Reviews > Navigation and Map Gear > GPS > Magellan SporTrak Color 2003 > Todd Martin > Long Term Report

Long Term Report - Magellan SporTrak Color
Color Handheld Global Positioning System (GPS)

Description of Experience and Comments on Product Performance:
In my two previous reports I described many of the features possessed by the Magellan SporTrak Color GPS and how they are used. In this final report I'd like to focus on my direct experiences with the unit after having carried it as a navigational aid on many off trail hikes in the preceding six month period. To set the stage, I must say that the issues I am most aware of while out in the field are those items which could be improved, and indeed, that will be the focus of this report. In all fairness and to provide some balance let me first say that the SporTrak is a well designed, intuitive and easy to use GPS which has so far proven to be a very good tool for use in navigation off trail. Most of the topics (with the exception of those in the following section) are minor issues or inconveniences that do not detract from the overall functionality of the unit.

Satellite Acquisition and Calculation of Position:
As mentioned in my field report, the SporTrak does a very good job of acquiring and holding satellite signals. Once these signals are received, the GPS must then use its internal software algorithm to calculate its current position. My experience is that once the unit has performed this task for a given area, the subsequent determinations of location occur very quickly. It's this initial computation that the unit has difficulty with. There have been many times where I've driven to a location, turned on the GPS to find that it has adequate signal strength from at least three satellites, however, it is not able to immediately determine its position. In fact, this activity can take as long as 5-10 minutes. What this tells me is that the software algorithm used to determine this initial location is rather inefficient. Since other GPS units carried by friends have not had this same difficulty, I believe this problem is unique to the Magellan. Once the unit has determined this first location, the next time the unit is asked to determine its position, it is able to perform the task in a matter of seconds. Here's how the users manual explains what is going on:

Without a reference point to start with, the SporTrak will have to "search the sky" trying to find any satellite that may be in "view". This takes time and can increase the time it takes to get its first position fix. (Can take 1- minutes in severe conditions).

So where does this reference come from? Under normal operating conditions, the last position fix computed before the SporTrak was turned off is stored into memory and will be used as the reference the next time the SporTrak is turned on.

Also, if you travel with your SporTrak for more than 500 miles with it turned off, it will still have the reference point but it may be too inaccurate to be useful.

My experience is that the unit has difficulty with the initial location when I travel as little as 120 miles with the unit turned off. The manual suggests that re-initializing the unit can help with this problem, my experience is that this seems to help a little, but does not alleviate the problem.

The other issue I have with the way the unit calculates position is that it keeps recalculating the position and amending it. As a result, the position will often jump around as the GPS decides I am actually in a different location that it originally computed. The position shifts are usually only a few hundred feet different, but can lead to many inaccuracies. In fact, as I've typed the above paragraph with the unit turned on next to me, the current odometer reading now shows 0.49 miles (0.79 km) with an average speed of 0.8 mph (1.3 km/hr) even though it hasn't actually moved 1 inch (2.5 cm)! Every time it calculates a new position, it is acting as though I've jumped to that new location and subsequently adds up the mileage. This also affects the output generated if using the GPS to track a route. The shifting coordinates can make the track appear like it contains a strange series of zig-zag lines even though I've hiked in a more or less straight line.

The photograph below illustrates a bizarre track line created by the Magellan SporTrak while it was sitting in a completely stationary position. Note that the scale is 0.40 miles (0.64 km), not an insignificant distance. Now imagine creating a track while hiking into the wilderness, the unit skips around creating imaginary 0.40 mile (0.64 km) lines which deviate from my actual position. This is another reason never to rely on solely electronic devices for navigation or survival.

Imaginary track line created while the unit was completely stationary.

User Inputs - Navigation Screens and Menus:
One of the SporTraks selling points is that it has many extra features beyond providing a basic satellite coordinate. In order to allow selection of these different options the unit has menu driven screens that the user can scroll through to locate the item they are interested in. An ideal menu scheme allows the user to quickly and easily navigate through the many available options (a standard rule of thumb for usability is that all functionality should be available to the user within 3 clicks). So, how easy is the SporTrak to use?

