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Tom tom for Nav?

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Tom tom for Nav?

Old 27th Jul 2009, 17:49
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Tom tom for Nav?

Sure this sounds stupid, but I was wondering if a car GPS such as Tom Tom would be of any benefit if you became lost whilst en route? To give you the name of the local town etc, I assume it would still work upstairs and wouldnt know you were 2-4000ft or so?
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 17:51
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Exactly as you say - it would still work and would enable you to know where you were on a road map. Better than nothing as a backup.

I'm assuming from the question that you already have one so it's a zero cost option - otherwise there are a number of devices which can use both types of map (not an expert so won't recommend one but I'm sure someone will).

Tim
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 17:54
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Yeah already got a cheapo Garmin car nav but was thinking it could be handy to take as a back up? Wait for abuse to follow!
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 18:33
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Frankly, if your navigation skills are this bad (to say nothing of your attitudes towards aviation in general) you should stay on the ground, if only out of respect for the safety of everyone else. You certainly shouldn't hold a pilot's licence of any kind.

Find another way to kill yourself without endangering others...

But then this IS a wind-up, isn't it?

Isn't it???
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 18:36
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I think the PocketFMS team is actually working on porting their software to road navigation devices, including the TomTom. Don't know the status though, and don't know for sure if the TomTom is included and if so, what models.

When using a standard TomTom in the air, DO NOT configure a route or otherwise it will continuously recalculate until it eventually crashes. Or so I've heard. Just use it as a moving map.

Edited: Checked the PocketFMS website, couldn't find anything wrt. the standalone TomTom devices. Lots of info on operating the TomTom software in conjunction with PocketFMS on the same PocketPC hardware but that's not what you're looking for.

Last edited by BackPacker; 27th Jul 2009 at 18:54.
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 18:52
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Thumbs up

I've used a tom tom as a passenger once flying near leeds and its pretty crap tbh. It always puts you on the nearest road, even if the nearest road is 3 fields north of where you are. I don't know if there is a way to configure it so it doesn't think your a car but just an object going as the crow flies
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 19:15
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Nokia Maps 3 on my phone works well (N95 8GB) but any Nseries phone can run nokia maps if it has in built GPS. It does not try to put you on a road at all. It gives you speed which you can then read off in knots giving you your GS. You can also use the GPS data app on the phone so you can get the phone to point to VRPs and any other way point you wish to set up. Just follow the arrow and it also gives ETA and altitudes.


Even does wx forecasting now and you can set it to show satellite images like google earth or terrain levels instead of road maps.

Good as a back up and its already on the phone!

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Old 27th Jul 2009, 20:12
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AB wrote~
"Frankly, if your navigation skills are this bad (to say nothing of your attitudes towards aviation in general) you should stay on the ground, if only out of respect for the safety of everyone else. You certainly shouldn't hold a pilot's licence of any kind.

Find another way to kill yourself without endangering others..."


Yet another up beat and positive Pprune response. No wonder this place is a laughing stock.
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Old 27th Jul 2009, 20:58
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I think the PocketFMS team is actually working on porting their software to road navigation devices, including the TomTom. Don't know the status though, and don't know for sure if the TomTom is included and if so, what models.

[...]

Edited: Checked the PocketFMS website, couldn't find anything wrt. the standalone TomTom devices. Lots of info on operating the TomTom software in conjunction with PocketFMS on the same PocketPC hardware but that's not what you're looking for.
PocketFMS will work on many many car sat nav units, but they must be based on the WinCE operating system.

Unfortunately both TomTom and Garmin Nuvi car sat nav's do not use with WinCE operating system, and can't be used with PocketFMS.

If you haven't yet purchased your car sat nav, then it's worth deciding before you buy it, if you want to use PocketFMS (or other software) with it first, as it will obviously affect your decision.

