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Akunin

Review- Trail Tech Voyager Pro

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Earlier this year I decided to get a Trail Tech Voyager Pro for my Honda Trx700xx and thought I would share my experience with it.

 

To begin with this isn't a turn by turn gps (although they want to add it in future updates) and serves more for a vehicle information center than something you would want to use to find a Best Buy, Applebee's or McDonald's but it is loaded with city and road maps so it does provide some basic navigation for road use if needed. For my application (atv) I just wanted a device that offered more information than what Honda sold with the machine. At a glance it provides a as little or as much information  about your machine as you want. I installed the speed, tachometer and engine temp sensors and it also shows vehicle voltage and odometer information. Non vehicle info such as time, elevation, trip meter and even bluetooth connectivity is also included. I wont be reviewing the Bluetooth features as I don't use them but for a basic overview it works with helmet coms and connects to your phone for basic operations such as text notification and receiving calls. 

 

It uses only the GPX format for mapping so trails can be laid out on a computer then saved to a microsd card and installed on the VPro. My biggest issue with this device is its lack of Forest Service MVUM (Motor Vehicle Use Maps) support. I mostly use a Garmin Montana 680t for this and it doesn't seem like a feature Trail Tech is going to implement anytime soon as their software updates are slim to none.

 

Basic GPS functions like waypoints and such are also supported and easily named using a glove friendly touch screen. 

 

Trail Tech also has something called buddy tracking on this device that uses radio waves to show where other VP users in your group are but in my experience if you cant see them they don't show on the map since the radio works MOSTLY in line of sight so a fairly worthless feature for me if we are riding in the mountains. However, when we ride out near the badlands it shows my "buddies" position on the mx track. If he breaks down it does offer a SOS feature but again, if you are out of range it won't do any good. Works best in flat open areas, forget it in heavily wooded or mountain trails. 

 

The unit itself is built very sturdy and they have youtube video showing it taking an excessive amount of abuse. The buttons are firm and provide a audible click and feel to them when using gloves and the screen touch is very fast when I compare it with my Garmin.

 

All in all its not a bad system but a bit expensive at $400+. I like the extra information and alerts it provides and the user screen customization displays just what I want. 

 

All in all I do plan on buying another but would love for Trail Tech to up their game when it comes to software/firmware updates.

 

Pro's-

-Can see the display in bright sunlight

-gps tracking is very accurate even in heavily wooded areas. 

-easy to install and use.

-can be removed from the charging cradle when not in use

-Screen face is touch sensitive and is fast and responsive.  Supports both touch screen or physical buttons to navigate.

-Vehicle information is many and accurate. Engine temp, RPM, battery voltage, speed (via hardware or GPS)

-Dec 2020 update allows customs maps

 

Cons-

-No power adapter is included. An ac adapter must be bought separately as the only way to charge out of the box is when its on a running machine.

-Not inexpensive, $400 and higher

-Buddy Tracking works best in open flat areas

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Edited by Akunin
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14 minutes ago, Akunin said:

Trail Tech also has something called buddy tracking on this device that uses radio waves to show where other VP users in your group are but in my experience if you cant see them they don't show on the map since the radio works MOSTLY in line of sight so a fairly worthless feature for me if we are riding in the mountains. However, when we ride out near the badlands it shows my "buddies" position on the mx track. If he breaks down it does offer a SOS feature but again, if you are out of range it won't do any good. Works best in flat open areas, forget it in heavily wooded or mountain trails. 

 

thanks for the review ... this unit does come with an external mounted antenna ? for use with with the friend tracking option ? 

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5 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

 

thanks for the review ... this unit does come with an external mounted antenna ? for use with with the friend tracking option ? 

it does come with an external antenna for the friend tracker. It also supports an external antenna for the GPS as well but in my testing it was very accurate even in dense canopy and valley riding with just the internal antenna. 

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36 minutes ago, PROV said:

Thanks for the review. I'll stick with my Garmin.

 

I use my Garmin Montana 680t on everything from my trx, to my jeep and even on my Hayabusa. That would change if Trail Tech updated this to support MVUM maps though then I'm afraid this would be my go to offroad gps. This screen is so much faster than my Garmin and no matter how bright it is its so easy to see this screen.

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Update

Earlier in my review I had said that my biggest issue with the VP is its lack of MVUM map support. I want to say that in their latest Update Trailtech has added support for MVUM maps as a base map. Super easy to use and it works great! I don't use MVUM on the trail to ruin the experience of riding as I like not knowing whats around the corner but having it on a device rather than having to take out the paper map has been a real time saver. The active/closed  trails around here change quite a bit and its worth it to be sure I havent wandered onto a closed trail, especially when the Forest Service has been increasing patrols and have hired 'Trail Rangers' to police the trails.

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Dang, I just bought and installed a Garmin Montana 700i, but I should have gotten yours. No OHV trails on this device as advertised. It's fine for route planning, but not very GPS'ish if you want to find a local Starbucks. How did you mount yours? I bought 2 mounts so I can use the devise between my dirt bike & atv and also use it as a hand held unit my Toyota SUV.

 

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Garmin makes a snap in mount , and it has electrical connections so it can run on 12volts and charge the battery --- I can swop it between 4 of my  atvs 

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If you are without GPS maps that show trails or other terrain features you can get OnX for your smartphone for only $30 per year. You can save maps and share them with others, work offline where there is no cell service, view terrain maps or satellite views, activate tracking and create custom waypoints and landowner contact information is available for most private properties.

https://www.onxmaps.com/

 

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On 5/25/2021 at 8:41 PM, texas123 said:

Dang, I just bought and installed a Garmin Montana 700i, but I should have gotten yours. No OHV trails on this device as advertised. It's fine for route planning, but not very GPS'ish if you want to find a local Starbucks. How did you mount yours? I bought 2 mounts so I can use the devise between my dirt bike & atv and also use it as a hand held unit my Toyota SUV.

 

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Nice unit Texas! That Garmin is on my soon to pick up list. I'm not sure about the 700i but I loaded my 680t with MVUM maps and it worked great despite the small screen. So I assume it should support it too... now I'm interested in seeing if it does or not. 

 

Like Fish stated, garmin has the cradle both un-powered and powered versions. I still use my 680t with the powered mount on my Hayabusa. I have street maps loaded too so I would assume the 700 should support that too.. added cost? 

 

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Well, the Garmin 700i worked out very well for wide open roads and off road trails, but it isn't useful for detailed city driving due to the lack of voice commands. I used it to drive from Houston to Santa Fe, NM this week & it navigated fine and would recalculate when I'd deviate from the planed route. One problem with it though is when I planed my route there, it would guide me on the service road sometimes instead of the freeway. That's a result of planning routes on Google My Maps or the device itself. Setting waypoints is a little cumbersome with all Garmin devices. Photos of the top of Elk Mountain as I was walking in the clouds. It's freezing cold and you can feel the electricity on your arm hair. Really scary!

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