First of all, let me say that all but one of the GPS functions I use most frequently on the Magellan are very easy, intuitive and quick to use. In fact the two features I value most highly ('Mark Position' and 'Go To') have dedicated buttons right on the front of the unit. I found I was able to pick up and begin using the SporTrak right out of the box with very little study. With that said, even after six months of use, I must refer back to the users manual for many of the more obscure or complicated functions due mainly to the fact that these items are somewhat buried within the complex menu system. The menu screen of the unit is accessed from any screen simply by pressing the 'Menu' button on the front of the unit. I think the thing that I have the most difficulty with is the fact that the menus change depending on which screen you are currently viewing when you press the 'Menu' button. For example, the trip odometer can only be reset by pressing the 'Menu' button from the Position Screen; route tracking can only be activated by using the menu from the Map Screen, etc. This can be very confusing and is often not intuitive. I would prefer that a consistent menu system is used throughout the unit since it's difficult to remember what screen I need to be on in order to access certain functionality.

Some features are just buried in the menu in locations that are simply not intuitive or don't make sense. The one that I use most frequently that I keep having to refer back to the manual to figure out how to do (unfortunately, however, these instructions are written incorrectly in the manual as well, see my field report) are the commands required to activate a route. Since a route is simply a series of waypoints it would be natural to assume the two would be activated in a similar fashion, unfortunately such is not the case. To activate a waypoint the user presses the 'Go To' button then selects the type of waypoint from a list, then selects the actual waypoint itself. It would make intuitive sense that if the user wishes to activate a route, they'd press the 'Go To' button, select route, then choose the desired route from a list of available routes. Instead, the user must press the 'Menu' button, select 'Routes' from the resulting list, highlight the desired route and press the 'Menu' button once again, then choose 'Activate Route' from the list. This process is not straightforward and requires 4 clicks.

The above example also highlights the fact that the manual contains many errors which made it even more difficult for me to learn how to operate the unit correctly. I have highlighted these errors in my initial and field reports as I've found them. Here is one more that I discovered on page 40 of the manual which provides instructions for 'Selecting Waypoints Nearest to the Cursor'.

User Manual Error:
If you are in the cursor mode you may want to know what waypoints are near your cursor rather than the ones nearest to your present position. You can do this by selecting the "Find By" option of Near Cursor. You are then presented with a list of waypoints that are close to the cursor for the category you selected. After the list is presented, you can use the Up/Down arrows to highlight a waypoint and press [ENTER] to view information on it.

Correction:
In cursor mode press the 'Go To' button. Click the 'Cancel' button when asked "Goto current cursor position?". Use the arrow buttons to select 'Nearest To' from the 'Find By' box. Select 'User' from the Goto menu list and on the next screen with 'Position' highlighted click the [ENTER] button. Use the Up/Down arrows to highlight 'Cursor' and click [ENTER]. You are then presented with a list of waypoints that are close to the cursor for the category you selected. After the list is presented, you can use the Up/Down arrows to highlight a waypoint and press [ENTER] to view information on it.

The above corrected process takes 6 clicks in case you're counting.

It should be mentioned that the SporTrak features a help menu which can be accessed from any screen by pressing the 'Menu' button. The help screen is organized by the topics: Key Legend, Nav Screen, Map, Route, Setup, Database, User Waypoint, and Misc. The resulting help screens are basically tips that you can scroll through by selecting the next or previous tip. Personally I find the help menu is difficult to use since the tips are not organized in any sortable fashion. I simply have to keep scrolling through the tips screens until I hopefully come across the item I am looking for. On the positive side, the help menu tip for activating a route is described correctly, unlike the text in the user manual.

Lastly, there are a few areas for improvement that I'd like to draw attention to regarding the 'Go To' screens. When I press the 'Go To' button, I am presented with a list of potential locations grouped by topic to choose from, these include: User, Cities, Highways, Airports, Waterways, Parks, Buoys/Beacons, Lights, Fog Signals, and Radar/Radio. All but the 'User' waypoints have been pre-loaded by the manufacturer and include such diverse locations as: the city of Baltimore, Maryland, the R Gong fog signal near Seboeis, Maine, and the R BN 286KHZ Radio Tower near Tabernacle, New Jersey. Personally, I can't imagine I will ever have need for these waypoints, those that I am interested in I've created myself. In order to streamline the navigation system and reduce the number of clicks required to perform this commonly used task, I would recommend the unit default to User waypoints whenever the 'Go To' button is clicked. These other waypoints could be an additional selection in the resulting list, but do not need to be part of the selection process every time the user performs a 'Go To'.

