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Do you use a GPS with off line maps?
I’ve seen CoPiolet, Waze, Sygic and Novmii and they each allow you to download full states for the entire US. I’ve seen folks rave about them and others not be happy with them at all. But that seems to be true with all of the GPS systems both off line and on line based. I know from my Texas to North Carolina trip that the on line “MAPS” GPS I used on my iPhone really eats up bandwidth.
I’ve also had situations with my Garmin where I was right in the thick of things in major cities when it decided to recalibrate and leave me hanging out not know what highway/interstate or exit to take. Thats bad enough in a car, I don’t want that happening in a bus!
I also like the larger screen of a 9” iPad especially at night and especially maneuvering around a large city!
What do you use?
Harry
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14 Replies
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Harry
We use the Garmin 760 LMT. You are able to put in the specs for your coach. Free lifetime updates
June
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Garmin 760 also for same reason. Excellent.
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HJ>>>> I use the Rand-McNally RV 720. It does an excellent job. Along with the RandMcNally I use the Good Sam Trip Planner….you can plan trips stop by stop…find campgrounds, points of interest of all kinds and in the process set parameters for your motorhome. Once the trips are planned, you can download the entire trip to your GPS…pretty neat!
I suppose there are others out there that work, but the more I use mine….which now is going on 2 years….the more I like it…
Previously I had tried to use TomTom…Sometime I’ll tell you about the time it decided to crash while I was trying to find the airport in Lisbon, Spain!!!! … but this RandMcNally is the best I’ve found for RVing.
Good luck with your choice!!…ty
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I use the rand McNally 720 which has been updated.
use google maps to preplan the trip, I have had the rand do wrong routing within a few blocks of the destination. It’s good but not perfect.
the rand is available as an iPad app if you want to go that route.
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Good Question H.J.
For bus navigation I will steer you towards a GPS that is designed specifically for larger rigs as it removes a level of risk associated with traveling in unknown areas and getting caught in a situation where you may not have the appropriate clearances.
I’ll steer you away from Apps such as Waze that use traffic flow to reroute you to a faster or shorter route as shortcuts could be a recipe for disaster when it sends you down a narrow street. But it’s not a bad idea to have a smartphone running Google Maps as a secondary device. For the data usage issue, in this day and age of unlimited plans, I wouldn’t worry about that too much. As long as you’re not streaming a large amounts of HD video, you won’t be downgraded to a lower speed.
I’m using both the Garmin 760LMT and the new 770LMT and both work well. The 770LMT is IMHO superior than the 760LMT in many ways. I just picked up a Dezl 770 to place in the co-pilot area, and if you ask me in two weeks, I can provide an opinion on that model as well.
Dedicated GPS devices have come a long way in the last five years and are more reliable than ever before. However, and this is a big one, it’s enemy is solar flares and that can cause a temporary loss of signal. The flares are typically predicted in advance and the news (when they aren’t talking politics 24/7) will typically announce when conditions are favorable for this type of solar activity. It’s not that common, but it does happen and can advewersely affecrt GPS signals.
That’s why it’s a good idea to become familiar with your route before you head out and a great reason to carry a road atlas.
One more item: If you have a dedicated GPS, be sure to connect it to a computer and check for updates as companies such as Garmin are being proactive in keeping the data fresh.
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I’m using an older Garmin with a large screen and I don’t even worry about if it is updated. My reasoning is simple for two reasons. First, if I am driving into unfamiliar territory I sit down at my desk and “drive” my route using Google earth. I can zoom in, I can get down to street level and I can envision what it looks like where I need to make turns, where I might stop to get fuel, places to pull over for lunch, etc. With the level of detail I can get with my virtual driving I have already learned what to expect, and if I don’t like the way Google routes me I can play around with the routing to adjust it to the way I really want to go. Then I just put the address in the GPS in the bus and use it basically to keep track of miles to go, and somewhat of a heads up for turns.
I have never had a GPS that hasn’t tried to screw me up in some way or another, such as putting me on the wrong street, not realizing clearances, or just sending my in some route that makes no sense. But by driving the route on my office computer I already know where I am going to turn, if I have clearances, and how I am going to avoid roads not suitable for the bus. If it is a little complicated I just print out or make notes and have them with me.
The second reason is in 27 years of driving coaches we have been almost every place we want to go and I usually do not even need the GPS. For the last few years I have even turned off the voice commands because I don’t need them or want to hear “recalculating”. I am very fortunate in having a strong sense of positional awareness and memory so I often can retrace a route I took years before without any prompting from the GPS. That is a huge help.
Don’t make the mistake of trying to hold a phone or play with the GPS while driving. None of us is good enough to allow ourselves to be distracted.
