Sat Nav for Trucks & Rvs

I'm watching all threads on the subject of the Ventura, as it appears as though this might, just might, be the answer for me.

Last week in deepest Devon, TomTom tried to take me down a lane l wouldn't have stuck the car down, whilst totally ignoring a perfectly good A road that appeared to be just as direct.
 
The Ventura can help with general navigation because it does know the position of low bridges, weight limits etc., etc., etc. but it is not at all trustworthy.

Recently Mo and I told our TomTom to take us from Newton Abbot up to Exeter and then back to Newquay on the A30.

TomTom tried to cut the corner by taking us up the A382 to join the A30 at Wheddon Cross, a road which I was not familiar with BUT it was a big red road on the map so we took it!

It turned out to be 16 miles of country lane with many one-mile long single track stretches/passing places - and we were in a 36ft RV towing the Volvo estate - about 56ft long overall. At times we were actually touching both sides of the lane at the same time. :Eeek:

Thank you tomTom!

A couple of days later I had the chance to set the same course using the Snooper Ventura in Caravan mode - from exactly the same starter point - and it took me up exactly the same road - the A382!

According to the Ordnance Survey that road is an 'A' class road and is therefore suitable for normal Caravan travel - Having experienced it once in an RV - I really would not want to do it again, honest!

So, as I said - the Ventura can be helpful but it cannot differentiate between good A Class roads and bad A class roads - it can only tell you about 'bad' roads that it knows about.
 
moandick said:
(snip)
So, as I said - the Ventura can be helpful but it cannot differentiate between good A Class roads and bad A class roads - it can only tell you about 'bad' roads that it knows about.
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I suppose it is a matter of the deplorable standard of mapping which sat navs use. Given the prices the companies charge one would have thought that they would have had staff out looking at road widths, of major roads at least, by now. It isn't as if they created these mapping databases yesterday.

Graham
 
the Ventura can be helpful but it cannot differentiate between good A Class roads and bad A class roads - it can only tell you about 'bad' roads that it knows about.
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I've been saying the same thing for ages, the road classification system in the UK isn't good enough for a truck sat nav to be reliable and it's even worse in France .. a D road (Department Maintained ) can be a single lane or a four lane dual carriageway .. so how can a sat nav differentiate .. ? If it ignored all D class roads you would be left with N and Autoroute roads. not much good .. unless you want to spend your trip on Autoroute Service Aires :RollEyes:

Don't waste money on so called truck sat nav.. use the one you have with a bit of intelligence .. check the route on paper before setting out .. and load low bridges, narrow roads and weight restrictions .. all available as add ons.
 
ScotJimland said:
I've been saying the same thing for ages, the road classification system in the UK isn't good enough for a truck sat nav to be reliable and it's even worse in France .. a D road (Department Maintained ) can be a single lane or a four lane dual carriageway .. so how can a sat nav differentiate .. ? If it ignored all D class roads you would be left with N and Autoroute roads. not much good .. unless you want to spend your trip on Autoroute Service Aires :RollEyes:

Don't waste money on so called truck sat nav.. use the one you have with a bit of intelligence .. check the route on paper before setting out .. and load low bridges, narrow roads and weight restrictions .. all available as add ons.
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Totally agree Jim.
I've been saying this for ages which is why I started the original thread.
There is a potential gap in the market and a very lucrative one I would imagine. Unfortunately there is not a product on the market that fills the gap or even gets near it despite what the salesman tell you. As posted before I have tried several of these so called HGV suitable satnav and they are all Expensive Rubbish.

Sat nav is a great tool used with common sense and a good set of maps. Jan and I have traveled 4 continents and use sat nav but always with maps, and the final decision on which way to go is always mine not some robotic gadget on the dash.

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you could save your money ,dont buy a sat nav get afew maps of the area you will be travelling. works for me. trucks n buses use an awfull lot of roads some would call narrow , just use your common sense. life went on before sat nav. if in uk get some ordanance survey maps or philips street atlas . you dont need every book just where you are holidaying . as you cant trust sat nav seems cheaper to just buy the maps . cheers alan.
 
