Community Forums

Mike_Harriet · 10-04-2015, 08:37 AM

I have a Garmin 760, plus 2 road atlas's and motor carriers guide. I still use Google to fly the route. I've used Garmin for years, ten years live aboard cruising Bahamas and So FL, plus all my vehicles. I never totally trusted them. Had a friend who asked me why I owned so many marine charts plus two marine gps systems. Said I always double checked my course on a paper chart. He called me anal and walked off chuckling. Little over a year later ran in too him in the Keys with his boat in the yard. He had run aground, several thousand in damages plus a fine from Coasties for Seagrass damage. His comment "but I was on the gps course and autopilot " They're out there and walk among us--danger Will Robinson!!

OLYLEN · 10-04-2015, 09:01 AM

GPS only do what PEOPLE program it to do. READ the manual and 90% of "errors" go away, if you program what you wish the GPS TO do correctly. There will still be the chance the info in the GPS is in error so expand the view and assure your route. As some roads are no longer and new ones or deficient one's are not designated correctly. It's only a tool, you can't blame the saw for cutting off a finger. And yes I have blindly followed the GPS gods also.

LEN

the trainguy · 10-04-2015, 10:05 AM

You guys have got to pay attention when selecting your "route preferences".
Selecting the wrong one can be life threatening.
When you think you have clearly superior computer skills and click on advanced settings make darn sure you don't click on the "all water" routing.....

HicksRA · 10-04-2015, 04:46 PM

After being totally screwed by my Dezl 760 a few times, I sometimes find myself indecisive as to whether to take the turn it tells me to or not and end up getting myself into more trouble.
The worst was when it routed me right into Downtown Manhattan on a Friday afternoon at quitting time. Took me 3 hours to get out of that mess.

Big Dude · 10-04-2015, 04:58 PM

I never trust the GPS for route planning but use maps to make a plan and then the GPS to remind me when a turn is coming and what lane I should be in - assuming we're on the same route.

ga traveler · 10-04-2015, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baraff

Our Rand McNally told us "Turn right to your final destination". Turning right would have put me into the Gulf of Mexico. Glad I have eyes.

The GPS was right on. If you had turned right, you would have gone into the ocean and that would be your final destination on this earth.

nothermark · 10-05-2015, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the trainguy

You guys have got to pay attention when selecting your "route preferences".
Selecting the wrong one can be life threatening.
When you think you have clearly superior computer skills and click on advanced settings make darn sure you don't click on the "all water" routing.....

I worked doing GPS dispatched service calls the last few years before I retired. There is more to it than route settings. They routinely did things like send me through a housing development with stop signs on every corner and speed bumps in the middle of each block when a quarter mile more would be staying on the main roads. Ditto roads on the map but not there in the country and there but not in the data base yet in the metro. Then there was getting off at the off ramp and back on after the light changed. (Ramps were shorter). 3 miles of traffic because the ramp to the expressway was a right turn but my next destination was to the left. I could run a longer list but the point is that without the big picture there are many ways to screw up with either fastest or shortest routing. There is no setting for "best compromise". Either knowing the area or good mapping will let one avoid stupid GPS routing done because they are simple machines working to simple algorithms but doing it very fast. ;-)

poppopc · 10-05-2015, 08:54 AM

We use Google maps as another tool plus paper maps.
Also we have truckers atlas. Shows the truck friendly routes.
Is say WE. Should say DW.

Jamie65 · 10-08-2015, 10:33 AM

Not to beat a dead horse. I just got off the phone with Garmin, one item to consider add your tow vehicle to the length in your GPS settings. I had my length set at the length of my RV not including the tow, I have now added the tow into the GPS total length. I doubt if it would have made much difference, Garmin did go through my settings and verify them.

JohnBoyToo · 10-08-2015, 10:41 AM

Agree, not perfect, but better than not knowing...
It's ALWAYS got me there - if I miss a turn, or the turn is not where it says, a few more blocks and it gives an alternate path...

We all chose what works for US, sometimes it's the best and sometimes not

roadster27 · 10-08-2015, 11:22 AM

my first GPS was a TomTom and what a piece of crap , said I was driving in the ditch all the time , even by a lake , also said the main hwy was not twinned ,got to a place in the road and it put me on the twinned road , memory sunk in , my friend had owned a service station right there and they had twinned the road there 26 years earlier , took that thing back and bought a Garmin . A newer Garmin took me down a "PATH" , that I am sure was a foot/bike path in Hawaii and my latest "TOY" , a 7 inch unit from Campers World has been ok , but I still use my small Garmin to find Costco and Walmart as it is better ,
You still have to make the conscious decision to actually commit to the route , I too , like "recalculating"

Minnesota51 · 10-09-2015, 10:04 AM

I use Google Maps "satellite view" to check. You can usually zoom in to see exactly what the road becomes.

It uses a significant amount of cellular data to load those high definition photos, so I don't leave it on all the time. I also check "terrain" in Google Maps setting a lot.

Chuck_Hammer · 10-09-2015, 11:45 AM

I have had Magellan's for years. major reliability issues

first time I used a Garmin (2597LMT).. it took me to where I wanted (a shopping mall).. but it led me in the back way... so I always check its route selections before entering onto a roadway.

biosensai · 10-09-2015, 03:29 PM

GPS is a tool. (In the old sense. Not the way the teeny-boopers use it

. While I typically stay on major roads with the motorhome where accuracy shouldn't be a problem. I always double check a new route with both my hand held unit I use in the RV & the couple of different apps I have in my iPhone before departing. While driving, my wife will often have an iPhone app running to make sure our handheld unit is accurately directing us. When in doubt I follow the iPhones directions. And we both try real hard to make sense of the signs along the road.