Is there a definitive cure for non operational satnav?

[RustyRuss]

We're in the process of buying our first ever MoHo, an Autotrail Apache 632, the dealer advised me to buy a satnav for it if I wanted one as the 12ele2000 fitted is notoriously unreliable. Seems to be issues with the sd card conking out. Any of you guys found a reliable solution yet? Maybe an after market sd card?

Thanks in advance for replies!

RustyRuss

 

[Gellyneck]

Our dealer replaced our 12ele2000 with a 13ele... and it was marginally better but still so bad we replaced it ourselves with an Xtrons head unit.
If you do get it working the maps will probably be years out of date and it was over £100 to update them. Better buying a stand-alone unit.

 

[DBK]

Or just use Google Maps on a phone or tablet. I've described in this thread how to use a cheap tablet to make a satnav. I started with the Copilot app but Google Maps is free and works very well.

A DIY Satnav

Towards the end of our recent trip to Corsica my Garmin Satnav expired. It simply would not start up even though it was fully charged. So we finished the trip using Copilot on my mobile phone, which did the job but the screen was a tad on the tiny side for my liking. :) I had first tried Copilot...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[The Dudess]

This was our cure.

 

[Bill_OR]

Les Evans are the experts in dealing with those crappy A-T head units - Broken Link Removed
They can advise on the best replacement unit

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Speve]

Can you not negotiate in your deal a new head unit or a discount for having to replace it??

 

[Bill_OR]

I have a 2012 Apache 634 with the 12ELE2000 head unit. I do not use the satnav as the updates are crazily expensive! However the head unit does work (albeit not very well!).
If all you want is a satnav then I suggest you look at the Xgody 886 which costs about £40 from ebay.
I have used one for well over a year. You can enter your vehicle height/length/weight and it routes you accordingly. There is also a good user-run Facebook group that can provide support and also provides map updates.
Alternatively you can spend £300+ on a pukka TomTom unit that does the same. Your choice!

 

[RustyRuss]

That’s all a great help! Thanks Boys n Girls! I think first port of call will be the dealer and a new head unit, then it’ll be covered in the 12 month warranty.....

Cheers!


Rustyruss

 

[Gellyneck]

That’s all a great help! Thanks Boys n Girls! I think first port of call will be the dealer and a new head unit, then it’ll be covered in the 12 month warranty.....

Cheers!


Rustyruss

If you do get a new head unit installed I would still investigate the option of a stand alone unit as the cost of upgrading the maps on any built-in unit is usually astronomical! 2nd user units come up on here frequently, btw.

 

[autorouter]

I think one of the problems with satnav in a MH is that the GPS signal from the satellites is a bit obscured by the bulk of the MH bodywork, as well as the buildings, walls and flyovers/tunnels as you drive through a city. A position where you can see it well is not the best position for signal reception.

I have a Dual Skypro XPS160 GPS receiver at the front of the dashboard, in the best position for GPS reception. It communicates by Bluetooth to a 7inch Samsung Tab, running Copilot (standard not caravan edition).

The XPS160 is an aviation-grade receiver that uses American GPS and Russian Glonass signals, updating ten times per second. It can connect by Bluetooth to up to five devices. It runs from a battery, but I have it connected to a USB to keep it permanently powered.

XGPS160 - SkyPro GPS Receiver — Dual GPS Solutions

Ideal for pilots, race car drivers and boating, this 2nd generation GPS Receiver features even faster signal acquisition, 10Hz positioning updates and Bluetooth connectivity to up to 5 devices. The WAAS receiver simultaneously receives both GPS (USA) and GLONASS (Russia) satellite system signals

gps.dualav.com

It's a bit of a faff starting up for the first time. You probably need a free app that receives Bluetooth GPS, so that needs downloading and installing. You have to go into developer options and turn on 'Mock Location' so that your device ignores its internal GPS and uses the Bluetooth one.

This GPS receiver will pair with Android phones. It works well with an old phone (Note 4) with no SIM in it. I presume it works with Apple devices, but never tried.

Ideally I'd like a GPS aerial on the roof (I'm looking at a triple Wifi/LTE/GPS type) but I haven't found a GPS receiver with aerial input (yet).

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[138go]

If you do get a new head unit installed I would still investigate the option of a stand alone unit as the cost of upgrading the maps on any built-in unit is usually astronomical! 2nd user units come up on here frequently, btw.

Get them to put you a pure Android Head Unit in that way you can add other apps as you go along. Some of the head units are not what they say they are. If its as pure Android unit you can download update maps for IGO or use Google Maps or CoPilot + many others.

 

[138go]

I think one of the problems with satnav in a MH is that the GPS signal from the satellites is a bit obscured by the bulk of the MH bodywork, as well as the buildings, walls and flyovers/tunnels as you drive through a city. A position where you can see it well is not the best position for signal reception.

I have a Dual Skypro XPS160 GPS receiver at the front of the dashboard, in the best position for GPS reception. It communicates by Bluetooth to a 7inch Samsung Tab, running Copilot (standard not caravan edition).

The XPS160 is an aviation-grade receiver that uses American GPS and Russian Glonass signals, updating ten times per second. It can connect by Bluetooth to up to five devices. It runs from a battery, but I have it connected to a USB to keep it permanently powered.

XGPS160 - SkyPro GPS Receiver — Dual GPS Solutions

Ideal for pilots, race car drivers and boating, this 2nd generation GPS Receiver features even faster signal acquisition, 10Hz positioning updates and Bluetooth connectivity to up to 5 devices. The WAAS receiver simultaneously receives both GPS (USA) and GLONASS (Russia) satellite system signals

gps.dualav.com

It's a bit of a faff starting up for the first time. You probably need a free app that receives Bluetooth GPS, so that needs downloading and installing. You have to go into developer options and turn on 'Mock Location' so that your device ignores its internal GPS and uses the Bluetooth one.

This GPS receiver will pair with Android phones. It works well with an old phone (Note 4) with no SIM in it. I presume it works with Apple devices, but never tried.

Ideally I'd like a GPS aerial on the roof (I'm looking at a triple Wifi/LTE/GPS type) but I haven't found a GPS receiver with aerial input (yet).

I use a Garmin GPS receiver works very well via bluetooth. The Huawei Tablet that I use is accurate to 5M but the Garmin works to 3M. Looked at some of the others but you can pay £200+ for a GPS receiver on it's own.

 

[kevenh]

We've an ancient Garmin Nuvi but it works well for us.
It has a Lifetime maps upgrade & Garmin also update the firmware occasionally.
It hasn't got a settings area to put in the motorhome dims in :? as it is our old portable Car sat nav.

With the tablet solution, is there a setup step to download offline maps to it?
Like those hosted at: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ ?

I use that site for all my hiking & cycling mapping needs on a handheld GPSr.

tl;dr don't buy devices with built in maps but with that do make sure you can add maps.

And use a tablet if you'd rather not have a dedicated GPS satellite receiver based device
I'm not advocating either as right.
In the geocaching world mobile devices have taken a large chunk of the devices used.

EDIT: for clarity/typos in the 1st paragraph

 

[Sucoz]

We're also on our first motorhome, we have travelled for 2 months in France and Spain and have used either copilot or Google maps - had copilot on my husbands iPhone but it either freezes or won't get GPS. Transferred it to my Huawei now.
I've heard good things about xgody so might get one of them.
But I like to have a back up device because everything I've ever used has had some problem or another eventually.

 

[ctc]

Cheap Chinese unit and a decent map, simple.