Question Garmin RV 890 setup for towed vehicle?

[ARD]

Ah yes, the one marked 11'6" right? I see a major reroute scenario being "suggested" by Garmin...in a loud, shrill voice! "STOP...STOP...TURN AROUND...GO BACK...GO BACK...I'M OUTA HERE!!!"

My 770 almost blew up flashing RED AND BLINKING YOU ARE GOING TO CRASH. I actually had to accept that I was going to crash pushing yes or no. ?

 

[Jim]

For those that haven't been through "Heartstop Tunnel," its not that big of a deal once you understand how to handle it. A local guy talked us through it the first time; just drive down the middle, straddling the centerline. Only the curved upper edges on each side are 11'6" and the center is about 14'. It is a relatively short tunnel, so you can see if there's a vehicle entering at the other end and the local folks are good at checking before they enter. We followed right behind one...just in case.

TJ

Sure, what could go wrong?

 

[Jim]

So I have a quick question to all of the 890 users. How many people have actually USED their 890?

I ask because I've had mine for a couple of weeks and yes, the configuration ability is very nice. And it's easy to understand and has a big screen. But aside from updating the maps and playing with it, I haven't actually used it on a trip yet.

So a few days ago I decided to take it for a quick test run. I was on my way to a rental property that I own so I programmed it and away we went. The property is in a gated community, so there is only one way in and one way out. But my 890 told me to turn on a road that had no chance of getting there. I had some time so I followed it to see where it was going. We went a mile or so and then the Garmin told me to do a U-turn at the next road, which I did. Now I'm heading back in the direction I had just come. We went about a mile and the Garmin told me to do a U-turn and go back. So essentially, I was in was in what programmers call an endless loop.

I went back out to the main road and headed in the direction that I knew I was supposed to be going. The Garmin got me inside the gates and then started giving me erroneous information again. This was a disappointing first but I know that sometimes these small town roads are problematic and decided that is was just a fluke.

Anyway, last night we went to a friends place for a Christmas dinner. They live about 45 minutes away and again, there is only one way in and one way out. When we got about 1/2 way there, Mr. Garmin started in again with complete nonsense. Time was of the essence, so I didn't have time to see where I would end up if I followed the directions, but I assume it would have become the same loop as last time.

When we left I told it to take me home. And the results were the same. Had I been counting on this to get me somewhere I would have been in serious trouble. I'm wondering if mine is just defective or if Garmin has really dropped the ball on this one?

 

[Neal]

My hunch for these situations is usually your vehicle profile. I think this time when I setup my 890 (not yet used) was to not allow u-turns. My 770 has been pretty reliable with the only exception is getting off the route for gas and going back to the highway (sorry, freeway for left coasters). It's already cacl'd its reroute from getting off the h/f'way and won't recalculate. Other than this all has been good. I would hope the map routing tech is the same internally from 770 to 890, it's just sitting on Android now instead of what the prior version was for the host.

 

[Jim]

My hunch for these situations is usually your vehicle profile.

I thought of that too @Neal, but when there is only one way in / one way out, I don't think differences in profile setup would make any difference.

 

[sheridany]

I can tell you these GPS units are far from perfect. I have had both 770 and 890 and they both went sideways with routing on the same interstate across the California desert on two different trips.

Have you run the updates and maps are current?

Garmin support is pretty good and they will try recreate the route and see if it gives the same results. May lead to nothing or finding an issue. When I contacted them they recreated it and didn’t find the same issue. You might want to open a support ticket.

Verify your route using other sources prior to departure and stick to it is really the best policy.

 

[Neal]

Verify your route using other sources prior to departure and stick to it is really the best policy.

that's crazy, what would we do for entertainment? I like 10ft wide mountain roads!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

@Jim, we used our 890 for the first time on our trip from Polson, MT, to our sticks-and-bricks home in Washington in mid-October, and it was flawless. Just for grins, we ran the 760 in parallel with it and they agreed 100%.