I never go anywhere without my Truckers Atlas:thumb:
 
Sat Nav For RV's

I have been using A Snooper Ventura S7000 for a couple of months now. After putting length, height, width and weight in the data base it has worked fine so far. Never sending me up any unsuitable roads. I imagine there will be a first time though but no complaints so far. Off to France and Germany next month so I'll see what it behaves like over there.

So far so good.

It gets a thumbs up from me :thumb::thumb::thumb:
 
sphincter tightening moment with TOM TOM

see attached photo for route Tom Tom sent us down in Spain, I still can't figure how we met Artics and Coaches coming the other way
 
Euromobil said:
see attached photo for route Tom Tom sent us down in Spain, I still can't figure how we met Artics and Coaches coming the other way
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Was there a better alternative route ?

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Snooper Ventura Update

I've now been through The UK, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Slovenia using the Ventura, Thus far it's been very good. It's not perfect but has some reassuring features that I like, such as warnings for sharp bends, steep hills and crosswinds. All of this can be gleaned from other sources, of course, but if you're driving alone it helps a lot.

I have also found it handy to have the ACSI database built in. If you're looking for intermediate stops on a long route you can give it a rough or specific location and it will list appropriate sites (you can specify facilities required) within a given radius. Again, you could get all this from other sources, but it's nice to have it all in one place, especially if, for example, you've arrived without a booking somewhere, they're full and you need to find other local sites.

I don't know whether the extra facilities would justify replacing an existing, up to date sat nav system but, in my case, I needed a new system for my van anyway (the one in place was very old) and it seemed sensible, being a first-time motorhomer driving alone, to get all the help I could.
 
:BigGrin: sorry to hi jack this but where is the cheapest place to get a Garmin sat nav from ? just a basic one ?
terry
 
terry said:
:BigGrin: sorry to hi jack this but where is the cheapest place to get a Garmin sat nav from ? just a basic one ?
terry
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Hi Terry .. try Halfrauds .. they had some half price deals on
 
Cheers guys will look into them :thumb: just hate buying then finding it cheaper :Doh::Rofl1:
terry
 
Sat-Nav

Having driven class 1 articulated vehicles for most of my working life, l have never needed a Sat-Nav for a trip. Good map reading is all thats needed, along with a good map of course. l have driven all over the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, no problems. l admit that Sat-Nav is great for finding places, when you arrive, but, for the greatest part of the journey unnecessary. l cannot believe that so called "professional" drivers become stuck in villages, under bridges, etc; thats just downright bad driving! l also have a PPL(A), and for your flying training, and examinations, you MUST be able to read, and plan routes, using charts(maps) only! GPS is only allowed after you gain your license, and is then only secondary to map reading. Do not follow Sat-Nav blindly believing thats it is correct, it isn't!
Craig
 
olley said:
Foolhardy thats me, :BigGrin: never check the route with a map; to idle. One day I know it will bite me on the bum.

Olley
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Remember the BMW driver that followed his satnav over a cliff? well thats me lol! :Rofl1:

I totally rely on my sat nav every day, it has only steered me wrong twice in 3yrs............don't think thats bad at all do you?

Boo
 
Another problem has just raised it's head How do I know which are the newer models ?
looking at nuvi 200/,255--- 600 all wide screen any thoughts ? do not need euro maps just point to point navigation- but at the same time I don't want to buy a out of date one-hence going back to garmin from TT (never liked the TT last for 4/5 yrs ):Rofl1:
terry
 
GJH said:
But why were you reversing into the tunnel? Was it too fightening to drive in forwards? :BigGrin:

Graham
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Just getting prepared to drive out quickly in case something comes the other way. :Eeek:

