Portable Satellite Navigation Units
in [Aussie Drivers]
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From: John_H on 9 Apr 2010 21:55 D Walford wrote: >On 9/04/2010 7:50 PM, John_H wrote: >> >> My Chinkapook to Hopetoun suggestion was based on what the Garmin >> would be likely do (AFAIK Daryl has one the same). I doubt if the >> TomTom would have any problem finding the shortest route either. :) > >I had to go from West Melton to Buninyong today, the GPS found the >address no problem but to me it seemed the route it took was all over >the place but the when the customer asked which way I came she was >impressed the GPS took me the way it did because apparently its the >quickest. Neither of mine, Garmin or TomTom, seem to have any trouble at all navigating in towns or cities, or between those located on connecting main roads... as is the example you've just given. It's an entirely different story between towns, or rural addresses, that aren't on connecting highways or main roads (like Chinkapook and Hopetoun). Both of my units will eventually get to any mapped address, anywhere in Oz, though I'd suggest taking a cut lunch and a swag for what ought only be a 60km drive in the country if you don't check the roadmap first... particularly with the Garmin. Garmin has a distinct preference for navigating by main roads and doesn't ever seem to want to leave them unless as last resort. TomTom has the specific option of *not* avoiding gravel roads which appears to be the major difference, especially when the Sensis maps for rural areas are often so outdated that a lot of roads still shown as gravel have been sealed for twenty years or more. Set for the shortest route with the gravel road option enabled the TomTom will use what it thinks are gravel roads for short cuts whereas the Garmin won't. Choice's most recent tests only rate the majority of sat navs at around 50 out of 100 for navigating in the country (some are a lot worse) which I certainly wouldn't dispute. The better ones rate high 80's for city (or town) use, which I wouldn't dispute either. Before I bought a sat nav my cars both had a passenger door pocket full of road maps and a pile of street maps and directories behind the driver's seat. I've long since dispensed with the street maps but the road maps remain and I can't see myself ditching them any time soon. -- John H
From: D Walford on 10 Apr 2010 02:02 On 10/04/2010 11:55 AM, John_H wrote: > D Walford wrote: >> On 9/04/2010 7:50 PM, John_H wrote: >>> >>> My Chinkapook to Hopetoun suggestion was based on what the Garmin >>> would be likely do (AFAIK Daryl has one the same). I doubt if the >>> TomTom would have any problem finding the shortest route either. :) >> >> I had to go from West Melton to Buninyong today, the GPS found the >> address no problem but to me it seemed the route it took was all over >> the place but the when the customer asked which way I came she was >> impressed the GPS took me the way it did because apparently its the >> quickest. > > Neither of mine, Garmin or TomTom, seem to have any trouble at all > navigating in towns or cities, or between those located on connecting > main roads... as is the example you've just given. > > It's an entirely different story between towns, or rural addresses, > that aren't on connecting highways or main roads (like Chinkapook and > Hopetoun). Both of my units will eventually get to any mapped > address, anywhere in Oz, though I'd suggest taking a cut lunch and a > swag for what ought only be a 60km drive in the country if you don't > check the roadmap first... particularly with the Garmin. > > Garmin has a distinct preference for navigating by main roads and > doesn't ever seem to want to leave them unless as last resort. TomTom > has the specific option of *not* avoiding gravel roads which appears > to be the major difference, especially when the Sensis maps for rural > areas are often so outdated that a lot of roads still shown as gravel > have been sealed for twenty years or more. Set for the shortest route > with the gravel road option enabled the TomTom will use what it thinks > are gravel roads for short cuts whereas the Garmin won't. > > Choice's most recent tests only rate the majority of sat navs at > around 50 out of 100 for navigating in the country (some are a lot > worse) which I certainly wouldn't dispute. The better ones rate high > 80's for city (or town) use, which I wouldn't dispute either. > > Before I bought a sat nav my cars both had a passenger door pocket > full of road maps and a pile of street maps and directories behind the > driver's seat. I've long since dispensed with the street maps but the > road maps remain and I can't see myself ditching them any time soon. > I usually carry 3 types of maps and the GPS, Melways, a Vic Country Directory which I think is published by the RACV and a Victorian road map. When I used to do a bit of 4WDing I bought maps for the areas I went to, most of the topographical maps are dated some time in the 60's so they are well out of date. I've managed to find updated maps for a few places like the Wombat State Forest but using outdated maps can be very frustrating and potentially dangerous in remote areas. Daryl
From: John_H on 10 Apr 2010 04:57 D Walford wrote: > >I usually carry 3 types of maps and the GPS, Melways, a Vic Country >Directory which I think is published by the RACV and a Victorian road map. >When I used to do a bit of 4WDing I bought maps for the areas I went to, >most of the topographical maps are dated some time in the 60's so they >are well out of date. Since topographical features tend to change at an even slower rate than the climate their age probably doesn't matter all that much! :) Seriously though, man made tracks don't seem to change their location much either... most of today's roads probably started out as bullock tracks. In the dim, dark, distant days when I worked for Govco we mostly relied on army ordnance maps (intended for artillery sighting). Some of the Landies intended to operate in seriously remote places also had gyro compasses (which ran off manifold vacuum). Thanks to those maps, and a prismatic compass to set up the gyro, most of us managed to find our way back to civilisation on most occasions. Those that didn't only had Land Rover to blame. :) The 1:250,000 topographic maps (still available at post offices AFAIK) look like the same thing as the army ordnance maps, except they're on worse quality paper and folded instead of rolled. Those I've got are mostly old and battered and have their creases reinforced with masking tape but they're still useful when away from main roads. The better road maps are also a worthwhile adjunct to any sat nav in the bush. They're now sold by newsagents whereas they used to be given away by the Oilcos -- for those who can still remember the days when you could actually get something useful from a servo (other than air) for free. :) Wife picked up a Reader's Digest "Motoring Guide to Australia" on the give away shelf at the local library a couple of years back (they probably considered it obsolete). It now lives on our sideboard and also gets consulted regularly. -- John H
