andrew j Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Hi all. Does anyone know anything about sat navs specifically for motor homes. We have a tom tom which is great for cars but we have been taken down some precarious roads to the camp sites we have visited in our MH At the weekend someone recommended the Snooper truck mate, they have a new one esp for MH use the Snooper Ventura Euro, snooper does not seem to have great reviews on a few forums, esp for the price Can anyone advise please Thanks Andrew J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 In a similar thread on another forum a few weeks ago a friend posted something along the following lines: I have said this many times and have yet to be proved wrong. ANY sort of sat-nav that is sold for larger vehicles will not do what you think it will due to restrictions in mapping and the need to physically measure every single road and thats just not possible. All you will get are routes that are legally allowed in your large vehicle and nothing else, the route it chooses could still be totally unsuitable for an RV but legal to use so it will send you there. You need to check all routes on a map to be anywhere near sure There are several discussions of sat navs for large vehicles on the Pocket GPS World forum Here Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I would just add this. You cannot rely on any sat nav unit to safely and sensibly guide you from A to B. You need to have a map open and to hand at all times, preferably with a the route you wish to follow marked on it, and then monitor your progress along that route rejecting the more asinine suggestions from the sat nav as you go. They "know" where they are, they can find a number of ways of getting from there to where you've told it you want to go, but this will, at times involve wholly unsuitable tracks, very narrow roads, and all manner of totally unnecessary "shortcuts" that no sane individual would contemplate in a car, leave alone a motorhome.In their present stage of development they are a great help to navigation, but only just about fully reliable for motorbikes, and maybe quad bikes. They are no substitute for attentive, map based, navigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 andrew j - 2009-05-25 11:02 AM Snooper Ventura Euro, snooper does not seem to have great reviews on a few forums, esp for the price Can anyone advise please Thanks Andrew J This unit only uses weight/height restrictions as currently used on British roads which are identified by the local authority as unsuitable and are marked by road signs accordingly. e.g. Unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles Maximum permissable weight Maximum width etc. So if the road does not have a sign at the end of it, then it will be classed as a usable road for all vehicles. So you could also be taken down some precarious roads. IMO not worth buying. I agree with Brian:- They "know" where they are, they can find a number of ways of getting from there to where you've told it you want to go, but this will, at times involve wholly unsuitable tracks, very narrow roads, and all manner of totally unnecessary "shortcuts" that no sane individual would contemplate in a car, leave alone a motorhome. In their present stage of development they are a great help to navigation, but only just about fully reliable for motorbikes, and maybe quad bikes. They are no substitute for attentive, map based, navigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I regard a map as an aid to my sat. nav. certainly not the other way round. Have yet to see a map with road widths marked on it, if anyone knows about one please let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowley Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 You can download height poi for free on the TomTom home website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arh Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I have a ventura sat-nav, and it's magic. I put in the height/length/weight of a vehicle and it won't send me down a road without warning me about the weight (I use it in the truck and motor-home) It avoids low bridges, narrow roads etc. but if you input a position inside a 7.5t area it will direct you in the most direct route, but will tell you that you are going in a restricted zone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 We use a Tom Tom 920T and wouldn't be without it. We have recently also purchased a netbook 10" to run Autoroute 2007 on - normally used in the planning stage! We tried it last weekend on a new mounting arm and it was great. we now have the added advantage of being able to see where we are on a screen map. Tom Tom is great but restrictive in view and it is so reassuring to have your position shown at all times on the relevant section of a "proper" map. B-) Such a pity Microsoft gave Autoroute the heave ho after the 2007 version.... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Peters Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 i have a tom tom 700 and am on the whole quite pleased with it but when i first bought my motorhome (Burstner t-star 710) we decided to go to wales for a touring holiday. On route my tom tom sent me over symonds yat, there were warning signs that the road was not suitable for HGVs, but being a novice at the time i thought, "well in not exactly a lorry am i". BIG MISTAKE, on route i had to negotiate a gap between a house and a wall that gave me all of 2" of clearance each side, my god i was sweating by then, i then had to drive across a steel bridge that was only just wide enough to allow me to cross it. I think i lost a stone in weight on this journey, its not the ideal way to start a relaxing holiday. The moral of this story is, dont believe everything that sat navs tell u, unless you want to go on a literal CRASH diet. Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4petedaniel Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 catinou - 2009-05-27 1:46 PM We use a Tom Tom 920T and wouldn't be without it. We have recently also purchased a netbook 10" to run Autoroute 2007 on - normally used in the planning stage! We tried it last weekend on a new mounting arm and it was great. we now have the added advantage of being able to see where we are on a screen map. Tom Tom is great but restrictive in view and it is so reassuring to have your position shown at all times on the relevant section of a "proper" map. B-) Such a pity Microsoft gave Autoroute the heave ho after the 2007 version.... :-S Is it expencive to use a notebook for long journeys? as I understand that there is a charge for the amount of time you are on line Do you use a dongle.for reception? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Videomaster Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I belive in the - "get so far with Sat nav and then use the directions in the guide book or printed off." I went for a Pioneer, radio, CD, DVD, rear view camera, sat nav combined. Keeps the clutter off the dashboard......I am VERY impressed with it. Yes it was expensive but keeps my Dash neat and tidy, and I don't have to keep hiding it etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinou Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 4petedaniel - 2009-05-27 4:19 PM catinou - 2009-05-27 1:46 PM We use a Tom Tom 920T and wouldn't be without it. We have recently also purchased a netbook 10" to run Autoroute 2007 on - normally used in the planning stage! We tried it last weekend on a new mounting arm and it was great. we now have the added advantage of being able to see where we are on a screen map. Tom Tom is great but restrictive in view and it is so reassuring to have your position shown at all times on the relevant section of a "proper" map". B-) Such a pity Microsoft gave Autoroute the heave ho after the 2007 version.... :-S Is it expencive to use a notebook for long journeys? as I understand that there is a charge for the amount of time you are on line Do you use a dongle.for reception? We are not on line most of the time, unless we are near a wifi hotspot. We use an Autoroute supplied GPS aerial (small square "thingie" at the end of a USB lead, placed on the dashboard) never fails us (yet!) and I always feel safer with a "map ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow-Chasers Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 You can up grade the tom tom to alert on size restrictions on the tom tom website for free. Search through the free downloads, find the suitable one and download it. It will be set in your preferences, you just switch on when in the motorhome and it will keep you from low bridges. That may help in the interim! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4petedaniel Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 Rainbow-Chasers' - 2009-05-28 12:01 PM You can up grade the tom tom to alert on size restrictions on the tom tom website for free. Search through the free downloads, find the suitable one and download it. It will be set in your preferences, you just switch on when in the motorhome and it will keep you from low bridges. That may help in the interim! Looked But can't find it. :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerGW Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 catinou - 2009-05-27 1:46 PM We use a Tom Tom 920T and wouldn't be without it. We have recently also purchased a netbook 10" to run Autoroute 2007 on - normally used in the planning stage! TomTom now has its own route planner (see http://routes.tomtom.com/t/#/), which links in a rudimentary way with its satnav devices. I don't think there's any dynamic interaction, though. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porky Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Being new to both motorhoming and TT I have used a considerable amount of caution with both. I therefore adopt the policy of ignoring instructions from TT if it doesn`t look right, (she will always adjust the route when I ignore her) check the map to ensure the roads will be in excess of 4m (this can be found in the symbols/menu/scale of the map) and use the TT running the route in demonstration mode at the fastest level before we leave. As everything in life planning is everything, and time spent doing this helps to avoid sticky situations. If all else fails STOP and check. Last week TT said go right we looked at the width of road and said no thanks. It turned out to be a short cut through between two A roads. TT was right and so were we. OK lecture over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Remember the 7 P's - Prior Preparation and Plannng Prevents P**s Poor Performance :D On my tour of Spain I will be using my Sat Nav, Big Road Map for Spain and have my laptop with Autoroute and my secret weapon..........my OH she is brilliant at reading maps and finding routes when technology and maps conflict (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Videomaster Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 An ideal would be to have the passenger with a Laptop, connected to a GPS receiver like Garmin and Memory Map product. There are maps of UK & France available and others coming along. Plan your route before hand and follow on a real map Of course, this is an expensive option!