Satellite Navigation Systems Questions - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Satellite Navigation Systems Questions

rjenkins · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry I have limited knowledge since I just bought a GPS myself but did do some research to fit my needs and thats the key, fit your needs.
As for the GPS you can use in a vehicle and also take with you on hikes, I did see some that had that feature and yes, were battery operated, but the negatives in the reviews I read, were that battery duration was poor to take on any considerable hike.
A lot of the new GPS's offer all kinds of new features such as bluetooth, mp3 capability, etc. All stuff that I was not interested in. And you pay a price for that of course.
One thing to consider is the traffic alerts and updating maps.
I ended up with the Magellan 1450 only because it was the best bang for the buck in terms of what I needed and had the largest screen at the time, 4.7" I think.
It has free lifetime traffic alert and in return, a very non intrusive ad comes on every now and then from hotels, restaurants, retail shops when you are in an area that is within their advertising. I thought it would be annoying but it is not.
The knock on the Magellan that I was very concerned with was that the voice giving directions was not audible or intelligible. Either I got lucky or the reviews were hyper critical but the voice directions are great and easily understood.
Again, this is what worked for me. I was looking for plain and simple, LARGE screen, good price, and free traffic alerts (which also work very well).

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

I've had all kinds of GPS units...even had a Lowrance Air-1000 that I used when flying my ultralight aircraft. I learned early on that it's best not to rely on any GPS for road navigation, they will get you in trouble more often than not. They may work fine on the interstates, but when you get into cities...all bets are off.

The one GPS unit I kept (for desert hiking and Geocaching) was the first GPS I ever bought, the Garmin ETrex. I paid $75 for it new and an additional $40 for the cable to hook it up to my computer. It has no maps. The batteries last for days. The screen is small, but for hiking/geocaching it's perfect.

Our coach has a built-in GPS unit with a 7" screen but I rarely use it. It shares the screen with the 3 external camera's. We find the trailer life atlas to be all we need for navigation while on the road. I also do some pre-planning using Google Maps.

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

As NorCal Dan says you can get a handheld GPS cheaply that works much better that way than trying to use a navigation GPS. But you can also give the navigation GPS a try and only buy a handheld later if it is worth it to you.

Roz · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just purchased a Droid phone yesterday for Ethel. It has a GPS built in, and would do fine for a "walk about" unit.

Paul and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

I have a built-in navigation system in my Ford F-350 but have yet to find anything that gives me warnings about grades, hairpins, low bridges etc.

Anyone have any information on how to get that type of information ... either a GPS or Navigation System, or an atlas/map.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

After doing more reading of forum posts, we are re-thinking this satellite navigation situation. First, as some have commented, Microsoft Streets and Trips looks like a good thing to have for preplanning of ones trip, especially the version for RV's ($70 - see link below).

http://www.microsoft.com/streets/en-us/TopReasonsToBuy.aspx

As for the GPS unit itself, that will take a bit more research. The "hiking" versions of Garmins, while pretty impressive with topographical maps, is very pricey. But, I need to see if I can find a version of GPS that will notify of low bridges but can be taken out of the vehicle and be battery operated.

If I can find such a product, then both the GPS and the Streets and Trips could be helpful in finding large RV friendly fuel stops and such. While I will still appreciate anyone's input with suggestions or recommendations, we are not in a big hurry to get anything yet. After all, we're still in Oklahoma City and will be for a while, and we know the city pretty well.

One individual posted on another forum that as a safety precaution, not to program one's GPS with their home address. Should a thief break into one's vehicle to steal their GPS unit, while one is giving a crime report to the police, the thief is breaking into one's home. They suggested programming one's "home" setting as the local police department. Kind of makes sense, after all, other than being on the road, most of us know where "home" is located and wouldn't need GPS to find it.

Perhaps others of you have "tips" for GPS owners as well. If so, why not chime in with them.

Thanks again.

Terry

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just a note to add...if you are using Streets & Trips and you have a GPS that can be connected to the computer running S&T then you can use a moving map feature where S&T will plot your course on the map. I played around with this and got it working, but both our laptops have battery problems (the batteries only last about 5 minutes) so I shelved the project as I didn't want to run the inverter just for the laptop.