GPS for Europe

Author Message   Jack T. Paxton Senior Member Username: Jpaxton Post Number: 829 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 24.27.231.67 Posted on Friday, April 30, 2010 - 07:35 pm:    Edgar Innocentes and I had the same problem on the same day in Crete locating satellites. Once we found them, however, everything was locked in for the remainder of the time we were there.   Richard Troy Member Username: Bandit Post Number: 14 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 71.240.139.164 Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 11:14 am:    I wear a GPS Forerunner for walking and have worn it all over the world. At the end of my trips, I upload the data to Google Earth and can retrace every place I've ever walked! I also am a Geocacher and use a GPS for that hobby. In both cases, it takes an extended period of time to lock in initially, but once my GPSs know where they are, they're quicker to remember. Also, both my devices allow for setting local times, I suspect doing so may speed up the lock in process.   JEB Senior Member Username: Wingrider Post Number: 488 Registered: 12-2003 Posted From: 65.4.202.254 Posted on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - 02:07 am:    As far as finding the satellites in Crete, does it continue to take a long time to locate them after initially finding them? For instance, will it take just as long to find them again the next day? When I'm flying I usually have my Garmin out and near one of the "windows" playing with it. You can check ground speed, distance, altitude, etc. It really helps you kill a lot of time and a lot of SPATs usually gather around, interested in the info. One thing I've noticed though, ANYTIME I put it away for a while, then turn it back on and we have moved quite a distance, it takes a longgggg time for it to find the satellites. Or if I'm using it in the States but cross the country with it turned off, it takes quite a while to locate them when 1st turned on. Often when I have moved quite a distance and it takes a long time to locate the satellites it will ask me if I have moved "many kilometers" from my last use. If I say yes it then tends to find them a bit quicker. I have wondered, does it just normally try and locate the satellites 1st that are in memory from your last usage? And if it can't locate those particular ones, does it then search the skies for a totally different set? That may be part of the reason it is taking so long to locate satellites in some instances. Anyone else noticed this?   Jack T. Paxton Senior Member Username: Jpaxton Post Number: 826 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 24.27.231.67 Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 07:59 pm:    Re Bob's post about emailing Garmin. On return from Europe last year I made a suggestion to Garmin about adding a lower case "i" for Information Office in each city. In doing these type travels for the past 30+years I have found the "i" offices invaluable for assistance in lodging, directions,etc. Having them included on GPS instructions would great. Response from Garmin: We will pass it to our technical people. I hope they did.   Jack T. Paxton Senior Member Username: Jpaxton Post Number: 825 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 24.27.231.67 Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 07:58 pm:    Re Bob's post about emailing Garmin. On return from Europe last year I made a suggestion to Garmin about adding a lower case "i" for Information Office in each city. In doing these type travels for the past 30+years I have found the "i" offices invaluable for assistance in lodging, directions,etc. Having them included on GPS instructions would great. Response from Garmin: We will pass it to our technical people. I hope they did. of GPS locations.   Bob Dart Senior Member Username: Bobdart Post Number: 1502 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 208.114.116.98 Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 01:24 pm:    Vic, I know that it sometimes exercises a mind of its own when selecting a routing. Garmin provides a method to e-mail them when you encounter errors though it seems cumbersome when trying to describe to them what the device has done and what you think it should have done. One other thought is to check "Avoidances" under Navigation to see if you have disabled it or inadvertently clicked on something, e.g. highways, u-turns etc. that would force it to reroute you.   Vic and Connie Senior Member Username: Pattons Post Number: 507 Registered: 12-2006 Posted From: 94.71.104.114 Posted on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - 10:29 am:    We haven't seen a problem with the unit locating the sattelites quickly. The 275T seems to do that very well. The maps don't recognize the last several hundred meters of the road to the which runs parallel to the base and dumps you onto the road to the Greek gate. The specific comment is "navigating off-road". What I think I'm seeing is that the map in the Souda area and between the base and Chania are not as comprehensive a then could be. The unit doesn't recognize that there's a perfectly good road from the town of Souda up to the road which will take you to the base. The key is to learn how to get from the base to Souda which is the closest place you can catch the National Hwy. Then use the unit for other point-to-point navigation. Sometimes spelling is still a challenge since there seem to be multiple ways to spell may places. Still it's well worth having and I'm glad we brought it along. Tomorrow and the next day we'll put it thru its paces in Athens (walking mode).   Jack T. Paxton Senior Member Username: Jpaxton Post Number: 820 Registered: 07-2003 Posted From: 24.27.231.67 Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 08:04 pm:    Vic: Believe you are experiencing a bit of what Edgar and I experienced last year on Crete. Initially, it took a long time to locate the satelites. Then it took us a long way through to the National highway. On return to the base, it announced the lodging office before we even got to the turn off for the main gate...what was happening was we were parallell to the lodging office before we got to the gate and our destination was announced. Believe this might be correected by Leland's new POIs. All considered, the Garmin does a great job.   D.B.M UK Senior Member Username: Overlandrover Post Number: 5908 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 86.159.148.6 Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 04:48 pm:    Vic, maybe it was the Stale bread crumbs you were dropping, and the birds didn't like them. Glad you are finding your way around. Should have given you my Tom Tom to see how it compared.   