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terry said:
Another problem has just raised it's head How do I know which are the newer models ?
looking at nuvi 200/,255--- 600 all wide screen any thoughts ? do not need euro maps just point to point navigation- but at the same time I don't want to buy a out of date one-hence going back to garmin from TT (never liked the TT last for 4/5 yrs ):Rofl1:
terry
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A lot of the older and I mean not very old ones do basically the same thing as the newer one . I bought a nuvi 760t about a year ago I think it has now been discontinued .It still does the job and I find it very good .You can now buy lifetime map upgrades for £100 , so why not buy one of the older models and with the money you save also buy the upgrade .:thumb:
 
Buy Maps :Eeek: :Rofl1: what do you think I am made of money :Rofl1: Hope to upgrade for free :thumb: just does not work on my older (4/5 yrs ) TT
terry
 
terry said:
Another problem has just raised it's head How do I know which are the newer models ?
looking at nuvi 200/,255--- 600 all wide screen any thoughts ? do not need euro maps just point to point navigation- but at the same time I don't want to buy a out of date one-hence going back to garmin from TT (never liked the TT last for 4/5 yrs ):Rofl1:
terry
Click to expand...

Garmin allow you to have one update for free on a new unit. If you buy a Garmin from Halfords and get problems they will exchange no quibbles. Tomtoms on the other hand insist that the unit is returned for repair.

However, FWIW, I have changed a Garmin three times to get a good one, but my Tomtom is one of the original Tomtom Go's, and many years old, has always worked perfectly.
 
Oh my gosh :Rofl1: this TT 300 has never failed to work - got lost /wrong road a few times :Rofl1:
Another thing is now I have just returned from Halfords and he showed me a Garmin with traffic on :Eeek: is this worth paying the extra 30 squids for or just a gimmick ?:Doh: getting more confused.
terry
Amazon have the best prices so far :thumb::thumb: unless you know better :Rofl1:
 
Thank You - some feedback and questions

Firstly - Thank You. This is a really informative thread. :thumb:

We are about to start motorhoming full time and was seriously considering the Snooper Ventura Satnav S7000. However, looking at this thread (and other sites) - there seems to be a great deal of scepticism about this unit and the general reliability/usefulness of sat navs in conjunction with RV/Motorhomes

Being a fan of old fashioned maps I would always want to have decent maps of our routes and destinations. Whilst the latter are relatively easy to find (or can be picked up once there) I have not been very successful at finding "Trucker Atlas" type maps of Europe and beyond (Turkey, Morocco, Western Russia, Baltic States) - although I could be asking the "wrong question of google":Blush:
However, I do have a healthy respect for route planning software and am planning to make use of it. So we are now looking PC Navigator 9 Trucks/ USB GPS receiver and a Netbook. This seems to be a flexible combination allowing Route Planning, Sat Nav, importing of POI data and a PC for other uses (emails etc).

However, I/we are left with a few questions

  1. Anybody taking this approach? (beside superk)
  2. The vehicle (a Dethleffs H7910) is 8.3m long and 3.5 m height (with sat dish). Am I being over cautious over route planning?
  3. How easy is it to get POI data on campsites, aires etc? and would like to avoid manually entering them. (I have no worries about hacking data between electronic formats - I have spent too many years doing data analysis with spreadsheets to be worried.)
  4. Any good ideas on where to buy suitable truckers maps?
Any response/guidance will be gratefully received as I hate wasting money on things that dont work as advertised!:Angry:

Regards

Nigel & Marion

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overtaxed said:
Any good ideas on where to buy suitable truckers maps?
Click to expand...

I saw a trucker's atlas (UK only though, I think) in the Stockton on Tees branch of Book World last Saturday. Can't remember the price but it was a lot less than the RRP. Presumably other branches have them.

Graham
 
Hi loads of POI's are available for almost anything you can think of, they may not be in the right format but free programs like "poiedit" can convert to most formats. Look in the download section of this site for some.

