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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / October 2005Resource for trip directions
Does anybody know of a resource for trip directions that are RV-friendly? We are fairly new to the full-time RV life, in a 40' 5th wheel, and I usually get my directions from AAA TripTik. But the last time I did that for a pull from Charlottsville, VA to Kentucky Lake, the directions brought me from I-24 across U.S. 68 east, which goes through Land Between the Lakes. While we made it just fine, this road goes across two incredibly narrow bridges and I've heard stories of tractor trailers hitting mirrors as they passed each other. When I went back to the campground website and looked at their directions, they suggested something other than those bridges. So, any TripTik style websites for large RVs? > Does anybody know of a resource for trip directions that are > RV-friendly? We are fairly new to the full-time RV life, in a 40' 5th [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > they suggested something other than those bridges. So, any TripTik > style websites for large RVs? Suggest you post in RORT rec.outdoors.rv-travel you will get many good responses (and probably a few a.sholes too) Lou >Does anybody know of a resource for trip directions that are >RV-friendly? We are fairly new to the full-time RV life, in a 40' 5th [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >they suggested something other than those bridges. So, any TripTik >style websites for large RVs? suggest you invest in Delorme's Street Atlas, or Microsoft Streets and Trips. Another suggestion, on any trip planning software, always use the "Quickest" option instead of the Shortest. This will normally use Interstates. BTW, I've crossed those bridges in a tractor trailer and in a car and found them to be no more narrow than any other National Highway bridge. The lanes are 12 feet wide. Plenty of room for two tractor trailers/RVs to pass.  SignatureFrank Tabor > Does anybody know of a resource for trip directions that are > RV-friendly? We are fairly new to the full-time RV life, in a 40' 5th [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > they suggested something other than those bridges. So, any TripTik > style websites for large RVs? Why not use Microsoft's Streets and Trips? I know a lot of computers came with it already installed and you can update it before you plan your trip for the latest in road construction. Just a thought! Joe I see where "Joe G" <joeg@sbcglobal.net> contributed: >Why not use Microsoft's Streets and Trips? I know a lot of computers came >with it already installed and you can update it before you plan your trip >for the latest in road construction. One trivial reason not to buy it: I just did, and instantly determined that: - It fails to show our road correctly, though SA does and the road has been public for about 25 years. - It does not recognize my Earthmate GPS receiver, nor tell to how to deal with that problem. S&T may be just wonderful in some respects, but I think it is absurd to expect it to give you the "latest in road construction" when it not only fails to show roads in place more than 20 years but shows (same area) a road that has never existed. Will Sill The Curmudgeon of Sill Hill >- It does not recognize my Earthmate GPS receiver, nor tell to how to >deal with that problem. Is there a setup option on the Earthmate to make it puke out NMEA sentences? >S&T may be just wonderful in some respects, but I think it is absurd >to expect it to give you the "latest in road construction" when it >not only fails to show roads in place more than 20 years but shows >(same area) a road that has never existed. My experience with S &T is that the basemap is fairly good overall & really bad in some local areas. R.J.(Bob) Evans (return address needs alteration to work) I see where "R.J.