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GPS devices
Have Garmin 785 and it is not very flexible in making custom routes. Am I not using it properly or is there a better unit.
I want to go a different route at a couple of route locations but can’t get it make the different changes
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19 Replies
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I use CoPilot GPS. It’s a app that is $45 per year. You can spend a lot of annual fees without reaching the cost of a GPS device.
CoPilot updates all roads/construction/detours as needed (daily, weekly, monthly) when you open it up, so you always have new road/mapping info.
Vehicle profiles can be set up and it can be used without cellular service if you’re phone/tablet supports GPS. If not you can connect to a external GPS source via Bluetooth.
It’s simple, dependable, and less expensive than a in dash unitChuck
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Google Maps on my phone or tablet. Works great. You can just add stops along the route to force the route you prefer.
Google Earth also has a great option that will also show you all the elevation changes along a particular route which is great is you have travel plans into the mountains.
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Google Maps on my phone or tablet. Works great. You can just add stops along the route to force the route you prefer.
Google Earth also has a great option that will also show you all the elevation changes along a particular route which is great is you have travel plans into the mountains.
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Had relative we were traveling with that used Google maps on an IPad when traveling. We were following behind using an RV GPS. Traveling to the upper peninsula of Michigan driving next to the coast of Lake Superior cell phone signal was lost. The IPad just froze and they were dead in the water. So glad my GPS still worked great. NO CELL SIGNAL…NO GOOGLE GPS… With an RV GPS you can enter coach height, weight and length so it should route you on roads that can take your coach.
Dave
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Rand McNally also offers an RV specific GPS.
We have tried several Garmin units in the past and always go back to RM because they are more user friendly.
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Per Wikipedia
Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force.
“GPS” and “satellite-based radio navigation system” in the same sentence.
It should be illegal for vendors to call anything that isn’t “satellite based” a GPS system. Many people who use cellphone based navigation systems have NO IDEA that their ability to navigate is based largely on the ability to get a cell signal. No cell signal … likely no navigation.
Some, but not all, Apple iPads and such have a true satellite-based GPS receiver either built into them or that can be plugged into the devices which then allow them to function as a true GPS system.
Its important to know the difference.
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It is incorrect to imply that most cell phones do not have built in GPS. NO CELL SERVICE IS NECESSARY TO USE YOUR PHONE AS A GPS DEVICE. You do need to insure that if you plan extended travel into areas without cell service you need to download the GPS maps for that area while cell service is available. However, when you plan a trip with something like Google Maps, Google downloads the entire route (or most of the route and will download more as you travel) so loss of cell signal will have no effect on the effectiveness of your GPS. Some tablets do not have GPS built in but you can add a GPS module or just look at the box before you buy and get one with GPS built in.
Not sure where the “no cell signal, no GPS” mantra came from but the phones GPS works no matter the situation as long as you have the proper maps on your phone.
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
I just use Waze like I do everything I drive my cars/bikes. Wish it had a height setting but I just watch for bridges.
Although I still slam on my brakes in the bus when the police ahead warning pops up… then laugh because the bus is the only time I’m not speeding.
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Wa,e and Google will often take you on residental streets. Or worse will take you somewhere that requires a u turn
2000 Featherlite H3-45
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Leesburg, FL -
I love Garmin in airplanes and boats, but the two RV units I’ve owned have been terrible. They either take me along unsuitable routes or give me voice “commands” that are way too early or too late to be useful. I’ll try anything else before I try Garmin again for the bus.
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No GPS device is 100%. I you depend upon them for your routing you will eventually regret that decision. That doesn’t mean you should not use a GPS device (I use Google Maps exclusively without issue) but you cannot use them with some kind of blind immunity. I have come upon a terrible crash on the Interstate and Google said to take this side road. Double checked the route on the paper map we always keep handy and have avoided HUGE delays by taking some of those byways as a somewhat slower speed. Slow and steady wins the race! (Sometimes!)
Steve Magown
2001 Featherlite H3
West Monroe, LA -
I want ot make variable route and it is not a very easy selection
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I do that in Google Maps. I just add stops along the way which forces the program to change its directions to my desires. I prefer Interstates to shortest route so you just add a stop along the Interstates to keep you pointed in the right direction.
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Chad: I’ve used the small Garmin GPS’s a few times, but not the (expensive) Garmin RV GPS’s. The small ones are “OK”, but just “OK” in my opinion. They just didn’t seem to measure up to what I see on the Garmin aviation products at OSH (I’m an inactive instrument rated pilot). A few years ago I stopped in the Garmin booth at OSH and talked to a salesman about RV products. He understood my thoughts that their non-aviation products could be improved. I don’t know if he escalated those concerns. Maybe someday.
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Dick, I never flew behind a Garmin primary flight display, but I used the 430/530 navcoms pretty extensively for IFR flight. It’s just a night and day difference in their product lines. Obviously, the pricing is vastly different too, but even the portable aviation units were pretty outstanding. I still have a 696 in a box somewhere. Not sure why, since my last PIC flight was in 2015.
In fairness, some of the useless voice commands were with a regular Garmin car GPS. I swear someone went out of their way to make “left” sound like “right” on those things. I literally tossed it out of my window at one point, but stopped to pick it up so nobody else would try to use it.
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO
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