When looking for such a device, it's also good to check out the screen when outside in sunlight. Some of them are washed out and hard to see, and some of the better ones (eg. Navigon 8110, Mio C320) are excellent and easy to read in daylight. It makes a world of difference in the cockpit.

dp
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Old 28th Jul 2009, 14:54
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No my Navigation skills are not that shocking that I am trying to find my way around with a car sat nav, I asked a simple question wondering if it would be of any use to take a long just in case as we are not all super human flying machine such as the great flying mushroom "Agaricus bisporus" surely you must have something more constructive to do with your time then give me a load of s**t for asking this, personally i think that it a sensible suggestion that us mere mortals may of not otherwise thought.

Whilst i think of another way to kill myself ill carry on using the good old map like im used to!
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 02:25
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There is a page in TomTom where you can see your lat and long. If you have a map with you (which I hope you would - unless you got lost in the circuit area!) then yeah the TomTom can be a handy backup.

Agaricus bisporus - If I crashed and had mobile phone coverage then I'd like to be able to give the rescuers an accurate coordinate to pick me up from rather than putting all my faith in the ELT option. I believe the technical term for someone like you is d!ckhead.
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 06:48
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Whilst i think of another way to kill myself ill carry on using the good old map like im used to!
Is it Michelin, AA or CAA?
As a long time user of Tom Tom, I can't imagine what it displays that can be of any use in an aeroplane. Lat and Long is no use unless you have a relevant map to plot it on in which case look out of the window!

Once upon a time there was a Road Almanac called "Bradshaws"; pilots who followed roads were known as "Bradshaw Pilots"

My phone has Tom Tom and Memorymap in it, now the latter is useful for showing a student where they have been, especially their circuit patern.
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 07:43
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Alternatively, use a (eg Garmin 496 or Av8or or ...) for your in-car nav and take that flying with you. Can't speak from experience, but there are many positive comments about these devices for both road and air application.
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 09:07
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No the map I use is the one found in the times world atlas, its very handy in case i decide to pop over to America for example!
Yes it is a current CAA chart and the origianl question was not meant to sound like such an unreasonable thing to ask, thanks to some for the useful information, i thought this may be something that not many people had thought of as a last resort that are too shy to ask the nice guys and gals of LARS etc
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 09:07
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If your phone runs any kind of WinMo (smart phone, windows operating system) and has a built in GPS load up winpilot.
WinPilot
runs a treat, shows airspace in 3d, you can use it for very detailed route planning. also has info on most airports. Assuming this is a "back up" only the battery life of around 3 hours (most phones) shouldn't be a problem

anyone who still persists in using a map (be it michelin or CAA) to navigate around is a danger to all and sundry and should get with the times.

Far better to be looking for traffic than messing about with a map.
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 09:19
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I've always heard from the mouth of VERY experienced Pilots and Instructors that specially during training there would only be 2 types of pilots the ones that had been lost at a certain point and the ones who were still going to be lost at a certain point.

AFAIK it's a very relevant question.
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 09:21
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Garmin car sat-nav can be put into an overview mode which doesn't try to put you on roads. I've tried it a few times - helpful if you're looking for a particular town (Battle was my example) but next to useless if not sure of position (for example, the Chilterns).
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 09:42
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Why is it dangerous to be flying around using a map? is this not how it is done? Thought that was the whole point of the things!
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 11:50
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It really does no good to bite at the output of idiots like Agaricus : accept that attitudes such as his are either exactly what you'd expect from someone named after a fungus, or deliberate wind-ups (which I think is the case with his "contribution" - he even tells the Dear Reader as much).

Don't water or feed the weeds, you'll only encourage them!
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Old 13th Aug 2009, 12:43
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Just a cautionary note on the likes of the N95; I use mine with sportstracker for tracking bike rides. A few weeks back, I got home and downloaded my track to find it thinks I rode for half an hour a couple of miles out to sea. Pretty sure it's wrong.. might not be the most accurate GPS going then!
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