Just got my GT 31 for Xmas. I have loaded the latest firmware and set it up for speed sailing and recording to SD card but have a few questions if anyone can help please.

1. What would be really useful is a simple guide to using the GT 31. i.e. OK you arrive at the beach ready for a session...................so what is the best way to use it? Can anyone point me to something like that or spell it out briefly?

2. For the moment I am assuming I just power up, go to the speed menu and press the big button so that the display is on Speed in big font, hold the big button down fro a couple of seconds to lock the key and get on the water. But how do I make sure everything is zeroed before I start? I can see that if I press the big button whilst on the " Speed" ( in big font) display I get a Delete all option. Is that it? I assume that means nothing is saved to flash but the data on the card remains?

3 If the above is correct, is the best procedure to be on the "speed" display/locked......do a run.....unlock it.....delete all...........or do you delete all after you have done the return leg, ready for the next run?

thanks in advance for any advice

Mike

Hi Mike,

You answered your first question at the second point. Just activate your GT-31. I use the delete all under misc menu to clear my old speeds before I go on the water. And go to the speed option and lock the device as you mentioned. I place my gt on my upper arm so I can see the speeds of the run after the gybe.  Do not delete a run on the water!! If you stop after a run you will see the results of that run on your display and the results of the best run for that session. 

I hope this helps, have  fun!

Wouter

Hi Mike

As Wouter says you are pretty much there, I always switch mine on 5mins before hitting the water, I leave mine set on a scrolling menu that shows max, then 10sec, then a combo of both. Once I'm sure that its all up and running I us the delete all so I don't have any max's in the data from my last session and lock it using  the lock button, seal it in my aqauapack and then into my armband with the safety loop round my neck

I've had some problems with it unlocking and losing data whilst sailing but have found a fine line between armband tighness etc, but i also find it unlocks less if I insert it upside down and have flipped the screen in the menu so that I can still read my speeds easily. I find the overspeed buzzer pointless over 20knts as you can't hear it so IMO don't bother with that unless its a big kit day.

Where are you planning on sailing? I'm sure that there must be a couple of locals who use them as well?

It's a great device for reviewing kit performance, you can switch it off and on to break up your sessions and then concatenate the files in GPS results to get your daily result summary, that allows you to see the difference between different pieces of kit. I was genuinely surprised to find out how much fast in an F5 a bigger board smaller sail combo was for me! Also in GPS Results you can review certain time frames when you know you were on one set up or another, very useful if you forget to start a new session.

I also love the satellite image overlay and seeing where I went over a long days sailing, its surprising how much of the water you aren't using, I now defintely go deeper as a result.

Hi Mike, welcome "on board" and a happy new year to you.

Steve Thorp has the details well documented on his web site, please see link below.

http://www.stevethorp.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=177&Itemid=47

best regards

H

Hi Mike, welcome "on board" and a happy new year to you.

Steve Thorp has the details well documented on his web site, please see link below.

http://www.stevethorp.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=177&Itemid=47

best regards

H

Thanks all............think I just about have it sussed now!

I still wondered what defined a run.....but I noticed in GPS Results that it considers a new run to be anytime you drop below the min speed set or turn more than 90 degrees.

As per Steve Thorps link I ended up using GPS Results...love it! I could not get GPS ActionReplay to work!

 I have done a dry run using my van just to get some SBN files to play with on GPS Results..........I have not of curse uploaded them to GPSS!!

Thaks again.

Hi John,

I sail mostly at Hamworthy ( with Garry and co) but I am definitely going to try out Portland more often this year now I have the GT -31.......maybe do speed week as well, especially as you will be in another class after your win this year!

I was interested in how you use the device and it maybe answered anoher question I have. You said you switch off so you can try different kit. I was trying to find out whether having selected "write to card", the device dynamically writes all data to the SD card, or whether you have to transfer data from flash to card using the misc menu prior to switching off.

I can see that the "display" is temporary, and zeroes if you go off the Speed menu. I am not sure whether the flash memory is RAM or ROM............I know it overwrites.

For the moment I am using misc to tell it to copy to card before I switch off.

............AND..........thaks John for the heads up on the Aquapac potentially applying pressure to the big button and ulocking the device. I have used a piece of 7mm double lined neoprene with a hole cut in it to place over the buttons. The aquapac should not be able to compress the button.............thats the plan anyway!