"Garmin" not all as it seems

vaz2121 · 2021-09-17 17:49:23

I'm afraid at 95 yrs old father has been admitted to hospital again and mother at 93yrs old and away with the fairies has been in a care home for respite and to get cared for obviously ..................
With the current finance driven procedures she's landed 40 miles away from us and as the A76 is fairly twisty it can take us over an hour to travel there traffic dependant ..............
When we last went up on Saturday for a visit the Garmin was on [as normal with ignition] to just show maps when localish and we don't require directions.......... I noticed after almost 20 mins into journey that on several occasions it had lost or had very poor satalite signal .............
At one point it had me driving along a river and not the road and telling to turn onto nearest road.................

Notice ~ ~Aquiring satellites on screen ... it did this on many occasions ...Even turning off

This was our first real use of Van with the intentions to stay out in van after visit ... In easily a year I'd say ....................
But we ran out of gas while waiting the half hour for our lateral flow pass results to be able to see my mother ............
Anyway ... No gas ... That's another story..........

This Garmin issue has only from what I can tell started doing this since fitting rear view camera ..............
At one point it had me driving along a river and not the road and telling to turn onto nearest road.................
With this particular satnav receiving digital information and using power cord as an aerial I went back to the old analogue type Garmin that's for her car........
But it's exactly the same ...........
If it is placed away from rear view screen Both lock onto satellites as normal......

So here's the question ............
Is it the rear view screen or the wiring for screen picture thats causing the issue and distorting/blocking the satellites signal ?.............

I've considered using waze on my Ipad for navigation ...............
I used to use a laptop ans a usb magnetic antena when space allowed or a notebook with microsoft or google maps in truck.............
screen size was brilliant ... The downside was accommodating screen size ................

Casper · 2021-09-17 21:18:58

I use iGO Primo. Looks better when just on or on a route. I tend to use it on an Android as they find satellite a lot better/faster than any windows based stuff i have ever used BUT........................ I now have the same software in a cheap Chinese XGody satnav and it works flawless and as yet to struggle finding satelites. Yes the XGody is windows based but TBH its one of the best i have found. I feel Garmin and Tom Tom you are paying for the name. To many horror story's for me to ever buy one and by the sound of it mad updates take for ever.

You use your rear view mirror Vaz? That is where my sat nav lived when i had my Expert

vaz2121 · 2021-09-17 22:54:43

Casper wrote:

You use your rear view mirror Vaz? That is where my sat nav lived when i had my Expert

No I don't use/have a rear view mirror. I removed it a long time ago as it blocked vision on roundabouts etc especially .. when traveling abroad ........
Never bothered me not being there as I never had one for most of my miles anyway just bigger door mirrors .................

I fitted rear view camera recently for a couple reasons 1. Getting older and not as flexable ... To make things easier when looking to and moving backwards ................
2. I've got a utility trailer I pull on occasion and is narrower than van and it makes life easier to keep an eye on it and load as camera's on all the time ............

Pathfinder100 · 2021-09-18 02:48:11

Here! Maps or whatever its currently called on Android is my go to for Sat Nav shenanigans.

I know all about Garmins and the interesting shit they send you to. While in Spain with my parents a few years back I plotted a back country shortcut on their Garmin and it took us to a bridge that didn't exist (East of Leon) and on another occasion, into a narrow dead end street in Lugo. I hate them. Mobile Phones are the way forward for electronic navigation. Although the Windows Phone version of Here! was way better than the Android version.

vaz2121 · 2021-09-18 16:07:38

Pathfinder100 wrote:

Here! Maps or whatever its currently called on Android is my go to for Sat Nav shenanigans.
I know all about Garmins and the interesting shit they send you to. While in Spain with my parents a few years back I plotted a back country shortcut on their Garmin and it took us to a bridge that didn't exist (East of Leon) and on another occasion, into a narrow dead end street in Lugo. I hate them. Mobile Phones are the way forward for electronic navigation. Although the Windows Phone version of Here! was way better than the Android version.

Being old school I don't really like satnav's ... Prefering a good old road map.
Although I admit to finding them Handy for the last couple miles in or around the uknown town I'm in and looking for that address [saves me buying yet another A to Z]....................

