GPS Units

[Mike And Mary Engen]

When we were at Madison FMCA Convention, we had wanted to buy the 7" Rand McNally, but they would not be available until October so ended up purchasing the 5" screen Rand because of all the great features.  We liked it while on the road, but we have used it 3 times on trips and have a bad connection in the unit where the cord (USB?) plugs in.  Sometimes we have power, sometimes we don't, usually at a critical time.  I have tried on two occasions to contact Rand Support, they have never returned an e-mail.  Not asking them to replace it, would just like to get it repaired....website support does not help for repairing, only a place to e-mail and they never get back to you.  We were going to upgrade to the 7", but now will go back to Garmin which has better support.  A lot of money for something that only lasted for 3 trips about a month each.
 

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

I originally had a Garmin Street Pilot when they first came out. Although you couldn't personalize it for your coach, it did have a "bus" mode that kept you off of low weight restricted roads. Then Garmin quit supporting it...  Grrr.
Currently I use a Garmin 1390 LMT. No RV settings but I like the lifetime maps, speed/limit readout and traffic  feature. It also allows me to monitor altitude as one of the constant readouts which is handy. It hasn't sent me down any "blind alleys" yet but then again, I never am without my trusty atlas which allows me to sanity check the Garmin routing, especially coming into cities. The only irritation for me is that it doesn't store routes so I no longer spend a few hours planning my trips on the PC before leaving. I use this unit in everything from the RV to my Jeep Wrangler when 4 wheeling or hunting as it has all the forest roads loaded.
Steve

[Terry Melot]

We bought a Rand Mc (forget the model number, but it was the most expensive they had) at Camping World just south of San Jose, CA.  When arriving at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, it directed us 7 miles out of the way thru a downtown street and many turns. People sitting out at restaurants looked at us like we were lost.  We were.
When we got to the RV park at the Fairgrounds, we found it was a half mile from the freeway offramp.  We took the RM back to Camping World. Since then, my co-pilot has used the iPad with much better success. Glad to learn of the app made for RVs.

[Tom Chace]

Tom Tom
I have had one since 2006
Simple to use and easy to read/hear

[Keith Oliver]

I started out with Microsoft Streets and Trips.  Found the laptop too big for the dash., so it ended up on my co pilot's lap, where I couldn't see it  It frequently had out of date data.

Now I have a Rand McNally 7710.  Its data isn't any newer, even when I attach it to my computer and ask for updates.  If you can input the exact address, it will take you there reliably.  If you deviate from its choice of routes, It stubbornly tries to get you turned around and back onto its originally planned route.  For Example, to go from Lodi Ca to Palm Springs, the most direct route is down the 99.  I don't like the 99, so went to I 5.  It took until the I-5 had less distance to go to the junction between 99 and 5 before it gave up trying to get me to go back to 99.  When this happens in an unfamiliar area it can be a real PITA.  Otherwise, great big screen, doesn't need to be right at the window to get GPS, as did the MS S&T. I have this unit mounted where I can reach it, and my co pilot can't see it.  Much better!

[Stan Simpson]

We use a Garmin dezl 560LMT, which has motorhome set up. We put in our gross weight, height, and width It warns when you are going to go down a road that is not suitable. Also avoids viaducts that are too low. Lifetime map updater. No issues with it so far.

Stan

PS It even shows a class A coach as our "car" on the screen.

[Edward Buker]

Stan,

I have also had the Dezl for awhile and it has led us astray multiple times....none of the GPS systems are without some faults and I think Garmin has one of the better ones for sure.

There are times with your selection of RV/Truck mode that the Garmin will choose to avoid routes that trucks use all the time. We had a good example of that coming into Yellowstone on a main route and the Garmin wanted to route us miles out of the way on a minor road. There are cases where the route has been perfectly acceptable or even preferred for trucks that the Garmin simply has wrong. If you find such a case the only alternative you have is to redo the route in the car mode as a work around given you cannot force the system to accept what it thinks is an unacceptable truck route. I think that is a flaw in how it handles such situations given you have turn off all of your vehicle profile to be able to alter the route. I would much prefer that it came back with the issue, like a weight restriction that you could then over ride where as a bridge height you would not want to. It cannot tell you why the road is a problem for trucks the way it is today.

In Virginia we had the Garmin send us down some little side streets in a town because it was a few yards shorter then the main route and we ended up having to unhitch the car to get back out. We were completely unfamiliar with the area and though that the main route might be headed the way the Garmin was sending us. If there were no truck restrictions by the town then the Garmin will use an alternate path if it is even slightly shorter. I think that is a significant flaw so be careful of that one. Just keep one eye open and if the route doesn't look right to you, it probably isn't....

Later Ed

[Andy Clark]

One thing you need to be careful of is one of the settings in the menu. You can select "Shortest Distance" or "Quickest Time". We found both our Garmins preset from the factory for "Shortest distance", which can get you into trouble. 2 or 3 years ago there was an elderly couple found dead up a logging road in deep snow in the Oregon Cascades. They had apparently followed their GPS instructions blindly (don't do that!) to get to someplace in eastern Oregon. The route it took them over was the shortest one in miles, but clearly not the quickest desirable one. They got stuck and died.

We always program for "Shortest Time", and unless there have been some very recent road changes, the little English lady on the dash usually gets us there OK. There have been instances (like going to McMinnville from Hwy 205 in Oregon) where she took us on some very narrow back roads instead of south on I-5. Can't explain that!

Andy

[Joel Weiss]

Stan,

I have also had the Dezl for awhile and it has led us astray multiple times....none of the GPS systems are without some faults and I think Garmin has one of the better ones for sure.

