Re: For GPS Junkies

[Robert Silas <robert.silas@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Steve,
I really appreciate your info.  The GPS you mentioned is interesting but I did not find the most important feature of the 2610 among the listed ones. That is the "touch-screen" capability of the unit.  The 2610  100%  perfect for me, accept my big beef about it: the unit tries to help finding addresses but as soon as it found some similar address, to the one you're looking for, it does not allow you to enter the address you want, though it is on the map, inside the unit. This is most aggravating. 

The 2610, at least twice, saved my hide during the trip from Montreal to Los Angeles, last October 4-27.  During the out-bound leg I took a wrong turn around Chicago and landed up in an 8 lane traffic-jamb, slow that you cannot put your legs up on the pegs, for a full hour. I ran out of patience, worked myself over 7 lanes and exited somewhere in Chicago. Now, I am standing at a corner in the out-skirts of the city and I have no idea which direction to go to. On the GPS screen I pointed onto the hwy I-80 West and pressed "Go to". The unit directed me turn by turn.

On the 25 th of October, on my return, temperature +5 C., at around 8 pm I was riding back from Chicago to Detroit. It was dark, pouring rain and I wanted to find a motel. On the 2610's "find accommodation" it listed a few motels nearby and in 10 min. I was checked in. This GPS is a great gadget...

Thanks again, keep us informed
Bob Silas
Montreal
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Steve Makohin 
  To: IBMWR List ; Oilheads List 
  Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 11:27 AM
  Subject: For GPS Junkies


  Hello all,

  For you GPS junkies, you may or may not be aware of NEXRAD, the "NEXt 
  generation weather RADar" that is used in many aircraft. It works by having 
  hundreds of weather stations across North America submit their data, in near 
  real-time, to a central repository which then sends it out via repeaters 
  (and now XM satellite) to receivers that can present this near-real-time 
  data as a weather radar image superimposed over a moving-map display.

  What this means to aircraft, is that a plane without a weather radar can 
  have a visual display that is, well, like a weather radar. The advantage of 
  this is that you can safely operate it while on the ground, unlike a real 
  weather radar. It's also cheaper, and has a longer range.

  So what does this mean to you, a motorcyclist? Imagine a scenario in which 
  you are taking a long trip, and you can look at an LCD display and see 
  weather information superimposed over terrain and street data. Picture 
  seeing an image that depicts a heavy storm front approaching with lots of 
  lightning and heavy winds, or worse still, tornados. As a rider, unlike an 
  aircraft, you likely cannot outrun a storm or ride around it, but you can 
  make decisions that are more "in tune" with the weather, such as deciding to 
  put on the rain gear because there is a fair bit of rain on the other side 
  of the mountain pass, or deciding to head for shelter at a hotel because a 
  serious storm is only a few miles away.

  I just saw that Garmin has a GPS that includes NEXRAD technology. It's in 
  the "Aviation" section, but it is multi-mode, to accommodate a "car" mode 
  (that would include us riders), and a "marine" mode. I have not looked into 
  this in any detail, but I thought some list members may find it interesting. 
  It also has voice annunciation for turn-by-turn instructions, and XM Radio 
  for entertainment.

  Visit http://www.garmin.com/products/gpsmap396/. The unit lists for around 
  US$2200, so deep pockets are a must (we all make 6+ figure incomes, being 
  BMW riders, right?) Now, if we combined this technology with real-time 
  traffic data that could influence auto-routing (and assuming that we 
  traveled areas that provided traffic data), then we'd have one serious 
  killer GPS.

  -Steve Makohin
   '01 R1100S/ABS
   Oakville, Ontario, Canada 


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