90 replies to this topic

[emjay]

Brick, on Dec 3 2008, 11:38 AM, said:

The problem is not the $10 it is location.
I have been to the USA more times this year than to Broadway and I live in Sydney.

Do you want me to pick one up for you?

[chilliman]

Brick, on Dec 3 2008, 11:38 AM, said:

The problem is not the $10 it is location.
I have been to the USA more times this year than to Broadway and I live in Sydney.

The $14 price I saw was at Wollies/Safeway supermarkets, one near me still has them for that, otherwise they are $17.


Isn't Broadway in the USA ?

[Brick]

chilliman, on Dec 3 2008, 01:55 PM, said:

The $14 price I saw was at Wollies/Safeway supermarkets, one near me still has them for that, otherwise they are $17.


Isn't Broadway in the USA ?

Oops yes it is.  

[Rivz]

Just picked up the Uniross charger from KMART in Hornsby for $8.  They are in the "Lighting" section.

A little too late for those doing the C2K I'm afraid.

Cheers
Rivz

[Brick]

RunnerRivz, on Dec 11 2008, 10:06 PM, said:

Just picked up the Uniross charger from KMART in Hornsby for $8.  They are in the "Lighting" section.

A little too late for those doing the C2K I'm afraid.

Cheers
Rivz

The one emjay picked up for me worked perfectly at C2K.
With rechargeable batteries in it I recharged my garmin once and then tried to again until I got a low battery so swapped the rechargeable batteries over again and charged of the rest of the race.

I stopped the timer at 100Kms so as not to go over the Sportstracker limit over 18 hrs and started it again immediately.
I did that one more time at the start of the bike path in Jindy so I knew how far I had left.
So three graphs for the whole race cool.

Brick

[blair]

Brick, on Dec 16 2008, 08:27 AM, said:

I stopped the timer at 100Kms so as not to go over the Sportstracker limit over 18 hrs and started it again immediately.

I wish I'd known about the 18 hour limit a week ago! I ran my Garmin for the whole run but charged it from the car mostly. But now I can't import the run into Sport Tracks It imports fine into Garmin Training Centre though.

[emjay]

Brick, on Dec 16 2008, 09:27 AM, said:

The one emjay picked up for me worked perfectly at C2K.
With rechargeable batteries in it I recharged my garmin once and then tried to again until I got a low battery so swapped the rechargeable batteries over again and charged of the rest of the race.

I stopped the timer at 100Kms so as not to go over the Sportstracker limit over 18 hrs and started it again immediately.
I did that one more time at the start of the bike path in Jindy so I knew how far I had left.
So three graphs for the whole race cool.

Brick

ours worked perfectly, it took less than an hour to recharge the 405 with energiser lithium.  i dont have full data, as the garmin lived in the car after the weather set in.  amazingly it kept the satellite signal even from the glove box!

[Action]

balri, on Dec 16 2008, 09:47 AM, said:

I wish I'd known about the 18 hour limit a week ago! I ran my Garmin for the whole run but charged it from the car mostly. But now I can't import the run into Sport Tracks It imports fine into Garmin Training Centre though.

Perhaps we can hack the XML file as FPT suggested and break it into 3 for ST?  Worth a try...

[Brick]

balri, on Dec 16 2008, 09:47 AM, said:

I wish I'd known about the 18 hour limit a week ago! I ran my Garmin for the whole run but charged it from the car mostly. But now I can't import the run into Sport Tracks It imports fine into Garmin Training Centre though.

Sorry mate I did post about this just after Glasshouse 100 miler.
Any software available maybe on Mac that can import over 18 hrs and split the files into two/three?
Worth asking.

Brick

[Spud]

I used two 301s for C2K.
15hrs battery life on the first and the second got me home in just under 14hrs. Damn fine battery in the 301.

