myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
GPS Speed Sailing
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Windsurfing Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
tramontana00



Joined: 15 Feb 2010
Posts: 204

PostPosted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Color Duck Tape" from Wallmart. It's very inexpensive and does not leave any residue. I think it is designed for kids projects.
I had this same concerns with laminar flow, so now I tape it at the bottom of the sail by mast foot. That part of sail doesn't do much anyway and GPS is less exposed there. Laminar flow is in check now, or at least mentaly Wink .

_________________
double nothing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bad_dolphin



Joined: 26 Feb 1995
Posts: 77

PostPosted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:59 pm    Post subject: GS 31 only currently accepted gps Reply with quote

If you care about being "official", right now the GS-31 is the only way to go. By the way, to the guy who put the o-ring on to keep it from cycling around, all you have to do instead is push and hold the big joy stick straight in for five seconds. You'll get a beep and a signal that the screen is locked. Do the same thing when you're done and it will unlock.

Best place is to get it from Craig at midwestspeedtest. He's knowledgable, honest and thorough. It is waterproof all by itself, but highly recommended is a waterproof bag for crash protection. There's aftermarket software available for all kinds of info about your ride, and it also imports into GoogleEarth with varying view so you can see exactly where you hit your fastest speeds. You can use that feature to also see what angle was the fastest.

It's great for changing one thing at a time--fin, downhaul, whatever--to see what the real effect on speed is.

Check in with Craig. You will not be disappointed!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bad_dolphin



Joined: 26 Feb 1995
Posts: 77

PostPosted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:01 pm    Post subject: GS 31 only currently accepted gps Reply with quote

If you care about being "official", right now the GS-31 is the only way to go. By the way, to the guy who put the o-ring on to keep it from cycling around, all you have to do instead is push and hold the big joy stick straight in for five seconds. You'll get a beep and a signal that the screen is locked. Do the same thing when you're done and it will unlock.

Best place is to get it from Craig at midwestspeedtest. He's knowledgable, honest and thorough. It is waterproof all by itself, but highly recommended is a waterproof bag for crash protection. There's aftermarket software available for all kinds of info about your ride, and it also imports into GoogleEarth with varying view so you can see exactly where you hit your fastest speeds. You can use that feature to also see what angle was the fastest.

It's great for changing one thing at a time--fin, downhaul, whatever--to see what the real effect on speed is.

Check in with Craig. You will not be disappointed!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SpeedRoo



Joined: 27 Sep 2006
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Casey the GT-31 and the GT-11 are not waterproof, you have to use an aquapack or the warranty will be voided. I did the initial design and development work on them back in 2006 and they were not designed for use in water, that's just something we started using them for until we realised the "o" ring system we used couldn't take the abuse of speedsailing. The Garmin Foretrex 201 was a lot more waterproof!

Wouldn't worry about the official stuff, there is no government organisation that certifies the GPS for accuracy or windsurfing use. Just go out and use any GPS and see how fast you can go. It's all about fun and time on water.

The next generation GPS is phone based either on the android or iPhone. Buy a waterproof pack from H2O and you're in business, no need to buy a standalone GPS at all. Apps are available to record your speed, read it out to you with waterproof headphones and also upload it to servers so you can see it real time on the internet.

The latest waterproof video cameras will record both video and GPS for you, you can play back the footage with GPS overlay.

Roo
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
grayson



Joined: 09 May 2003
Posts: 92
Location: Burlington, VT

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

paypal wrote:
Wouldn't worry about the official stuff....

