Know your gear

WowTech!

A heart rate monitor is for the sports market; a GPS unit for the outdoor market. The GPS unit furthermore belongs in the cab of a 4x4 or the cabin of a boat.

Right? Yes ... and no.

GPS devices have become so small, manageable and affordable that they are now used for just about every activity, from athletes’ training, to hiking, canoeing ... even golf!

Like the computer industry in the last century, the developers of GPS units are constantly inventing features to attract consumers and turn these former luxury items into "must haves".

Garmin has improved on the product that was the 2003 winner of the SA Sports Trader Outdoor Product of the Year competition, namely street mapping software.

While the previous street map only covered the three major city centres, the new Garmap SA Streetmaps v3 now offers full auto routing (voice directing turn-by-turn) on all South African major, primary and secondary roads, with mapping detail of more than 1 000 South African cities, towns and rural villages — all of which tallies up to nearly 300 000KM of road data.

To launch this new mapping product, Avnic Trading is running a promotion which will entitle all Garmin users of auto-routing products to purchase this mapping at discounted prices, provided it has been purchased through an authorised SA dealer.

"Those currently using City Select can purchase Garmap for R855 incl VAT and those using earlier versions of Garmap can upgrade for R741 incl VAT," advises Richard Gie. "As a standalone product, Garmap will retail at around R1710 incl VAT, so this introductory special offers a considerable saving."

They have also introduced a Garmap "road atlas" of Africa on a CD that downloads on to their map enabled GPS units — giving the African adventure traveller the up to date information (through Internet downloads) needed to plan any trip from the Cape to Cairo.

The pocket-sized Magellan eXplorist 600 GPS, locally distributed by Pertec, also has the capability to add detailed street maps and topography charts.Unlimited memory expandability allows the user to add up to 5 track log files, each with 2 000 track-points and store an unlimited amount of track log files to optional SD cards.

This range of waterproof GPS units shows speed, direction and the distance to the destination. Other luxury features include a built-in electronic 3-axis compass, a barometer, a barometric pressure altimeter and a thermometer.

As more and more manufacturers from related fields enter the GPS market, expertise developed for other activities become part of GPS devices ... and vice versa.

Attract different clients

This means that the stockist of GPS units can now attract a whole new group of clients to his store. Instead of just attracting the hiker or 4x4 enthusiast through stocking GPS units, outdoor stores can now also attract the runner, cyclist, sailor or shore angler looking for GPS units to their stores.

Marine electronics supplier Humminbird, for instance, has made a small hand-held fishfinder for the shore angler.

Another traditional marine electronics supplier, Lowrance, is now also launching more affordable handheld GPS devices.

Where Polar always provided heart rate monitors for the sports market, the AXN Outdoor Computer range introduced late last year, also caters for the outdoor enthusiast. Features like slope counters, compasses, barometers, personal energy expenditure monitors, and even a rest test,enables climbers,canoeists, hikers, extreme sport enthusiasts and others to keep track of just about every conceivable change: whether in terrain, weather or body functions.

Personal trainers

Athletes like runners, canoeists or cyclists are now also able to enjoy the use of GPS information as a training tool.

Garmin’s Forerunner 301 is a wristop combination heart rate monitor and GPS device that can be used for multiple sports, such as canoeing, running and cycling. The user can record the route, distance, time, lap time, calories burnt and heart rate and download it onto a computer for further analysis.

With the receiver, one of the strongest in the Garmin range, athletes training with the unit have experienced little loss of GPS reception, despite predictions that satellite reception might be compromised by tall buildings or trees.

According to Gie, Garmin’s GPS solution is set to revolutionise the world of sport. "Runners now have accurate speed and distance data with no need to calibrate external sensors. Information such as altitude, heart rate, calories burnt, etc. is now available on a 2 device system (wrist worn GPS and chest strap).

The Forerunner 301 integrates with the Garmin training center software that displays exercise information and even overlays the exercise on a Garmin compatible map. "Up to now athletes participating in activities like kayaking and canoeing did not have much choice when it came to an integrated GPS/Heart rate training system, as GPS is the only external sensor that can be used when it comes to supplying an accurate speed and distance component," says Gie.

"The market for complete sports instruments that combine multiple fields of information has become very competitive — both technologically and economically," says Steve Saunders of Suunto distributor Manex and Power Marine.

"Garmin has produced the first integrated unit that performs really well, but we will have to see what is to come, I know Suunto has a few tricks up their sleeve!"

The T6 Personal Training System by Suunto records how the body performs during exercise, enabling later analysis and planning with the training manager. It also displays speed and distance information. The unit is compatible with wireless POD’s.

Suunto has opted to go for an inertial sensor system, rather than a GPS system, which provides them with the capability to record either running or cycling speed accurately without the risk of losing signal.

Polar’s S625 Speed and Distance Monitor (SDM), also uses inertial technology, as opposed to GPS navigation. GPS is, as yet, not viable for runners, because "the size and power consumption of current GPS technology generally makes that technology cumbersome for use in the running market," says Peter Figg of local Polar distributor Intelligent Health & Fitness.

"GPS technology is unable to deliver accurate enough vertical resolution required for route profiling, a key benefit sought by runners", he says.

"Inertial sensor technology can still deliver good accuracy when running in city centres with tall buildings as well as in forests, where GPS technology often struggles due to the difficulty in obtaining satellite reception in these environments".

Inertial technology can also be used on indoor tracks and on treadmills.

Even golf is going the GPS route!

GPSI, a Vancouver, Canada, based company has developed a "GPS golf business solution" aimed at managers of golf facilities or resorts.

The GPSI WiFi systems can be used to monitor how fast carts on a course are going in order to speed up play; allow a golfer to measure precise distances of play; display data and leader boards during tournaments; allow golfers to go online while at a course... and even display lunch menus and take orders!