Which GPS

Quoted message said:

Hi all. I'm just curious about whether you guys are buying your HRMs
and GPS units online or at your local shop.

Cheers,

Brian

Neither. As long as my heart is still beating when I wake up in the
morning I don't obsess.

no spam said:

Quoted message said:

As a mountain bike racer, road trainer, and now runner, I can relate to
the problem. Saliva works just as well as electrode cream, however, in
my extensive experience. I have the goop but I never use it; I just
smear spit on the transmitter and go. Once you work up a sweat failed
data has nothing to do with this issue. When my HRM doesn't work (on
the bike) it's for two reasons: interference or wind. When running, the
only problem is interference. The gel cannot cure either problem, and

When I had a problem a couple years ago, the buh-bump gel didn't help
either. I just use saliva.

Quoted message said:

Which hrm do you have ?
I've tried one 2 years ago, and the reading were just inconsistant, it
would get a pulse even before I put the belt on !

I had my hrm turned on one time while checking altimeter function while
driving. Belt was at home. It occasionally picked up hrm signals. At
first I thought it was a powerline I was driving under, but could find
no such reasons on some later blips - and I passed under other power
lines with no blips. It also records distance signals occasionally when
I don't have the footpod on.

Quoted message said:

As far as GPS goes, I've decided that all I care for is the odometer
function, so I've started to look at all handeld, not just the
running/biking ones, I'm hopping to get more accuracy or battery life or
$, or something by giving up on functionalities I don't care for.

There's inherent issues with GPS receivers because of the satellites,
mentioned in my original post. I understand more satellites with better
civilian capabilities are being launched (one soon, I think (or may have
misinterpreted something in another ng), but generally think years). You
may live and run in an area where satellite reception isn't an issue.
Check with other gps users in your area to see how their reception is.

Based on my readings and looking at what the locals who need better data
use, I think better antennas are the best way to improve reception, with
external antennas being the best - if you want to run with one of those.
Mine has a quad helix, rather than the patch antennas, of the
wrist-mounted units, and I still lose reception, at least partly because
of satellite configuration.

Regarding battery life, you might try lithium vs alkaline batteries,
although some of the wrist mounted use rechargeable system.

I think you'll also find that most of the other gps units have many more
features that you don't want, if you're only interested in distance. And
I doubt those features affect battery life signifcantly. My guess the
bulk of the battery usage is in signal reception, but I could be wrong.

Dot

--
"running is a mysterious journey that we take not just to beat other
people or to stay in reasonable physical shape - but to find out more
about ourselves" - Owen Anderson