Vic and Connie Senior Member Username: Pattons Post Number: 506 Registered: 12-2006 Posted From: 94.71.121.189 Posted on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - 04:38 pm:    Bill, I used in Heriklon (sp) this afternoon for walking around. It worked well. I'll also revise my rating on it. It did a very fine job of getting us to Knossos today and to the Museum later in the day as well. It also got us out of town and back to the National Hwy very well. Maps still seem lacking in/around Chania and Souda. Worth bringing along. Vic   Bill Mc Carthy Intermediate Member Username: Billmacnypd Post Number: 102 Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 96.231.78.7 Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 10:54 pm:    Vic & Connie: I had planned on using my 275T as a hand held GPS walking around Hania etc. Did you use the GPS as a hand held in the towns?   Vic and Connie Senior Member Username: Pattons Post Number: 505 Registered: 12-2006 Posted From: 94.71.102.142 Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 12:30 pm:    I’ve had a few days to play with my 275T since we arrived. My maps are the latest versions (Europe NT 2010.30). There is pretty good detail on those maps as Bob pointed out. What came as a surprise to me is the routing my unit gives me vs. what a reasonable routing would be. I’ve had GPS units for several years and know they don’t always give you the “really best route” (i.e., the local knowledge route). I have my settings for fastest time – I have all types of roads including dirt roads enabled. Even with that my unit will route me from the base thru downtown Chania (well east of here) and then back to Souda to catch the National Highway. That’s miles and miles out of your way and probably 30-45 minutes of unnecessary time. I’ve seen a couple of other instances of similar really bad routings. What appears to be happening is that the unit has a very narrow view of what roads it will put you on and it keeps you on those roads no matter what. Our solution is that we navigate from general area to general area via map and then kick in the GPS to get the close in twists and turns. Another challenge is the spelling of locations. You may find it one way on Google maps, another way on a paper map, and an even different spelling on the road signs. The trick is figuring out what spelling the GPS has in its map data base. Overall I still find it useful but not as much as it has been in other places. I’d give it about a 5 out of 10 rating here on Crete. I would bring it with me again because when all else fails it will still get you back to the base if you get seriously lost. I strongly recommend getting the GPS lat/long data base military installation data from Leland and installing it on your unit before you come over. . . . Vic   Edgar Inocentes Senior Member Username: Traveler88 Post Number: 528 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 209.242.132.226 Posted on Thursday, April 22, 2010 - 04:36 pm:    My 275T worked in Crete last September. The only problem was it took a long time for it to locate the satellites. BTW, The NEX has the TOMTOM XL540S World Traveler Portable GPS (5") on sale until April 25th for $199.99. It has maps of U.S, Canada, Mexico & Europe. Regular price is $239.99.   neal floyd Advanced Member Username: Nfloyd Post Number: 226 Registered: 09-2007 Posted From: 67.233.135.84 Posted on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 02:46 am:    Just looked for my garmin. When I find it I will let you know what model I have.   Bob Dart Senior Member Username: Bobdart Post Number: 1482 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 76.29.20.95 Posted on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 02:38 am:    Neal, hang on to your euros. Garmin has added detailed maps of Crete over the last couple of years. Their latest, version NT2010.30, is excellent. They seem to be expanding their base further and further east.   Bill Mc Carthy Intermediate Member Username: Billmacnypd Post Number: 99 Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 96.231.78.7 Posted on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 12:56 am:    Vic. My wife Peggy & I plan to head to Souda for the first time beginning of May. Leaving from No. Va. to Norfolk PatExp or Dover/Rota/Souda. I also have a 275T I plan to bring along & would be really interested in hearing about your trip & the Garmin 275T on your return. Hope you submit a trip report otherwise a short e-mail would be appreciated. Have a nice flight & vacation. BillMac   Danny Hamilton Senior Member Username: Dannyhamilton Post Number: 573 Registered: 03-2004 Posted From: 68.225.115.15 Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 07:45 pm:    Neal, my Garmin 270 had full maps of Crete on it. We put it to good use and drove WAY off the "beaten track" on several occasions. I did not have a single problem using the Garmin in Crete, except one: For some reason, the MAIN ROUTE between NSA Souda Bay (and the Hania airport) and the town of Souda Bay was missing. Having visited there before, I knew the way and after a short distance, the road appeared on my Garmin's screen again. This was the ONLY malfunction I noticed during our stay on Crete.   Vic and Connie Senior Member Username: Pattons Post Number: 501 Registered: 12-2006 Posted From: 72.218.15.235 Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 06:54 pm:    Connie and I hope to be heading to Crete tonight with our Garmin 275T. If we're lucky enough to get seats I'll let you know in a couple of days. Neal: Was your Garmin the 275T? Vic   neal floyd Advanced Member Username: Nfloyd Post Number: 225 Registered: 09-2007 Posted From: 67.233.135.84 Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 06:29 pm:    I bet is does not have Crete on it. I have tried a Tom Tom and a Garmin with no luck.   John D. Moderator Username: John_d Post Number: 4332 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 95.208.80.143 Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 06:13 pm:    It's about time AAFES lowered its price on this (if only for a week). Amazon has it for $173 with free shipping.   Thomas E. Burderi New member Username: America45 Post Number: 3 Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 71.172.89.218 Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 05:31 pm:    This week ending Thursday April 23rd the Aafes stores have a Garmin Model 275T for $185.00, which is preloaded for North America and Europe.