From: D Walford on 10 Apr 2010 06:08 On 10/04/2010 6:57 PM, John_H wrote: > D Walford wrote: >> >> I usually carry 3 types of maps and the GPS, Melways, a Vic Country >> Directory which I think is published by the RACV and a Victorian road map. >> When I used to do a bit of 4WDing I bought maps for the areas I went to, >> most of the topographical maps are dated some time in the 60's so they >> are well out of date. > > Since topographical features tend to change at an even slower rate > than the climate their age probably doesn't matter all that much! :) > > Seriously though, man made tracks don't seem to change their location > much either... most of today's roads probably started out as bullock > tracks. I've found lots of tracks that don't appear on the maps though, probably started out as fire access tracks or tracks put in by loggers. In the dim, dark, distant days when I worked for Govco we > mostly relied on army ordnance maps (intended for artillery sighting). > Some of the Landies intended to operate in seriously remote places > also had gyro compasses (which ran off manifold vacuum). Thanks to > those maps, and a prismatic compass to set up the gyro, most of us > managed to find our way back to civilisation on most occasions. > > Those that didn't only had Land Rover to blame. :) Isn't that why they invented Toyota's:-) > > The 1:250,000 topographic maps (still available at post offices AFAIK) > look like the same thing as the army ordnance maps, except they're on > worse quality paper and folded instead of rolled. Those I've got are > mostly old and battered and have their creases reinforced with masking > tape but they're still useful when away from main roads. > > The better road maps are also a worthwhile adjunct to any sat nav in > the bush. They're now sold by newsagents whereas they used to be > given away by the Oilcos -- for those who can still remember the days > when you could actually get something useful from a servo (other than > air) for free. :) I am old to remember free maps:-( AFAIK the auto clubs like the RACV still give them to their members for free. Daryl
From: Doug Jewell on 10 Apr 2010 23:39
Jim...(8-| wrote: > On Sat, 10 Apr 2010 18:57:41 +1000, John_H <john4721(a)inbox.com> wrote: > >> D Walford wrote: >>> I usually carry 3 types of maps and the GPS, Melways, a Vic Country >>> Directory which I think is published by the RACV and a Victorian road map. >>> When I used to do a bit of 4WDing I bought maps for the areas I went to, >>> most of the topographical maps are dated some time in the 60's so they >>> are well out of date. >> Since topographical features tend to change at an even slower rate >> than the climate their age probably doesn't matter all that much! :) >> >> Seriously though, man made tracks don't seem to change their location >> much either... most of today's roads probably started out as bullock >> tracks. In the dim, dark, distant days when I worked for Govco we >> mostly relied on army ordnance maps (intended for artillery sighting). >> Some of the Landies intended to operate in seriously remote places >> also had gyro compasses (which ran off manifold vacuum). Thanks to >> those maps, and a prismatic compass to set up the gyro, most of us >> managed to find our way back to civilisation on most occasions. >> >> Those that didn't only had Land Rover to blame. :) >> >> The 1:250,000 topographic maps (still available at post offices AFAIK) >> look like the same thing as the army ordnance maps, except they're on >> worse quality paper and folded instead of rolled. Those I've got are >> mostly old and battered and have their creases reinforced with masking >> tape but they're still useful when away from main roads. > > I use the 1:250,000 natmap series available on DVD in a cheap chinese > GPS for touring. Setting them up in a laptop is better but a bit less > convenient. If you've got a few GB of download allowance and the time to do it, the full 1:250,000 set of natmap maps are now available as a free download from Geosciences Australia - www.ga.gov.qu - in various formats. I downloaded the complete set in ECW format. On my tomtom I run a 3rd party addon called ttmaps that will directly display them, although when displaying a topo you don't have street-nav ability. I also converted the areas I most frequently go into JPG and loaded onto my tomtom as map underlays. This way when you view the tomtom map, it is superimposed over the topo. This is handy as it gives an idea as to the terrain not just the fact that there is a road. I've also converted some to JPG with irfanview and printed as 12x18" paper maps, and I've also converted them into Pathaway format for use on my palm - that way I can have both the street nav on the tomtom and the topo nav on the palm running simultaneously - I only do this when I'm heading into the backblocks of nowhere though. I bought the QLD 1:20,000 CD's as well which are also in ECW format, so again load directly into ttmaps, but I don't use these as map underlays because the scale is too large to be effective. > A map based GPS is better for country touring and a street based one > is better for city folk, but you've already shown that. Yep - I pretty much never consult a map of the city anymore, just use the tomtom. Whenever I'm out bush though, the maps get the workout and the street-nav function of the tomtom is just an added bonus. -- What is the difference between a duck? |