The winter that never Ends
When coming north, the new Garmin GPS 73--? Which ever one it is it gets lost very easily and isn't very particular which country it gets lost in. Their mapping gets worse every cycle. The unit, sup...
Forum Discussion
I cannot explain some of the things that we have seen happen with any GPS. That is why you have to look very closely at the planned route before you proceed. We have seen plans where the GPS takes us halfway to our destination and then turns around and goes back to the beginning or some other point you already passed some time ago. But if you don't look closely you won't know that is what it has done.
Another thing we have seen is where there is some sort of glitch in the program that is unexplainable. Example - going north from Phoenix to Flagstaff on I-17 - a major US highway - interstate. There is a whole section of that road one GPS we know of cannot see for reasons we cannot understand. If we go south on that same route there is no problem. If we blindly follow the GPS going north we would take a tour of the countryside.
By the same token a GPS can often take us through the middle of town rather than around it - going on city streets instead of a bypass route and a highway. And then the numbered highway can go directly through town (such as it does with Guadalajara) because it sees that as the main route and does not take the bypass around. You have to tell it what to do.
I looked at our Garmin and zoomed in on the Columbia bridge - I can go all the way down to a lane halfway across the bridge - the water is blue - pick the lane going the direction you want to go and put your waypoint there. In many cases you have to be very exact and precise where you put your waypoint. The GPS does not do it for you. And in the case of Columbia bridge I have still seen a GPS take you through Laredo and up I-35 and then back across on the TX side to get to Columbia. You have to watch the planned route and you have to make sure you zoom in to the level you can see exactly what the GPS plan is telling you it wants to do.
GPS can be one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind but it is not yet at the level where it can actually think. You still have to tell it what to do. If you don't tell it what to do it could take you just about anywhere and back. And if you do not do the updates there will be roads that are not on the GPS so you may not be seeing the best possible route. It can mean taking your GPS and the Owner's Manual and practicing creating routes - and studying the map in the GPS to get more familiar with the areas you will travel - and zooming in to see all the local streets and not just the overview you get from any paper road map that has no detail at all - we want every detail available. Once you figure out how to properly use a GPS there is no logical reason to ever use a paper map again.
OH - I have no idea what it means to have an "RV" GPS. I was told it is so you know where the low clearances are so you won't tear your roof off. They have the same for truckers. Here's is a tip - I know of many low clearances that are on no known list of low clearances I have ever seen or heard of. If you trust a GPS to tell you where low clearances are there will come a day when you will tear your roof off.
I do not know what an "RV" or "Trucker" GPS is supposed to do. I think they are supposed to have campgrounds for RVers. To find RV Parks or Campgrounds you have to do > Where To > Categories > Lodging > Camp or RV parks - or your GPS may just have all RV related locations under Lodging. I do not think RV places have been entered for Mexico but I am not sure. Some of the info came from Woodall's and could be years out of date. I do not know. We do not rely on these things. We use many sources to seek information about where we are going. Once we are sure of where we want to go and how we want to get there we enter what we need in our GPS if it is not already there. We know we need to do the work. And it takes practice. I freely admit I still don't know how to use all the things in our GPS - every time we use it is another learning experience. Lots to learn in these little things.
Garmin makes a computer program called Base Camp they say you can use in your computer to plan a route and then move it to your GPS device. I am probably doing something wrong but I find this program just about useless as I cannot find a way to find a high level detail needed to accurately plan a route. If you drive coast to coast on Interstate highways it could be of some use. Maybe there is a more accurate use but I can't find it. I admit I have not tried very hard.
Another thing we have seen is where there is some sort of glitch in the program that is unexplainable. Example - going north from Phoenix to Flagstaff on I-17 - a major US highway - interstate. There is a whole section of that road one GPS we know of cannot see for reasons we cannot understand. If we go south on that same route there is no problem. If we blindly follow the GPS going north we would take a tour of the countryside.
By the same token a GPS can often take us through the middle of town rather than around it - going on city streets instead of a bypass route and a highway. And then the numbered highway can go directly through town (such as it does with Guadalajara) because it sees that as the main route and does not take the bypass around. You have to tell it what to do.
I looked at our Garmin and zoomed in on the Columbia bridge - I can go all the way down to a lane halfway across the bridge - the water is blue - pick the lane going the direction you want to go and put your waypoint there. In many cases you have to be very exact and precise where you put your waypoint. The GPS does not do it for you. And in the case of Columbia bridge I have still seen a GPS take you through Laredo and up I-35 and then back across on the TX side to get to Columbia. You have to watch the planned route and you have to make sure you zoom in to the level you can see exactly what the GPS plan is telling you it wants to do.
GPS can be one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind but it is not yet at the level where it can actually think. You still have to tell it what to do. If you don't tell it what to do it could take you just about anywhere and back. And if you do not do the updates there will be roads that are not on the GPS so you may not be seeing the best possible route. It can mean taking your GPS and the Owner's Manual and practicing creating routes - and studying the map in the GPS to get more familiar with the areas you will travel - and zooming in to see all the local streets and not just the overview you get from any paper road map that has no detail at all - we want every detail available. Once you figure out how to properly use a GPS there is no logical reason to ever use a paper map again.
OH - I have no idea what it means to have an "RV" GPS. I was told it is so you know where the low clearances are so you won't tear your roof off. They have the same for truckers. Here's is a tip - I know of many low clearances that are on no known list of low clearances I have ever seen or heard of. If you trust a GPS to tell you where low clearances are there will come a day when you will tear your roof off.
I do not know what an "RV" or "Trucker" GPS is supposed to do. I think they are supposed to have campgrounds for RVers. To find RV Parks or Campgrounds you have to do > Where To > Categories > Lodging > Camp or RV parks - or your GPS may just have all RV related locations under Lodging. I do not think RV places have been entered for Mexico but I am not sure. Some of the info came from Woodall's and could be years out of date. I do not know. We do not rely on these things. We use many sources to seek information about where we are going. Once we are sure of where we want to go and how we want to get there we enter what we need in our GPS if it is not already there. We know we need to do the work. And it takes practice. I freely admit I still don't know how to use all the things in our GPS - every time we use it is another learning experience. Lots to learn in these little things.
Garmin makes a computer program called Base Camp they say you can use in your computer to plan a route and then move it to your GPS device. I am probably doing something wrong but I find this program just about useless as I cannot find a way to find a high level detail needed to accurately plan a route. If you drive coast to coast on Interstate highways it could be of some use. Maybe there is a more accurate use but I can't find it. I admit I have not tried very hard.
