Garmin sat nav

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I think the battery in mine is kaput, if left unplugged for any length of time it would then take a very long time to recover and switch back on. I brought it in and left it plugged in to a USB port on my computer. It recognises that this is not the car as it has data lines (they are connected with resistors in the car charger). Whilst plugged into the computer USB it displays a message to say so. Now even if I unplug it that message stays on, even plugged into the car, and even more strangely the on/off button doesn't have any effect.

I've tried connecting it to the Garmin software on the computer, doesn't recognise it

Unless someone has a bright idea it looks like a hand in pocket job. I'm not impressed, it's not that old (out of warranty)

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Just did my 10 y.o. Navman s70

1 Find someone who did it on utube

2 buy one from ebay

3 revisit utube

 

damned annoying is a total doddle because of utube

They can behave pretty strangely when the battery is totally gone, even if you try to run them from the usb link

cost a tenner

 

Edited By Ady1 on 10/07/2021 23:25:24

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

I had a not so dissimilar problem with a Tom Tom, approximately 7 years old. For no apparent reason the screen suddenly would not function upon being switched on the first time, but after several attempts and resets it would appear and then function normally. The number of resets then began to increase until I thought it may be an internal connection not making good contact. A YouTube video showed how to dismantle the device, an operation which I performed and re-seated and cleaned all the connectors, especially the ribbon to the display. All to no avail, the device malfunctioned exactly as before.

As Tom Tom had been bombarding me with 'promotions' and discounts for the last couple of years in an attempt to get me to purchase another device, I strongly suspect that these devices are programmed to self-destruct after a set period of time, rather like Apple slowing down the functions of their mobile phones as reported a while back.

I gave up in the end and disposed of the device in the electronic waste bin at the local tip and now just use the integral sat-nav of my car, but as car sat-navs do not come with regular free map upgrades it is a little out of date. Maybe I can use my phone's navigation facility or even go back to the old AA road atlas that got me to everywhere I ever wanted to go in the course of my itinerant employment in the days before reliance on electronic devices became the norm. I wonder if many other people have had similar experiences?

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Ok I've bought one, just concerned at its odd behaviour

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I found mine useful for public roads in the middle of nowhere, some of which run right through farmyards and look like a private road

My own street has a public road to the garages at the bottom, but the garages to the right are private land even though its all the same to look at, the satnav only shows the legal public road

I think some routes were publicly funded on otherwise private land but a condition of this asset to be built was to allow public access

2cents

Edited By Ady1 on 10/07/2021 23:44:22

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

1st comment would be , if you are sure it's the battery .Strip it & change the battery, not too hard to do. If you give up completely then use google maps on your phone. Google maps is way ahead of most of the sat nav data. Even tells you of road blockages etc, being live data. I have a Garmin Zumo on my motorcycle. The water proof version. It's ok but every now & then it looses it's marbles & does not know the road i am on, or the speed limit of said road.

The one in my expensive Jag is not as good as the phone google version.

Steve.

[CalumParticipant @calumgalleitch87969]

As per Steve, I have never used a satnav unit, built in or separate, that was better than my phone's Google Maps app. I have a little phone mount and cigarette lighter to USB adapter that keeps it running on long journeys, though in fact I tend to only end up using it for 'last mile' directions most of the time.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I found my phone too fiddly, too many options, too many wrong button presses too much weird stuff

You can use a satnav on the move

The phone was fine just as long as you didn't need to touch the screen

[Anonymous]

Posted by Chris Crew on 10/07/2021 23:33:01:

…… as car sat-navs do not come with regular free map upgrades it is a little out of date.

Doesn't the car dealership do that during a regular service …. or on request?

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

First time ever, last week, my wife’s Garmin suddenly showed a pic of a PC with a connection to the sat nav. It would not do anything, even switch off (battery was poor as it normally switches off only a few seconds after power disconnection).

I found that the ‘net had a ‘fix’ for some fault and tried it, although the screen did not have the item showing to press.

I pressed both the on-off button and the right side bottom corner of the screen simultaneously and it turned off. Got it working adequately, to drive to Somerset, then it failed again, so had to follow the M5 to get to Slimbridge (terrible congestion all the way!).

We left the motorway at the earliest opportunity (Tewkesbury exit) and followed directions on her mobile phone until the route was obvious.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

The best thing of all is you never need any internet to make a satnav work

There was about 24 sats originally but I think a couple are a bit dodgy and the originals are all coming to the end of their service life over the next decade

…so one day your old satnav will simply stop working…

**LINK**

[brian roberts 2Participant @brianroberts2]

Duncan's original post mentioned a possible flat battery, which may not be easily charged in the usual way. This is because Lithium ion batteries have tightly-controlled voltage limits to prevent overcharging, but they also do not permit recovery of a fully discharged battery.