I bought a Garmin as I didn't like the look of maps or operation on built in stuff like a head unit and wanted a separate dedicated unit...............
Nor did I like the look of maps or operation on the likes of cheaper variants like Binatone etc got a garmin over tomtom for same reason and the lifetime map updates option then..........[Although I do have a UK tomtom somewhere]

I have previously relied on a Garmin and come to regret it in the end, But if you've got no real choice and I don't trust them to know what I want/need anyway I should know better..............

A while ago I had lost my Euro map on a trip 4 or 5yrs ago abroad before all this covid and brexit stuff ...IIRC One of the first if not the first time abroad with this Van .................
And hung my hopes on the Garmin ..... I also decided on spur of moment to stop at WW1 trenches at Vimy Ridge and not via the Grand Prix circuit at Reims again as first planned ... Visit her father first then Costa Brava... we had on a return trip previously gone to Hell fire corner, Hooge crater and around several places at Ypres and passchendaele ... And as we had landed again at Dunkirk and had been into Belgium our route then inc Vimy ridge was meant to go around paris outskirts [I'd been to Rungis South of Paris a few times with Truck ... It was built as a Market about 100 odd yrs ago to serve Paris but is size of a town now] ................
Anyway I thought I'd miss counted roudabout exits or missed a turning [as I'm good at that] But I ended up at the very place I didn't want to go {On the Peripherique which was as bad as ever ... standstill and bedlum} I should have listened to my gut when I thought de Gaulle airport is on wrong side of me isn't it............
Next on coming out of Vigo in Galicia, Spain after Visiting her Father for some unknown reason right after fueling up [off the Autovia] it wanted to take us off that section of Autovia [M/way] we were on to then direct us back on again at very next junction .................

I still have a distrust with all of them and I believe even with the latest software they still want to send you on weird routes ... Like everthing they have a place in [modern] life................
My First satnav I had was a Navman but had a really tiny screen and was more a turn by turn than maps

Pathfinder100 · 2021-09-18 20:16:58

The thing I love about them, especially abroad is when you turn off a main road and it creates some crazy route and you go on a crazy adventure down backroads. That's when life is worth living, when you don't know if you will end up in a river or on the edge of a cliff. Total fun. smile

Casper · 2021-09-19 00:50:07

Must say. The only time my iGO software went tits up was when i had my Dispatch. I used a route plotting software before i went on Holiday and plotted a route down the Mosel Germany. You need to be carful to put your waypoints on the right side of the road and zoom in to make sure you are on the right road when in larger towns. I ended up in back streets what i would have been stuck had i been in a larger motor. From then on i always put in my vans dimensions and bin the route plotting software. One other mistake what TBH was not my fault was , My sat nav reset itself and default was shortest route. That is a mistake as you need it on quickest as i found out when in south Wales. Bloody thing had me heading north through wales when going home rather than east for the M5 what would have saved me a good two hours on my trip home. (Had i noticed sooner)

vaz2121 · 2021-09-19 12:06:30

Casper you reminded me of the time 3yrs ago come November when my eldest Daughter had to go down to west Wales about half way between Aberystwyth and Fishguard and wanted me to tag along do some driving and so she wasn't on her own ...........
Also she asked for a loan of the satnav to keep her right .............

As I'd been down to Bow street a little place just short of Aberystwyth about ayear before I thought "No worries piece of pi**".............
This is where Pathfinder100 alleged adventure kicks in..............
I'd gone Chester~wrexham~ [there's a short cut to miss out Welshpool] down to Machynlleth and coast road "Thought like before but a little farther on ... Bob's your Auntie" ..................

We left home well after tea time in hope road would get really quiet and I did first stint to somwhere just before Chester............
On my Daughters stint at wheel and at this point I was having a kip just not long after going around Chester Satnav had her come off Dual carriageway and turn right on to some "A" road ...........

At some point I was awoken from my slumber while trying to keep pace with a Discovery on some obscure "A" road and it was snowing ...............

I gathered myself together and got her to pull over, We ended up going up and over/through some of what felt like Snowdonia .............
Anyway eventually we ended up arriving over this bridge into Machynlleth and a road I'd never been on before ... Pity it had been night time, snowing and we had to push on...........
It might have been a worth while route for a tour I'll try keep it in mind for future........

We then had a few hours in a lay-by and then continued on to her meeting ..........

AlvyLad · 2021-09-19 20:50:10

Yup, just to add my £0.02P all of them Win Based units are inferior to the Android (phone ones) Waze is absolute best (with data connection); without data (off-line) HERE is good enough, but all are way better to several Garmin TomTom's and few cheaper models stand alone units I still have somewhere floating about...