[chilliman]

Brick, on Dec 16 2008, 12:00 PM, said:

Sorry mate I did post about this just after Glasshouse 100 miler.
Any software available maybe on Mac that can import over 18 hrs and split the files into two/three?
Worth asking.

Brick

If you send it to me via a PM  i'll have a crack at it on the mac.

[brettsrun]

I used my 305 for most of the way and charged it in the car, but have lost al the data for the fisrt 70K, the time and distance is there just no elevation and pace?

[JustinS007]

brettsrun, on Dec 16 2008, 06:08 PM, said:

I used my 305 for most of the way and charged it in the car, but have lost al the data for the fisrt 70K, the time and distance is there just no elevation and pace?

Yep, you only get about 200km of full data into the 305 memory.  Then it keeps the lap specific data (ie time, pace, HR etc.) but drops the elevation and long/lats.  The small memory is a problem.

Like Spud we use 2 x devices (305's) and to be safe on both the data front and battery front try to cycle them in 6 - 10 hours intervals.  We also have the contrast turned down a bit to preserve battery life.

J.

[brettsrun]

JustinS007, on Dec 16 2008, 08:13 PM, said:

Yep, you only get about 200km of full data into the 305 memory.  Then it keeps the lap specific data (ie time, pace, HR etc.) but drops the elevation and long/lats.  The small memory is a problem.

Like Spud we use 2 x devices (305's) and to be safe on both the data front and battery front try to cycle them in 6 - 10 hours intervals.  We also have the contrast turned down a bit to preserve battery life.

J.

Thanks for the Tips J,
I might invest in a second unit, I havent looked at the whole thread but it appears you can join sessions so hopefully that is the case.
I have 12 months to save to be able to buy another 305 and cover the whole of Kosci - Weather Permitting

[Brick]

brettsrun, on Dec 16 2008, 06:08 PM, said:

I used my 305 for most of the way and charged it in the car, but have lost al the data for the fisrt 70K, the time and distance is there just no elevation and pace?

That happened with mine as well but I was expecting it to.
It actually compresses the results and removes the map and pace to save space.
But it still has all of the laps set at 1km intervals so all good.

Brick

[LizW]

I use the Garmin 405 - battery life is my main problem/issue but my 14yo son has the perfect solution - I just have to run faster!

[vstaR]

Could this be our salvation for ultras? Saw this article today..........

Soldiers on a new charge
Engineers at the University of Leeds are developing a revolutionary way to capture the kinetic energy produced when soldiers march and use it to power their equipment, according to the BBC.
The new breed of electricity generators

The new system, designed to convert foot-power into battery power, could help troops reduce the weight of their packs by up to 10kg.
The project will consider the optimum placement of the 'energy harvesting' devices, including the back-pack straps and around the knee to provide active support, capturing energy but also cushioning the impact when legs are bent, joints compressed or their boots strike the ground.
Professor Andrew Bell, Director of the Institute for Materials Research at the University of Leeds, who is leading the £1m research project, says: "As well as the obvious green issue of using so many batteries, it could also reduce a soldier’s pack weight by around 15 per cent. This technology could potentially have lots of applications in civvy street too."
The project has been designed to address the needs of soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Heavy packs can severely limit a soldier's mobility and also lead to long-term health problems.

[run to the hills]

My wife and I are going to use our 310 and 405 GPS for Trailwalker next week and anticipate a 18-24hr duration.

I know that the 405 battery won't last that long and that the 310 will be on limits.

I am after a portable recharger to suit the USB connection for both, preferably one that runs on AAs or AAAs and I can run or walk without being a hinderance.

I would also like to buy it locally and not have to order it over the internet or from overseas due to the short time frame in which I require it.

Also, does anyone know if I can recharge and still record data while moving?

Apologies in advance if this question has already been asked.

[chilliman]

run to the hills, on Aug 21 2010, 10:37 AM, said:

Also, does anyone know if I can recharge and still record data while moving?

Have a read though the above thread rtth's (I have moved your post into here to keep on track).

