Done to death SATNAG question.

[marchie]

That reminds me of when I lived in America. Where we would say, for instance, "haven't seen you for donkey's years", they would say "haven't seen you in a cow's age". We wondered if it was a case of Chinese whispers on the Mayflower and they ended up with the wrong animal

The French have numerous sayings based on animals and farmworkers. My favourite, which is loosely translated in English as 'I'm dead chuffed;, is 'Je suis vachement content', literally 'I am cow like happy/happy as a cow'; whether that is a cow chewing clover, a cow being serviced by a bull, or a cow chewing clover whilst being serviced by a bull has never been explained in any of the dictionaries I have consulted ...

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I love the word chuffed, it always makes me recall the one about the suicidal train spotter who jumped in front of a steam train. He was chuffed to bits.

 

[marchie]

I love the word chuffed, it always makes me recall the one about the suicidal train spotter who jumped in front of a steam train. He was chuffed to bits.

And simultaneously dead chuffed ...

Two toilet attendants who married only 2 years ago, were divorced today; the husband said that it had only ever been a marriage of convenience ...

Steve

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Gerroff and bloody stay off

 

[Tezza33]

I love the way the members on this forum go off-topic and lose their way but to lose their way in a thread about satnavs is just the icing on the cake

 

[TJBi]

I'm learning from you guys that phone gps has moved on in recent years but I still think most can only use a triangulation system of mobile masts rather than true satellite gps. In general I personally think phones are great for occasional directional use but I still much prefer a satnav for the van.

My Android smartphone is not the most recent (I've had it for 3 years) and has inbuilt GPS, as did my previous Windows phone. My Android tablet (several years old) does not have a SIM card and is capable of position-fixing when out of range of Wi-Fi. See screenshot showing satellite reception on my phone (seated a couple of metres from the nearest window). These are real US, Russian, European and Chinese satellites, not US, Russian, European and Chinese mobile masts.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I noticed an app yesterday that tested the android phones so I jsut downloaded the free version, it's amazing what you can find for free, this is the app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.android.gpstest

And this is the info I get in my lounge at least ten feet from the window.




The rest are stood in the bay window.

 

[Tezza33]

I have been testing Waze on my Android phone (with a built-in GPS receiver) for a few weeks, I have my Tomtom Truck running at the same time to check how accurate it is, and to be honest it is just as accurate as the Tomtom, I am aware that some phones or tablets use AGPS alongside GPS to pinpoint where you are but it runs seamlessly so you won't even notice

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I keep trying bit I can't get on with it.

 

[nabsim]

I have been testing Waze on my Android phone (with a built-in GPS receiver) for a few weeks, I have my Tomtom Truck running at the same time to check how accurate it is, and to be honest it is just as accurate as the Tomtom, I am aware that some phones or tablets use AGPS alongside GPS to pinpoint where you are but it runs seamlessly so you won't even notice

I think the main problem using your phone for satnav is power drain. If you keep it on charge that alleviates that problem but not sure how it affects (or not) longer term battery life. The actual naviagation side should be as good as stand alone if using same mapping

 

[Tezza33]

I think the main problem using your phone for satnav is power drain. If you keep it on charge that alleviates that problem but not sure how it affects (or not) longer term battery life. The actual naviagation side should be as good as stand alone if using same mapping

My phone is new and has a good battery life but I agree with your point, I watch the power drain on mine and plug in when it drops to 6 or 7% which is a long time from fully charged, if I had an older phone with a dodgy battery then I would be happy to leave it powered up

 

[Tezza33]

I keep trying bit I can't get on with it.

I prefer Google maps to Waze to be honest, slightly smoother, you only notice going round tight bends or roundabouts because it is a second or two for the map to be oriented in the right direction, the other problem for me is using Android Auto running Google maps is that it is constantly talking over the radio, dedicated satnavs don't do this so I will stick with TomTom until it breaks

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I prefer Google maps to Waze to be honest, slightly smoother, you only notice going round tight bends or roundabouts because it is a second or two for the map to be oriented in the right direction, the other problem for me is using Android Auto running Google maps is that it is constantly talking over the radio, dedicated satnavs don't do this so I will stick with TomTom until it breaks

A standalone will talk at the same time as a radio though, no way for it not to, but I have the sound off unless I am coming to a town where voice guidance is more useful, being told many times to do the same thing can be quite off putting when set amongst many other things grabbing your attention.

As for charging, if local I don't bother, but if more than a few miles I plug it in, there is always a lead in the car for both our phones, letting them get nearly flat seems pointless if you can keep it topped up.

 

[marchie]

Very rarely have the radio on, so the 'voiceover' problem is theoretical; and, if I need the satnav on I obviously need to listen to the instructions. The Garmin Camper has settings for every imaginable hazard/warning so there's a bing or a bong every few seconds to warn of an imminent speed limit, a bend, a need to take a turn etc/ The voice guidance, allied to the Satnav being mounted on the interior mirror to give eye level map view is as good as can be expected from the machine

Steve

 

[Tezza33]

A standalone will talk at the same time as a radio though, no way for it not to,

It does talk at the same time as the radio but you can adjust both volumes separately so that it isn't annoying

there is always a lead in the car for both our phones, letting them get nearly flat seems pointless if you can keep it topped up.

It doesn't do the battery any good to keep it topped up, letting it discharge to nearly flat and then charging occasionally is better for the battery

 

[Pudsey Bear]

It doesn't do the battery any good to keep it topped up, letting it discharge to nearly flat and then charging occasionally is better for the battery

Of course, but my S9+ will go two days and I let it get go down to 5-10% ish at home but when I want to know where to go I don't want it shutting down at a critical point so it gets plugged in.

 

[QFour]

I have been using the app for checking your position for a number of years. I have a Lenovo tablet on the dashboard. It has inbuilt GPS and reports an accuracy of 1m which I can live with . I use IGO software from www.gpspower.net. I find the version modified by Pongo seems to work very well. You can also find map updates on a few sites. All this is free just download and try and get it working. The Pongo version of IGO also let's you put in vehicle dimensions. As the tablet uses its own GPS system it can also display a speed app as well. I have one that once launched stays on top of all the other apps. As with all android devices you can use it for other apps as well. I also have a copy of Copilot which works very well.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I had velociraptor as a speed app but it never kept up with actual road speed limits so I junked it last trip as a lot of apps have their own now.

Tell me more about IGO & Pongo?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I'm a lifetime member on pocketgpsworld.com it's a really good go-to source for anything GPS, they have a ton of POIS too, but not been on for ages, I'll log on now.

 

[TJBi]

I have been using the app for checking your position for a number of years. I have a Lenovo tablet on the dashboard. It has inbuilt GPS and reports an accuracy of 1m which I can live with . I use IGO software from www.gpspower.net. I find the version modified by Pongo seems to work very well. You can also find map updates on a few sites. All this is free just download and try and get it working. The Pongo version of IGO also let's you put in vehicle dimensions. As the tablet uses its own GPS system it can also display a speed app as well. I have one that once launched stays on top of all the other apps. As with all android devices you can use it for other apps as well. I also have a copy of Copilot which works very well.

Which speed app are you using? I've recently installed an Android head unit and changed from the iGo default to CoPilot for compatibility with other apps that will send POIs to CoPilot but not iGo. Tried a couple of speed apps, including one that is supposed to launch itself when CoPilot is launched, but it hasn't been happening.