Last edited by AlvyLad (2021-09-19 20:51:20)

Pathfinder100 · 2021-09-19 20:51:49

vaz2121 wrote:

I'd gone Chester~Wrexham~ [there's a short cut to miss out Welshpool] down to Machynlleth and coast road "Thought like before but a little farther on ... Bob's your Auntie" ..................
We left home well after tea time in hope road would get really quiet and I did first stint to somwhere just before Chester............
On my Daughters stint at wheel and at this point I was having a kip just not long after going around Chester Satnav had her come off Dual carriageway and turn right on to some "A" road ...........
At some point I was awoken from my slumber while trying to keep pace with a Discovery on some obscure "A" road and it was snowing ...............
I gathered myself together and got her to pull over, We ended up going up and over/through some of what felt like Snowdonia .............
Anyway eventually we ended up arriving over this bridge into Machynlleth and a road I'd never been on before ... Pity it had been night time, snowing and we had to push on...........
It might have been a worth while route for a tour I'll try keep it in mind for future........
We then had a few hours in a lay-by and then continued on to her meeting ..........

Guessing the shortcut road is the Meifod road, turn right on the main road after passing the Wrexham turn off, head cross country for a while, and then down to Mach some time later. I know of a handful of back whacks routes to Mach on the Meifod road (and beyond it), most are unsuitable for anything besides an adventure motorbike or a land rover. I've done some of them on my Vara. Unless of course she turned off after Meifod and somehow tried to go north/west towards Dolgellau in which case there are also some fun roads that bring you out towards CAT on the outskirts of Mach. There is much adventure to be had in North Wales, but its often more fun to lay a map on the ground and throw a penny in the air and where it land, you go to. If you are actually trying to get to a place, then follow the signs. big_smile

Glad you made it out without disappearing. tongue

Casper · 2021-09-19 21:54:38

Before being diagnosed a Coeliac i only had Aldi style stores, McDonalds and garages enables on my POI's when doing Europe. Always handy for cheap booz and food and a quick bite when on the road big_smile Went to France once before Sat Nav days. First stop off the ferry was fuel and a McDonalds who gave us a map of France listing all the drive through's. We used that to tour the coast and border over two weeks. tongue

tee_cee · 2021-09-21 11:46:28

Been a long time user of TomTom, with my Ipaq 4150 and Globalsat Blutooth GPS, and even ran it on an Orange SPV200E.
Still using it on a dedicated unit, but I have to say that as time goes on the functionality gets worse and worse.
Among the many faults, it insists in coming off perfectly good A roads, down narrow residential roads, to potentially save save a few seconds. Although sometimes I just go with it for the hell of it.
With POIs it will take you as close as possible, as happened a few years ago where it took me to Les Deux Alps, where the campsite was close by, but actually in the village 1000m below.

vaz2121 · 2021-09-21 14:01:40

Pathfinder100 wrote:

Guessing the shortcut road is the Meifod road, turn right on the main road after passing the Wrexham turn off, head cross country for a while, and then down to Mach some time later.

That sounds very much like the route I took on getting down to Machynlleth myself and came on way back with Daughter ... pretty sure it was after Oswestry though I turned off on way there..............

As I was sleeping in the reclined passenger seat [Astra elite automatic at the time] I'm not 100% sure where it said turn right.................
She did say it wasnt long after Chester.............

Dolgellau ... Rings a bell in my head but we headed south all the time IIRC although I do remember coming down a long hill and it was if the road we took turned onto itself ran parallel to the other for a bit even if it didn't I'm sure I saw that on screen [Something very similar to the Autovia just outside Leon in Spain where you can see the M/way you want to transfer to for ages or seems like it]...................

vaz2121 · 2021-09-21 14:19:09

tee_cee wrote:

Been a long time user of TomTom, with my Ipaq 4150 and Globalsat Blutooth GPS, and even ran it on an Orange SPV200E.
Still using it on a dedicated unit, but I have to say that as time goes on the functionality gets worse and worse.
Among the many faults, it insists in coming off perfectly good A roads, down narrow residential roads, to potentially save save a few seconds. Although sometimes I just go with it for the hell of it.
With POIs it will take you as close as possible, as happened a few years ago where it took me to Les Deux Alps, where the campsite was close by, but actually in the village 1000m below.