I charge my 405 on the run while it is still recording when the battery gets to about 20%. (Bezel locked the whole time). I just clip it onto the charger clamp and fasten around one of the straps on the back of the camelbak and put a postmans rubber band around the clamp as an added precaution. You can only see the charging screen whilst moving but it is still recording.

[run to the hills]

Thanks for the move chilliman. Just finished reading all of the above.

To the best of your knowledge are those rechargers still available in Woolies or Safeway?

[Blackfly05]

run to the hills, on 21 August 2010 - 12:25 PM, said:

Thanks for the move chilliman. Just finished reading all of the above.

To the best of your knowledge are those rechargers still available in Woolies or Safeway?

Hi guys, not sure if anyone is still looking at alternative options, but recently read this thread in aid of finding something to get me (or more importantly, my 405) through this years NF100. I was unable to locate the Uniross charger, anyway here in WA. I did find a Varta portable option with built-in Li-on battery, but found it a bit pricey at $50. (in the battery section at Woolworths. On further searching i found and bought a Powerchimp portable charging device... $25 at Retravision. Good price i thought, since they are listed on-line for $49! Seems to be similar to the Uniross, but come with a set of 2 x AA NI-MH 1800 rechargeable batteries. Also has all the necessary attachments (USB /mini USB / Ipod / various other phones) and most importantly female USB attachment, for use with the garmin lead. Device is very stylish, has a torch, it's on little pouch and is very small & light (less than 170g!)

I will be putting it through it's paces on a few of my training runs. Hopefully it will be the saviour for my watch and my ipod on the day of the NF100

[Arn]

For all you Garmin greeks out there I'm conducting a bit of an experiment this weekend. I'm running my first 100 miler at the Glasshouse event this weekend (wooot!) which I'll complete in under 30 hours. Unfortunately my garmin 310xt has great battery life of 20 hours and a bit shy if my expected race time!

So I've bought myself a $7 usb AA-powered charger from Jaycar to literally recharge on the run. In a test last night it took 2 hours to fully recharge from 10% charge while recording data. I'll let you know after the race how well recharging went during the race!

[chilliman]

Arn, on 09 September 2011 - 06:19 AM, said:

I'll let you know after the race how well recharging went during the race!

Arn, take a posties rubber band to hold the charging clamp on the 310, wrap it around a couple of times.

Just a word of warning, don't enable 1 sec recording (later firmware) on the 310 either for longer events as memory will fill.

Also make sure you have updated to the latest firmware to maximise memory storage, memory partitioning changed slightly.
(note you may reset the 310 to factory in the process).

Also delete all existing history to leave room for the new file.

More tips to increase battery life:
Turn off the back light, yes set to "off" other wise if  you are using auto lap it will come on each split.
If you really want to maximise life turn off autolap and the vibrating alerts too.
Using a HRM strap will also reduce battery life from the max 20hrs (new unit).

Have tested a 310 for 55hrs off a single charge with GPS off and using a foot pod for distance, pace and cadence, charge remaining was just less than 20%.
Data file was complete and only took up about 40% of memory, don't forget it didn't contain any track point data.

Am still yet to test properly if a 310 can hold a single GPS recorded data file of 30 hrs and not fill memory. Ie be able to down load the file (not just see the summary data) and have all track points available.

Good luck and will be interested in your findings.

[Arn]

Thanks for the great tips, Chilli! Will let you know how the data collection goes

[Arn]

100 Miles Done!! Woot!!   in 26 hrs 48 mins.

Here's a link to the activity: http://connect.garmi...ivity/114032438

And this is the charger that I used - $6.95 from Jaycar plus 4 x AA batteries.

