Caravan Sat Nav

Dangermouse

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Having recently taken up caravanning and having a close call with Google maps taking me into a small picturesque village with roads too narrow for a car and caravan, I need a decent but inexpensive Sat Nav, if anyone else uses one and its good, I would be interested to hear which model(s) you have as it really is a minefield out there.
 
Having recently taken up caravanning and having a close call with Google maps taking me into a small picturesque village with roads too narrow for a car and caravan, I need a decent but inexpensive Sat Nav, if anyone else uses one and its good, I would be interested to hear which model(s) you have as it really is a minefield out there.
I think a satnav could do the same as Google maps.
You could try the Waze app.
It's free and works good, but no guarantee that won't do the same either.
 
...as it really is a minefield out there.
And how! My built in Hyundai navigator worked really well for three years until it was "updated" before Christmas. I didn't use it in anger until last week when I discovered that it had several interesting features which turned a trip to Yorkshire into an absolute nightmare. I'm just off to pick up the car which they assure me is now cured.
:tumbleweed:
 
And how! My built in Hyundai navigator worked really well for three years until it was "updated" before Christmas. I didn't use it in anger until last week when I discovered that it had several interesting features which turned a trip to Yorkshire into an absolute nightmare. I'm just off to pick up the car which they assure me is now cured.
:tumbleweed:

I have noticed lots of so called dedicated sat navs look and sound nice but the actual navigation software is just Google maps, which is pretty decent but as I found out last week, trying to drive through a village with lanes fit only for small cars, Google falls short
 
I use Copilot Caravan as an app which runs on my iPad Mini (cellular), it's also available on Android. You would need a tablet (or mobile phone) which has either a builtin GPS receiver or will connect to a seperate bluetooth GPS receiver. You specify what your vehicle dimensions are & state your road preferences, then it will avoid low bridges, narrow roads etc when route planning. Like all satnavs, it is only as good as the mapping data it has available but in 4 years use it has not got me into trouble.

Most of the cheaper satnavs don't take into account the dimensions of what you are driving; there are a couple of stand-alone dedicated units that do but they are not cheap. Copilot Caravan for the whole of Europe was around £40 when I bought it & it comes with lifetime updates (including Maps).

Interestingly, when we had a 3,650kg 7m long 3m high FIAT Ducato based motorhome, that had a dedicated FIAT UConnect satnav builtin, but it used the same maps & routing algorithms as the ones fitted in FIAT 500s..... it was rubbish!
 
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One thing to watch out for with Copilot, it looks like they have changed their purchasing model. It now looks like you get the app for free but have to purchase a subscription for the map & navigation. This has only changed recently as far as I can tell but it will cost £25.99 pa for a years caravan navigation. Still a lot cheaper than the £250-£350 for Garmin & Snooper satnavs though, if you have a handy phone or tablet available.
 
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This one will do the job and is as cheap as chips. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XGODY-7-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Setting it up is unnecessarily complicated and it may be too large for comfort when fitted to a car windscreen - but it may be available in smaller sizes. Not a problem for me because I've fitted it permanently to the sun visor.

You can set your vehicle dimensions, which will take care of narrow roads, low bridges and so on. You can also set the lower speed limits that apply to vehicles towing trailers.
 
On quite a few facebook pages the XGODY pops up with good reviews, can you set car + caravan or do you do that part by a small truck and trailer comination
 
On quite a few facebook pages the XGODY pops up with good reviews, can you set car + caravan or do you do that part by a small truck and trailer comination
You can set it either as car + trailer or as a truck. As all that you will be concerned about is width, and possibly height and length, it's sensible to set the vehicle as a truck of total length, width and height, and maybe add a bit on to compensate for possible lack of experience and uneven road surfaces.
 
I have a couple of hgv/caravan satnavs laying around I had for testing. One is a cheapie Chinese thing using windows CE and a satnav app, the other is an aguri all in one satnav and dash camera. I can dig them out and get more details if you are interested. Could let them go cheap as I’m not using them.
 
I decided to give Copilot a try on my Note 8 and it seemed good but the Note seemed too small so put it on a tablet and it really is very good and only £26 a year so not breaking the bank, will update when I actually use it in the real world.
 
Why not just use a 99p road atlas and plan out your trip before you go .. far to much reliance on these gadgets in this day and age .. but saying that if you have a decent sat nav go into the menu and the options should be in there
 
Drive very slowly in front of me and you won't have any problems, thats what the other caravaners do. :)
 
60 is max on motorways and 50 on A roads, not really our faults, blame the government
Why blame the government it’s not only a sensible speed it’s also to do with the speed /load rating of your tyres .. it’s all to easy to exceed these speeds when towing with a 4x4 .. but it’s not that easy to brake suddenly if a idiot gets in front of you and if the vans not loaded correctly then the tail wags the dog .. we often have caravans overtake us when doing 60mph towing and invariably they are swaying as they pass us
 
Why blame the government it’s not only a sensible speed it’s also to do with the speed /load rating of your tyres .. it’s all to easy to exceed these speeds when towing with a 4x4 .. but it’s not that easy to brake suddenly if a idiot gets in front of you and if the vans not loaded correctly then the tail wags the dog .. we often have caravans overtake us when doing 60mph towing and invariably they are swaying as they pass us
Agreed, 60 is quite fast enough, even for a skilled driver with a suitable towing vehicle. And some of the tow car / caravan combinations I see don't seem even remotely suitable, and some of the drivers are scary.
 
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