I have managed to overcome this on some appliances by opening the item and disconnecting one leg of the battery to isolate it from the control circuitry. Then I connected a higher voltage battery across the failed battery for a few seconds to partially charge it, eg use a 12V batt. to charge a failed 7V battery.

This action lifts the failed battery voltage over the threshold sufficiently for the control circuitry to recognise that it is still viable and normal charging is then usually successful.

It's worth a try before binning things.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

Posted by Peter Greene on 11/07/2021 01:26:02:

Posted by Chris Crew on 10/07/2021 23:33:01:

…… as car sat-navs do not come with regular free map upgrades it is a little out of date.

 

Doesn't the car dealership do that during a regular service …. or on request?

Peter, the maps as far as I am aware are held on a removable memory chip (SD card?) and I have been told that an updated replacement would be a couple of hundred quid. The car is a Volvo V90 D5 on a 17 plate which I have had for two years and the Volvo dealership has done a couple of Volvo software updates and replaced a part under the warranty at the service intervals, but nothing to the sat-nav. I bought my wife a Volvo XC60 B4 on a 20 plate and it has a newer map, obviously, but I am not expecting its sat-nav to be updated either although I will ask again when it is due for a service.

For someone who used to think nothing of stripping engines and gearboxes down to get re-bores done and crankshafts re-ground etc. it came a little hard to me when I had to read the manual to find out how to open the bonnet just to fill the washer bottle!

 

Edited By Chris Crew on 11/07/2021 08:39:46

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Posted by Ady1 on 11/07/2021 07:43:52:

….

…so one day your old satnav will simply stop working…

**LINK**

Unlikely as there are 29 in orbit as of 2020, 4 or 5 of which are "spares". Given that GPS and other systems have become essential infrastructure for navigation, positioning, and precision time & frequency distribution globally I can't see that the system would be allowed to degrade. Also it depends on what you mean by "old" – for several years GNSS receivers have been multi-standard and able to derive time & position from GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

I always thought that the primary purpose of the satellite navigation system was for the guidance of nuclear bombers and cruise missiles, the civilian use is coincidental. Anyways I had reason to use my garmin sat nav the other day, the sat nav is I don’t know how many years old, it acted very strangely when turned on, bearing in mind it must be at least two years since last used and it is was plugged into the car electrics, it seemed to take forever to settle down and when it did it seemed to think I was at various different points in the country trying to start my journey. Eventually once the car was moving it seemed to find its bearings and worked ok for the rest of the journey, I don’t think mine has ever been upgraded so working on the original maps. Keep threatening to purchase a new one but whilst I can coax the old one to keep working expenditure is delayed. Dave W

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, I have two Garman sat nav's, one is older than the other neither of which charge very fast via a computer USB port. The older one I used to keep at work, so I always had it if and when I was sent on site to unknown areas. Both of these have lifetime map updates which you have to do three or four times each year to keep the lifetime going and if you don't update to the minimum requirement, the lifetime aspect is deemed to have come to an end and they will no longer update, The other thing is, that new versions of the update app are required and the app won't recognize the sat nav's until the app is updated, I also have to launch the app, then click on which sat nav I wish to update before plugging it into the computer and it the battery is down, I'll charge it up with a phone charger rather than my computer. I don't think many sat nav batteries have a very big capacity as I think they are only meant for keeping a selected route, should you make a stop for refreshments and that is why they go to auto shutoff when disconnected from a power source.

Regards Nick.

[VicParticipant @vic]

The battery on my Garmin isn’t very good either. I bought one of their chargers to use indoors from time to time.

I would have liked it in my car but it was an additional £600. I’ve got a fairly decent iPhone though so I can use that if needed.

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

The main purpose of a sat nav is to avoid nuclear war in the car. SWMBO is incapable of {or unwilling to} read a map whilst the car is moving. Her best performance was to announce I'd have to stop and read the map whilst we were on the Peripherique, the Paris inner ring road. This makes the M25 look like a country lane. I'll let you know how the battery upgrade goes.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

I found my old NAVMAN far clearer in the way it portrayed the map, far better than TOMTOM. Map updates expensive. The FURUNO marine set I use started to play up and we were told that the soft wear was date limited and the set would die soon as a new version came on stream – just buy a new one !!!! If a set is powered down for a while( or taken to a distant location whilst off) it may loose it's almanac, this will take some time to re establish and get a good fix. I always check the number of satelites being used for an initial fix. Noel.

[Bob McParticipant @bobmc91481]

It seems to me that this satnav service is a big problem, I had a car with satnav and although the maps were becoming out of date, I didn't update the version as I was about to get a much newer car.

