Digital navigation options

[eagle19952]

I have a newer 770 Garmin that will route you through the low over pass,I need to set down and figure the thing out I guess I only had it for a few weeks the boys got it for me as a gift.
lol they get their mother a nice set of noise canceling wireless Bose head phone and me a GPS wonder what they are trying to tell me   

Be grateful it wasn't wrapped in a road map

[Van]

I on occasion have had the opportunity to run 2 770 Garmin Dezel's side by side, listening to them argue and question each other is entertaining.

[windtrader]

Great discussion.


Surely every bus/semi driver over the course of their career has encountered a close call or two, maybe even losing some trailer parts. The comment about PLANNING the daily ahead seems so common sense, it should be as standard as checking tire pressure and fluid levels before heading out.


The RV units have the height/weight warning feature. That information comes from somewhere. With hardly any searching I found one state that publishes a database of vertical bridge/tunnel clearances. Very nice interface and easy to determine if any clearance issues lie ahead. Cost - zero, my favorite price. Washington State Calif Calif also has a special section for long buses and motorhomes. This page offers maps of roads where long buses are not allowed.


For my needs and comfort, no sale on the RV GPS; instead, make time to prepare a trip plan using available public domain information and a smartphone/tablet with downloaded maps for offline use, and scanning for all on-the-road signage. A hunch but this option might even provide more accurate and current road conditions and hazards since the data is extracted with a day or two of being used, most likely fresher than even the fanciest RV GPS units.


RV GPS - check, TPMS next.

[richard5933]

Nothing wrong with proper trip planning. I try to do it before starting the day. However, it is impossible to check every underpass height and weight restriction - one detoured route or construction shut down and all bets are off. I'm sure that no matter how carefully each of us plan the day's route, there will be times we're told to make an extra stop because something along the way catches our co-pilot's eye. The cost of the Garmin was less than a tank of fuel, and the amount of times it's alerted me to something makes the expense worthwhile. Even more so for the unexpected stops and side-trips.

[windtrader]

Richard,
Nothing wrong with having secondary navigation devices. Every busnut has their own unique combination of influences to manage and balance. Getting some remote cameras, TPMS, engine tach, better thermal monitoring, bay slides, etc. are on the checklist. As a result of this discussion, placement of RV GPS on the list is improved.


As you rightly state, there is nothing more important than keeping an eagle eye real time on the road, changing road conditions are unavoidable.

[luvrbus]

LOL plan your trip with a paper map the GPS can really screw you up when it comes to toll roads that are numbered with the state highway number cost me $15.00 and I told the thing to route me around toll roads not one time but twice.
183 between Cedar Park and Austin Texas will really screw with one.My TomTom had no idea I 35 was a toll road in Kansas leaving Oklahoma   

[Rick 74 MC-8]

I just got back from a trip from Chicago down Cherokee North Carolina and back. Google Maps got me twice with their routing. First was a beautiful Park in Tennessee. Bandy Creek in South Fork just outside of Oneida. Twisty road with 13% grades quite a ride pulling a toad. Left there to go to Cherokee Nc. got me off at Maggie Valley and took 19 over the mountain. When I pulled in the campground at the bottom of the mountain the guy at the Campground just laughed and asked did Google Maps route to that way? If you Just would have gone up a couple exits and there's a four-lane highway that goes around that mountain. LOL. Just glad to have Jake's. I know you guys on the west coast that say they're only Hill in the Smokies but a two-lane Winding Road dropping about 2000 ft at some 8% grades I was ready for a cocktail

[eagle19952]

lol...get in your car and take the GPS to the top floor of a parking garage.
trust issues

[luvrbus]

My Garmin got me in Colorado big time,we going to a rally at the Garden Of the Gods,I typed in Garden of the Gods RV Park where Wayne was holding it all was good for 800 miles.I followed the directions pull up and it was the visitors center and she said you have reached your destination.
I thought oh no so I entered the information again and she said turn right a big mistake it routed me through the park with tunnels. tiny roads and I was 60 ft long. I stopped and called people at the rally George came and got me out of that mess.Everyone was laughing saying how could that happen your GPS didn't cause that.
About a hour later I get this call from Sonnie Gray asking where in the hell am I at, I followed the GPS and there is nothing here but a narrow road with rock tunnels that I don't think the bus will go through off George and I went to get him he was lost too Since that ordeal I have not trusted a GPS.That took awhile to live down because of my friends taking photos of the Eagle going through the tunnels where I had no business being  there to begin with   

[buswarrior]

Check the map, GPS will route you right thru the middle of the city, when there's an obvious and desirable ring road or bypass.

These things are just like the co-pilot...

Sometimes it is good to listenn sometimes it isn't.

The trouble is figuring out which is which, and that takes expensive experiencial learning, no matter GPS or co-pilot!

Data burning solutions only work if there's a cell signal, and your data hasn't been burned up or throttled.

A GPS won't likely work if North Korea puts a real bird in the air, those satelites will suddenly be instructed to go cross-eyed.

Keep a map handy...

You'll really like to get home under those conditions...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[chessie4905]

Been wanting to go with a large Garmin for coach. Haven't decided which would be better. The Rv770 or the Desl 770. Too bad they don't make one unit that can do both. I read a lot of reviews on both at the RV store and on Amazon, but haven't decided yet. I love my old Nuvi. It plays my books from audible either through radio or through unit. The books are on a micro SD or sd chip depending on which one I use. Trouble is, Everytime Garmin comes out with new features, it removes some old ones. I also wish they would come out with a 10 inch version or offer Garmin operating system you could buy and install on a tablet.
Never checked to see if Waze app can warn of low clearances. It is a must have app otherwise.

[chessie4905]

I hate it when the gps or google maps gets me into this in coach.





Hey! Got picture add to work.☺

[TomC]

I still like pouring over the good old Rand McNally truckers Atlas that has low bridge clearances and truck routes. California only have to be concerned with truck routes if you're over 40ft. Good Luck, TomC

[luvrbus]

You have to watch a GPS real close when leaving Jerome AZ to Prescott they will route you down 89A if you haven't been that route it is a real treat in a bus with a tow vehicle, hair pin curves with steep grades with 20 mph speed limits with 40 ft restrictions  BTDT   

[edvanland]

Yes and the idiots coming the other way on your side of the road. Got clipped by a cattle truck coming from Prescott Valley, he did not see the sign. Closed the road for several hours. Didn't do any damage to our truck, glad we were not on the trike. By the time ADOT, Jerome, Yavapai county and DPS got done writing him tickets he was in bad shape. NO one was hurt.