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Subject Topic: Sat Navs and Caravans
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PersonPixie_Hez
08/8/2018 at 8:59am
 Location: Liverpool
 Outfit: Swift Challenger 560 View Pixie_Hez's Profile View Profile   Reply to Pixie_Hez Reply   Quote Pixie_Hez Quote  
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I am always quite nervous towing in parts of the UK that I don’t know very well as some roads are either totally unsuitable for towing or else just downright scary for towing. We use a combination of a good old fashioned paper map and google maps on my phone to plan a route but there is still the risk of some dodgy roads.

A few weeks ago I downloaded the ViaMichelin app as it has an option in the route planner to say you are towing a caravan and I hoped this would give a more suitable towing route than google sometimes does.   

We had to get some warranty work done on our caravan in Huddersfield, so we dropped it off early in the morning and as we had a whole day to pass before we had to collect the caravan again, we decided to go to Skipton for the day. I thought I’d have a go with a ViaMichelin app to see how it worked, so we asked it to take us to Skipton. I had the caravan feature switched on but the route that it took us was completely unsuitable for a caravan and I was very glad we weren’t towing. It took us down some singletrack roads and what it must have considered to be shortcuts, rather than sticking to the main roads which was very frustrating.

So has anyone found a sat nav app that actually gives sensible routes for towing caravans and sticks to main roads rather than trying to cut across country all the time by the most ridiculous roads?

-------------
Pixie


Personalan29
08/8/2018 at 9:11am
 Location: Wirral
 Outfit: Swift Freestyle 520 on seasonal pitch View alan29's Profile View Profile   Reply to alan29 Reply   Quote alan29 Quote  
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The Viamichelin thing is for timings and tolls, not for suitable roads.
I use a map and Streetview on Google Maps to check any dodgy looking bits.
After using satnavs for years in all sorts of circumstances I have come to the conclusion that nothing comes close to a map, a piece of paper, a pen and a brain.
The one exception I will make is for satnavs where you can preplan the route down to the last detail using plenty of route points on a computer and then download it to the Satnav. But that is just an expensive substitute for the bit of paper stuck to the dashboard.


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PersonMrs. Bonce
08/8/2018 at 9:42am
 Location: Luton (no jokes plea
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I always find that Viamichelin likes to take you across country by the supposedly quickest route. Not tried AA or RAC route planners as an app (assume you can); their route planners seem to stick to motorways or main roads wherever possible.


Persontrog100
08/8/2018 at 10:01am
 Location: None Entered
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Huddersfield and that general area is particularly bad for narrow roads with nasty tin opener stone walls ether side.. i have been taken down some nasty ones with my satnav.. they dont seem to know the difference between them and "real" roads..

i dont think there is an answer short of not using a satnav..

trog


PersonKelper
08/8/2018 at 10:03am
 Location: Northern Ireland
 Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480 View Kelper's Profile View Profile   Reply to Kelper Reply   Quote Kelper Quote  
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We use the Garmin Camper sat nav ....

Pretty good most of the time ... usually do a check against a paper map for any oddities ...

I find it indispensable when in towns/cities ... trying to find a campsite ... at complex motorway intersections ... finding specific targets (shops, museums, galleries, attractions etc) ... where you never get "Ooops, sorry, just missed a turning, can we go back?"


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Personalan29
08/8/2018 at 11:34am
 Location: Wirral
 Outfit: Swift Freestyle 520 on seasonal pitch View alan29's Profile View Profile   Reply to alan29 Reply   Quote alan29 Quote  
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Quote: Originally posted by Kelper on 08/8/2018
We use the Garmin Camper sat nav ....

Pretty good most of the time ... usually do a check against a paper map for any oddities ...

I find it indispensable when in towns/cities ... trying to find a campsite ... at complex motorway intersections ... finding specific targets (shops, museums, galleries, attractions etc) ... where you never get "Ooops, sorry, just missed a turning, can we go back?"


Thats true.
They are most useful for the last mile or so to your destination ..... and for finding fuel if you are running low.