Agreed. However.... you DO want something that'll tell you your max speed with some reliability, and I think some units are much better at this than others. Specifically, many units will register small glitches in GPS data and display max speed numbers much greater than what you actually achieved. Sure you can take all the logged data from any old unit, plug it into a filter, and see an accurate view of your speed as a function of time or distance. But that's limited to off-line viewing of the data. If you want a somewhat accurate value from the "max speed" reading on the unit itself in the moment, I have to believe the Locosys units are going to give you much better results based on their reputation and seemingly universal acceptance in speed sailing circles. I might have to get myself one some day, because I've certainly seen some glitchy max speed readings from my Forerunner 310XT. But I do like the 310XT for wristwatch style convenience and total waterproofness, so for now I really just look at my "max speed" somewhat skeptically until I can view raw data offline.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
boardsurfr



Joined: 23 Aug 2001
Posts: 1266

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Grayson wrote:
many units will register small glitches in GPS data and display max speed numbers much greater than what you actually achieved

That's one big reason to use the GT-31. I recall a guy who thought he was going 35-40 mph on a regular basis because of Garmin spikes, even though his typical speed was just 25. When he got a 68 mph spike and had to admit that the speeds were not real, he was rather disappointed.

On the GT-31, I have seen only one case of a spike in more than 200 sessions. That one was from a really had catapult (the kind where your neck hurts for days afterwards). Even then, the 10 second average showed the correct speed (or something close to it).

hauser wrote:
all you have to do instead is push and hold the big joy stick straight in for five seconds

Thanks, hauser, I missed this one when reading the manual.

Roo wrote:
The next generation GPS is phone based either on the android or iPhone

I'd never consider using an iPhone while windsurfing. Every dry bag that I have used so far to hold my GT-31 or other stuff has gotten wet on the inside after a few hours or days on the water - sometimes very wet. That's not a problem with the GT-31 since it's waterproof enough for that. I would not want to have to replace my iPhone, though. I've mostly used Aquapacs of various sizes, and I do check them before I go out. Maybe I spend more time in the water than other guys, but I know some speed surfers who crash much harder than I do.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SpeedRoo



Joined: 27 Sep 2006
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The GT-31 is old technology, I developed the base unit back in 2006 and it hasn't changed much since...meanwhile the tech world has moved on. Smartphones can be had for $120-160 and the H20 waterproof pack for $60-80. The technology and GPS in the smartphones is so much better than the old Sirf chipset in the GT-31. I don't even bother activating the smartphone, I just use it for GPS and WiFi connection. Having it read out you your speed and maximum as you sail along makes a huge difference to trimming the board and sail for max speed, waiting until you finish the run and looking down at the GT-31 is not as efficient. All GPS are subject to spikes when they lose track of satellites, some just have more filters and damping to average out the results. At the end of the day the thrill of knowing how fast you are going is what it's all about.

Roo
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tramontana00



Joined: 15 Feb 2010
Posts: 204

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:38 pm    Post subject: Re: GS 31 only currently accepted gps Reply with quote

hauser wrote:
By the way, to the guy who put the o-ring on to keep it from cycling around, all you have to do instead is push and hold the big joy stick straight in for five seconds. You'll get a beep and a signal that the screen is locked. Do the same thing when you're done and it will unlock.


This is true; however in this case thumb stick can be under pressure from the sail/ziplockbag for five seconds or more and screen can still get unlocked. And with screen locked you don't get to see all the speed recordings as they cycle. With o-ring you can still operate thumb stick, see all the results as they cycle and not worry about accidental changes.

_________________
double nothing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mulekick84



Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 407

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As usual, lots of experience to draw on from Iwindsurf!

I bought the H2O armband and plan to use it with the Cyclemeter program on my Iphone. Looking at the different GPS options. I really like the idea of a GPS that can read out the speed.

But, I'm not a speed sailor. Its just fun to see how fast you and your friends can push it. I only own wavesailing boards, but they can fly downwind.

I hope you guys are getting it this spring. We've had 5 / 30-40 MPH days in the last three weeks and two 20-30 days. So rare!!!

Hitting the Pistol wave contest and then the Gorge for a month this summer. Maybe we can get a fun speed event going at Lyle and run off the string monkeys for a day!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SpeedRoo



Joined: 27 Sep 2006
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let us know when you get to the Gorge and we'll see if we can arrange a fun speed day somewhere on the river. May not be much sandbar this year with record runoff from the snowy/wet winter.

Roo
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Windsurfing Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
Page 2 of 5

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group