nigelphoto
New Member
At last – I can actually navigate!
In a previous thread Sat Nav advice please I asked for advice about using a TomTom One car satnav on my bike and Boris kindly came up with this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QZO-12V-to-5V ... 1e7b7b279f as a much cheaper and better solution to fitting a cigarette lighter socket (only on a Gold Wing, and that would be for cigars!). Luckily I already had a fused live lead out of the regulator on my Bee-Em as I am a total dunce when it comes to the electrics.
I had to wait nearly four weeks for the 12v to 5v transformer to arrive and in the meantime I tried maps in a map holder on the tank. Absolutely useless – if you use a small scale you can't read it and if you use a large scale you have to change it over too quickly and it means you stop every twenty minutes. Furthermore you can't see in bright sunlight - which is also a problem using a satnav so you have to be able to hear the instructions but unfortunately with the wind in your hair you can't!
The solution is to have a headphone set to hear the instructions but there are very few satnavs that have the 3.5mm jack plug socket fitted nowadays; just the TomTom One Edition 1 (mine is an Edition 3) and a Binatone R430, for sale at Argos at a mere £110. However, searching online I got a brand new one less than half that at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Binatone-R430 ... 27d1fccffa and it arrived next day.
I also had to buy a 0.5m extension cable which is coiled inside the case with just the socket poking out of the case – important this if you think about it as you'd get your ears ripped off with headphone's in and connected directly to the satnav if you threw the plot up the road. The Binatone R430 sits neatly into this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151153651827? ... 1439.l2649
I have dispensed with the little rubber bungs which come with the in-ear headphone's and instead halve a silicone ear plug and wrap each half carefully around the exposed headphone tube so I get a perfect seal and the windnoise is greatly reduced just like using the silicone earplugs normally. Total cost of being able to navigate on my bike, inc P&P was £68.92 – I could have saved about £20 off this price if I'd gone for the Binatone satnav with UK maps only, but I felt the Europe maps will be very useful for just a little extra.
Lastly, you may notice a piece of foam taped to my seat, cut from an old 4 seasons camping mat. Rather cheaper than an Airhawk seat and does extend my range by up to 50 miles until the point where my bum needs massaging!
In a previous thread Sat Nav advice please I asked for advice about using a TomTom One car satnav on my bike and Boris kindly came up with this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QZO-12V-to-5V ... 1e7b7b279f as a much cheaper and better solution to fitting a cigarette lighter socket (only on a Gold Wing, and that would be for cigars!). Luckily I already had a fused live lead out of the regulator on my Bee-Em as I am a total dunce when it comes to the electrics.
I had to wait nearly four weeks for the 12v to 5v transformer to arrive and in the meantime I tried maps in a map holder on the tank. Absolutely useless – if you use a small scale you can't read it and if you use a large scale you have to change it over too quickly and it means you stop every twenty minutes. Furthermore you can't see in bright sunlight - which is also a problem using a satnav so you have to be able to hear the instructions but unfortunately with the wind in your hair you can't!
The solution is to have a headphone set to hear the instructions but there are very few satnavs that have the 3.5mm jack plug socket fitted nowadays; just the TomTom One Edition 1 (mine is an Edition 3) and a Binatone R430, for sale at Argos at a mere £110. However, searching online I got a brand new one less than half that at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Binatone-R430 ... 27d1fccffa and it arrived next day.
I also had to buy a 0.5m extension cable which is coiled inside the case with just the socket poking out of the case – important this if you think about it as you'd get your ears ripped off with headphone's in and connected directly to the satnav if you threw the plot up the road. The Binatone R430 sits neatly into this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151153651827? ... 1439.l2649
I have dispensed with the little rubber bungs which come with the in-ear headphone's and instead halve a silicone ear plug and wrap each half carefully around the exposed headphone tube so I get a perfect seal and the windnoise is greatly reduced just like using the silicone earplugs normally. Total cost of being able to navigate on my bike, inc P&P was £68.92 – I could have saved about £20 off this price if I'd gone for the Binatone satnav with UK maps only, but I felt the Europe maps will be very useful for just a little extra.
Lastly, you may notice a piece of foam taped to my seat, cut from an old 4 seasons camping mat. Rather cheaper than an Airhawk seat and does extend my range by up to 50 miles until the point where my bum needs massaging!
