PDAs as Speed Camera Spotters?
Discussion
Now I'm getting a real car again (instead of the wife's Rover) I feel the need to protect my already fragile license from the beak 
<-- we all know why he's smiling.
Each of the current GPRS dedicated solutions like Road Pilot or Geodesy etc. are expensive for what they provide. (Come on guys, I've got to pay for my insurance now)
Has anyone used the Trafcam (www.trafcam.com) or similar solution with a PDA? I've got the PDA so would need the software and a GPRS add on for my iPaq.
Thoughts anyone?
<-- we all know why he's smiling. Each of the current GPRS dedicated solutions like Road Pilot or Geodesy etc. are expensive for what they provide. (Come on guys, I've got to pay for my insurance now)
Has anyone used the Trafcam (www.trafcam.com) or similar solution with a PDA? I've got the PDA so would need the software and a GPRS add on for my iPaq.
Thoughts anyone?
When the iPaq GPS option first came out I got one with the intention of writing exactly this functionality.
Then I discovered the crowd who make it are very protective of their API and the physical size of them damned thing obscured most of the windscreen in the Tiv so gave up on it.
Not used Trafcam, but the iPaq GPS option is worth a look, it takes some time to get its bearings but once its done that its fine.
Matt.
Then I discovered the crowd who make it are very protective of their API and the physical size of them damned thing obscured most of the windscreen in the Tiv so gave up on it.
Not used Trafcam, but the iPaq GPS option is worth a look, it takes some time to get its bearings but once its done that its fine.
Matt.
Now I'm getting a real car again (instead of the wife's Rover) I feel the need to protect my already fragile license from the beak
Each of the current GPRS dedicated solutions like Road Pilot or Geodesy etc. are expensive for what they provide. (Come on guys, I've got to pay for my insurance now)
Has anyone used the Trafcam (www.trafcam.com) or similar solution with a PDA? I've got the PDA so would need the software and a GPRS add on for my iPaq.
Thoughts anyone?
Beware of getting confused over the acronyms.
GPRS is a new mobile telephone standard (General packet radio service) while it is GPS (Global positioning system) which gives you positioning, although in due course your mobile will have reasonable positioning capability.
Whether it is worth designing your own custom solution to a problem which has been solved by Geodesy etc is only a question you can answer for yourself.
R
Consider my wrists slapped! GPS it is.
Not so, if someone has already used this solution and found it to be acceptable then it will influence my buying decision. Equally so if it's crap.
Whether it is worth designing your own custom solution to a problem which has been solved by Geodesy etc is only a question you can answer for yourself
Not so, if someone has already used this solution and found it to be acceptable then it will influence my buying decision. Equally so if it's crap.
I tried pocket street maps with my hp jornada and garmin etrex. It shows a o/s style moving map with cameras sites shown(info from origin blue) and bleeped when you got close.. only problem was that it was always running 30 seconds or so behind so at 70mph would warn you of the camera you just passed. It might of been my set up but I never had confidence in it and didnt renew the subs. Huge amounts of wiring too with power to gps and pocketpc etc..
I have the streetmap.co.uk software on my ipaq with a Navman GPS adaptor. It works well and I am rather impressed with the results. The only problem being that the data provided to streetmap is from Geodsy and can be a little overcautious - like getting cameras from the other side of the road, but this is not really a problem really.
The only thing is that I bought it to cover me on my 20,000 mile per year and for the last 6 months I have been commuting in and out of london by the train - so kind of redundant at the moment. But other than that it is quite good. Dont expect it to be as good as a dedicated device - but then again when was the last time that you could enter a contact and phone number on a Morpheous?
Cheers,
Paul
The only thing is that I bought it to cover me on my 20,000 mile per year and for the last 6 months I have been commuting in and out of london by the train - so kind of redundant at the moment. But other than that it is quite good. Dont expect it to be as good as a dedicated device - but then again when was the last time that you could enter a contact and phone number on a Morpheous?
Cheers,
Paul
Lots of points about navman and some of its competitors in this thread which I posted back in June
www.pistonheads.net/gassing/topic.asp?t=11926&f=0&h=0&hw=navman
Hope that helps, I decided to stick with my trusty road atlas for a while, but I do fancy a set of digital maps for my local area along with GPS, maybe Santa will be generous!
davidy
www.pistonheads.net/gassing/topic.asp?t=11926&f=0&h=0&hw=navman
Hope that helps, I decided to stick with my trusty road atlas for a while, but I do fancy a set of digital maps for my local area along with GPS, maybe Santa will be generous!
davidy
Yes, you get an audible warning (adjustable volume of course) and an on-screen message too (though this is a bit crap if I am honest. It can also be tuned so that if you are below the prevailing speed it wont sound the alarm (good for the M25!).
You can get it from http://pocketstreetmap.com/ and its £35.99 for one year. Doesnt seem to be updated much since I bought it which is a little worrying, but in its standard form its OK.
Cheers,
Paul
You can get it from http://pocketstreetmap.com/ and its £35.99 for one year. Doesnt seem to be updated much since I bought it which is a little worrying, but in its standard form its OK.
Cheers,
Paul
Hmm, done a little searching on the net with this pocketpc business and...
I could be talking a load of BS, but if you're travelling to an area which you didn't anticipate and your pocketpc hasn't loaded the maps for that area, then it won't know where the hell you are or where the speedcameras are in that area?
Or have I got that wrong?
And I've got a 1 Gb microdrive, but the application only lets you download 20 mb of maps in total?
Am I right?
Ta!
I could be talking a load of BS, but if you're travelling to an area which you didn't anticipate and your pocketpc hasn't loaded the maps for that area, then it won't know where the hell you are or where the speedcameras are in that area?
Or have I got that wrong?
And I've got a 1 Gb microdrive, but the application only lets you download 20 mb of maps in total?
Am I right?
Ta!
Just sorted out an Ipaq and the new navman 3400 for the bosses daughter. (total cost £700)
I use tomtom citymaps and routeplanner with an external gps on mine. The Navman is so muct better and the software included is great - even talks to you.
Not tried either with any radar detection software, looked at trafcam but thought £79 was a but much when they only want £59 from Palm owners.
edited to add: navman software covers the whole country down to street level on one continuous map. www.navman-mobile.com/html/products.htm
>> Edited by richardcraig on Thursday 28th November 16:16
I use tomtom citymaps and routeplanner with an external gps on mine. The Navman is so muct better and the software included is great - even talks to you.
Not tried either with any radar detection software, looked at trafcam but thought £79 was a but much when they only want £59 from Palm owners.
edited to add: navman software covers the whole country down to street level on one continuous map. www.navman-mobile.com/html/products.htm
>> Edited by richardcraig on Thursday 28th November 16:16
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