I was told by the salesman that the car being the same model but newer was identical to the old one, and I did a calibrated tyre kick test… and sure enough on the dashboard screen there was an icon for navigation. After going through the trauma of parting with a few thousand pounds I collected aforementioned vehicle and went off quite happily… a few days later I thought to try out the navigation … surprise surprise! there was no on board satnav device, I spoke to the salesman…. " you need a smartphone…everyone has a smartphone" …. "no they don't" I says… I ain't got one! … its like me….its not smart enough to realise that I should take no notice of car salesmen.

"anyway…he says..its dead easy to get the phone to display the navigation map on the screen… no problem at all"

The fact is I need a larger screen to view the maps, and I don't want something hanging off the dashboard which I have to take off every time I park up, as has been said, the mobile phone icon buttons are too fiddly to mess about with.

So I obtained a smartphone to try it out, the dashboard screen informs me that I need to have the correct app for the service… but no indication of what this is… I trawled the manufacturers websites and went round in circles for a few hours eventually ending up speaking on a chat line..

A very nice lady who informs me that the car needs its software updating…"can I do it online" I says…."no" she says…you have to take it in for that service….."will it cost me" I says…."yes" she says…. so basically I have bought a smartphone and now will have to pay to have what should have been in the car in the first place…!

Its all a load of Old B********ks

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I can't remember when I last up-dated my Tom Tom, but I found it very difficult to do so – the thing is not easy to use anyway. In fact I think I had to abandon the effort. I am not sure if it has an internal battery but in view of the above perhaps I ought re-charge it so thanks to all above for reminding me.

'

I used it last in 2017 I think, to "find" Doncaster Racecourse, not actually turning it on until I had left the motorway at a junction bearing the one and only sign that indicates the Racecourse. If I can't find Yorkshire from Dorset with no more than a sheet of paper with A-road and junction numbers written in great big letters…

I'm not sure how I managed to reach the place, vowing never again. I didn't expect a racecourse to be practically in its city centre, and coralled by so many complicated and very busy junctions so close together the poor little box of electronics could not keep up. At one point it helpfully put me in the lorry queue for the rail-goods terminal….

Oh Harrogate, how easy thou wert!

No, sat-nags (as a friend calls them) are not always what they are cracked up to be. They are good though, for frightening motorhome and caravan owners leaving the camp-site near me, into ignoring a sign giving them a much easier route away than our very constricted, one-way street.

[Chris CrewParticipant @chriscrew66644]

"I can't remember when I last up-dated my Tom Tom, but I found it very difficult to do so – the thing is not easy to use anyway. In fact I think I had to abandon the effort. I am not sure if it has an internal battery but in view of the above perhaps I ought re-charge it so thanks to all above for reminding me."

Nigel, I had a Tom Tom Start 25 and found it to be very easy to operate and extremely accurate, maybe you had a different model. If you really want a challenge, try inputting a simple post code into a Volvo integrated sat-nav, I have managed it once but then forgot how I did it so I reverted to sticking the little Tom Tom on the windscreen until it gave up the ghost. Before I buy a new one I am back on the old AA road atlas. For the last couple of years of my working life I did a 'gig economy' job with a 'fly-by-night' firm contracted to BT to reconfigure telephone lines with FTTC broadband. I have to say that the little Tom Tom found every green roadside cabinet the length and breadth of the country with unerring accuracy and I could not have done the job without it.

BTW, I have a 'sat-nag' too. She is sat at the side of me nagging me that she wouldn't have gone that way if she had been driving or that I am driving too fast or is telling me exactly when to indicate because I always do it too late apparently. I find it very useful as I consistently seem forget what a terrible driver I really am.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

My son in law has an Audi, can’t remember what model but it’s huge, anyway he got frustrated with its onboard sat nav system, it would always give the exit required at roundabouts counting round against the traffic flow, most confusing, he came to the conclusion that as it was a German car then the sat nav had been set up for left hand drive he tried but could not see how to recalibrate it to right hand drive, now he uses his IPhone for navigating. Dave W

[Anonymous]

Posted by Samsaranda on 11/07/2021 11:27:20:

I always thought that the primary purpose of the satellite navigation system was for the guidance of nuclear bombers and cruise missiles, the civilian use is coincidental.

GPS was a US Naval Research Laboratories project of the 70's and in that sense had a military purpose but it was intended as a general positioning system (not primarily for nuclear activities – although doubtless that was part of its mandate). Civilian use was always part of the intention, although the military have access to much higher precision than the civilian option.

I worked on components for the early satellites via a (non-military) contractor to NRL.

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