Sat Nav problems - your views

[Eddie1FromNottingham]

Hi, all,

Just to add my opinion to this debate I currently use a Garmin SP. 2610. I bought this nearly Three Years Ago and to date it has been faultless. However as other people have said any route planned by the Sat. Nav. Needs to be checked or compared with a Map. I use the included software Mapsource, simply download the directions into the unit from the P/C. Then print off and keep in Car as backup. If I am already on the Road and input a destination Manually there is a Routing facility which allows you to view the suggested route including junctions turnings and even times and distances between turns. I use this gadget everyday and can't imagine life without it. It has the ability to allow input of vehicle type ie. Car Motorbike Lorry Etc.

When Towing selecting Lorry, seems to filter out the Narrow Roads. But where it really comes into it's own, is on Street finding, Spoken turn by turn directions right to the Door. On a recent 350 Mile trip its' calculated Distance and arrival time was spot on. Try doing that with a Map, it is however sound advice if visiting say Club Sites with Directions provided by the Club, to use those in preference, as even the best Sat Nav isn't a substitute for local knowledge or common sense. Regarding the ability of a unit to identify roads that are unsuitable, like Sutton Bank, it is clearly the drivers responsibility to follow directions observe the Rules of the Road and act safely.Road layouts and Sitations do change, following blindly the Sat Nav, could lead you the wrong way down a one way street or other unsuitable road, but taking all things into consideration I think using Sat Nav is both safer and stress free. Why ignore the advantages of modern Technology with turn by turn directions for the whole of Europe, simply on principle?

Regards Eddie

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

I wonder if any of you have downloaded the Caravan Club 'Points of Interest'; and are they accurate etc?

Eddie; glad that your Street Pilot is working well; mine was used for the frist time today and inexplicably re-booted half way to the office.... I shall upgrade the firmware tonight !!!

John

PS Next caravan trip Moreton in Marsh hopefully tomorrow (weather willing !!)

 

[rob_jax]

John,

I seem to remember that the CC were going to attempt to sell their own POI information for the Garmin - and that it would cost around

 

[Mike_5041089]

A slightly cautionary note to all! Sat Navs are great & I certainly wouldn't be without mine, which was fitted as orginal equipment to the car. However on a trip to Switzerland last Easter, the Sat Nav guiding us unfailingly across 600 miles of French & Swiss M/Ways, we decided to have a day trip to Italy. I programmed in the fastest route for the return journey, which took us mainly around the Alps on the equivalent of A roads and M ways. So, nearly back to our site at Lauterbrunnen and driving solo (thankfully) the Sat Nav guided us up a small mountain road which climbs to over 8000 feet, with no crash barriers or fences at the edges. In the distance (it's pitch black by now) the car's headlights pick up a large white obstruction completely blocking the road, which as we got nearer we realized was solid ice/snow!! A very careful 50 point turn on this very narrow road forced us to resort to the atlas, which had small symbols of 30/9-1/6 on this particular section. Upon checking the map's key we found that this meant the pass was closed between September and June. This facility was not on the Sat Nav. Had we had the van on the back we would have had to reverse for about 5 miles down a very narrow road!

 

[RogerL]

Lol you seemed to have missed my main points, perhaps I didn't make them very well.

The road through the Coulin Estate is private - no Sat Nav system should direct you on private roads, ever! I only know about the narrow bridge because I've walked in that area, it's a permissive path.

To use Sat Nav and then HAVE to check it against a map seems to me at total waste of time, and money, on the sat nav.

I just use main roads from a cheap road atlas and then follow CC site directions. This works perfectly every time to club sites and CLs.

 

[Lol1]

Hi Roger, I didn't miss your point, I realised that you was trying to get the point over that it was a private road, but felt that to be a little unfair. Private roads are not always marked on a normal road map and if they are it may not say that they are private. We have some un-adopted roads in North Nottinghamshire that are officially private, but are recorded on maps and Sat Nav and are open to the public. The mapping systems on the Sat Nav are usually identical to those on a detailed road map.

