Finding the way

While there are still many purists who prefer to navigate in the ‘old way’ with maps, most of us have turned to SatNav systems to make the process easier. With a motorhome, the choice of SatNav is perhaps more important than for a car.

This post is, therefore, about my experiences with SatNav – I haven’t tried them all so it shouldn’t be considered as a product review, just a record of my personal experiences.

When I got my first motorhome I used it with the TomTom SatNav I’d been using in the car for many years. All went smoothly until it decided to guide me through a shortcut away from main roads. The road it advised me to turn into had a sign saying ‘not suitable for HGVs’ but as I was in a converted Ducato van I decided that needn’t bother me. I was wrong.

After a mile or so of quite narrow road I came to a point where the road narrowed even further, to the extent that my wing mirrors were brushing the hedges on both sides. There was nowhere to turn around so I had to just go for it. After a nerve-racking mile or so I made it through without incident but it made me realise I needed some sort of SatNav that understood I had a bigger vehicle.

 

My initial searches led me to the Snooper Truckmate, which seemed to fit the bill. It allows the dimensions of the vehicle to be entered and the assumption is that it will plan routes on that basis. For example, avoiding width and height restrictions that would prevent my van passing through.

In reality it seems to just assume that anything bigger than a car has to follow routes suitable for large lorries. So it will avoid roads that are perfectly suitable for a camper van but would be difficult for a large lorry, resulting in far-from-efficient routes.

Another downside I’ve found is that if there is a problem with the route it will display a long list of alternative routes, which have to be scrolled through and read very carefully – hardly safe when driving.

Some while later my TomTom because so full it could no longer download updates so I started to look for alternatives and realised that there are now navigation apps that can run on a smartphone. In fact, many of the SatNav companies are now stopping production of dedicated devices.

Using an old ‘phone with a large screen (Galaxy Note 4) I now have the Sygic SatNav app, which I much prefer to either of the other systems I’ve used. Currently I’m using the car version and relying on road signs to warn me of restrictions, but there is an RV version that I’m considering.

Compared to buying a dedicated device, I would suggest the app option is far more economical if you have a suitable ‘phone to run it on. It definitely seems to be the way forward.