Persontrog100
08/8/2018 at 12:34pm
 Location: None Entered
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there is no way i would be without a satnav.. the positives by far outweigh the negatives.. the shortcuts through someones back garden is one of the negatives.. he he..

i have had some beauties but always got through.. but then again i dont have a monster sized caravan.. the real problem is for those that do..

trog


Personshaggy2000
08/8/2018 at 12:53pm
 Location: County Durham
 Outfit: Explore 304 View shaggy2000's Profile View Profile   Reply to shaggy2000 Reply   Quote shaggy2000 Quote  
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Ive found Waze as good as any SatNav app on my phone, its not perfect (don't think any satnav will ever be as good as a map and a brain) but I'm single and tow the caravan by myself. I cant really be stopping every 30 or 50 miles checking and rechecking.


Persongreasychipbutty
08/8/2018 at 5:17pm
 Location: Sheffield
 Outfit: lunar ultima 525 View greasychipbutty's Profile View Profile   Reply to greasychipbutty Reply   Quote greasychipbutty Quote  
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I use Co-Pilot phone app caravan version.You can input your own road preferences on all road types


PersonThe 2 Tops
08/8/2018 at 6:26pm
 Location: None Entered
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I preplan my route and type out the directions, which my wife then follows as navigator. If the satnav tries to deviate, I ignore it until it updates itself.
Bertie.

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The 2 Tops


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PersonMedian
08/8/2018 at 8:03pm
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Bailey Ranger 510 4 View Median's Profile View Profile   Reply to Median Reply   Quote Median Quote  
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Not an App but I have a Tom Tom Caravan/Camper. I’ve had it for about four years and use it almost all the time whilst towing in the UK and in France. At first I balked at the cost but I can say that for piece of mind it has been invaluable.
Of course in the end it’s just a set of algorithms based around GPS data and could therefore make unsuitable choices but in my experience it does this rarely. With a map and directions I suspect I would make a lot more errors.


PersonColin21
08/8/2018 at 8:05pm
 Location: East Herts
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I don't have a sat-nav or a smart phone, only an ordinary old-style mobile. As I have driven all over the country when I was working, often in a coach, I have a reasonable knowledge of most main routes. However, it's the last few miles that can be the problem, so I just check them out before I go using streetmap and Google Earth, then download and print off a map. My wife navigates using this.

I did use a company-fitted sat-nav for a year when I worked for a taxi company at Stansted Airport, but that was before it was possible to input a postcode. Luckily I only needed it for the last couple of miles, but the times it tried to send me to completely the wrong place put me right off! I recall one time it tried to take me to Brockley in Suffolk, when I actually wanted Brockley in south London!

-------------
Best Regards,
Colin


Persontrog100
08/8/2018 at 8:39pm
 Location: None Entered
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i have just done a 2000 mile touring trip around northwest scotland.. i use a map and a top of the range garman satnav with a camera..

i decide roughly which direction i want to head in by looking at the map pick a place along the way and bung it in the satnav..

i then do just follow the satnav until it gets near the place i have put in then i have another think and bung another place in..

my front seat passenger has a map on his lap and makes sure i am going in the right direction..

i go down single track roads anyway so i am not bothered about the satnav taking me down one..my thinking is simple if my truck gets through so will my caravan.. but i do only have a smallish van.. deliberately so to make towing easier and more practical..

trog


PersonRainbowsend
08/8/2018 at 9:34pm
 Location: Staffs Cheshire bord
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We use Co-Pilot and a map.

-------------
Jean

Sometimes a little rain must fall before you reach a rainbow.

The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you finish the work.


PersonDaveMiller
09/8/2018 at 8:29am
 Location: Northamptonshire
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Another vote for Co-Pilot.

Ours lives on a mini iPad as my mobile is a small one.


PersonThe 2 Tops
09/8/2018 at 10:27am
 Location: None Entered
 Outfit: Swift Challenger Sport 524 VW Carave View The 2 Tops's Profile View Profile   Reply to The 2 Tops Reply   Quote The 2 Tops Quote  
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I had considered one of the satnavs which allows you to enter details of your outfit, and which sorts out only those roads suitable for you to use. But the caravelle which I have just bought came with a built-in satnav, so I am slowly getting to grips with this. Have not found any provision for outfit size as yet, so it probably doesn't give this facility.
Bertie.

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The 2 Tops



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