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We use Garmin for RV’s (and update software) also use both Inrix and Maps (Apple). Never had an issue as Inrix has been dependable and Maps is becoming more dependable on delays and road construction. My navigator has been the best making sure wherever we go is predictable!!
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I used “Maps” on the iPhone coming home from Austin and it did a good job. But as Andy siaid;
“For bus navigation I will steer you towards a GPS that is designed specifically for larger rigs as it removes a level of risk associated with traveling in unknown areas and getting caught in a situation where you may not have the appropriate clearances.”
“I’ll steer you away from Apps such as Waze that use traffic flow to reroute you to a faster or shorter route as shortcuts could be a recipe for disaster when it sends you down a narrow street. “
Two excellent points and the comment Jon made: ”Don’t make the mistake of trying to hold a phone or play with the GPS while driving. None of us is good enough to allow ourselves to be distracted.
That is so right… I bought a holder for my 6s iPhone so it was a little to the right of me and braced by the front of the dash so it didn’t move. I could reach it and I did a few times, but its not a recommended practice!
Not long ago I bought the RV version of CoPilot ($450) for iPhone/iPad and found something interesting. I’m going to Clark Power Services in Knoxville next week and I put the address into Apple Maps, Google Maps, and CoPilot (car version). All three showed the same three routs (you could pick any one of the three ways) to get me there and one of the routs was taking 129 through the “Dragon Tail” which no motorhome on earth should go through.
Then I changed CoPilot from car version to RV version (you can toggle between the two) and it then showed only one rout which I knew to be the best from the motorhome standpoint. I was pleased to see it took into account the bus information I provided and showed just the one rout!
CoPilot lets you put in length, weight, height etc and it obviously took it into account and that’s a good thing. What I don’t like is it has trouble recalculating. If I have a rout set and I vary from it like pulling off the road for lunch, it has trouble recalculating from the change in plan. If I restart it from my new location it recalculates fine! I wish it would figure it out on its own and maybe it would. But out in the hinterlands when I’m someplace I don’t know, is not where I want hesitation! I have a 5 year old Garmin that I’ve never updated the maps and it recalculates almost immediately. But as I said earlier, it can also recalculate in the middle of a major city and put you in a real trick bag! It’s done it to me a few times in the car. I don’t want it to happen in my bus!
I guess nothing is perfect but I do like the “off line maps” like CoPilot has.
But I hear what you have to say about the RV versions of Garmin and Rand McNally!
Harry
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We use Co-Pilot with traffic, and a Rand McNally Trucker’s Atlas, plus google maps as a back-up.
Generally we’ve been happy with co-pilot, but there have been two times which it was wrong. One of them was in Up State NY. “Stay off anything that says “Parkway” which are for cars only because of the low stone bridges. Ask me how I know…
Live ve by the GPS … die by the GPS.
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A dish, air conditioner or both?There’s no perfect solution is there. I’ve forgotten about the parkways and that’s right, cars only. Or is it no trucks or commercial vehicles? I forget, it’s been a long time I’ve been on one. I believe that was in New York or Boston eons ago! But you know, any GPS for trucks and/or RV’s should have kept you off parkways!
Hey Tim, Do you have the RV version of CoPilot?
Harry
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CoPilot for trucks. It allows you to set parameters for height, weight, width and length. Also lets you choose average speeds over a variety of road types to get reasonably accurate time to destination. Displays on iPad. Sits on my dash at the center post with no sight blockage and is easy to read. Keeps you from driving down a dead end road over a low height bridge that has a weight rating that you exceed.
Doug
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supported by them. Support for it stopped probabky 2 years ago. So it is not something that anyone should buy. I find it unfortunate because it would be nice to use the Rand McNally database running on an iPad.
I believe that Rand McNally stopped to support the app to stear people towards their “tablet”.
I have been using the 7 inch Rand McNally dedicated RV GPS for the past couple of years and it seems to be working well.
But, like any other RV dedicated GPS which allows you to plug in your length, width, height and weight – none of them are perfect.
I do not like the new CoPilot RV app because it does not allow you to input weights over 26,000 lbs. – This is not really surprising because CoPilot is an English / European app. There are no 45 feet Prevost RV conversions over there!
You can save yourself the $45 CoPilot wants to charge you for the RV version and go with the truck version, instead.
Cheer,
Ronald -
Co-Pilot for Trucks which allows you to set your height, etc.
i upgraded for a couple bucks which gives me traffic updates and some more details.
Jon should know this, but NY parkways are only cars. Gorgeous to drive in your car …definitely not your Bus!
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In 1992 we started on one of the NY parkways with our first bus. I’m glad we were not towing at the time because we had to back up a very long distance to get to an exit.
The only sign said “no commercial vehicles” and there was no mention of heights.
That was two trips on a NY parkway, our first and our last.
We lived in the state at the time.
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