Avoiding buying sat nav and charging the zumo xt

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Evening all.
Have been trying to avoid buying a sat nav as I already have an amazing phone that does everything I need and more but I can’t escape two major failings that made my last jolly annoying- it couldn’t handle the bright sunlight, the screen just wasn’t bright enough and it overheated going into a power saving dull screen mode to protect the battery. It’s also not glove friendly. Basically the weather veered between pissing down and bright hot sunshine and I couldn’t read the damn thing. Squinting for prolonged periods at a screen is a bit unsafe thing while riding so I’ve finally succumbed to the notion I need a dedicated sat nav and landed on the Zumo XT over the TomTom due to is extra bright screen.

Is this the right choice?
Can I charge the zumo via USB whilst using it rather than the supplied shoe?
Does it being satellite mean when I’m lost in the mountains in Spain unlike my phone it’ll get me out of a squeeze?

Any help appreciated.

[TripleThreat719]

It is not advisable to charge the unit via the USB port for a couple of reasons.

1. You have to have a rubber protective door open to access the USB port, which opens up a spot for water to enter the unit.
2. The USB port is not designed to handle the constant vibrations created by the motorcycle when running and in motion.

Yes... The Zumo XT will provide you with greater coverage than cellular service because it is receiving its signal via satellite, rather than cell phone towers. It even does a remarkable job in fairly dense tree coverage.

[jfheath]

What @TripleThreat719 said is absolutely correct.

But if you were referring to being able to use the USB socket to charge the phone p, then yes - absolutely - and you can fiddle with the menus and settings while it is charging.

But for use on the bike - mount the cradle and wire it in. Its not difficult.
No Usb socket will last long on a motorcycle unless specially adapted so that the male and female parts cannot move relative to each other.

[Slowlycatchymonkey]

Thankyou @TripleThreat719 and @jfheath I hadn’t considered the usb connections being fragile. I will wire in the supplied shoe on my bike but was considering how I could use it on a hire bike in Spain in bright sun for a prolonged period. Good to hear it works in dense tree coverage.

It will be in a waterproof case while on the hire bike so the cover on the back being open wont be a problem. It may cause problems using the touch screen but we’ll see!

[Sightseer99]

Does this recommendation to not use the USB port for powering the device on a motorcycle due to shock/vibration apply to use of the XT in passenger cars as well (not off road)?

[Fallguy67]

Does this recommendation to not use the USB port for powering the device on a motorcycle due to shock/vibration apply to use of the XT in passenger cars as well (not off road)?

I’ve been using the USB port to power my XT in my truck. I haven’t had any problems. So far at least……

[simoncrewe]

Does this recommendation to not use the USB port for powering the device on a motorcycle due to shock/vibration apply to use of the XT in passenger cars as well (not off road)?

No - The automotive mount works via the usb connection when in a vehicle.

[jfheath]

Does this recommendation to not use the USB port for powering the device on a motorcycle due to shock/vibration apply to use of the XT in passenger cars as well (not off road)?

No - The automotive mount works via the usb connection when in a vehicle.

The car cradle requires the use of the USB connection for power. But the car does not subject the connection to the same shock vibrations that the motorcycle would give it. This experience comes from using the same USB. connections on 3 varieties of in board cameras for both power and signals. After a couple of years the connection failed, rendering expensive equipment useless.

Only later did companies recognise this problem and started providing systems to lock the USB male and female parts together. eg Locating pins; USB connections as part of a threaded connection; connectors embedded in plastic / rubber mouldings that could be held firm with a screw.

Note that the XT recognises which mount it is in by knowing where its external power is coming from. So if it is from the back, it is in the bike cradle. If it is from the USB connector, it assumes it is in the car cradle. It gives a warning message that it is about to switch to car mode, but it is easy to accidentally dismiss this when you pick up the XT from being face down. If you don't notice, any changes you make will be for when it is in car mode, not when it is running a motorcycle route - and that can be the source of a lot of unexpected behaviour.

[jfheath]

Does it being satellite mean when I’m lost in the mountains in Spain unlike my phone it’ll get me out of a squeeze?

I didn't answer this question.
You will get a satellite signal where you can get a clear view of the Sky. But satellites are anywhere from directly overhead to low on the distant horizon. The problem when it starts up is if you have moved location since it last got a good fix. It needs a few satellites to get a reasonable fix, and if it doesn't know where you are it cannot which streams of data to tune into. Furthermore it cannot know what the precise time is - which it gets from satellites and which it relies on in order to calculate distance to the satellite in oder to perform its complex trigonometry to find out where you are.

So it searches around for any signals that it can find, which will take a few minutes if it doesn't know roughly where it is. It can then get an approximate location, within a few hundred metres perhaps (I don't actually know what the figures are). From that it can start locating other satellite signals to get a much better fix.

All of this is a long winded way of saying that if you have moved since you turned it off, it can take a long while to get a decent fix. So setting off first thing in the morning from an underground car park, into a busy Spanish city with its narrow streets and tall buildings, don't expect it to do a good job of navigating you where you need to go. It is possibly trying to use low down satellites that can no longer give a good signal because of the buildings. Once it knows the time and approximate position it can concentrate on a handful of signals from satellites that are in the best position to give an accurate fix.

On the other hand, if you have been riding with your satnav on all of the time, even if you are in Desfiladero de los Beyos - which is a vey narrow, deep limestone gorge in the Picos, and which sees direct sunlight once every blue moon (so to speak) - then the satnav will do a pretty good job of keeping track of your position. Surprisingly.

Actually, the XT and 59x Zumos cheat a little bit, and if it loses satellite reception, it assumes that you are continuing on the same road at the same speed until it can get a better fix.

Short answer ... yes it will let you know where you are, providing it has a good view of the sky and has been given plenty of time to get its fix. You can check on the signal status by tapping the satellite signal icon on the main screen top bar.

[HarveyM]

Yes... The Zumo XT will provide you with greater coverage than cellular service because it is receiving its signal via satellite, rather than cell phone towers. It even does a remarkable job in fairly dense tree coverage.

Your cell phone also uses satellite networks for it's GPS rather than cell coverage. The only difference is what jfheath mentioned above.