Derek Uzzell Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 I don't know how many forum members read MMM magazine, but on Page 10 of the latest (January 2022) issue is a letter titled "Installing a Garmin sat-nav". The letter's author (Michael Dinnage) posted identical text to the Practical Caravan forums on 2 November 2021 under the heading "Limitations on use of Garmin Camper 780 Sat Nav" resulting in a long (though inconclusive) discussion. https://forums.practicalcaravan.com/threads/limitations-on-use-of-garmin-camper-780-sat-nav.63601/ The installer of the sat-nav was going to recheck the installation, but as Michael D did not post to the PC forums again, it's not known if the issue was ever resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 Yes just had ours through the door and read the article, seems to be that the garmin mini usb cable was not used, I thought. Thus not giving him all the options ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 I'm not familiar with the Camper 780 model, but my Garmin sat-navs came with two cables, each of which can be connected to the sat-nav via the device's single mini-USB socket. The one cable is intended to provide power to the sat-nav from a vehicle's dashboard socket, and the other cable allows the sat-nav to be connected to a computer's USB socket for software/mapping updating. (I believe a Camper 780's software/mapping can also be updated via wifi.) The logical thing to do would be to connect Michael D's Camper 780 to another vehicle's dashboard socket using the Garmin-supplied cable and check if that allowed the device's screen-brightness to be adjusted. If it did, then (as suggested in the PC forum thread) a socket could easily be wired in to Michael's motorhome that would allow the Garmin-supplied cable to be used. If the screen-brightness could still not be adjusted even when the Garmin-supplied cable was used, there's probably something wrong with the sat-nav itself. Garmin warns about 'hard-wiring' their devices https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=t6SVyl285f2GwW4SiW48H9 and markets suitable 'bare wire' cables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 The Owner's Manual for a Garmin Camper 780 is here https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/rv780/EN-US/RV_780_OM_EN-US.pdf The only basic difference between the Camper 780 and my Garmin sat-navs is that updating a 780's maps and software can be done via wifi OR by connecting to a computer that has the Garmin Express application on it, whereas updating my Garmin sat-navs cannot be done via wifi. Just like my Garmin devices, the 780 has a single mini-USB socket into which the power-cable would plug when the 780 was in the vehicle. In that situation there's no data transfer involved and, if the 780 were to be 'hard-wired' (instead of being connected to a dashboard socket via the plug on the supplied power-cable) the wiring should just need to reduce the vehicle voltage to what the 780 requires. Adjusting a 780's display brightness should be very simple, and it should be possible to do this when the sat-nav is disconnected from the power-cable and running from its internal battery. I have two Garmin sat-navs - an elderly nuvi1340 and a much younger nuvi 2559LM - and both of these allow the display brightness to be adjusted from minimum to maximum while the device is running from its internal battery. If the brightness of the display of Michael D's Camper 780 could not be adjusted from 40% when the sat-nav was running on its internal battery, it's hard to see how the power-cable could then be the culprit. (The mini-USB port of my nuvi 2559LM needs treating with a degree of care. The sat-nav was behaving very oddly one day in France until I realised that I'd accidentally displaced the power-cable's plug slightly in the port.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham Posted December 9, 2021 Share Posted December 9, 2021 I have a Garmin 660. The display can be altered by going into settings. The only thing i have to remember is to use the power lead that came with it.If i use another i get message that it is not charging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 9, 2021 Author Share Posted December 9, 2021 As far as I’m aware the method of adjusting the screen brightness of Garmin vehicle sat-navs is much the same for all models. The instructions in the Manual for the Garmin Camper 780 model are as shown by the image below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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