QUOTE(DXSMac @ Apr 17 2009, 08:40 PM) [snapback]15938[/snapback] Had another GPS issue a couple days ago. I was driving through Gallup, New Mexico and wanted to get back on the freeway. Magellan said, "freeway entrance on the right." Normally, those kinds of "on ramps" are on the right. So, I moved to the right lane. WRONG! Entrance ramp was on the left and it was a cloverleaf! Oops, too late, can't move over. Had to go around the block, and the block I went around had very narrow roads. Yikes. JJ Yes I know, life is difficult, you complain because the GPS is goofing off, I have a GPS telling me what to do and my wife insisting in giving me different directions h34r: , she is always focusing on the map and when the GPS tells me to turn left or right, she immediately ask me WHY ? How do I know, I am only ther driver and would like to follow the GPS indication, after all I spent about $ 400 for it and I would like to believe in what it says, but, for a good living in the family at the time I am following her direction and h34r: naturally, as soon as I obey my wife the GPS starts screaming and telling me that I am to a wrong direction , to take the first road on the left/right and ....naturally my wife insist that the GPS is stupid, or, who programmed it didn't know what he/she was doing and this goes on and on with the result that people tells me why I look so old when I am only 70 and I cannot say the truth :lol
Just had a fun one - put me in the middle of a horse pasture! Fortunately, was able to to get it turned around.
I'm kinda glad this topic got revived. There were 2 stories in the news just before Christmas about people out northwest. As remember, both stories were about people using GPS getting lost in Oregon because the GPS sent them onto unplowed, secondary mountain roads. The story on which I heard the most information, talked of an older couple going from Reno to Portland to visit family for the holidays. The GPS routed them on to a forrest service road and they we stranded for almost 3 days before they were found. This story wasn't about people in an RV but it is certainly a pertinent example of how a little old-fashioned planning with a map would have prevented this almost tragic situation.
Jerry S, Some people have no common sense and need a GPS to return back home from a trip to local store. The write up also said the GPS saved the couple as well. One cell phone was GPS equipped and the local law office used that information to find the couple on a road no one used in winter months. If we see a deal like this we stop and look at paper maps and ask do we wish to do this. GPS are good in lots of cases. We tour in places like Chicago or Philadelphia and found it is time to have lunch. Now we turn on GPS and find a place close by, saves you time and mileage looking for some place. We have people here in town that have lived close by 40 plus years and can not find the local Home Depot yet. As I ride with some people at every turn you need to tell them right here or move over to the left. The couple had two cell phones and full tank of gas in car plus stuff to eat and stuff to stay warm. They got that part right. One cell phone would not pick up cell tower and other only at imes and very weak. Good luck the one with GPS did work at last.
If you put the address of our CG in it will take you some place miles away. I always tell campers to put the town in and we are 1 1/2 miles south of town. In a few weeks we are going to have a bus conversion rally here. For those that want it we will have the actual co-ordinance for them to put in. Can you image 2 dozen 35-40 foot bus conversions, most with toads, in a line driving down the dusty, twisty, narrow dirt road that the GPS says they should take? Of course, I do think it would make a funny picture. (yes, my sense of humor is warped).
Most GPS addresses are wrong by a small amount or in some cases miles off. Good Sam 2010 book now had the (we hope) correct address on most campgrounds. I found a new campground last week and the web page GPS address was off by miles. RV people will be happy to find this place.
So far so good (knock on wood) as far as not being led astray by the GPS. Sometimes I think it gives us some directions that would be better, but no white knuckle moments yet. For those of you with large travel trailers or motorhomes, it may be worth the investment of getting a "trucker" GPS. I know some of the regular ones have that as an option on the directions setting, but the "trucker" GPS are a whole other item all together. A bit more expensive, but I've been told they're great at keeping you off the narrow, windy, hilly roads some of you have encountered. Most good truck stops will carry these GPS units.
