GPS for the UP
- Thread starter M10
- Start date
M10,I run a Garmin Nuvi 500 with the map chip from
Ryan at Redpinemapping.com . The Garmin is waterproof and has a pretty good screen size.I did have to hard-wire mine to the sled to eliminate battery life issues in the cold.I have Mn,Wi and Mi
maps loaded onto one chip and they work great
Dann
Ryan at Redpinemapping.com . The Garmin is waterproof and has a pretty good screen size.I did have to hard-wire mine to the sled to eliminate battery life issues in the cold.I have Mn,Wi and Mi
maps loaded onto one chip and they work great
Dann
Just don't leave it on the sled or will be gone in a New York Nanosecond! Sometimes better to just have cheap GPS from car in your pocket for location checks in backwoods. I have Garmin but only use it for top end speed checks otherwise use compass for deadreckoning & always find my way back home to my wife's disappointment.
I was looking at buying a GPS for my sled but after I downloaded the Polaris Snow Trails app for free on my Iphone I decided I will try it first. When I came up to Greenland in September for the trail work session I mapped our route and tried it out. You can zoom in and see the names of roads, press a button for services in the area, food, gas, lodging, and polaris dealers. The funded trails are all shown in red and it shows your exact location. It does eat the battery when you have the location service turned on on the phone, so I bought the small windshield bag for the Rush and I will just leave the
phone plugged in when riding. Check it out if you happen to have a smartphone.
phone plugged in when riding. Check it out if you happen to have a smartphone.
Ditto on the Redpinemapping.com trail maps. I've got both Wisconsin ND Michigan on an SD card for my Garmin Zumo and they work fine.
I run a Nuvi 500 as well and love it but I us VVmapping. Mounted with a ram mount strong hard wired a plug under the hood and keep the cord hooked up all year. I ride all off trail and have had this over on its lid packed with snow and she is still good to go. Here is some pics of my old set up on my rev I cant find my XP set up right now. Any questions pm me I will answer them to the best my ability.
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I have a Garmin Zumo 220. It's waterproof and came with a mount that goes right on the handlebars. Since you have a battery on your sled you can hook it right up. My sled doesn't so I had to buy an adapter from Polaris. The GPS is around $400. I also have the redpinemapping chip. I don't recommend that. It was way off on a number of trails in the UP. Now they're offering discounts and even will pay for trail updates because they suck. Just mo.
cuzzinolaf
Active member
I run a cheap Garmin eTrex (non-color) on a Ram mount. I replace the AA Lithium batteries every 3-4 trips and am not scared if it breaks or fall off because it was $75. I have all of the western UP trail maps on it as well as all the spots I have marked over the years.
cuzzinolaf
Active member
I bought it off of Craigslist way back in the day. The same one sells for around $75 at most places. It is the blue eTrex.
squarepants2
New member
Get a ram mount and install a 12 volt plug in. You can easily take it off sled. Look at ram mount at gps cit.y.com.There is a cradle for nuvi 500 and various mount options. The handle bar mount works great. That is what I have on my polaris assault. Good Luck
Yooper_Bob
New member
I use a Garmin GPSMap 60 series as well, and it works excellent. I have topographical maps loaded.
My unit is almost 10 years old now, and has held up to summertime dust/rain/mud on my dualsport, and wintertime snow/ice/cold. I use some high quality rechargable Ni-MH batteries, and they easily last 10-12 hours in the coldest temps.
The only drawback to running batteries, is the unit does not stay backlit when on batteries. Not a problem for me, since I ride very little at night. You can hardwire the unit to your sled/bike, and then it will stay backlit while the unit is on.
I also use a RAM mount.
My unit is almost 10 years old now, and has held up to summertime dust/rain/mud on my dualsport, and wintertime snow/ice/cold. I use some high quality rechargable Ni-MH batteries, and they easily last 10-12 hours in the coldest temps.
The only drawback to running batteries, is the unit does not stay backlit when on batteries. Not a problem for me, since I ride very little at night. You can hardwire the unit to your sled/bike, and then it will stay backlit while the unit is on.
I also use a RAM mount.
I also use the 60 (csx). I buy the AA lithium batteries for it. They last a couple days, and I turn the backlight on full whenever we are out, day or night. I think it helps keep the unit warm. The 60 works great for me, although I think it is not made anymore.
HI Cuzz...
This sounds like the exact unit that I got my hubby a few years ago. He has never used it for snowmobilling. Where did you get your trail maps from and do your batteries last for a full 8 to 9 hour day of riding? I was thinking about getting him a new one for x-mas, but if we can still get trail maps for old reliable then what the heck! Have you used it in the U.P. and if so, have you ever had a problem with signal?