(Bob) Evans" <bob d0t evans at sasktel d0t net> contributed: Will, re S&T software: >>- It does not recognize my Earthmate GPS receiver, nor tell to how to >>deal with that problem. Bob: >Is there a setup option on the Earthmate to make it puke out NMEA >sentences? Maybe, but I am ignorant enuf that I dunno where/how to look, and far too intolerant/impatient re phone robots and "helpdesk" people to try DeLorme or MS. At least yet. Any suggestions of where/how to look? Will Sill The Curmudgeon of Sill Hill >Maybe, but I am ignorant enuf that I dunno where/how to look, and far >too intolerant/impatient re phone robots and "helpdesk" people to try >DeLorme or MS. At least yet. Any suggestions of where/how to look? OK, bear in mind that while I have owned 3 Garmin personal GPS units and several ag units I have no direct experience with Delorme. That said, lack of knowledge has never prevented me from having an opinion or offering advice in the past and I see no reason to change that pattern. On my Garmins there are setup screens where you pick the map datum, set the co-ordinate system, etc. On one of those screens two of my Garmins will let me pick NMEA output and one won't. If you know what model number of Earthmate you have I'll try to figure out if it can excrete NMEA. Alternatively there appears to be a moderately active forum at http://forum.delorme.com that might answer your question. R.J.(Bob) Evans (return address needs alteration to work) >>Maybe, but I am ignorant enuf that I dunno where/how to look, and far >>too intolerant/impatient re phone robots and "helpdesk" people to try [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >R.J.(Bob) Evans >(return address needs alteration to work) The Earthmate puts out Generic NMEA sentences. S&T should have a setting for Generic NMEA. Even MapNGo has a setting for Generic. Does S&T work with a USB GPS or does it have to be serial? SignatureFrank Tabor >The Earthmate puts out Generic NMEA sentences. S&T should have a >setting for Generic NMEA. Even MapNGo has a setting for Generic. > >Does S&T work with a USB GPS or does it have to be serial? AFAIK S & T will work with either USB or Serial input. There is no setup - once you tell it to look for GPS input it scans for installed serial ports and then asks you to pick the one that the GPS is connected to. I had to use Franson GPSGate to get it to accept Garmin input because it only wants NMEA and won't recognize Garmin's proprietary crap that my eTrex Legend excretes. R.J.(Bob) Evans (return address needs alteration to work) >>The Earthmate puts out Generic NMEA sentences. S&T should have a >>setting for Generic NMEA. Even MapNGo has a setting for Generic. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >R.J.(Bob) Evans >(return address needs alteration to work) Then I don't know why S&T can't see an Earthmate. I'll be finding out soon though. I'm getting a new laptop and it should have S&T included with Works 8.0. SignatureFrank Tabor Snip >>>Does S&T work with a USB GPS or does it have to be serial? >> >>AFAIK S & T will work with either USB or Serial input. There is no >>setup - once you tell it to look for GPS input it scans for installed >>serial ports and then asks you to pick the one that the GPS is >>connected to. S&T will only "find" input from a serial port, you must have drivers/hardware from the GPS hardware provider to convert from USB to serial. An excellent resource for these kind of issues is the microsoft.public.streets-trips Usenet group. Tim. >Then I don't know why S&T can't see an Earthmate. I'll be finding out >soon though. I'm getting a new laptop and it should have S&T included >with Works 8.0 S&T could not find the Earthmate receiver on my laptop. I got help here...http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;896939 ... The page is entitled "How to install a DeLorme Earthmate GPS device in Streets & Trips or in MapPoint". I needed to install a new driver and a "Delorme Serial Emulator." Looked to me as if S&T wouldn't work with USB without some help. Jon ==================================================== Jon Griffin SKP 75680 FMCA F257439 Pahrump, NV Sundre, AB apply ROT13 to my address Vnz@eniatvqvbgf.arg ==================================================== I see where Jon Griffin <Vnz@eniatvqvbgf.arg> contributed: >S&T could not find the Earthmate receiver on my laptop. I got help >here...http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;896939 ... The page [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >I needed to install a new driver and a "Delorme Serial Emulator." >Looked to me as if S&T wouldn't work with USB without some help. Thanx. I got that advice in hard-to-follow form from the forum Bob suggested. I'll go to the MS site and see if I am smart enough to install a driver. Will Sill The Curmudgeon of Sill Hill I see where Jon Griffin <Vnz@eniatvqvbgf.arg> contributed: >S&T could not find the Earthmate receiver on my laptop. I got help >here...http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;896939 ... The page [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >I needed to install a new driver and a "Delorme Serial Emulator." >Looked to me as if S&T wouldn't work with USB