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 For Christmas my OH got me the updated version of Autoroute, however, I did not ask for the version that actually comes with the GPS software, believing that I would never need it, well we all learn from our mistakes don't we >:-( But even without the GPs element, Autoroute gives a lot more information about POI's which can be viewed when relaxing on site and planning day trips. You can also check GPS locations using the 'Location Sensor' tab which enables a quick comparison with the location given on the Sat Nav. Although I have now changed my Sat Nav system, I used to have the Garmin and loaded the software on to my laptop so that I could update map sets as I moved from one area to another this was quite useful as the memory storage could not hold all of the European locations. Modern technology has increased so much that my new Sat Nav is fully pre-loaded with all UK & Europe (except some Eastern European Countries) locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 arh - 2009-05-26 9:19 PM I have a ventura sat-nav, and it's magic. I put in the height/length/weight of a vehicle and it won't send me down a road without warning me about the weight (I use it in the truck and motor-home) It avoids low bridges, narrow roads etc. but if you input a position inside a 7.5t area it will direct you in the most direct route, but will tell you that you are going in a restricted zone. But, I think you will find two areas where it won't be so magical.First, in Europe it will presently lack the information on height/weight etc restrictions for many countries, because the current mapping does not include that information.Second, all it can do is avoid roads where such restrictions exist. It may still send you down a 8' 0" wide cart track, if that track has no width/weight restrictions against it. I'm exaggerating to make the point, but all the routing avoidances work upon is the legal restrictions, not upon whether the road is generally suitable for a vehicle of the type you are driving. You will still, therefore, be offered silly shortcuts and very narrow country roads / alleys in towns, just they won't be banned for your type of vehicle. You'll still need those maps, and their indication of general road width, gradients, etc, to plan a sensible route. Blind adherence to sat nav instructions is a guaranteed way to an "interesting" trip, but using the sat nav in conjunction with maps is still much the better way to proceed for peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Sat nav is fine for finding your final destination & works tolerably in the UK but is naff at route planning across the continent. A lot of the early sat nav’s allowed route planning on a PC that could be downloaded to the unit I don’t think any modern unit supports this. I’ve got a Navman S90i but still use Autoroute with a GPS receiver in the Motorhome, can not beat the flexible route planning , the ease you can drag and drop a route & add way points, the voice directions are a bit naff. One good thing about the S90i is the navpix camera, if you see something interesting that you might want to visit at a later date take a photo and it logs the co-ordinates, trouble is I always forget to use it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 lennyhb - 2009-06-06 2:08 PM Sat nav is fine for finding your final destination & works tolerably in the UK but is naff at route planning across the continent. (snip) Can be naff in the UK as well - found that coming back from Stratford today. Had the TomTom on to guide us through the town so it was still on as we were driving up the A46. It tried to send us up the M40 (presumably to pick up the M1 via the M42) rather than staying on the A46 to reach the M1 via the M69. As I've driven between Tees-side and Warwick area dozens of times we stayed on the A46 but otherwise we would have done several miles more. I assume that using the motorways would have saved us a few seconds so worked out to be the fastest route. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerGW Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 GJH - 2009-06-08 5:25 PM ....I assume that using the motorways would have saved us a few seconds so worked out to be the fastest route. It sounds to me as though it did exactly what you asked of it. What's "naff" about that? Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 lennyhb - 2009-06-06 2:08 PM Sat nav is fine for finding your final destination & works tolerably in the UK but is naff at route planning across the continent. I have previously used a Garmin Quest when travelling Europe and was amazed at how well it performed. It was good for planning routes and always got us to the final destination. The only problem was the limited memory storage in the Garmin and so had to load the full range of 'map sets' on to laptop and then amend the Garmin Unit as appropriate during our travels. I now have Alpine Blackbird and first European trip will be in 7 weeks time so the proof of the pudding and all that...... (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 RogerGW - 2009-06-08 6:04 PM GJH - 2009-06-08 5:25 PM ....I assume that using the motorways would have saved us a few seconds so worked out to be the fastest route. It sounds to me as though it did exactly what you asked of it. What's "naff" about that? Roger I tend to try 2 comparing routes - first I do the fastest and then do a comparison with an alternative to this, or even the shortest, in some instances there is very little time difference, maybe a few minutes if that, but the extra mileage can be quite a lot. At least then you can choose which you wish to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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