Which GPS?

[KBSnowdrifters]

Hi all. I joined the forum to get some needed advice. Our snowmobile club has taken delivery of a new snow cat (Pisten Bully 400) and it does not have a speedometer or odometer. The trails we groom are tracked by miles, and that is what the State organization requires when we submit monthly paperwork. We have been using a Garmin 64ST, as that was what was included with the Cat, but it is less than ideal. Battery life is our biggest issue, we can't go two days grooming without having to replace the batteries.

We would like to replace the Garmin 64ST with a vehicle-powered device. Our needs would include being able to easily set the starting point to determine miles driven during a day's run and the ability to add "roads" to the map, as some of the trails we groom are not on existing roads. An indication of driving speed is nice, as well.

I've been looking at different vehicle-mounted devices, and am overwhelmed. I could sure use some advice!

Thanks in advance!

Dan

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

It is possible to supply your 64st with external power via the USB connector on the back of the unit, although you would need to remove the weather proof cover to get to the connector

Resetting the trip counter for daily measurements is easy, as for adding new roads to maps, it is possible to to add features to Open Street Maps and then download a Garmin version to your GPS

 

[KBSnowdrifters]

Nuvi-Nebie, thanks for your reply.

The hand-held unit is not very driver-friendly, it is pretty difficult to view it when driving. I think we would be better served with a larger display and something that will mount to the windshield. As we have 10 different guys that are driving this machine, and some are more tech-savvy than others, a simpler device will better meet our needs. We were really hoping that a GPS would come pre-installed as a display option, but this Cat was a demo, and we had no way to add that option before delivery.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

Sorry, I was thinking of snow mobile rather than snow cat, (something that would need water proofing), for the cat I would choose a large screen Garmin Nuvi, it can be externally powered via USB, and will have a similar 'Trip Counter' screen to the 64ST, that can be reset, they will also store the tracks you make, which can be uploaded to OSM and added to a new map (as long as it is a Garmin), see above

 

[KBSnowdrifters]

Thanks, I know someone with a Nuvi (although it's old!). We will run with that for a bit and see how it works. I use a Garmin 650 when on my sled, but put it in my pocket; I'm always concerned about losing it if I tried to put it in a mount on the sled!