Nav devices for cycling?

[Matthew Vernon]

Hi,

I have been getting out slightly further afield on my bike recently, and
this is making me wonder about a dedicated navigation device. Any
(dis-)recommendations?

My current approach has been to write a route card (which I can stow in
a back jersey pocket and then at least attempt to consult while moving),
with a backup in the form of the track loaded into OSMAnd. But this
requires quite a lot of prep, and getting off to fish out my phone and
check it is irritating.

My regular cycling buddy has a bar-bag with a clear top, and we tried
using OSMAnd's navigation-following-track function, but it's not really
ideal (not least in that phone battery + battery pack were only good
enough for about 50 miles / 80k). I could mount my phone on the bars (in
theory), but it's not very weatherproof and there's obviously the
complication of unlocking the screen vs draining the battery by having
it on all the time.

So, any suggestions? I think I'd like:
* decent battery life (at least a day, ideally longer things like the
dun run)
* easy to load tracks into (bonus points if it's just USB mass storage
or similar)
* options for map-and-track, turn-by-turn, just-a-map
* weatherproof
* sensible mounting options
* standard (usb-*) charging
* ideally, usable without selling my soul to the cloud

Matthew

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[Nick Maclaren]

In article <7jv8o8d...@pick.ucam.org>,

Matthew Vernon <mat...@debian.org> wrote:
>
>I have been getting out slightly further afield on my bike recently, and
>this is making me wonder about a dedicated navigation device. Any
>(dis-)recommendations?

I have a tablet with the complete OS 1:50,000 and Steetmap loaded,
and it lasts for ages with the WiFi and GPS turned off. While the
software does have the options you mention, I never use them
except by accident!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <63b5431e....@n.nabendynamo.de>,
Andreas Oehler <andreas...@gmx.de> wrote:
>Tue, 25 Oct 2022 11:41:40 +0100, Matthew Vernon:

>
>>My regular cycling buddy has a bar-bag with a clear top, and we tried
>>using OSMAnd's navigation-following-track function, but it's not really
>>ideal (not least in that phone battery + battery pack were only good
>>enough for about 50 miles / 80k).
>

>Just configure OSMAND to only switch the display on, when you are supposed
>to turn - or when you trigger the proximity sensor with our hand above the
>phone. This way the display is off most of the time and the battery will
>last the whole day.

How long is the day? It's time, not distance, that matters here.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Adam Funk]

Doesn't turning the GPS off significantly reduce its usefulness for
navigation?

[Rob Morley]

On Fri, 28 Oct 2022 12:07:38 +0100
Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:

> Doesn't turning the GPS off significantly reduce its usefulness for
> navigation?

Turn it on if you're lost or in towns, Back in olden times we got by
just fine with maps and route sheets; I imagine that's still the case
with digital maps.

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <20221028160405.5fc9ee03@Mars>,

As yer 'onour says! I tend to avoid towns that it is big enough
to be useful in, but have used it a few times when the topography
wasn't enough to identify where I was or I thought I had missed a
turning.

Having a battery life of a week or two is really useful. But it's
just traditional maps, done electronically.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Adam Funk]

Fair point.

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <63d1dcfe....@n.nabendynamo.de>,

>Where did I write about distance?

The OP did.

>But if you ride a longer distance, you usually will get more "turn left /
>turn right" messages from your navigation software, resulting in more
>times the display is automatically switched on - draining the battery.

My question stands.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.