Bought Geko 201 - tips?

Peewiglet <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I've just bought a Geko 201, and I'm wondering whether people have any
tips that I can use to get the most out of the batteries. I'm pretty
sure I've read recommendations when searching the NG on Google, but I
can't remember what they were.

Many thanks for any help 🙂

Best wishes,

Set the battery type to "Alkaline" even if you use rechargables - gives a
few extra hours run time.

--
Brian

"Brian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Peewiglet <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I've just bought a Geko 201, and I'm wondering whether people have any
tips that I can use to get the most out of the batteries. I'm pretty
sure I've read recommendations when searching the NG on Google, but I
can't remember what they were.

Many thanks for any help 🙂

Best wishes,

Set the battery type to "Alkaline" even if you use rechargables - gives a
few extra hours run time.

Any idea why that should work?

Dave

I thought the battery setting was just to give a reasonably accurate
projection of cell capacity on the indicator. As each cell type has
different voltage/time characteristics. Interesting!

Rgds Alan

"Brian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
snip>

Quoted message said:

Set the battery type to "Alkaline" even if you use rechargables - gives a
few extra hours run time.

Quoted message said:

Brian

In article <[email hidden]>, Joe Bloggs
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

"Brian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Peewiglet <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I've just bought a Geko 201, and I'm wondering whether people have any
tips that I can use to get the most out of the batteries. I'm pretty
sure I've read recommendations when searching the NG on Google, but I
can't remember what they were.

Many thanks for any help 🙂

Best wishes,

Set the battery type to "Alkaline" even if you use rechargables - gives a
few extra hours run time.

Any idea why that should work?

Dave

Because the receiver knows that alkaline cells will happily supply it at
a lower voltage than NiMh (which have a very flat discharge voltage
profile).

Unfortunately Garmin seem to have got the setting wrong with NiMh and
switch the unit off before their capacity has been fully used.

Setting it to alkaline means that the receiver does not decide to switch
off - instead it just stops when the cells do not have enough juice left
to run it.

--

Dominic Sexton
http://www.dscs.demon.co.uk/

Dominic Sexton wrote on Sat, 24 Jul 2004 10:53:59 +0100....

Quoted message said:

Because the receiver knows that alkaline cells will happily supply it at
a lower voltage than NiMh (which have a very flat discharge voltage
profile).

Unfortunately Garmin seem to have got the setting wrong with NiMh and
switch the unit off before their capacity has been fully used.

If it's a flat discharge profile, that would make it difficult to get
the setting right.

--
Tim Jackson
[email hidden]
(Change '.invalid' to '.co.uk' to reply direct)
Absurd patents: visit http://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk

In article <[email hidden]>, Tim Jackson
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Dominic Sexton wrote on Sat, 24 Jul 2004 10:53:59 +0100....

Quoted message said:

Because the receiver knows that alkaline cells will happily supply it at
a lower voltage than NiMh (which have a very flat discharge voltage
profile).

Unfortunately Garmin seem to have got the setting wrong with NiMh and
switch the unit off before their capacity has been fully used.

If it's a flat discharge profile, that would make it difficult to get
the setting right.

Indeed. However it is not completely flat rather it is flat in the
middle of discharge and very much flatter than the discharge curve for
alkalines. The flat middle part of the curve makes it very difficult to
tell if the batteries are 1/4 used, 1/2 used or 3/4 used - you cannot
tell by voltage alone.

For freshly charged cells there is a curve at the start and end of
discharge. For cells that have been hanging around for a while since
charging the curve at the start of discharge is less pronounced.

Example discharge cures can be seen here:

NiMh AA
<http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/library/rechargeables/consumer/nimh
/nh15.pdf>

Alkaline AA
<http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/library/primary/alkaline/energizer/
consumer_oem/e91.pdf>

NiMh AAA
<http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/library/rechargeables/consumer/nimh
/nh12.pdf>

The Geko 201 being discussed uses about 100mA. From the curves shown in
the AAA datasheet above for 150mA and 75mA it can be seen that cutting
off at 1.2V instead of say 1.15V could lead to 1/2 an hour shorter life.
I don't know of anyone measuring what voltage Garmin is using for the
cut off when set to NiMh (so the above figures are just guesses) but it
is apparent that setting a Geko to alkaline will result in extending the
operating time compared to the NiMh setting.

--

Dominic Sexton
http://www.dscs.demon.co.uk/

Dominic Sexton said:

Unfortunately Garmin seem to have got the setting wrong with NiMh and
switch the unit off before their capacity has been fully used.

Setting it to alkaline means that the receiver does not decide to
switch off - instead it just stops when the cells do not have enough
juice left to run it.

Since you mentioned that I thought I try something with my 60CS. Using
the NiMh setting I left the unit switched on all day yesterday. When I
woke up today it had turned itself off. I switched it back on and was
greeted with a low battery warning. The battery display was completely
empty. It stayed on for a short while then switched itself off again.

I then tried to switch it back on but the screen faded within a few
seconds and off it went again.

So I then put some fresh batteries in, and changed the setting to
alkaline.

Then I put the flat batteries back in to see if I'd get some more life
out of them, but the same thing happened, the screen faded within a few
seconds and it switched itself off immediately.

So does that mean that the NiMh setting is correctly calibrated on my
60CS? And I should leave it on that setting?

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul Saunders
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Then I put the flat batteries back in to see if I'd get some more life
out of them, but the same thing happened, the screen faded within a few
seconds and it switched itself off immediately.

So does that mean that the NiMh setting is correctly calibrated on my
60CS? And I should leave it on that setting?

It sounds like they may have done a better job with the 60CS and
probably other 60 and the 76 series which appear to share firmware.

