Question Garmin RV 890 setup for towed vehicle?

[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

 

[Neemer]

Good info, TJ. Thanks.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

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.

Yes, I've used the 890 extensively. I was a member of the Beta-test team for Garmin, so I've been using the 890 prototype for quite a while; I'm guessing 7,000 miles worth.

One thing that I may point out, that a lot of folks overlook: be sure to disable the "Propane Tanks" feature on your RV Parameters, if you don't have them. This'll get ya messed up, otherwise.

Routing is not perfect, no matter what. Yes, I've found a half dozen completely unacceptable routing solutions for certain legs. I've worked with Garmin on them, and...fact of the matter is...there are just some roads in this land that will reject our RV based on a number of factors; weight being a big one (pun intended).

I've used dozens of GPS units, and have had Garmin since the beginning and...quite honestly...as much as I love tech, and love a GPS...I still do not fully trust them!!

It's not really that "lame" to expect us to program our Trips into a Garmin 890, see what route it recommends, AND THEN BACK THAT UP WITH YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
Some will use a truck book, some will use Apple, Google, etc., some will use another app such as EnRoute, TruckMap, and others.

Bottom line is, don't be discouraged. Think of ANY GPS as a SECONDARY tool of navigation!!!

I can pretty much guarantee you don't have a defective unit, nor is your map software corrupt or out of date. Instead, I'd encourage you to call Garmin support, they're actually really good, responsive, and friendly and can help walk you through any concern with your setup; if you feel you're goofed up somewhere...which I doubt.

Hope this helps.

 

[DKRITTER]

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.

A few months ago I was working south west of Houston, when we were finished we were going to Louisiana. I programed the 780 for for a RV Park near Beaumont. Naturally the 780 wanted to take us right through the heart of HOU, I added a stop on 8 so we would go around the bottom the lesser of the evils. We got to the RV Park and I tried to put in the next park in central LA., it routed me way around adding many miles to our journey. I added a stop on 165 outside of Lake Charles and it really would not accept it, I tried and tried but no luck.
We went anyway and discovered why the 780 wouldn't allow us to take a small portion of 165. As we started north on 165 a pop-up on the Garmin said our coach weighed to much for the road. It was trying to protect us since somehow the weight limit for about 2 miles was incorrect.

The Garmin has a set of rules it follows when routing, those can be fallible, it's up to us to determine the actual route.

 

[Jim]

Thanks for that information @CaptainGizmo.

You obviously know more about this than I but it is confusing for a layperson like myself that Maps on my phone and Mapquest on my laptop, both have the right directions while the 890 does not. (When the 890 is configured to be used as a "Car". ) Do you have any idea why that is?

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Thanks for that information @CaptainGizmo.

You obviously know more about this than I but it is confusing for a layperson like myself that Maps on my phone and Mapquest on my laptop, both have the right directions while the 890 does not. (When the 890 is configured to be used as a "Car". ) Do you have any idea why that is?

You’re welcome Jim. I agree that it can be confusing having different sources giving you different information.

Perhaps I can explain best by saying that even though I can answer the “how”, I can’t necessarily give you justification “why” one is different...If that makes sense.

So, the “how” is because different map apps use different maps and routing engines. For example Google uses Google maps, Apple uses Tom Tom OpenStreetSource, And Garmin uses HERE. So if you were to use Waze, you may get an even different routing than the OTHERS!

I’ve worked closely with a couple of these companies over the years and there are just too many variables To make any one mapping source perfectly reliable. Furthermore and in conclusion, I can say with certainty that you will never see two map sources agree 100% of the time.