strava multi day events?

[jakomait]

I'm a Strava junkie and it drives me nuts that I cant figure out how to store a 4 day ride.  Anyone know what device and what settings it would take to keep 80hrs of riding in one shot?  I even contacted Garmin last year to try and get my vista e-trex hcx to store it since even on the lowest point resolution it will only hold about 30hrs worth before it is full.  Their suggestion was to save the file every day and it will hold it in the SD card.  When I did that I had the GPS track of each day but it dumped all the time data and was completely useless to me.  I'm contemplating borrowing all of my friends Edge 500 computers, one for each day but that seems so inefficient.  Anyone have any tricks? 

[Johnny_mtb]

When I save my tracks on my Vista hcx it worked fine for me. I just saved the track everyday and then used basecamp to join them when I got home. The times were still saved on mine. This was a year ago and I don't remember the exact details but it uploaded fine to Strava and the times must have been saved because it recorded all the segment placements/times. Make sure you are downloading the saved tracks from your memory card and not the gps memory saved tracks.

[schillingsworth]

I use the Edge 705 & recorded my 4 day AZT300 ride without issue. I would stop the track at night while charging the unit & re-start the next day where it left off. I even went straight off my external charger for the last day, everything saved correctly as far as I could tell.

[ScottM]

There's a setting on the HCx to log to the SD card.  You won't need to manually save it out each day.  But it will end up as multiple GPX files in the end.  So you'll need to use GPS software (Basecamp or free version of TopoFusion) to merge them together before uploading to Straaaava.

If the option for logging to the HCx (under track settings) isn't there, you will need to use "webupdater" from garmin's site to update the firmware on the GPS.  When they originally shipped it wasn't there, IRRC.

[ron]

What size SD card would y'all recommend for a (hoped for!) ~21 day TD ride?

[jakomait]

So it seems I have the technology I just need to figure out how to use it!  I do remember changing the settings to store the file to the SD card but I must have messed something up along the way because it never seemed to do what I was expecting. 

[Johnny_mtb]

There's a setting on the HCx to log to the SD card.  You won't need to manually save it out each day.  But it will end up as multiple GPX files in the end.  So you'll need to use GPS software (Basecamp or free version of TopoFusion) to merge them together before uploading to Straaaava.

If the option for logging to the HCx (under track settings) isn't there, you will need to use "webupdater" from garmin's site to update the firmware on the GPS.  When they originally shipped it wasn't there, IRRC.

This is what I must have done. My trip was in sections on the memory card but must have been the auto-saved files from the GPS.

[Buttermilk]

With the HcX, I think once the file is save to the SD card it can only be viewed and/or exported from an SD card reader. I don't think the GPS unit accesses the saved file from the SD card. I know I have to remove the card from my HcX and read the SD card straight from my computer.

Related question: When the HcX is set to record to the SD card, does it simultaneously record to internal memory and the card? Sometimes I get the memory is 99% full and assumed that was internal memory. At what point does the HcX save the track to the SD card?

[jakomait]

Well if thats the case then maybe I had the data but I just didn't know how to access it!  I never tried reading just the card, always just plugging in the gps and using the crappy garmin software to download.

[Johnny_mtb]

With the HcX, I think once the file is save to the SD card it can only be viewed and/or exported from an SD card reader. I don't think the GPS unit accesses the saved file from the SD card. I know I have to remove the card from my HcX and read the SD card straight from my computer.

Related question: When the HcX is set to record to the SD card, does it simultaneously record to internal memory and the card? Sometimes I get the memory is 99% full and assumed that was internal memory. At what point does the HcX save the track to the SD card?

Ok I got out the GPS and played with it to try to figure out some of these answers.
The only way that I have found to retrieve the auto-saved tracks is to take out the card and download manually.

1. It records to Internal Memory when you have the Track Log On radio button selected under: Tracks > Track Log ON or OFF.
2. It will record to internal memory and to the SD when you have done step 1 above and also checked the "Log track to data card" under:  Tracks > Setup > Data Card Setup > Log Track to Data Card.
It will NOT record to SD without BOTH 1 and 2 above selected to save track.
Yes it saves both to internal memory and SD but you can clear the internal memory of the saved track easily when it starts getting full or just have the "Wrap when full" checked under: Tracks > Setup > Wrap when full.

