GPS for proptesting

[Freshwaterfanatic]

I am brand new to boat racing this past season I made three races at the tail end of the year. I have an older etrex legend gps and had problems with the the batteries shaking loose and the unit turning off.I double sided taped em in but found that it shut down again. The question is / what I would like to hear from you experienced guys is what brand of GPS do you favor? How do you like to mount em? And any other tips that come to mind so when I start checkin out props I can feel confident in speeds I am reading. Thanks , Jason

[Jeff Akers]

I had the same problem with my etrex... At first I did the Velcro method on the dash. and came up with the same result you did....It eventualy would not stay on even just holding it in my hand ...I sent it back to Garmen with an explenation as to the problem and they fixed it for FREE( I did pay for shipping)......I have since put it in the accessory pouch that they offer and strap it to my life jacket as i have seen many racers do... You can see it in the photo.........Haven't had a problem since

[johnml390]

As for make of GPS, all that we have used have worked. We mount ours with velcro on the dash area of our boats. If our boat doesnt have a dash area we make a small metal plate to velcro it to and attach it somewhere in the boat haha. But we tried the putting it on me, and found that it would actually not give us a true reading. Say that youre going down the straightaway, and youre GPS is reading a speed of 65 mph. And you get a little air so you move forward in the boat. Well since you were already doing 65 when you moved forward you actually were moving faster than what the boat was actually moving. So it may read a few mile an hour faster what you really were running. We figured we were having problems when we had a stock yamato 80 reading 70 to over 70 mph one testing weekend. Then again everything I race, im kneeling. As for lay down hulls, im sure you could put it on you and it wouldnt read any different since you dont move around in the boat as much. But i would say that the velcro would work fine. I have flipped twice and run through some super rough conditions having ours velcroed and it hasnt come undone or stopped reading yet (other than the batteries going dead a few times over the years)

[krazy karl]

I would also make sure you put a secondary attachment on it such as a lanyard. My first GPS is now at the bottom of Burt Lake somewhere, I think. It was pretty rough and I was flying a lot but I didn't see it leave the boat and it has never emerged from under the floor boards so I assume that's where it went. I was too busy driving to pay much attention to anything else. It was an earlier version of the Garmin and it would also blank out. I believe it was caused by the batteries moving and losing contact with the connectors, coil spring type. I wrapped the batteries with card stock to keep them from moving which solved the problem. I now have an etrec which so far has not had that problem but a friend has the same unit which blanks out consistently. We have also done what Jeff suggested with good results.
kk

[bill boyes]

Had the same problem. Many, as Jeff stated, Go with the pouch. Another solution is a wrist mounted unit. Garmin Foretrex 201. Works really well. A little tricky to use for an old guy at first. But any 10 year old "no problem."
I bought mine at Amazon.com $130.00 You can download the 201 into a computer. The 200 is about $90.00 and i will not download.

[alky6]

Fortrex 201

Had the same problem. Many, as Jeff stated, Go with the pouch. Another solution is a wrist mounted unit. Garmin Foretrex 201. Works really well. A little tricky to use for an old guy at first. But any 10 year old "no problem."
I bought mine at Amazon.com $130.00 You can download the 201 into a computer. The 200 is about $90.00 and i will not download.

The Garmin Foretrex 201 is the way to go! Mount it on your steering arm and you don't have the problems with it giving erroneous speeds...
-Paul

[T Chance]

I wear a Garmin 101 on my throttle wrist. It works fine. The only problem is the last time I use it one of the spring loaded pins that hold it to the strap came out. I'm going to fix that problem by drilling clear through and safety wiring it.

[Freshwaterfanatic]

Many thanks to you guys that offered advice....Jason

[ram95]

I have one of Garmins blue Etrex's. Bought it a Wallyworld for $150. The unit is basically waterproof except for the battery compartment. It has a setting so that the display is actually readable en-route. I made a mounting bracket out of .060 5056 aluminum. It snaps over the top and the bottom. I also put a piece of velcro on the battery cover of the etrex (with a hole in it so you can get to the battery cover fastener) and put the mating piece of velcro on the aluminum bracket. The bracket is mounted to the dash panel in front of the wheel where I can see the mutha if I want to. This unit has worked fine and it does not shut off (unless the freaking batteries die - which they DO much too quickly). It survived (and recorded!!) a 76.8 mph blow-over while testing and didn't fall out of the bracket. I call that 'good'.
Alex DSH (Tohatsu) 12A 'The Mad Russian'

[formulaseries]

For the cheaper option of making sure your unit stays powered on... Place Electrical Insulation tape around the batteries twice... You will notice the cover is harder to get on... But there you go.. The unit stays on...

Regards
Steve
http://formulaseries.net

[ram95]

GPS shutdown PITA

Not to beat this horse to death....but. The blue ETREX I bought at wallyworld never shuts down on the course from bouncing around. BUT you have to use fresh batteries after about 3 hours if it is left on. I use only the Duracell batts. I've had to eat the cheaper ones and the rechargeable ones -they don't last at all. Good luck.
alex DSH 12A

[ZUL8TR]

GPS speed accuracy

I am not familiar with GPS for speed readings so bear with me. Just how accurate are they? Do you check them against say average speed over some measured short distance? What is the GPS speed reading interval - like every so many seconds? Anything else on details is appreciated.
Thanks

[Brett L. Pruett]

The units were talking about update once to a couple a times a second, & measure speed to the 1/10 of a MPH.
If you move it 5 feet it will till you how fast it moved (that’s why they talk about a false reading if it's strapped to your body). Most of the guys (I think) usually just check the "Max Speed" after the heat, for a reference, then tweak set up, or not, then reset the unit back to 0.0 for the next heat.
They will display an accuracy of anywhere’s between 15 - 60 feet depending upon their satellite reception.