The ideal GPS route
I love modern technology, but I'm not always thrilled with the routing suggestions from my Rand McNally GPS. Ideally, here's what I'd change: 1) When I'm heading to a destination, I'd like to use ...
Forum Discussion
First - standard warning:
A GPS is an advisory assistance tool. Never expect it to be right. It should only be used to give you assistance while traveling a route you have already researched with a map. You need to know your major highways and intersections on your trip.
Whether it is one long highway or many short highways connected end to end is based on how the state highway department tracks their data. Some states seem to want to break apart their highways into short segments, others do not. Probably for contracting maintenance purposes.
The base 'problem' is that none of the GPS makers create their own raw data of highways. They receive data from the various states and create their maps from it.
Interstates are listed in the databases as such. Some state limited access highways are listed separately. Medians are not a listing criteria.
Almost all the large scale (i.e. more than a couple counties) software solutions work the same way. RM, Garmin, Magellan, TomTom - all have the same problem. Because GPS units (and on-line software) really don't 'read' maps - the just try to string a bunch of waypoint together and hope the roads between them are where you want to go.
Configuring your unit - learn the settings.
To avoid small roads - I make sure I have my RM set in the RV mode. And I've configured my TT in the RM for a length of 61 feet. The TT and truck are 58' long. I find the unit gives me 'better' roads at that setting rather than the TT length of 35 feet.
I set the height to 13'6". Much higher than the real height of the rig. Eliminates many shorter roads.
(One problem I'm seeing more and more in Texas is rural roads with no shoulders are increasingly being set at 65 and 70 mph speed limits - some even to 75 mph. The GPS apparently thinks the speed limit is an indicator of the suitability of a road for large vehicle traffic)
I will adjust the preferences and warnings settings on my Rand/McNally Good Sam GPS depending upon the type of trip.
My normal settings for traveling a route which I have not traveled before:
From the Main Menu
Under Preferences / Route
Recalculation - Manual
Route - Fastest Route (Shortest Route ALWAYS sends me down unsuitable roads)
Freeways - Allow (You probably want to set to Prefer Freeways & Avoid Small Roads)
Tollways - Avoid (Though there are some funny 'tollways' - i.e. roads within National Parks are considered tollways because they charge and entrance fee)
U-Turns - Avoid
Ferries - Avoid
Dirt Roads - Avoid (This should be set to allow if you are headed toward boondocking type campgrounds)
Tunnels - Avoid
Turn Announcements - 1st - 2 miles, 2nd - 1320 ft (1/4 mile), 3rd - 0 ft
Turn View Distance - Off
Junction View Distance - 2 miles
From the Main Menu / RV Tools / Warnings
Warnings - Visual (I turn off the GPS sound always)
Auto Dismiss - 10 seconds
Warning Display - Small Bar
Curve Warnings - Off (I would turn it on in mountains)
Hill Warnings - 0.0 miles (Effectively off - though I would use this if steep grades are expected on the route)
Engine Brake Warnings - Off
Narrow Road Warnings - 1.0 miles
Toll Both Alert - Off
Construction Area - 2 miles
All these settings are adjustable for your individual preferences and driving habits.
I spend a couple hundred miles driving around local roads and routes in my car after I got the GPS unit. Seeing how different setting changes were displayed. I drove some routes as much as a dozen times, just to learn how the settings would change how the GPS presents warnings, etc.
One reason for turning off Auto Recalculation is that if I miss a turn, the GPS would go into Recalc mode - and not display the closeup of the current streets for as much as a minute. That's when I need to see the local streets the most.
A GPS is an advisory assistance tool. Never expect it to be right. It should only be used to give you assistance while traveling a route you have already researched with a map. You need to know your major highways and intersections on your trip.
holstein13 wrote:
2) When I'm looking at a long trip on a highway that looks like it's 300 miles long, I don't want the GPS telling me there's a merge or change every 20 miles or so. My GPS makes it look like I'm traveling on 10 different highways when in reality, it's only one long one.
Whether it is one long highway or many short highways connected end to end is based on how the state highway department tracks their data. Some states seem to want to break apart their highways into short segments, others do not. Probably for contracting maintenance purposes.
The base 'problem' is that none of the GPS makers create their own raw data of highways. They receive data from the various states and create their maps from it.
holstein13 wrote:
1) When I'm heading to a destination, I'd like to use Major Interstate Highways first to get as close as possible, followed by State limited access highways, then state highways with medians, progressing down to trunk roads, and finally streets. I don't want to be routed along every back alley and side street just to save a couple hundred yards off the trip.
Interstates are listed in the databases as such. Some state limited access highways are listed separately. Medians are not a listing criteria.
holstein13 wrote:
Anyone have any ideas how to configure my unit to fix these two problems? Or is there a better way. I find similar problems on my IPad with Google Maps and several other products.
Almost all the large scale (i.e. more than a couple counties) software solutions work the same way. RM, Garmin, Magellan, TomTom - all have the same problem. Because GPS units (and on-line software) really don't 'read' maps - the just try to string a bunch of waypoint together and hope the roads between them are where you want to go.
Configuring your unit - learn the settings.
To avoid small roads - I make sure I have my RM set in the RV mode. And I've configured my TT in the RM for a length of 61 feet. The TT and truck are 58' long. I find the unit gives me 'better' roads at that setting rather than the TT length of 35 feet.
I set the height to 13'6". Much higher than the real height of the rig. Eliminates many shorter roads.
(One problem I'm seeing more and more in Texas is rural roads with no shoulders are increasingly being set at 65 and 70 mph speed limits - some even to 75 mph. The GPS apparently thinks the speed limit is an indicator of the suitability of a road for large vehicle traffic)
I will adjust the preferences and warnings settings on my Rand/McNally Good Sam GPS depending upon the type of trip.
My normal settings for traveling a route which I have not traveled before:
From the Main Menu
Under Preferences / Route
Recalculation - Manual
Route - Fastest Route (Shortest Route ALWAYS sends me down unsuitable roads)
Freeways - Allow (You probably want to set to Prefer Freeways & Avoid Small Roads)
Tollways - Avoid (Though there are some funny 'tollways' - i.e. roads within National Parks are considered tollways because they charge and entrance fee)
U-Turns - Avoid
Ferries - Avoid
Dirt Roads - Avoid (This should be set to allow if you are headed toward boondocking type campgrounds)
Tunnels - Avoid
Turn Announcements - 1st - 2 miles, 2nd - 1320 ft (1/4 mile), 3rd - 0 ft
Turn View Distance - Off
Junction View Distance - 2 miles
From the Main Menu / RV Tools / Warnings
Warnings - Visual (I turn off the GPS sound always)
Auto Dismiss - 10 seconds
Warning Display - Small Bar
Curve Warnings - Off (I would turn it on in mountains)
Hill Warnings - 0.0 miles (Effectively off - though I would use this if steep grades are expected on the route)
Engine Brake Warnings - Off
Narrow Road Warnings - 1.0 miles
Toll Both Alert - Off
Construction Area - 2 miles
All these settings are adjustable for your individual preferences and driving habits.
I spend a couple hundred miles driving around local roads and routes in my car after I got the GPS unit. Seeing how different setting changes were displayed. I drove some routes as much as a dozen times, just to learn how the settings would change how the GPS presents warnings, etc.
One reason for turning off Auto Recalculation is that if I miss a turn, the GPS would go into Recalc mode - and not display the closeup of the current streets for as much as a minute. That's when I need to see the local streets the most.
