Garmin Camper Sat Nav - Routing through "narrow" lanes

[Bernie P]

We've just been to Ludlow (from Surrey) for a wet and windy New Year.

We opted for the Garmin Camper Sat Nav as you could programme in the MH size and add avoidances such as narrow lanes. We were therefore somewhat surprised on Wednesday that it routed us cross country taking almost a straight line route. One road it was telling us to use even had a "unsuitable for large vehicles" sign at the entrance. Fortunately the wife was quick with the road map and re-routed us where we'd expected to go.

It tried the same thing coming home today told us to turn left out of the site, then first left up a lane. We'd walked up that lane yesterday and it was no way suitable for a MH. So we switched the damn thing off and made our own way to the M5.

We have it set on "Fastest Route" as "Shortest Route" definately went in the straightest line from day 1.

I've double-checked all the setting and been through all the Garmin FAQ's (emailed them now). Completely baffled

Is anyone else getting these problems? I don't recall it doing it last summer so suspect a dodgy update has taken place. Has anyone found out how to fix this?

 

[GJH]

I've downloaded base camp but not had time to figure out how to plan a route, didn't seem as straight forward as Google Maps.

Anyway thanks for the comments at least I know it's not just my clumsy handling of the Garmin that causes the problems.

Basecamp takes a bit of getting used to - and I always forget between uses - but it's worth persevering because it is very useful for the jobs it does.

 

[Allanm]

Basecamp takes a bit of getting used to - and I always forget between uses - but it's worth persevering because it is very useful for the jobs it does.

No good for me, the only trip planning we do is picking the time of the tunnel train we want to cross on. It's all ad lib after that

 

[Big Nick]

Having spent the last 29 years driving fire engines l agree with the above. The way I look at roads is, could I get the wagon down there? If I can then the motorhome will fit easy. All the farms, businesses down there have fire cover and their bins emptied . So if they can get through we can. Just remember your sat nav is just a talking map. Also the mention earlier re basecamp. If you use Garmin it is very very good.

People coming the other way are probably more inclined to give way to and assist the passage of a fire engine though!!

 

[Bernie P]

Quick update: I've received a reply from Garmin Support. They sent me the cut and pasted contents of the FAQ page. Do they think that I'm that dumb! I had even told them in the email I had already read all that.

My list of Customer Service centers not to bother communicating with is growing rapidly. Do these people actually bother to read what you send them! ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH

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[Mack100]

Oddly enough, given the rubbish reputation that TomTom support have, I've had excellent technical help from them by phoning their London centre. Although it's probably easier to find the phone number of the head of MI6 after digging out this number and speaking to someone (in the sub-continent no doubt) this was followed up with e-mail help!
I'm not suggesting for one moment that you abandon the garmin ship, after me returning my new garmin unit to Currys (and that's after returning my Nav4 TomTom unit) they refused to sell me another unit, virtually ejecting me from the store
I'm now back with a Nav3 (Start 25) TomTom I have full custom poi control and I actually like the interface.

 

[Bernie P]

I've had another email from Garmin support. This bit makes interesting reading;

To solve your issue please find the instruction below.


If the RV/Camper series device is not taking the RV Profile (height, weight, etc.) into consideration when calculating a route, this can indicate that the profile’s gross weight is below the minimum requirement.


The RV Profile requires a gross weight of at least 3.5 tons (7,000 pounds) in order to calculate RV appropriate routes. If set below this minimum, the device will not take the RV Profile into consideration when calculating a route.​

I shall be upping the weight of my unit on the Garmin to 3.6T to see what happens. Something as simple as that you'd have thought would have been included in the original instructions.

 

[Speve]

I tried that and found you are routed on Lorry routes which I suppose is better than narrow lanes but sometimes can be a long way around.