1. Yes, I got variation and deviation the wrong way round. 2. The normal term for the geographical effect of the earth's non-symmetrical magnetic field on a compass is 'variation', not 'declination'. 3. Magnetic declination, despite the apparent contradiction in your quote, is about the dip of the needle and will not affect its N/S alignment. 4. Declination is a term more usually associated with measurements of astral bodies. -- _______ ..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom) \`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 `\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2 `\|/` `
On the French run though I want to do the good roads. I don't think the getting lost thing is that big of a deal to me but when I want to get somewhere fast (as I did lost in Toulouse) I get frustrated really easily. No idea how I managed it but I took a wrong turn off the A14 on my way home from Snett last week. It was no big deal but I was just really pissed off as it added about 20 minites to a journey I was already wanting over with ASAP. Bonjour! Erm, where the fook am oi mate?
Assuming place names only that could surely be nothing more than point to point navigation? In theory I guess this is the easiest although perhaps not most effiecient way of getting somewhere.
Well, you know that heading for ""Town Centre" takes you to the middle of town, but not heading for "Town Centre" doesn't necessarily take you where you want to go. So, have a clue where you want to be. North, South, East, West can be roughly determined by the sun. That's a start. Industrial Estates are often besides trunk routes, so signs for those are good if you're in town and want to be out of town. Southampton Road in Portsmouth takes you to Southampton. Portsmouth Road in Southampton takes you to Portsmouth. Etc. Don't be fixated on your ultimate destination. Joining a motorway near Manchester might not necessarily have a signpost for Glasgow. know the general direction you're headed. The A1279 meets the A127. The A127 meets the A12. The A12 meets the A1. Etc. Loads more I can't think of right now. It's only slightly concerning if you can't find anywhere to spin around. My biggest irritants were missing a turning while on a country road.
whilst I hate to disagree with Ben "RouteMaster" Blaney, the A12 meets the A11 and A102, not the A1. In general you're spot on, of course. Also worth noting that starting with the A1, moving clockwise around, the major route numbers go up in a fairly logical order: A1, A10, A11, A12, A13 then Sarf-of-the river, not quite so logical, but still ascending clockwise: A2, A20, A23, A24, A3, A316, A4 then back across the river, continuing the theme: A4, A40, A41 And you're back where we started.
BGN explained on 05/07/2005 : Around £350 for the Quest, but I made up a motorcycle kit myself using the mains drop in charger. None were available when I first bought it. It comes with car kit, drop in mains charger and the EU maps. For me it does the job without any fuss or messing about and is in use all day long navigating me to where I need to go. When I need to go I don't have the time to mess about, I need to there fast and the Quest does it. It makes driving down strange roads an absolute pleasure.
Ben Blaney wrote This, of course, is **** all use when you are trying to get across country to Towcester while wearing wore out glasses.
It appears that one can get a V7 Quest for about £250 from GlobalPositioningSystems.co.uk - how long does the in built battery last between charges in your experience?
BGN laid this down on his screen : That is a bargain. They quote the battery life as 20 hours. I think that will be most of the time without the backlight on. I used it for 15 hours and the battery meter still showed 1/2 charge remaining - my use was mostly just carrying it in case it might be needed, but turned on. The back light is on when ever it has an external supply, but turns off if none of the buttons are pressed for a few seconds (adjustable delay) when running from internal batteries.
Daz explained on 05/07/2005 : A GPS is just a GPS - an instrument which tells you where you are. A Satnav is a GPS plus navigation system combined. You can still 'get lost' with one of these, probably more easily than without - especially if you rely on it entirely to do the navigating. You find yourself using roads which you never knew existed and which just do not appear on paper maps. Using paper maps and 'brain navigation' you tend to pick out the most obvious and easy to navigate routes. The Satnav doesn't care how complex the route is. You spot an interesting looking road - with an on the fly recalculating Satnav you can take it and leave the Satnav to adapt its route to the 'new' road you have taken, as you ride/drive.
On Wed, 06 Jul 2005 19:58:31 +0100, "Harry Bloomfield" Surely you can tell it not to be so fucking stupid and avoid the gravel tracks? But this contradicts what you've just said above.
After serious thinking BGN wrote : I read the price as £328.89 inc VAT? Still a good price. About mid way down the page. http://globalpositioningsystems.co....=17&flt=application&bid=3&st=Dedicated+In-Car The V7 refers to the version of the Mapsource map (EU). They supply it with V6.5 and you get a free V7 upgrade from Garmin. The Quest firmware is currently V3.40. As they improve it (fix minor bugs) you can download them and install to the Quest.
Forgot about the VAT! Dixons/Currys (Out of stock) also have it for £328.89 - Product Code - 624364 as a web exclusive. Comet have it for the same price too. Sounds price matched. I'm tempted. The Garmin motorcycle mount (http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?KEY=2284) looks rather bulky (I guess the product is,) I'm running out of handlebar space already and can only just fit my eTrex on it, so it would most likely be 'mounted' in the map pocket of my tank bag. From the look of the 360 on the Garmin website the receiver appears to flip up from the back but doesn't look like it points directly upwards. Is that correct? If it is then shoving it in the map pocket of a tank bag (if it isn't flat) might not be an option. Thanks, --Nick.
BGN explained on 06/07/2005 : Do what I did.... (Full description in the Yahoo Quest group) Adapt the AC charger adaptor to bolt directly on the bikes steering head. The antenna is the bit which flips up. It will only turn through around 120 deg, so it will not sit flat with the antenna out. For the car, with the screen vertical I flip it out to 90 deg. It will not fit in the car mount with the antenna closed. It does fit in the AC charger holder (DIY bike adaptor) with the antenna closed and this is how I use it on the bike - with the Quest almost horizontal. I think the idea of the flip out is so that the antenna can remain horizontal, whilst the screen is vertical in a car. It works equally well with the antenna left in the folded position, provided the Quest is something close to horizontal (45 deg up or down is OK). Tank bag would be OK, providing it could get a view of the sky without your head or body hiding it. I would suggest that it will need to be powered - The unlit screen is not easy to see (pathetic). When lit it is good even in sunlight, providing the sun is not shining directly on it.
Daz was thinking very hard : Yes, assuming you want to. You can set what priority you want to give each type of road in the route it calculates. You can also select the type of vehicle you are driving so it avoids things like narrow roads and bridge height/weight limits. I mean you can get yourself lost if you wish - drive on any road that takes your fancy and you can rely on it to get you out of the mess.
BGN explained : In the Quest you can set it to try to avoid U turns - which effectively means if you deliberately stray off the route, it recalculates to continue the way you have turned. If it really would be silly to continue it invites you to do a U.
Which reminds me of a SF short story from maybe the 60s[1] where a kid realises that there was a pattern to the answers he got from his pocket computer and went on to re-invent multiplication tables and mental arithmetic. [1] Some years before pocket calculators were mass marketed. -- Ivan Reid, Electronic & Computer Engineering, ___ CMS Collaboration, Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN GSX600F, RG250WD, DT175MX "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO# 003, 005 WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon) KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".
