

OK, leaning towards the GT-31, but what waterproof pack Is it best wearing these GPS inside your sun shirt / wet suite beacuse these are a bit bigger then the foretrex 101/201's

Theres the obvious aquapacs
http://www.magellan.com.au/Pages/Products.aspx?BrandId=8

These ones posted a little while ago
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=41592&SearchTerms=gt-31

Or even now the seabreeze shop

Spoilt for choice

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Haggar said...

Is it best wearing these GPS inside your sun shirt / wet suite beacuse these are a bit bigger then the foretrex 101/201's

No, don't wear inside any clothing, the wet material, (especially if it's salt water) will screen out the satellite signal, and give you poor results.
Some of the serious sailors are now using 2 units, one in the helmet for best satellite reception and one on the upper arm for viewing.

I'm using the H2Otech made by JP777, haven't had it that long, but it's a better fit than the big aquapak, and sits on the upper arm better.

I have a Pacaqua which so far has done a decent job. Once it came off it strong winds and a fairly big crash and it was bobbing in the water a few meters away. Whitworths sells them.

Pretty amazing some people wear two GPSes though I guess the redundency of a spare unit is fairly important when doing high speed runs.

The Paqua midi looks quite cool .........
www.paqua.com.au/

Haggar, I just got a water prood pac from the Dive shop Kippa-Ring ( small pac). I simply attach to the mast just above the boom. Just start it and forget till you come in. It points to the sky when you are sailing and doesn't interfer with your sailing. Much better than my crappy leaking aquapac.

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Mobydisc said...

................snip..

Pretty amazing some people wear two GPSes though I guess the redundency of a spare unit is fairly important when doing high speed runs.

Absolutely. It is a very small price to pay for redundancy. When I do a new PB I don't want any doubt about it and I don't want to lose it to a spike or a temporary GPS hiccup. I don't want to have a great session and at the end have an almighty crash and lose my only GPS and consequently the only record of the runs I have done.
I am amazed that speed sailors will spend thousands on a new board, a boom or a faster sail but baulk at spending less than a couple of hundred dollars for a second GPS as insurance on all that investment. Oh well, each to his own.......

I have been sailing with paqua midi for about a month now. Very happy with it. Good fit for the Navi, good armband and good price $30 from whitworths.