This internal memory is additional storage to your uploaded tracks so if you have uploaded all available memory it saves some space for the tracks to be saved to internal memory. The tracks it saves to internal memory contain very basic information. The tracks saved to the SD contain the detailed information such as speed, alt. etc.

Ron -  You should be able to save the 21ish day trip to a 4 gig memory card. I had about 5 days worth of tracks in mine and it said the memory was only 1% full.

[Buttermilk]

thanks Ace.
That adds some clarity to what the unit is doing. Glad Garmin made it so straight forward...

[jakomait]

Check my GPS and wow, so I did have the settings correct but I only downloaded the file from internal memory not the SD Card.    I have the SD card from last year's ctr but not with me now; I wonder if the whole thing is still in there or if I wiped it clean    Next week I'll have to see if the file is in there.  Thanks acefaser for laying out the details.

[ron]

Super helpful all around -- thanks acefaser!

[Matt Schiff]

I too like to keep data on all my long rides. For the CTR I just set my etrex 20 to auto archive tracks daily. I don't think I was thinking about the maximum amount of points per track which I think is 10,000? For a full day it would log maybe 7,000 points. I set the frequency to "normal" and the method (time or distance) to "auto". Everything worked except I must have erased the track on the last day, telling it to clear the track and don't save because I thought it would auto save (doesn't auto save until the end of the day). I have 1.5 Gigs free and the files are small, just a megabyte per day so space wasn't the issue why I lost the last day. I guess the question is what happens if the track reaches 10,000 points? This would happen, I assume, if I don't have it start a new track each day. Does it autosave and start a new one? I'll probably keep the settings the same but I like to know the ins and outs of my equipment.

[THE LONG RANGER]

Garmin could do a little better with their documentation on making the most of their products, that's for sure.

[ScottM]

What size SD card would y'all recommend for a (hoped for!) ~21 day TD ride?

GPX files are tiny.  Just about any size that's currently made will do. 

Yeah, the HCx's logging feature was a bit of an afterthought that was added later.  That's why it's a little funky.  If you use TF it'll go and find the archived tracks on the SDcard, load them, and give you a handy dialog for merging them back together.

[wunnspeed]

Garmin could do a little better with their documentation on making the most of their products, that's for sure.

You're soooooo right! I have three different Garmin GPS enabled devices and I love them. However, their documentation and German "Customer Service" are unbelievably crappy! Glad I found this thread as I'm a week away from heading out on the GST (Grenzstein Trophy) and it's 1200 km. I've never actually been able to figure this out on my own.

[wunnspeed]

Garmin could do a little better with their documentation on making the most of their products, that's for sure.

You're soooooo right! I have three different Garmin GPS enabled devices and I love them. However, their documentation and German "Customer Service" are unbelievably crappy! Glad I found this thread as I'm a week away from heading out on the GST (Grenzstein Trophy) and it's 1200 km. I've never actually been able to figure this out on my own.

Interestingly, thanks to you guys I just found all my GPX files from the TDR in '12. Thanks! It seems that I have, somehow, already set my eTrex Vista HCx up this way already.

[ron]

1. It records to Internal Memory when you have the Track Log On radio button selected under: Tracks > Track Log ON or OFF.
2. It will record to internal memory and to the SD when you have done step 1 above and also checked the "Log track to data card" under:  Tracks > Setup > Data Card Setup > Log Track to Data Card.
It will NOT record to SD without BOTH 1 and 2 above selected to save track.
Yes it saves both to internal memory and SD but you can clear the internal memory of the saved track easily when it starts getting full or just have the "Wrap when full" checked under: Tracks > Setup > Wrap when full.

the thing is, I'm not seeing any of those options on my eTrex 30. When I go to

Main screen > Setup > Tracks > Track Log choices are "Do Not Record," "Record, Do Not Show," and "Record, Show On Map." That's it -- nothing about SD cards anywhere that I can find though I have one loaded in the device.

Also, I have "When Full" as an option for "Auto Archive" -- is that the same thing as "Wrap When Full"?

I'm just confused why I don't have a Setup subscreen within Tracks and why I'm not finding these same choices... any guidance for me, friends?

[wunnspeed]

Hi Ron, mine seems to work but I'm not sure why. I'll tell you how mine is set up.

In the Track Log Setup (eTrex Vista HCx) screen..
Wrap When Full is checked
Record Method - Auto
Interval - Normal
My Track Color is Green but that doesn't matter.

Then in Setup Data Card screen
Log Track to Data Card is checked.

Hope that helps and works.