Olley
 
overtaxed said:
Firstly - Thank You. This is a really informative thread. :thumb:

We are about to start motorhoming full time and was seriously considering the Snooper Ventura Satnav S7000. However, looking at this thread (and other sites) - there seems to be a great deal of scepticism about this unit and the general reliability/usefulness of sat navs in conjunction with RV/Motorhomes

Being a fan of old fashioned maps I would always want to have decent maps of our routes and destinations. Whilst the latter are relatively easy to find (or can be picked up once there) I have not been very successful at finding "Trucker Atlas" type maps of Europe and beyond (Turkey, Morocco, Western Russia, Baltic States) - although I could be asking the "wrong question of google":Blush:
However, I do have a healthy respect for route planning software and am planning to make use of it. So we are now looking PC Navigator 9 Trucks/ USB GPS receiver and a Netbook. This seems to be a flexible combination allowing Route Planning, Sat Nav, importing of POI data and a PC for other uses (emails etc).

However, I/we are left with a few questions

  1. Anybody taking this approach? (beside superk)
  2. The vehicle (a Dethleffs H7910) is 8.3m long and 3.5 m height (with sat dish). Am I being over cautious over route planning?
  3. How easy is it to get POI data on campsites, aires etc? and would like to avoid manually entering them. (I have no worries about hacking data between electronic formats - I have spent too many years doing data analysis with spreadsheets to be worried.)
  4. Any good ideas on where to buy suitable truckers maps?
Any response/guidance will be gratefully received as I hate wasting money on things that dont work as advertised!:Angry:

Regards

Nigel & Marion
Click to expand...

Yep, we've been using and selling Navigator (currently closing the business down) since the very earliest version. It's extremely popular with the car-pc brigade.
For the past 18 months they've been selling the truckers version which uses the enhanced road database. I use it all the time in the RV and in all that time we've not been sent down an inappropriate route. A friend and I were meeting up. My Navigator took me on a different route to him but then I didn't scrape my air-con going under a low bridge :Rofl1:
Do you NEED the truckers version? Probably not, stick to trunk roads and motorways and you should be fine but the truckers maps don't show the bridge heights on lesser roads. On another occasion the A34 was closed and the Navigator just rerouted me along country roads that I was quite happy driving along.
Navigator also allows you to import and search your own POIs. I've got all of the LPG stations throughout Europe loaded on mine.
The best place for POI is POIEdit.com. It's a free program you install on your pc and it will allow you to automate the download of updated info and output a file in the appropriate format for your SatNav. Navigator natively supports Excel, different databases and CSV but ODBC means you can use just about anything.

Hope that's useful

Regards
Doug
 
Last edited:
Thepips said:
Yep, we've been using and selling Navigator (currently closing the business down) since the very earliest version. It's extremely popular with the car-pc brigade.
For the past 18 months they've been selling the truckers version which uses the enhanced road database. I use it all the time in the RV and in all that time we've not been sent down an inappropriate route. A friend and I were meeting up. My Navigator took me on a different route to him but then I didn't scrape my air-con going under a low bridge :Rofl1:
Do you NEED the truckers version? Probably not, stick to trunk roads and motorways and you should be fine but the truckers maps don't show the bridge heights on lesser roads. On another occasion the A34 was closed and the Navigator just rerouted me along country roads that I was quite happy driving along.
Navigator also allows you to import and search your own POIs. I've got all of the LPG stations throughout Europe loaded on mine.
The best place for POI is POIEdit.com. It's a free program you install on your pc and it will allow you to automate the download of updated info and output a file in the appropriate format for your SatNav. Navigator natively supports Excel, different databases and CSV but ODBC means you can use just about anything.

Hope that's useful

Regards
Doug
Click to expand...


Doug

That was a pretty brilliant response and it has answered most of the things that concerned me.

Looking at the POI side (Thanks also to GJH and Olley) , there seems to be loads of different ones covering the things I need (aires, campsites, Wifi, LPG etc). Besides the various freebie ones - do CC etc make their own details available as POI files - I guess they would contain a lot more data than the free one do?

One last question, how good are they with the map updates?

Now all I have to choose is a netbook - I'm lusting :smalllove: after the Samsung but the Asus will do nicely!!!!


I'll keep you updated as things develop.

Regards

Nigel & Marion
 

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