without some help. Jon proved to be right. HOWEVER, the operation is NOT intuitive, simple, or troublefree. In fact (though I may get over it) I am thoroughly disgusted with Microsoft (again, still). S&T not only fails to recognize the simple USB connection to Earthmate and requires a ridiculous conversion to an imaginary "serial port" which of course doesn't exist on my laptop, but once so configures proves to be fully as mysterious and non-intuitive as DeLorme's SA when it come to planning a route. I admit that much of my irritation arises from needing to go through another long and frustrating learning curve, but I get the impression that both programs were designed by people who understand computers but have no clue how to make them user-friendly. For example, S&T's "find" feature absolutely sucks, suggesting all sorts of completely useless optional address instead of the specific precise address typed in. BAH HUMBUG. Perhaps worst of all, once the %^&*(#$ "driver" that allows S&T to listen to the GPS receiver is configured, SA can't see it anymore! Egad! $$Gazillions spent on software development, and we get bells & whistles galore but functional exasperation! Will Sill The Curmudgeon of Sill Hill, feeling more curmudgeonly than usual. >Perhaps worst of all, once the %^&*(#$ "driver" that allows S&T to >listen to the GPS receiver is configured, SA can't see it anymore! > >Egad! $$Gazillions spent on software development, and we get bells & >whistles galore but functional exasperation! I have to agree. I bought MessySoft S & T 2006 this weekend and used it on my way home. (big trip to the city to see our provincial football team play for 30 minutes and then collapse). While there are some functional improvements from S & T 2005 to 2006 they come at a cost. Apparently MessySoft in it's infinite wisdom has decided that no one needs to know street names in Canadian towns of less than 5000 population (such as my hometown). 2004 had detail down to towns around 1200 population - that detail was lost in 2005 and now 2006 degrades the resolution further. The streets are still there - they are just nameless. I guess the guidance feature is probably worth the cost of the upgrade BUT ... it appears to give W2K a bellyache. When I run the guidance taskbar my CPU usage goes close to 100% (from a normal 10-15%) and the screen refreshes become slow enough to almost be useless. I'll have to spend some time on the S & T forum tomorrow trying to solve that one. If I can't use that feature then I might as well go back to 2005. R.J.(Bob) Evans (return address needs alteration to work) I see where Frank Tabor <frank@taborsonlinesnospam.com> contributed: >The Earthmate puts out Generic NMEA sentences. S&T should have a >setting for Generic NMEA. Even MapNGo has a setting for Generic. If it does I have yet to figure it out. Will Sill The Curmudgeon of Sill Hill I see where "R.J.(Bob) Evans" <bob d0t evans at sasktel d0t net> contributed: >On my Garmins there are setup screens where you pick the map datum, >set the co-ordinate system, etc. On one of those screens two of my >Garmins will let me pick NMEA output and one won't. If you know what >model number of Earthmate you have I'll try to figure out if it can >excrete NMEA. Alternatively there appears to be a moderately active >forum at http://forum.delorme.com that might answer your question. Thanx. The Earthmade model no. is 9538 v1.0 - and it runs off the USB port - or does with deLorme SA. I'll ask at their forum. Will Sill The Curmudgeon of Sill Hill >I see where "R.J.(Bob) Evans" <bob d0t evans at sasktel d0t net> >contributed: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >port - or does with deLorme SA. >I'll ask at their forum. It sounds like Jon Griffin has nailed your problem - the USB to serial driver. R.J.(Bob) Evans (return address needs alteration to work) >>- It does not recognize my Earthmate GPS receiver, nor tell to how to >>deal with that problem. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > R.J.(Bob) Evans > (return address needs alteration to work) I used MS S&T for a trip from El Paso TX to right outside Pittsburgh PA and on the way back a stop in Madisonville KY. The only problem I had was the wrong information inside Madisonville (but what can you expect). Heck, it came with my computer and I loaded it into my laptop and we went a hunting... A GPS is used by men who hate to ask directions, They would rather be lost and blame it on no signal to their GPS. Always joking... Joe
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