There are times with your selection of RV/Truck mode that the Garmin will choose to avoid routes that trucks use all the time. We had a good example of that coming into Yellowstone on a main route and the Garmin wanted to route us miles out of the way on a minor road. There are cases where the route has been perfectly acceptable or even preferred for trucks that the Garmin simply has wrong. If you find such a case the only alternative you have is to redo the route in the car mode as a work around given you cannot force the system to accept what it thinks is an unacceptable truck route. I think that is a flaw in how it handles such situations given you have turn off all of your vehicle profile to be able to alter the route. I would much prefer that it came back with the issue, like a weight restriction that you could then over ride where as a bridge height you would not want to. It cannot tell you why the road is a problem for trucks the way it is today.

In Virginia we had the Garmin send us down some little side streets in a town because it was a few yards shorter then the main route and we ended up having to unhitch the car to get back out. We were completely unfamiliar with the area and though that the main route might be headed the way the Garmin was sending us. If there were no truck restrictions by the town then the Garmin will use an alternate path if it is even slightly shorter. I think that is a significant flaw so be careful of that one. Just keep one eye open and if the route doesn't look right to you, it probably isn't....

Later Ed

We have a Garmin 465T which was the previous generation of trucker GPS but it probably uses the same basic route data.   We've had exactly the same issues noted by Ed.  Going the long way around something because it's the preferred truck route doesn't bother me nearly as much as when it decides to put me on some random back roads just because the route is supposedly faster (you can always choose between "faster" and "shorter" as to how it makes it's decisions.)  

I think a problem with its logic is that if it doesn't have full truck information about a particular road (which means it's not an interstate or other major US or state route) then it assumes that all "unknown" roads are equal unless they are specifically marked as "no trucks".  Therefore, it doesn't differentiate between the quality of those roads which can result in some strange routes.  

Nothing could be stranger than what happened to us in PA a couple of years ago when it turned out that the CG we were headed for was actually on a truck-restricted road.  We didn't know that and the Garmin routed us in a particularly circuitous manner in order to minimize the distance we had to drive on the supposedly "prohibited" road.  After that experience I became a much more religious user of Google satellite images to plan the details of my trips!  

[Edward Buker]

Joel,

Good point about using Google Earth which we have done also. I find that faster and shorter rarely alters the route much. Too bad they do not have a "large vehicle preferred" option.

The other Garmin tip I have to pass along is in making a route is to put your start point and your end point in for your days or several days travel. Review the route that you will travel and if it does not create the route you really want add a stop in a location that logically moves your route the way would like to go. You may have to add several stops to have it go "your way." When you travel the route and get to the first "stop" it will enable the next leg of your trip and so on. You can usually without too much fuss get it to go your way but it can be tedious if you have to add many stops to make your route happen.

If someone has found a better way let us know....

Later Ed

[Stan Simpson]

We have also tried to be steered wrong by the Garmins...the RV one, and the two we have in personal cars. When we travel with the coach, we use the Garmin in conjunction with other sources, such as Google Maps, and the old stand by, the WalMart Atlas. Becky likes to "see" the route as we go, so she watches the atlas and we seem to get through it all okay. One time, in Kankakee, IL we did have to back up for about a half mile because we were routed under a 11 ft viaduct. That was before the dezl, and luckily before we had a toad.

Stan

[Gary Wolfer]

Can someone please tell me how to plug in a gps in a 1998 Beaver Patriot? I have no cigarette lighter socket or a 120v plug in near the drivers seat.

[Joel Ashley]

Id be surprised if you didn't have a 12v outlet, Gary, though I'm not familiar with your model coach and guess it is possible you don't have one.  Sometimes they can be hard to spot, though.  Ours is a little like that, semi-hidden in the side panel just to the right of the driver's right lower leg.

Joel

[Keith Oliver]

Gary
Yours is a higher model, as it cost more money than our  98 Contessa, so it should have everything we have, and more.  We have 2 12v cig lighter style outlets in the front, one is by the driver's right foot, on the side of the center cabinet, the other is above the door, on the tv amplifier. behind a door, so not handy for your GPS.  

I plug my gps into the lower one.  I unscrewed the cabinet to change the flooring, and when I put it back in, I left the shelf unfastened, so I can pulll it out enough to pass the gps plug throughbehind the shelf, then down to the outlet, so it is not always getting in the way of my foot while driving.  The shelf is a tight enough fit that it doesn't move around.  I also screwed a disc of clear plexiglass to the top of the dash in a convenient location so I can mount the GPS suction cup to it and have the disploay where I can reach it.  When the GPS is removed, all that is left is the plexi, which looks ok.

We also have at least 9 duplex outlets in the front cabin, so keep looking.  One is on the front side of the small cabinet behind the passenger seat, 2 are in the TV cabinet.  I have a power bar/surge protector attached to one of the upper outlets, so I can plug in my computer and printer, sat receiver, DVD, TV and leave room for other electronics should I acquire any more.

[Gary Wolfer]

I did find a 12v lighter plug on the cabinet next to my throttle foot it has a black rubber plug in it like it hasn't been found til just now. and I did find a 120V plug in in the front end of the cabinet behind the passenger front seat. Thanks that gives me two on the passenger side one there and one below some mirrors at the base between the refer and the dining table next to the heater fans and vents. That is where I been plugging in my belkin 10 plug extension. There are three plugs on the driver side under the kitchen counter one beside the couch and one below the sink and one on the far back end next to the end of the slide. They do not work well with some plugs like i need to charge my cell phone and the plug is too close to the counter top. I miss having plugs in the galley next to my inverter remote in my old Safari. I think they should have put them above the counter.