strava multi day events?

[ron]

Thanks wunnspeed -- interestingly, there's no 'Data Card' menu anywhere to be found on my etrex 30 even though I have a SanDisk 16gb micro SDHC card properly loaded. Maybe it doesn't recognize SDHC cards??

May be a moot point because I'm leaning towards also running my Edge 200 for daily ride data for TD (my hub charges both units so it's just a 59g penalty for a lot of upside to me).

In any event, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised on the other side to find that the card has been storing data all along...

[wunnspeed]

Hey Ron... I never knew that you had to take it out to get the info. You might check just for grins. I just got a new card.... seems 8 gig is the smallest you can buy now in a micro card.... man, how technology moves!

As long as the 200 will hold that much data... my 705 won't, at least not as far as I know... plus, I actually like it split into the various days and can't get it to work on the 705.

[Johnny_mtb]

Hey ron what year is your GPS? Maybe needs a firmware update? Not sure why it doesn't have the card menu. Have you taken the card out to see if anything is stored on it? I have the one that was discontinued last year. Not sure what the new GPS menus have.

[Pizzaz]

The newer cycle specific units (800 / 500 and up) use a different file format - .fit files which are considerably smaller than gpx. As an example, 24hr race (recording hr, map and power every second) was about a 7mb gpx and an 1.3mb fit.

Strava just happily records for as long as you want - just notes it as all being on the start day 

Using an 810 for td this year..  Got a 500 and cue sheets as a backup...

[JevL]

Is it also possible to record say 20 days of riding with a Edge 800? And how do you guys deal with the batterie life?

[Dr Galactus]

The Edge 800 has about 100 megabytes of internal memory. On average, about 75 megabytes is available to add supplemental mapping, activities, routes and courses. When using the internal memory just for activities, the device can record about 10 hours of data per megabyte with every second recording. This equals approximately 750 hours of activity data.

- https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B158b6150-79ab-11e1-6a4c-000000000000%7D

Yup 

I have a http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0085OB0IE/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which will charge my 910xt quite a few times, looking at getting a solar panel for longer trips though

[brian.r.hamilton]

The eTrex 30 is a mess when it comes to recording track data compared to the Vista HCx.  With the Vista HCx set to record to the data card, all your track data is kept in a file named for that day no matter what you do.  There is nothing to remember, it just works.  The eTrex 30 has no option to record track data to the card - it only records to the built-in internal memory.  Big mistake.  It's very easy to lose track data if you don't remember to save or download the data daily!  If you Reset your trip computer & track data each day (a totally normal thing to do), without MANUALLY saving previously "current" track data, it WILL BE LOST, for good... gone.  It really sucks.  A huge oversight by Garmin.

I've written to them requesting they add/enable the "Save to data card" option on the eTrex 30.  Maybe if more people do the same, they'll include it in a future software update.  The eTrex 30 has other features that make it a worthwhile upgrade from the HCx, but this track data issue is a huge step backwards IMO.

The rechargeable cycling-specific GPS devices from Garmin are of no use to me.  I'm not interested unless I can use regular AA batteries I can buy at a gas station!  I have no idea if they deal with the track data better though.  I just can't believe Garmin didn't think this thru.  It is unreasonable to have to manually remember to do things to avoid data loss!

[brian.r.hamilton]

BTW, here is a link where you can request Garmin add the "Save track data to SD card" feature:

http://www8.garmin.com/contactUs/ideas/

[brian.r.hamilton]

I've also found the the eTrex 30 randomly breaks up track data files in the Garmin/Archive directory.  It doesn't save 10,000 points when set to Full as one would expect.  I think the only way to avoid data loss with this unit is to never clear the track log, never save, & use a product like Topofusion to merge the fragmented data mess Garmin leaves behind (if you're lucky).  I'm so frustrated with this unit that I'm probably going to just sell it & go back to using my Vista HCx.  I've found no difference in accuracy between the two units & the Vista HCx never loses track data unless you fill the data card (not an issue with the size of cards today even when recording 1 point per second).

When the Vista HCx is set to save track data to the card, it saves a single continuous track in a standard file format (GPX) in one logically named file per day with ZERO user intervention.  It doesn't get any simpler than that!  Let Garmin know!  KISS!