I've got a cople iPads with there own sim card and inhereted a couple wifi only after getting rid of a samsung android pad...............
The wifi only ones have an issue keeping up and knowing exactly where they are .............
The Sim ecqiped ones are more on the ball ... I thought I might try waze or something on one of the sim equipped jobbs even though i have van equipped with an external aerial and hotospot router for travel times or more like a neflix movie or youtube on iPad when stopped ...............................

woodbine · 2021-10-06 21:11:56

Jeez! Just bought a Tomtom to get me from Bristol to far side of Czech Republic. And back. sad

AlvyLad · 2021-10-07 11:06:41

woodbine wrote:

Jeez! Just bought a Tomtom to get me from Bristol to far side of Czech Republic. And back.

ouch neutral
got me thinking of getting all the cables, units, clamping doo- dah's and flogging them on ebay big_smile

woodbine · 2021-10-08 11:41:13

AlvyLad wrote:

woodbine wrote:
Jeez! Just bought a Tomtom to get me from Bristol to far side of Czech Republic. And back.
ouch
got me thinking of getting all the cables, units, clamping doo- dah's and flogging them on ebay

Got to be better than a map? Surely?

When I tried it out, it got me to Asda and back perfectly. smile

Last edited by woodbine (2021-10-08 11:42:07)

AlvyLad · 2021-10-12 21:28:06

woodbine wrote:

AlvyLad wrote:
woodbine wrote:
Jeez! Just bought a Tomtom to get me from Bristol to far side of Czech Republic. And back.
ouch
got me thinking of getting all the cables, units, clamping doo- dah's and flogging them on ebay
Got to be better than a map? Surely?
When I tried it out, it got me to Asda and back perfectly.

Don't get me wrong- actual map reading is long now ground out out of me so much, that I end up using my apps to go shopping from home.... anything, as long as I wouldn't need any brain usage ops and happens (when I argue with Mrs Jane ('nee Waze)) to think I know better route, than her- I end up in a bit of jam, as simply impossible to know traffic happen on hourly basis. Tough that relationship is, trust me, it taken me years and years just to "listen"(obey) what she's on about, as she knows live traffic/speed updates, beyond any possible mortals knowledge cool

Last edited by AlvyLad (2021-10-12 22:05:21)

Casper · 2021-10-12 21:48:16

AlvyLad wrote:

as she knows live traffic/speed updates, beyond any possible mortals knowledge

yikes That is just no natural

AlvyLad · 2021-10-12 22:11:59

Casper wrote:

AlvyLad wrote:
as she knows live traffic/speed updates, beyond any possible mortals knowledge

That is just no natural

I know, I know, yet do argue with, only to be certain I'll be losing at the end of a day...
for less formal beating, like Homer's voice sometimes, but perhaps it's my submissive nature to "listen" (obey) her, I wouldn't no other woman ever! wink

Casper · 2021-10-13 23:37:38

AlvyLad wrote:

I know, I know, yet do argue with, only to be certain I'll be losing at the end of a day...
for less formal beating, like Homer's voice sometimes, but perhaps it's my submissive nature to "listen" (obey) her, I wouldn't no other woman ever!

I am lucky in the way my wife sits further back as the passenger door is the old bus entrance door with steps. The engine noise drown her out and she cant properly see the sat nav. You bet she can still see the bloody speedo though but my excuse is 70mph on the speedo is only 65 on the sat nav and i go with the sat nav as its way more accurate.

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#1 2021-09-17 17:49:23

"Garmin" not all as it seems

#2 2021-09-17 21:18:58

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#3 2021-09-17 22:54:43

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#4 2021-09-18 02:48:11

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#5 2021-09-18 16:07:38

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#6 2021-09-18 20:16:58

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#7 2021-09-19 00:50:07

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#8 2021-09-19 12:06:30

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#9 2021-09-19 20:50:10

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#10 2021-09-19 20:51:49

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#11 2021-09-19 21:54:38

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#12 2021-09-21 11:46:28

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#13 2021-09-21 14:01:40

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#14 2021-09-21 14:19:09

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#15 2021-10-06 21:11:56

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#16 2021-10-07 11:06:41

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#17 2021-10-08 11:41:13

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#18 2021-10-12 21:28:06

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#19 2021-10-12 21:48:16

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#20 2021-10-12 22:11:59

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

#21 2021-10-13 23:37:38

Re: "Garmin" not all as it seems

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