So I felt the need to add a reply... Of all the places to be off in a map - it was Campingworld in Valencia, California. I had my Garmin, I had my backup of the printout of the Google maps and was ready to roll. It's really the "last mile" that gets you I got off the freeway turned and the gps is pushing me up a road that's going into a state park, it got narrow fast - and at some point you have to say - oh this must be the way, then wait a minute.... oh oh... not good in a 34 foot diesel Super C. Luckily there was a fire turnout after a mile and a seven point turn and I was on my was back down. No cell service , but when I went back down the hill a short bit and was able to call the store they said - oh that happens all the time. mapquest actually had it right, google for a change was wrong and so was Garmin- and admitted it. Oh by the way the Trucker GPS like the Garmin 456T has 4 very bad problems currently, as I owned one for a bit to try it out that make it really not useful to RV'ers, honestly I'd love to love it but they have to fix it. 1. It only has truck mode - not RV mode. so it assumes you are a commercial vehicle - that means it's screaming at you all over urban areas as you are a truck.....and not supposed to be there. that's mroe dangerous distracting to me driving potentially, I need the truck routes, low clearance data sharp curves, but hey I'm not a commercial vehicle. 2. The unit does not like trip interruptions or changes in route or it will reboot - this is just a plain bug. 3. No audio output jack - it's too quiet - ever tired hearing something over a diesel ? 4. It's not big enough should be 5 inches or 7 like the older 7200 Streetpilot.
Good points on the trucker GPS. Maybe some others will work? It's a matter of time before an RV GPS setting comes out, hopefully sooner than later. It's not fun when it routes a detour and there's 5 screaming kids in the back of the van, and you're pulling a pup through a fancy-schmancy neighborhood lol
The expierences that i have had in my GPS days are that if you set it to take you the shortest route you will end up going thru some bad country roads, then if you set it to the fastest route you will go thru the mountians of virginia and down a two lane road using all brakes you have....so i would recommend using a road atlas along with the GPS to map out where you would like to go the GPS will recalculate route and head you on a good path. This same GPS took me to a walmart that had moved 14 years prior to that location that is very frustrating ..... :angry:
We had an old motorhome and a new GPS about 4 years ago. We were travelling through central Missouri, heading northeast from Kansas City to Carrollton. I had been that way by car earlier in the year and knew that the old iron bridge over the Missouri River in Waverly, MO had been torn down and replaced by a super new bridge, and that the route to get to the new bridge was a wee bit confusing. When I mentioned this to HRH the Driver, he patted me on the hand, and reminded me that we had the latest in technology. Unfortunately, Garmin hadn't heard about the bridge switcheroo, I guess. I could tell that it was going to be interesting, if not fun when we didn't do a dog leg to get to the new bridge. I cleared my throat, and my husband ignored me. We ended up in a very small parking lot and had a lovely view of the Missouri River, but no bridge. :unsure: I didn't say "I told you so". I helped him make a tight Y turn, and we traveled in silence for a while. After a twisted route, we crossed the Missouri! By the way, Waverly is surrounded by peach orchards, and in July and August, you can find the nicest juiciest peaches EVER there. We like the farm stand from Peter's Orchards.
QUOTE The expierences that i have had in my GPS days are that if you set it to take you the shortest route you will end up going thru some bad country roads, then if you set it to the fastest route you will go thru the mountians of virginia and down a two lane road using all brakes you have....so i would recommend using a road atlas along with the GPS to map out where you would like to go the GPS will recalculate route and head you on a good path. For important routes (i.e. those that may involve narrow roads or mountain switchbacks, etc.) I always preview the route using Streets and Trips. and, if necessary use the closeup views available from Bing or Google Maps to double check turns, etc. Once I have decided on the route I download it to the Garmin so I am not depending on one program. I do not know the Garmin model numbers that are capable of this but there are several. Perhaps this is a bit of overkill, but sometimes peace of mind is important too. Besides I have had enough "road adventures" in my life. I do not need more.
We use two GPS units. I use a Garmin 7200 for my main navigation(big screen, etc) and my wife uses a TomTom 920 to double check the Garmin and to look up RV Parks and restaurants. Even with two units, we still don't always end up with the best route to get to a location. Both units are kept up to date with the latest downloads and both use a different mapping source. I figure that it is just the nature of civilian GPS systems. What bothers me the most is when the GPS unit says we are on State Rd 315 or we should turn onto State Road 27, and the road signs all say Oak Street or some other name that the GPS doesn't have in it's database. Another problem is trying to find RV Parks that do not have a specific street address. On the corner of Oak and Elm does no good if the GPS unit only knows those as State roads. All things considered, We usually put 15,000 miles on our coach each year and we would not trade our GPS units for anything. We still have the road maps but the GPS units do make the driving easier.
