Anyone using one of these?
I’ve been looking at getting a GPS so I can keep track of actual distance, time and speed. Not a training thing, but I kayak for general fitness. (Rather paddle on the ocean or even a lake than ride a bike, and bad knees so running is not an option.)
The Quatix has the same basic functions of my Suunto Core, such as a compass and time. The Quatix adds local tide tables, which might be helpful in case I don’t look it up before going out.
A GPS could be a safety device if I got lost in fog, which is unlikely but can happen, or need to give my coordinates if I needed help.
Wearing this all on a wrist is a consolidation of sorts: instead of a Core and a large hand help GPS device, the Quatix is “all in one”.
I’ve tried using my Iphone in a case, but am not comfortable running the risk of a failure and having to pay full price for a new Iphone … costs much more than a GPS.
Then of course it could also be a neat toy to play with, planning routes on my Ipad, downloading to the Quatix and following the waypoints. Kinda of like adding a game to kayaking.
No! But Use Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro
For $99 from AT&T and free droid apps instead. Only drawback, is no place to tether it with float, so enclose it in bag in order to do so.
The rugby alternative
How is that Samsung Rugby holding up with its rubber seal
and locking mechanism on the back cover ?
It’s also sort of a brute at 4.6 ounces in the pocket
during the day I would think. I’m on the fence to buy.
How are you attaching to your deck, use a deck bag pouch
or just stow it in pfd pocket ?
Pro/Con would you recommend to others.
Yes! For The Price I’d Recommend It
Everything else is much more expensive. And yes, I’ve tossed the phone in the ocean, and it still works, but, for kayaking, it’s stored in a custom waterproof pouch I got from Amazon, so I can tether it to the boat and fasten a small float to it.
I bought the phone for my 15 year old daughter so I can track her on any droid product when she trains out in the ocean in her surfski, no matter where I am. The phone proved itself in two major U.S. kayak races this past summer: The Blackburn on the East Coast and the U.S. Surfski Champs on the West Coast, where we were able to track her from start to finish (including speed).
you forgot another drawback
…it requires a wireless phone signal. How good is your coverage area?
do you have the transceiver?
Interesting having all that in one package strapped to your wrist. How have you found working with the small display?
Excellent So Far
I supposed paddling the Napali Coast on Kauai, HI, the signal would be weak or scarce. But circumnavigating Cape Ann, MA, the signal worked. Only drawback so far is screen brightness, but still enough to view stroke rate, stroke count, time, elapsed time, distance, and speed.
ok, that’s not bad
I guess there’d be plenty of places one could paddle and use that option.
Nice phone and a good option …
… If you have AT&T, and you’re willing to risk the phone if there is a failure in either the phone’s waterproofing, or the bag. This phone seems to be listed as water resistant to 6 feet.
I have Verizon and an Iphone, which cost $300 on a 2 year upgrade, or $750 full retail. For me anyway I don’t want to risk my phone, when replacing could cost as much or more than a dedicated GPS device.
Of course I could get the Samsung for $99 from AT&T, and use it for sports, and leave the Iphone behind. That gives me a phone to call for help as well as GPS. But $99 would not be the true cost: I’d have to get an AT&T plan, which would have to be voice and data. That’s probably $500 annually with a minimum 2 year commitment. And we still have the failure risk and possible replacement at full retail if something goes wrong.
The good thing is there are more than a few ways to get GPS. Options are always a good thing.
Haven’t tried it yet on the water …
… Hope to do so today. If I go to the local lake there will be no map on the watch. If I go to the ocean I will be able to try that. haven’t decided which direction to go yet.
From what I’ve read, the map will be small and not too detailed. It’s easy to zoom in and out, but I won’t know how it looks zoomed in until i"m in a place where the map covers. On land there is no detail.
The map may be interesting, but may not be how I use this. I can start and record a track on the watch, then upload it to Bluechart on my Iphone or Ipad, and get all the detail on the route. Or I can create and save a track on Bluechart, with waypoints, and download it to the watch. Then rather than follow a picture of the map itself, I use the watch to head to waypoints.
What I really like is that I can use the watch to track “live”, ar a glance, the distance I’ve paddled, and average speed. This can be easily displayed on the watch, and is vey legible. The watch lets you scroll through “pages”, looks like 5 or 6, and customize what data you want to see on each page. One page is a 3D compass (watch does not have to be flat).
The watch itself is about the same diameter as my Suunto Core, but sits a bit higher. This is too big for general use (IMHO) on my 7 1/4" wrist. Someone with a bigger or wider wrist may find it otherwise.
I had read that the GPS is slow to acquire, but I have so far found it to take a minute, more or less. If even locked indoors, about 6 feel from a window. My phone locks faster, BUT the phone also uses tower signals, and I believe that allows it to “lock” faster because the phone already has general coordinates of where you are.