The other factors which might have had a bearing on the matter are the
higher current drain of the unit resulting in a sharper drop off at the
end of the useful life and / or the state of the cells used. If one cell
has a slightly lower capacity that the other (which can happen with
ageing even if the cells are always used and charged as a set) it will
be effectively empty and very quickly drop voltage at the time the GPS
is about to turn off.

I would probably leave in set to NiMh.

--

Dominic Sexton
http://www.dscs.demon.co.uk/

On 23 Jul 2004 19:44:28 GMT, Brian <[email hidden]>
wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Set the battery type to "Alkaline" even if you use rechargables - gives a
few extra hours run time.

Many thanks - that's the one I was thinking of.

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

Dominic Sexton said:

Quoted message said:

If it's a flat discharge profile, that would make it difficult to get
the setting right.

Indeed. However it is not completely flat rather it is flat in the
middle of discharge and very much flatter than the discharge curve for
alkalines. The flat middle part of the curve makes it very difficult
to tell if the batteries are 1/4 used, 1/2 used or 3/4 used - you
cannot tell by voltage alone.

Here's a snippet of information that you might find interesting. On
Saturday I put two freshly charges 1700 nimh AA batteries into my 60CS
and left it switched on to see how long they would last.

GPS mode off.
Compass off.
Backlight off.
Barometer only.

Lasted just over 31 hours. So it seems it may be practical to leave it
switched on overnight whilst camping after all. Which means I could use
the alarm clock feature.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749

Steve Orrell said:

Quoted message said:

Which means I could use the alarm clock feature.

I use the one on my mobile ;-)
(soz Paul, couldn't resist 🙂

Oh? Mobiles have alarms?

Oh yes, so it does...

At last, I've found a use for it! Thanks!

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Which means I could use the alarm clock feature.

I use the one on my mobile ;-)
(soz Paul, couldn't resist 🙂

Oh? Mobiles have alarms?

Mine has - it's one of its most useful features!
--
Fran
If you need my email address please ask.

Paul Saunders <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Steve Orrell said:

Quoted message said:

Which means I could use the alarm clock feature.

I use the one on my mobile ;-)
(soz Paul, couldn't resist 🙂

Oh? Mobiles have alarms?

Oh yes, so it does...

At last, I've found a use for it! Thanks!

But does it work when it's switched off, like the GPS?

No - I haven't got time, you check it. :-)
--
Gordon

Paul Saunders said:

Oh? Mobiles have alarms?

And calendars, and calculators, and email, and internet access, and
cameras, and sound recording, and stopwatches.....

--

Paul

(Watch this space)

"Paul Rooney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul Saunders said:

Oh? Mobiles have alarms?

And calendars, and calculators, and email, and internet access, and
cameras, and sound recording, and stopwatches.....

--

Paul

(Watch this space)

So what we really need is either a mobile with GPS functionality

OR

(you guessed it) a GPS with a built in mobile phone.

Saves carrying both

"Tim Fox" <a@a> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Paul Rooney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul Saunders said:

Oh? Mobiles have alarms?

And calendars, and calculators, and email, and internet access, and
cameras, and sound recording, and stopwatches.....

--

Paul

(Watch this space)

So what we really need is either a mobile with GPS functionality

OR

(you guessed it) a GPS with a built in mobile phone.

Saves carrying both

There are several mobile phone models with built in GPS . See
http://tinyurl.com/6ws86
Also, along similar lines, you can get a watch with a gps too.

See http://www.gearreview.com/casiogps.asp

So as far as I see it, you can now tell the rescue services exactly where
and when you got lost, and if the phone has a camera, you can send 'em a
photo of the hill you're on!!

Dave

Tim Fox said:

So what we really need is either a mobile with GPS functionality

OR

(you guessed it) a GPS with a built in mobile phone.

That would certainly be better than the games they included, and I'd
actually leave it switched on!

I don't really want internet access out in the wilds though. Have to
draw the line somewhere.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dominic Sexton said:

Unfortunately Garmin seem to have got the setting wrong with NiMh and
switch the unit off before their capacity has been fully used.

Setting it to alkaline means that the receiver does not decide to
switch off - instead it just stops when the cells do not have enough
juice left to run it.

Since you mentioned that I thought I try something with my 60CS. Using
the NiMh setting I left the unit switched on all day yesterday. When I
woke up today it had turned itself off. I switched it back on and was
greeted with a low battery warning. The battery display was completely
empty. It stayed on for a short while then switched itself off again.

I then tried to switch it back on but the screen faded within a few
seconds and off it went again.

So I then put some fresh batteries in, and changed the setting to
alkaline.

Then I put the flat batteries back in to see if I'd get some more life
out of them, but the same thing happened, the screen faded within a few
seconds and it switched itself off immediately.

So does that mean that the NiMh setting is correctly calibrated on my
60CS? And I should leave it on that setting?

I've got a Garmin Etrex Vista. If I put NiMh batteries in, and set the
battery setting to NiMh it will show a fully charged battery symbol. If I
then change the setting to alkaline, the battery level looks like it is 3/4
full.
Looks to me as though the correct setting for the batteries is the one to
use on the vista at least.

Dave

Joe Bloggs <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've got a Garmin Etrex Vista. If I put NiMh batteries in, and set the
battery setting to NiMh it will show a fully charged battery symbol. If I
then change the setting to alkaline, the battery level looks like it is 3/4
full.
Looks to me as though the correct setting for the batteries is the one to
use on the vista at least.

I've got a Garmin Etrex Vista. I have NiMh batteries in, and the
battery setting is NiMh. It shows about 40% capacity. I just
changed the battery setting to alkaline and the capacity went up to 50%.

Duh!
--
Gordon