I used the standard Garmin USB charging cable that normally connects to the computer, tucked the cable under my backpack waist strap and put the battery pack in my pocket. I tried an elastic band on the clamp to keep the cable from disconnecting from the watch but this turned out to be more hassle than it was worth and the clamp by itself worked best. I plugged it in after about 16:30 hours running but was getting worried about the amount of battery life left and should have started charging earlier. As per my at-home trials it took about 2 hours to get back to over 90% charge, which was way more than I needed to complete the run anyway. I wasnt using a HRM for this run (as the strap tends to rub painfully under my backpack) so may have saved some data space/battery life as a result.

Running with this setup worked OK, but I suspect at faster speeds I wouldnt want the battery pack in my shorts' pocket, rather I'd put it in my backpack somewhere as it does weigh enough to bounce around and be distracting. The cable on my arm was fine and after ditching the elastic band I didnt find any disconnections.

I havent checked the memory usage but I'll try and do that tonight.

[BlueZed]

OUTSTANDING ARN!!!       

A monumental effort; so glad to hear that you solved the battery issue.  Thank you for sharing your achievements.

[boot]

I can vouch for the 310XT, which will mean less (if any) recharges. Battery life (up to 20hours with GPS and HR) was one of the primary factors in choosing the 310xt over the 405. It is also good on a daily basis, as you can usually squeeze in a training session with a low battery in case you have forgotten to recharge. I would only recharge twice per week at the most (10-12 hours of training per week). The only issue I have had previously is the watch turning on in transit and flattening the battery, this was solved by putting it in a travel case (sunglasses hardcase) Im sure there is a lock funtion now that I mention it. I have even used this watch to log some hikes, or at least the interesting parts of hikes (climbs etc) over a multi day period without any recharges. Amazing that Chillman got 55 hours without GPS and HR, but the data wouldnt be as cool..

Edited by boot, 14 September 2011 - 01:29 PM.

[chilliman]

boot, on 14 September 2011 - 01:22 PM, said:

Amazing that Chillman got 55 hours without GPS and HR, but the data wouldnt be as cool..

Especially given it was on a test bed in the back of the shop with a foot pod on a rotating arm.

[adr1an]

Noticed here that there's a solar charging panel for the 310xt and 910xt. Not sure if people have seen it, or if would be any better than what people are doing anyway..

[Obadellie]

Hi all,
I just ordered a $12.95 2xAA charger from eBay. Went for my first run with my 405. I left home with it on 35% charge then clipped it on after 1 km. got home after doing an easy 8 km and it was charged to 69%.

Most importantly, I found I was able to run with it charging AND able to see my normal screen of data, NOT just the charging screen! When I first clipped it on I saw the charging screen however later in the run I saw my normal data screen, the only variable I can think of was the auto lap function. I have it set to lap every 1 km, this must have 'woken it up' from charge mode to normal display mode. As a side note I also had the bezel locked.

This effectively means my little 405 now has huge battery life and full functionality!

Hope this helps someone else.

[MichaelD]

Obadellie, on 28 January 2012 - 09:24 AM, said:

Hi all,
I just ordered a $12.95 2xAA charger from eBay. Went for my first run with my 405. I left home with it on 35% charge then clipped it on after 1 km. got home after doing an easy 8 km and it was charged to 69%.

Most importantly, I found I was able to run with it charging AND able to see my normal screen of data, NOT just the charging screen! When I first clipped it on I saw the charging screen however later in the run I saw my normal data screen, the only variable I can think of was the auto lap function. I have it set to lap every 1 km, this must have 'woken it up' from charge mode to normal display mode. As a side note I also had the bezel locked.

This effectively means my little 405 now has huge battery life and full functionality!

Hope this helps someone else.

what sort of charger was it, did you need to run a wire from a back pack

[Obadellie]

The only cable I used was the normal garmin charger (clamp) as others have mentioned. I was able very easily to fit the charger in a running belt and simply strapped my watch to the belt at the front (so I could still read it, but not have cable rage!). I don't think it is very practical to have it on the wrist with cables and swinging arms.