Your suggestion of using major roads up to a point and then CC site directions is a good idea. However that means you need to remember all the junctions, turn points and directions on the roads, which if you are unfamiliar with the route may not be easy. I used to make a list, jotting down these points to help me along the way, combined with a map it would to get me there. It meant stopping occasionally to read the notes and to take a look at the map, more for reassurance than anything else. Sometimes I would do it on the move, which is where the safety aspect comes in. Imagine a route, lets say from Newcastle to Derby, now imagine not having to stop and look at notes (not a good idea on the A1) and being perfectly happy of your direction because your being constantly reassured by the voice and mileage readings of the little box on the dash. You know your going the correct way because you have pre-planed the route, you can concentrate on driving and not worrying about the next turn.

I'm not saying throw away your maps, and local knowledge, they are good tools to help with setting up the route. And lets face it, how many times are you going to be led through a private estate, we don't just use out of the way CC sites. As mentioned before in this topic, you can download all the CC sites for free and have them on your machine permanently, I have them on mine! I have been using TomTom for 3 years and not once has it let me onto private roads. At the end of the day, you're quite within your rights to stick with the maps; it's worked for centuries, so why change now? On the other hand are you missing out on something that you're not prepared to give a fair chance?

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Got to agree with Lol, but if someones happy just using a map fair enough. The problem comes when in a strange town and you are lost and you have to find your way out. Satnav certainly comes into its own then, no head almost swivelling off your neck trying to catch road signs. As someone else mentioned, no tantrums off your navigator when you blame her. If you need fuel, something to eat or shopping just put it in, Asda for example and it will list all the Asdas thereabouts starting with the closest. Only once had it let me down, that was in Snowdonia, it took me to a bridge crossing that was now closed to vehicles, pedestrian only. I used it all over Scotland for 3 weeks finding streets so I could take my Then & Now photos without fault. Commonsense should prevail though if towing and as said before, used in conjunction with a map. My wife is a dinosaur, I remember duvets coming out, noway would she have one, again with video recorders, now I have finally persuaded her to get a DVD Recorder but I dont know why because I never use the things. I spend all my spare time on my computer. Oh , she has no interest in computers either thankfully, else we WOULD be fighting over that. :O)

 

[rob_jax]

Are SatNav systems useful in car? or even more useful than a map? I'd certainly say yes and let me explain why:

Three years ago on summer vacation in Brittany, my TomTom Navigator (version 2) was given it's first outing. Then one Saturday evening Brenda poured a kettle of boiling water over her hand, wrist and leg (and don't worry she recovered just fine). I did the first aid stuff - loads and loads of cold water - but blisters start to form in 20 minutes - so cover the burns in cling-film and off to the nearest hospital.

The SatNav system did a spot-on job directing us to the A&E hospital, which incidentally was not on the local Michelin map (too new), then took me straight to the duty pharmacy on Sunday morning, and when we needed to find other pharmacies it helped again.

Was it worth the money - I'd say yes. Robert

 

[WatsonJohnG]

The sat nav can be amazingly good when negotiating main roads through big towns such as Lyon and Paris.

On both occasions it was faultless in giving lane instructions/turns well in advance enabling eyes to be on traffic rather than road signs.

Where it does fall down is on minor roads.

I recently sold something via the small ads and the purchasers used a computer route to find us.

In spite of assurances by local councillors that the narrow very steep hill had been removed from Sat Nav etc routing (the power of local influence seems to know no bounds ---or does it?)they were routed up the hill in the dark and met a vehicle coming down at a narrow point.

Do you go that way with the caravan was the request ?!!!!

We were 200 m from a site in Holland when the Sat Nav tried to send us the wrong way down a bus lane with pop up barriers but quick thinking (there's always a first) resulted in a tour of the IKEA car park complete with speed bumps.

As someone stated in another thread its best to use the printed camp site directions for the last bit of the journey.

Some sites now advise against following Sat Nav routes for obvious reasons.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

John, to put it in a nutshell it just comes down to common sense really. Best advice I can give to anyone without a satnav is if you dont possess common sense dont buy one.

