Garmin 660 lost Campsite icons

[Deffheads]

Hi, I had this Garmin for a few years now, and to be honest I'm not pleased with the routes 'ANGELA' take us on, I have selected fastest route, but really it's the longest way round.

Since last update I have lost all the helpful icons when coming up to a camper park, any ideas how to retrieve these? Also when you input co-ordinates to a site, the distance displayed is as the crow flies, not the route 'she' sends you on. Latest one said 17kms to Bakia Spain 30kms later we arrived!!

[Les W]

I would hook it up to Garmin Express and re-install the latest map update.

[Derek Uzzell]

The Garmin Camper 660 device has free ‘lifetime’ map and software updating, but - as Kevin’s complaint is that icons that previously showed now do not and this change happened after the last update he made - installing an even more recent update (assuming there is one) may well not help. Having said that, I agree with Les that it’s worth trying (and I can’t think of any realistic alternative!)

 

The 660 includes ACSI campsite data and the manual advises

 

Finding ACSI Campsites

NOTE: This feature is not available in all areas.

You can search for Auto Camper Service International

(ACSI) campsites based on the amenities available.

1 Select Where To? > ACSI.

2 If necessary, select Filter by Amenities, select one or more amenities, and select Save.

3 Select a location.

 

(I assume the ACSI data are revised when necessary within the software/mapping update procedure.)

 

As far as ‘routing' is concerned, the manual says

 

Changing the Route Calculation Mode

1 Select Settings > Navigation > Calculation Mode.

2 Select an option:

- Select Faster Time to calculate routes that are faster to drive but can be longer in distance.

- Select Off Road to calculate point-to-point routes (without roads).

- Select Less Fuel to calculate routes that are more fuel- efficient.

NOTE: This feature is available only when you are using the car vehicle profile (Vehicle Profiles).

- Select Shorter Distance to calculate routes that are shorter in distance but can take more time to drive.

 

These devices do not have integrated Artificial Intelligence or fine-detail knowledge of ‘rat runs’. For example, if I wanted to drive from my home to (say) BatteryMegastore on a trading estate east of Tewkesbury, the fastest route (involving mostly motorways) would also be by far the longest. This type of thing will be quite common and unavoidable when the “Faster Time” option is chosen, but choosing the “Shorter Distance” option may not only take longer to drive but involve roads/towns best avoided.

 

I’m pretty sure that my Garmin nuvi 2559LM sat-nav does not provide an ‘as the crow flies’ distance if I input GPS coordinates for a destination, but I just use the device as a driver-aid to get from A to B and don’t exploit the extra bells and whistles.. It does straightforward routing pretty well and, when there is the odd mistake or peculiarity, I accept that as inevitable. There were definitely many many more map-reading mistakes (and unpleasant arguments) in the car/motorhome before I bought a sat-nav than afterwards...

 

There is a Garmin GB Support Center

 

https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/

 

that I found helpful years ago when I had difficulties with my original Garmin sat-nav (now employed as a digital speedometer) so it might be worth Kevin contacting the Center if a further update proves ineffective.

 

 

 

[StuartO]

Another factor in updating a Garmin device successfully can be the amount of memory available, including whether the Garmin can access the memory in the micro SD card you have added. If it didn't like a particular SD card the Garmin would display a notice saying it was not useable. I had to try several different makes of micro SD card before I found on which my Garmin accepted. If there is insufficient memeory for an update to be installed properly this might explain why the ACSI icons have disappeared.

 

I too have found Garmin's UK Help service very helpful, especially with things like an incomplete update. It's also on a free telephone number!

[Deffheads]

I have plugged in to update and Garmin Express says I am updated, so still no icons, but will contact UK Garmin soon when back in UK.I know that some check on Google maps for the co-ordinates of sites, but you would not believe the route that 'Angela' uses to access them, bearing in mind we are 8.4 metres long!

[Brian Kirby]

Deffheads - 2020-08-23 10:52 AM

 

I have plugged in to update and Garmin Express says I am updated, so still no icons, but will contact UK Garmin soon when back in UK.I know that some check on Google maps for the co-ordinates of sites, but you would not believe the route that 'Angela' uses to access them, bearing in mind we are 8.4 metres long!

I'll try an experiment on mine Kevin, if you'll clarify two things for me.

 

First where is that place you called Bakia, because the latest Navteq mapping doesn't recognise anywhere with that name - even if I change the spelling for typos I can anticipate might have been made! Second, where were you when you set up that 17/30km route? Then, I'll run it to see what was happening.

 

I assume your 660 is a Camper 660 in which you have entered your vehicle dimensions? If so, you're probably just experiencing the effect of the routing logic that says use major roads for routes as a fail safe, because of the size of your vehicle.

 

The Navteq mapping contains no road width data (nor does Tele Atlas for TomTom), only data on legal restrictions. There are many minor roads that are amply wide for larger vehicles, but equally, many others that aren't, but don't have legal width restrictions on them. So, a "car" type sat nav would happily guide you down those roads whatever the size of your vehicle. The sat-nav software work-around is to prioritise major roads on the basis that they will be unrestricted for 40 tonne trucks, so anything else will also be able to pass without difficulty. If you remove the vehicle dimensions from your Camper 660 it will probably route you via the shorter routes, but also down some uncomfortably narrow roads! My guess is that the distance stated was for the quickest actual route, but you ended up going the long way around due to vehicle size. Did it not show an actual route distance after the routing calculation had finalised?

 

If you enter POI coordinates, you should be offered the facility to save the POI to favourites, where you can name and categorise it. If you then open it from favourites you can add it to the current route, where, at least on mine, it is treated as any other intermediate waypoint and the route generated is via roads and not off-road.

 

On icons, I don't have, and have never had, on-screen icons for POIs/waypoints - just a route trace with marker flags. Green for the start, orange for the intermediates, and chequered for the finish. I assume these are not what you were referring to?

[Keithl]

I’m sure there is an option within the menu to display all or some poi icons on the display, my Garmin shows all the Archies Camping poi’s as that is how I have set it.

 

Check through the menus for the display option.

 

Keith.

[Deffheads]

Hi, I can't spell it's Bakio Northern Spain near Bilbao, it's a surfing paradise and very lively with young people [makes a change!] enjoying the surf and sunshine, also very good sea food. I have lived with 'ANGELA' for a while now and accept she is not perfect, but we do eventually get where we were heading.