Because it was attached to the front I was able to hear and see all the km lap alerts and splits while it was still charging. Also made it really easy to put back on my wrist while running.

This was the charger I purchased: Charger on eBay

[ninjette]

Thanks Obadellie,

I ordered one of these on Thursday, it arrived in the mail on Friday, and yesterday I used it at home to charge up my Garmin again after a run. It seemed to work fine.

Next to see how it goes on the run. Will find this out while doing my 6-hr run at the Injinji Stromlo 12-Hour. It will be great if I can get the entire run recorded! I'm interested to compare pace at the beginning and end of the 6 hours.

[adr1an]

Im interested to hear how people have gone using the AA powered chargers?

[ninjette]

Hi, I've used my AA-powered charger once, at the 6-hour at Stromlo in Feb, and it worked perfectly well. I hooked it up at about 3 hours when the Garmin battery was running low, ran with it charging for about an hour (put the charger in a SPI-belt and buckled the Garmin around the waist strap of the SPI-belt), then took the charger off and the Garmin made it through to the end of 6 hours.

I also bought the same charger for a friend who does longish trail runs and he's used his several times on 6-8 hour runs. He says it works perfectly every time (he puts his in his backpack while it's charging).

[Trailmad]

Can someone please explain to me what's the best charger to buy..... is there a specific charger you need to buy,,, how the charger works to charge the Garmin? how you would connect it to the Garmin (I have a 310XT)...do you connect the Garmin USB lead to the charger?.... for the most part I want to use it for multi day trekking, but if I want to charge it on the run, how that would work. it seems to me with Garmin connected to the charger, that on the run with a cable connected, you wouldn't be able to wear the watch on the wrist..sorry for being such a tech dumb ass

[Kathymac]

Trailmad, on 31 March 2012 - 06:45 PM, said:

Can someone please explain to me what's the best charger to buy..... is there a specific charger you need to buy,,, how the charger works to charge the Garmin? how you would connect it to the Garmin (I have a 310XT)...do you connect the Garmin USB lead to the charger?.... for the most part I want to use it for multi day trekking, but if I want to charge it on the run, how that would work. it seems to me with Garmin connected to the charger, that on the run with a cable connected, you wouldn't be able to wear the watch on the wrist..sorry for being such a tech dumb ass

Hi Trailmad.
I have a Powermonkey which is branded Garmin. I charge the Powermonkey up (you can plug it into the wall or it comes with a mini solar panel which is probably a bit of a gimick - I think it would take forever to reach full charge on anything but a sunny summer day) then connect it to the watch's regular charger with the USB cable.
It doesn't weigh too much but you are right - I couldn't wear the watch on my wrist while it was charging. On the Alpine Challenge I took off my watch, fastened it onto the outside of my pack and had it all connected to the Powermonkey which I placed in the pack.
It was dark and I was doing some difficult trail when I did this so I didn't really get it where I wanted it. The charging clip did shift a couple of times but I was surprised how quickly it was able to charge up the 910 when it was connected. If I had my time again I would find a way of fastening the watch to the front of my shoulder straps so I would be able to see it while running (walking!). An elastic band to hold the charger onto the watch while moving may also have been an improvement.
I don't think I will perfect it for a while as I think I will stick to runs shorter than the battery life for the next few months. Not packing the Powermonkey gives me an incentive to run TNF in under 20 hours!

[Pasty]

With the 310XT, the first thing to do is to lower the screen contrast (settings -> system -> display -> contrast) to a low percentage (say, 20-30%), change the backlight timeout to the minimum (15secs) and turn all tones and vibration off, and recording to smart recording. This will help you to extend the life of the battery. Every little bit counts.

There is nothing special about the Garmin charger, it uses a standard USB cable with 5V DC and has a special clip on one end.  You can either plug your USB type A connector into a PC, into a 240V power pack (which has a USB port output), or into any kind of phone charger which has a USB type A port.   They all simply put 5V DC down the USB cable to the clip.