 

[James3]

I have a Tom Tom 700 and the key to using this system and most other systems is to use the demo facility to check out the route when towing. This is important when you are perhaps getting near a site which has only one recommended approach. Yes I do use a map to to have a look at the route I prefer but then put this in the system which is brillant both in UK and Europe. You can enjoy the drive much better. When solo I find the Post Code facility excellent.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Totally agree but you may find "common" sense hard to grasp from your exalted position M'lord.

 

[rob_jax]

John G

So did you like your visit to Delftse Hout? And don't blame your GPS too much - that area around Delftgauw has been re-routed and changed every year - My office is just 5 km south along the Schieweg (canal road that runs parallel to the A13) towards Rotterdam.

Robert

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Hi Rob we enjoyed the holiday very much and as usual the Nederlanders were so very helpful.

We made more bus trips from the campsite than ever which was the safest place to be to avoid death by bicycle.

My first trip to Holland was in 1968 with two babies and we were made very welcome .They even looked after the children while we got the tent up.

No sat nav then though

 

[MONKEY1]

GPS is fantastic when sailing, GPS is fantastic when flying, but my experience of the Car based systems has been less than welcome. A simple journey from Heathrow to Shaftsbury Ave in London resulted in no fewer than 6 unnecessary detours best of which when it refused to send the car through the Piccadilly underpass!!

The thing with GPS is it doesn't think in 3D or even recognise a footpath from a Road (the path was a road until 1990) but has been closed since than to all traffic except foot and horses!!

The theory is great - get you from point A- B the problem is the two systems I used wouldn't send you either the quickest or the most direct way

Monkey's Husband

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Totally agree but you may find "common" sense hard to grasp from your exalted position M'lord.

Ahhhhhh from the exalted towers of Screwemm Hall I can see the "commoners" on the common grazing their sheep though.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Dear Monkey and your husband,

One of teh problems with self contained GPS units is exactly the same as with road atlases and maps, As soon as they are issued they are out of date, in so far as new roads or new junctions are not listed, and closed roads are still shown as open. You cant blame the GPS for that.

Does any one know of a system that uses GPS for location but maps that are held on a web site so they are always as upto date as possible?

 

[Peter_5068900]

We have an inbuilt system in our car. Around the home area we do not use it for navigation, our daughter loves to watch the maps scrolling though as we travel. Away from home it has been invaluable in locating streets etc, even though at times we have been driving through fields as it doesn't have the new roads on. You can update the dvd to get the latest mapping available, if you want. All systems have a failing. It is up to you, the user, to decide what the benefits/short comings are.

Peter

 

[MONKEY1]

John,

I take your point, but GPS is meant to be up to date, how anyone can have any faith in a system that uses maps at least 16 years out of date!! I understand that the Michelin based GPS disks are updated (revalidated) every two years but they are expensive and are limited to certain types of display.

The problem is that many of the more popular systems buy old versions of software (licences) in order to keep the entry price down. GPS in a car is to my mind an acceptable risk; in a car you'll probably do less u-turns on an unknown route than with a map to hand but with a caravan, trying to do a U turn on a 7ft wide lane is no joke.

 

[JohnI.Stephen]

Well, I am pleased to say that I have sold the Navman 635 on eBay and have just spent a long weekend using the Garmin 2720. The Garmin is brilliant and the Text to Speach technology allowing it to read out the road names is a real help. Was was amusing though to hear 'Emily' (their name not ours!) say; "take the first exit and follow (the) A four thousand three hundred and sity" as opposed to the A4060. However, below the number one hundred we do way the full number as in the M25 ("twenty five") and not "two five".

Yes I can thoroughly recommend the Garmin 2720 because when vehicle type is set as a "lorry" and your preferences are to "avoid minor roads" and "prefer highways and major roads", the routing for towing your 8 metre caravan (approx) appears perfect.

I was though annoyed to see an advert in this month's Caravan Club magazine advertising this same GPS for no less that

 

[sally_5087565]

I bought my 2720 from www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk

i am thinking of buying one of these systems for touring with the caravan but no nothing about them saw the one in cc bookwhat did you meen about the

 

[Andrew_5089094]

For those with a PDA based Sat-Nav system 'Copilot' from ALK www.alk.com allows you to set your vehicle as an 'RV' this does avoid the cycle path size roads it thinks is so cleaver to send me down.....