Continuing the process of selecting a 'Go To' point. Once 'User' is selected from the waypoint list I can select the actual point from a list which is organized either alphabetically or in order of distance from the units present position. With hundreds of waypoints in the list (like I have) it can be very tedious to locate the exact waypoint I am looking for, since the only way to highlight a way point is to use the Up/Down arrow keys to scroll through the list. If I have 200 waypoints and the waypoint you are looking for starts with the letter M, I may have to scroll through 100 waypoints before reaching the right one. This is particularly annoying since the SporTrak does not remember 'Go To' points when it is turned off and back on again. As a result, I must scroll through the hundreds of waypoints each and every time it is turned back on when using the 'Go To' function. A useful enhancement would be to allow the user to enter the first letter of the waypoint they are looking for with the result that the list jumps to that particular letter of the alphabet. Oddly, if I am selecting a waypoint that has been pre-entered by the manufacturer, this is exactly how the unit operates. Not sure why the functionality was included for pre-set waypoints, but excluded for those created by the user.

Customized Data Fields:
Many of the screens in the Magellan SporTrak Color have customizable data fields that the user is able to configure. There are 17 data fields to choose from: bearing, distance (this is distance from a marked waypoint, not the distance you have traveled), speed, heading, VMG (velocity made good), CTS (course to steer), ETA (estimated time of arrival), ETE (estimated time enroute), XTE (cross track error), turn, elevation, time, date, COG (course over ground), EPE (estimated position error), average speed, and maximum speed. Most of these I will never use, but some people might find them useful. My biggest complaint is that the one field I would be most interested in using, namely the distance I've walked, is not available. In fact the odometer reading is only available on the Position screen and nowhere else within the unit.

Note: The SporTrak currently indicates that I've now apparently traveled 2.15 miles (3.46 km) with an average speed of 1.1 mph (1.8 km/hr) all while writing this report with the unit sitting in a stationary position next to me. Making the odometer available as a selection from available data fields is, of course, contingent upon the manufacturer correcting the odometer so that it functions properly.

Use in the Field:
Details about how the SporTrak performs in the field can be found in my field report. I'd just like to mention one aspect of the unit that came to light during a recent trip to Aravaipa Canyon in Arizona. Though I do not have the MapSend software which contains detailed maps that can be loaded into the GPS. The unit comes with some base maps of the US which occasionally contain some features that appear in areas in which I am hiking. In the case of this hike, Aravaipa Creek was shown on the Map Screen. Below is a photograph taken while standing directly in the center of the creek, I've reproduced the screen using graphics software in the photograph on the right since the screen is a little difficult to see in the original.

Standing in Aravaipa Creek.	Reproduction of screen.

Obviously if I'm standing in the middle of the stream, the position marker should be directly on top of the line which indicates the position of the stream. This is not the case. Here's how the user manual explains this phenomenon in its section on troubleshooting:

Position on map is not exactly on the road.
It could be caused by distance shifts on the map.
Use map data for reference and do not rely completely on it.

While I am not sure what a 'distance shift' is, I can certainly confirm that the map data is not completely accurate and should not be relied upon as such.

Durability:
During the course of the test period, the GPS has been carried in either my shorts pocket or in an outside pocket of my pack.  I've used the SporTrak Color on quite a number of hikes in the last two months and it has continued to function normally. In the field, the unit has been exposed to some heat and dust and has gotten wet with no ill effects. The unit appears to be waterproof and even floats . The only complaint I have is that the plastic screen of the unit is quite soft and easily scuffed. There are a number of scratches on the screen of the unit from carrying it in my pocket.

Waterproof housing.	Scratches on screen.

Conclusion:
The Magellan SporTrak Color is a good navigational aid and is for the most part easy to use. I believe there are a number of programming changes that could be employed that could improve the menu system, backlight, Go To and the algorithm used for calculating the units position. I would also recommend the manufacturer correct the errors contained within the users manual.

Reviews > Navigation and Map Gear > GPS > Magellan SporTrak Color 2003 > Todd Martin > Long Term Report