The question is whether you really want to be charging it while you are moving.   If you can tolerate just charging it at the end of the day, then get something like this Deal Extreme Solar Charger.  You charge the battery during the day, the recharge the garmin when you stop for the night.  Older chargers for the 310XT

But if you really need to charge the garmin while you are moving, then this becomes a different problem.  Once recording, you will find that the watch will continue to operate when the charging clip is attached.  You then need to plug in a 5V DC source to charge the garmin on the run.  I use a Energizer phone charger, which uses 2 lithium batteries and fully charged the Garmin in about 10mins.  You can buy it on ebay here.  I had velcro that I placed around my arm to hold the charger in place while I ran.  It only runs on lithiums batteries (expensive, but awesome, light, the best in the cold weather).  Of course you could just use this system if you charged the garmin at night too and carry a few sets of lithium batteries, but a set of lithiums batteries will be about the same as the solar charger on Deal Extreme.  It would be better to fasten the 310 to the outside of you pack and run cables into the battery.

But, it's really clumsy.  It may be best to simply stop for 10 mins and charge it properly.
These days I use the 910XT which has a longer battery life.  But still not long enough for long races.

Hope that helps.

[Trailmad]

Pasty, on 31 March 2012 - 09:31 PM, said:

With the 310XT, the first thing to do is to lower the screen contrast (settings -> system -> display -> contrast) to a low percentage (say, 20-30%), change the backlight timeout to the minimum (15secs) and turn all tones and vibration off, and recording to smart recording. This will help you to extend the life of the battery. Every little bit counts. There is nothing special about the Garmin charger, it uses a standard USB cable with 5V DC and has a special clip on one end. You can either plug your USB type A connector into a PC, into a 240V power pack (which has a USB port output), or into any kind of phone charger which has a USB type A port. They all simply put 5V DC down the USB cable to the clip. The question is whether you really want to be charging it while you are moving. If you can tolerate just charging it at the end of the day, then get something like this Deal Extreme Solar Charger. You charge the battery during the day, the recharge the garmin when you stop for the night. Older chargers for the 310XT But if you really need to charge the garmin while you are moving, then this becomes a different problem. Once recording, you will find that the watch will continue to operate when the charging clip is attached. You then need to plug in a 5V DC source to charge the garmin on the run. I use a Energizer phone charger, which uses 2 lithium batteries and fully charged the Garmin in about 10mins. You can buy it on ebay here. I had velcro that I placed around my arm to hold the charger in place while I ran. It only runs on lithiums batteries (expensive, but awesome, light, the best in the cold weather). Of course you could just use this system if you charged the garmin at night too and carry a few sets of lithium batteries, but a set of lithiums batteries will be about the same as the solar charger on Deal Extreme. It would be better to fasten the 310 to the outside of you pack and run cables into the battery. But, it's really clumsy. It may be best to simply stop for 10 mins and charge it properly. These days I use the 910XT which has a longer battery life. But still not long enough for long races. Hope that helps.

Thanks Pasty......I really appreciate the fact that you take the time out to respond giving valuable advice. Hope you don't mind If I occasionally ask for more advice with regards to buying the right gear for TNF.

[Pasty]

No worries.  I've got a new portable USB battery this morning that I am trying now ... pretty amazingly awesome.
9000mAh in less than 300 grams weight.  That would be perfect to carry for multi-day hiking trips to recharge your gamin & iPhone at the end of each day.

[Kentox]

I have a Garmin 305 and would like to use it for TNF instead of buying a new $400+ watch. So battery life is around the 5-6 hrs and I could be out there from 14-18hrs so I'll need to charge it 3-4 times on the run. Since the 305 has a bulky cradle and not the clip do you just use a couple of thick rubber bands to keep it attached? I was thinking of doing that, taking it off and just put it in my back pack till it's charged. Will the 305 continue to record while it's charging?