It all depends on how up-to-date the GPS database is. That's a two-part thing; the overall GPS database (which everyone uses) and the Garmin (or other brand) implementation. Some areas of the country (and, some routes) get updated more frequently than others. Rural areas, private developments, and less-traveled routes don't get updated very often.

If you haven't done the full update on your 890, you need to. It took several hours for ours to do both the software and map updates. We haven't yet had it back out on the road to test it, but a couple of dry runs seemed to indicate it was working fine.

GPS units are great tools, but they don't take the place of individual research on unfamiliar routes.

TJ

 

[Jim]

If you haven't done the full update on your 890, you need to. It took several hours for ours to do both the software and map updates. We haven't yet had it back out on the road to test it, but a couple of dry runs seemed to indicate it was working fine.

TJ

Maps and Software say "Up to Date".

I just set the profile to "Car" and programmed in my rental house. And this time, the route was perfect.

I then programmed in my friends house (from last night) and with the profile set to "Car", the route was pretty close to what I know it to be. But when I set the profile to "Motor Home" the route was really out of wack. Yes, I would have gotten there but it would have been the long way around. Obviously the GPS was trying to route me around something that was in my profile settings.

I then brought up Mapquest and ran the same route, and it was perfect on all accounts. But then again, Mapquest wasn't looking for tight corners or low bridges. And realistically, I would never have been driving my Class A to either of these places anyway.

But it does plant a seed of uncertainty. And yes, I guess it would be a good idea to program in the route the night before and then review it before leaving. But in my case yesterday, I knew the route was wrong because I had been that way so many times before. If I was going to Moab for the first time, I probably wouldn't know if the route on the GPS was the right one or not.

So it looks like I'm still going to have to run Maps on my cell phone to keep the 890 honest. That's a little disappointing, but I guess no GPS is going to be perfect all the time. And the 890 does let me know where the campgrounds and rest areas are, and that's nice.

 

[Neal]

@Jim can you share your vehicle profile from the 890? I'd love to see what you set for the params and avoidances.

 

[Jim]

@Jim can you share your vehicle profile from the 890? I'd love to see what you set for the params and avoidances.

I think they are the default settings @Neal.

Calculation Mode

• Faster Time

Under Avoidance's

• U-Turns,
• Carpool Lanes, and
• Unpaved Roads

Custom Avoidance's - Nothing

Toll Roads

• Allow

 

[Neal]

Height, width, length, weight? Towing a trailer or not (in config)

 

[Jim]

Height, width, length, weight? Towing a trailer or not (in config)

Height - 12' (might need to change this to 13)
Width - 8'
Length - 40'
Weight - 33,000
No trailer

 

[Neal]

All looks good regarding navigation. Yeah, your height and width may need to be reviewed. Well, nothing glaring that is affecting navigation sadly.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Many may know this, but to get us all on the same page, please bear with me for a brief explanation.

What we think of as "GPS" is really two separate things working together. The "Global Positioning System" is a set of satellite systems maintained by governments. The US has a system, as does Russia, China and the EU. The US system is maintained by the Department of Defense. And, what it accomplishes is to simply pinpoint a position with lat/lon coordinates; nothing more.

The mapping function used by Garmin and other GPS hardware producers uses software to apply the lat/lon coordinates to map data and display the results visually. The accuracy of the mapping relies on the accuracy of the underlying map data, which is maintained by a private/public partnership known as the Base Map Partner Program. Lots of different sources run continuous mapping update programs and input their data into the system where it is incorporated and data conflicts are resolved. It isn't perfect, but it is amazingly good.

Much of this data updating is accomplished through special vehicles being driven to as many locations as possible. Certainly, there is a focus on the more-traveled areas and the data in them is much better than that in lightly traveled areas.

Finally, companies like Garmin attempt to apply one more overlay; avoidances. This is where it gets tricky because a lot of data collection is focused on standard travel. More and more, data is being gathered on issues that would be problematic for larger vehicles; primarily trucks. RVs are just beginning to get some focus.

Hope that helps understand why we sometimes encounter glitches."

TJ