Author Topic: Forerunner 205 & TF (Read 7135 times)

colprit · « **on:** April 14, 2006, 06:19:47 PM »

I received my Forerunner 205 last Monday and have been running with it all week. The signal is so much better than the 201 ever was. I even have a signal inside my house.

When I first uploaded the info from the Forerunner 205 to TF, It said the memory was empty. This is when I realized you need to hit the reset button first. Once doing this the info uploaded very quickly.

When comparing the 205 track to a previous track using the 201, I was really impressed with how smooth it was, not zagged like the 201 alway was. I had the 205 set to post a track point every second. The points exactly followed the path I ran, even when I moved to the far side of the path or road due to traffic, it showed exactly on the map. Awesome!

If you are questioning whether you can justify upgrading to the Forerunner 205 or 305, just do it, you won't be sorry.

Dean

dumketu · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2006, 08:43:55 PM »

The 205 and 305 use the same high sensitivity receivers as the new Garmin x series. I am AMAZED at the sensitivity. In my opinion any GPS without this new technology is obsolete. In my own tests with my GPSMAP 60CSx I have noted that the accuracy appears to stay at around 1-2 meters (without WAAS), regardless of what the GPS actually says it is.

Brian

Krein · « **Reply #2 on:** April 18, 2006, 04:03:31 PM »

I've got to agree. The tracklogs the new units produce are very impressive.

Now we just need a unit with 100,000+ points on it and we'll be where we should have been, technology-wise, 5 years ago. TopoFusion is ready for big track logs -- maybe they've been afraid since other mapping software can't handle it.

Also, note that not all of the "X" units have the new receiver. It's only the 205, 305 (edge and forerunner) and the 76 and 60. The legend, vista, etc do not have it.

dumketu · « **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2006, 08:35:02 PM »

Good point on the X series. All are not created equal.

I had an interesting thing happen to my 60csx this week (I'm living in S. Asia) I was driving around and had the 60csx tracking my travel. I stopped at an ancient walled city and spent an hour or so hiking around the wall of the city. Anyway, once I got back into the car and was driving again my gps started dropping trackpoints every second. Needless to say I used up the rest of the track log in about 10 minutes. Has anyone else had this happen? The problem seemed to start once I got back in the car and started driving again.

dumketu · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2006, 12:34:25 AM »

I was just searching the internet and the Garmin Web site to see if others had reported the same tracklog problem I mentioned above. In the process I happened upon the page for the next beta of the gpsmap 60csx firmware (2.62), One of the new features they are reporting is the ability to save active logs to a file on the micro-sd card. It's not 100,000 points, but it is a HUGE step in the right direction. I am leery of downloading the beta, so I'll probably just wait for the final version with baited breath.

Brian

Krein · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2006, 10:02:51 AM »

Very interesting, Brian. Thanks for the info on saving tracklogs to the micro-sd. Very good news!

Looks like it's time to upgrade for me (to 60CSX).

dumketu · « **Reply #6 on:** May 17, 2006, 06:09:47 AM »

Quote (dumketu @ April 22 2006,3:34)

I was just searching the internet and the Garmin Web site to see if others had reported the same tracklog problem I mentioned above. In the process I happened upon the page for the next beta of the gpsmap 60csx firmware (2.62), One of the new features they are reporting is the ability to save active logs to a file on the micro-sd card. It's not 100,000 points, but it is a HUGE step in the right direction. I am leery of downloading the beta, so I'll probably just wait for the final version with baited breath.

Brian

Thought I might add here that I upgraded to the 60csx firmware 2.71 beta which has the save tracklog to card feature. It appears that the tracklog can be bigger than the 10,000 limit for the internal memory. In fact some users are reporting the log can be a big as the sd card.

They also fixed the tracklog problem mentioned above. The 60csx seems to be the unit to get (or any of its cousins - 60cx, 76csx, 76 cx)

Brian

Rich280 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 29, 2006, 11:52:17 AM »

Quote (colprit @ April 14 2006,9:19)

I received my Forerunner 205 last Monday and have been running with it all week. The signal is so much better than the 201 ever was. I even have a signal inside my house.

When I first uploaded the info from the Forerunner 205 to TF, It said the memory was empty. This is when I realized you need to hit the reset button first. Once doing this the info uploaded very quickly.

When comparing the 205 track to a previous track using the 201, I was really impressed with how smooth it was, not zagged like the 201 alway was. I had the 205 set to post a track point every second. The points exactly followed the path I ran, even when I moved to the far side of the path or road due to traffic, it showed exactly on the map. Awesome!

If you are questioning whether you can justify upgrading to the Forerunner 205 or 305, just do it, you won't be sorry.

Dean

Hi,
I still have a 201 and use it to track jogging and biking though my GPS of choice is Etrex Vista Cx.

Has anyone had problems downloading the 201 into Topofusion? Doesn't seem to work, probably have to use Babel or run info through Garmins' apps. Obviously a pain as 201 is still analog.

Any suggestions???

Rich!

Krein · « **Reply #8 on:** May 29, 2006, 12:14:36 PM »

Rich,

201 still works just fine in v2.85 (the latest on the web page).

In the beta version (2.86) we're still sorting things out for the edge w/ cadence and a few other issues. Getting the cadence stuff working caused the old ones (201) to fail. We're getting there, though.

Thanks.