NUVI 650, not all that hot
Hi all,
I'm experiencing some problems with my 650, and I'm coming around to the notion that it's really not all that it's cracked up to be. Here are some of my experiences with it.
On a trip this summer from Southern Maryland to Luray Va, I knew that I did not want to travel through Culpeper Va, but rather through Warrenton Va, which is about 10 miles north of Culpeper. I checked yahoo maps and google maps, and both showed a route that went through Warrenton. Once underway, I told the NUVI to take me to Luray. It routed me to Warrenton, then through Culpeper, and then to Luray. Totally wrong, and not the shortest distance or the shortest time on route. Of course, I didn't catch this until I was 4 miles out of Warrenton. Very wrong.
Before heading out to our trip to Island Resort near Ocean City Md, I hooked up the NUVI and made sure I had all the latest updates and downloads. Later While at Island Resort, my son's friend needed a new tire. Knowing that there was a Walmart between Berlin and Ocean city, I had my son tell the NUVI to find "Walmarts". Well the closest one was 20 miles away (and not the 2 miles I knew was there). I ignored the NUVI and drove to the Walmart that it didn't know about.
While camping at Quarryville, I knew I did not want to travel over the Conowingo dam (it's narrow). After the GPS built it's route, I inspected it and saw it routing me over that. I put in a intermediate waypoint, told the NUVI to include that in the route, and noted that the route now bypassed the Conowingo. On our first turn out of the campground, the NUVI told us to "Turn Left". I knew that the road we always travel was to the right, and turned right. The NUVI then recalculated and built a new route, which of course went over the Conowingo dam.
There have been numerous times when the NUVI in routing has steered me the wrong way.
I've also found it just about useless for GeoCaching. There is no arrow that points to the destination, a common feature in many GPS's.
All in all, I've found my NUVI to be much less capable then my old Magellan 410. The Magellan stored static routes, was uploadable and had more displays. The NUVI gives a much better 3D display, is color, is faster and has a POI database. The problems described above though color the usefullness of the POI and it's routing.
Larry
RE: camping in the Cape Hatteras NC are
I've stayed at Camp Hatteras for a week for the last 3 years running. Each time we loved it. We'd book it again for the summer of 09 except that we are flying out west to visit some relatives and that will eat up our vacation time.
They seemed to have open sites when we were there in August, even in the premium area. It use to be that you had to be a repeat customer to reserve their premium sites. Since business is off, I believe that they will rent you a premium site if they have one available. Premium is pretty much like their other sites, their just located closer to either the beach or the sound.
The first year that we were there, it rained very heavily the week prior and then the week that we were there. Well their septic field co-mingled with the standing water in many of the sites. We were lucky, as our site was perhaps a foot higher then those flooded. Man what a mess. Haven't seen that since.
Hope that helps,
Larry
RE: Here's one way to fund the bailout...
Hi all,
mowermech, you need to do the math.
"So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals
$425,000.00."
Errr, no. 200M into 85B = $4250 per person.
Onto the bailout and my soapbox....
Here's how I see it. The banks only have so much money to loan. When they bought loans with a rising housing market, then they had a loan on property that had rising equiety, so they could be assured of being paid, and their books were in the black. When the housing market deflated, the banks owned loans where the mortgage was more then the property was now worth. So more of the loans went into default, which is very costly, while the balance sheet on the others, even if they were not in default, were in the red. So the banks are out of money to loan. Normally banks with loans in the black can sell them back and forth. Their a promisary note on a asset, so it's sort of like a asset. So if the bank needed some cash, it could see it's mortagages to another bank and get cash. When the loans went red, then no one wanted to buy another banks bad debt, so the banks suddenly were choaked with bad loans they couldn't sell, and no cash for new loans.
The $700B buyout would buy up many of the loans, infusing the banks with cash for new loans.
Consider if the banks stopped loaning their money out, or put stringent requirements on their loans.
GM, Ford and Crystler have not turned a profit in years. Their living off credit. No money for operating expenses or payroll and these companies would have almost immediate plant closings, massive layoffs and re-organizations.
The major airlines have not been turning a profit since the price of fuel went up, ditto them.
Many other less notable major companies also are operating in the interm on credit. Ditto them.
When hugh companies failing or going Chapter 11, then the banks take another round of hits. The banks have loaned these major companies hundreds of millions and in default, these companies would pay only pennies on the dollar. There would be massive bank failures all over the US. Thousands in the banking industry would be out in the street.
Expect interest rate hikes on Credit Cards and other loan instraments, as what banks are left try to rake in new cash to bulk up their capital.
Want to buy a car, house or other asset with a cheap loan? Forget it. You would have to put 10-20% down on a car or house.
With very few cars being sold, most dealers would go out of business. Most real estate companies would follow.
Unless you had a new perfect credit score, no loans would be available, or the loan would only be available with collateral.
Student loans would dry up. Most major universities and colleges would loose thousands of students. Without the capital that these kids bring, their would be a major meltdown of the learning industry.
The stock market would crash. I've seen one prediction of the Dow Jones in the 3000 range a year from now. It's at about 11,000 today.
With the crash of wall street, most people retired would loose their savings and much of their income and would have to return to a work force that was clogged with younger and more hungry adults looking for work.
As millions would loose their job, their spending would be curtailed. The rest of us would pull in our spending, causing yet further decline in the economy, with even more being laied off work. Expect to see depression era soup lines, Crime would be rampant. Even if you could keep your job, your local businesses would be closed.
This is a camping forum. Who would want to spend their precious cash camping when the economy would crash in such a brutal fashion? We'd all be counting pennies and camping in our backyards. Most private RV campgrounds and manufacturers would not survive.
With millions and millions now out of work, they'd be desperate to sell their assets to try to get food and other necessities. Cars, RV's, Boats. The market would be flooded with them at rock bottom prices. Most merchants could not compete. Why buy a RV (or any other asset you might like) when everyone and their neighboor is selling them? Many consumer industries would be gutted. Of course, no one would be buying them. Those left with jobs would be so afraid that they'd be next that we'd be hanging on and saving every dime.
So when you think "Stick it to em, don't do the bailout", consider the consequences. It could be very, ... very, ... very BAD.
This is what happens when we live off credit.
Larry
RE: Why are KZ's so pricey?
I have a KZ Spree 318BHS. The list on this unit (LX version) was about $32K. I think that we paid $26K. I believe others in this list have negotiated down o the $24K area for this trailer.
BUT!
I've found that the fit and finish were very good. The converter is a 3 stage converter in the RV, which is more then you get with most RV's. The RV in general has been without flaw. I believe that I got what I paid for. I might have paid more, but I also got more.
Larry
RE: Let's talk contstruction: aluminum vs. wood
I have a KZ Spree Ultralight. It has the aluminum structure on a fiberglass skin. I believe that aluminum structure lightens considerably the RV. I looked hard for this campers floor plan and two that stuck out where the Jaco and the StarCraft. Both dry weights were in around 6500. The KZ dry weight for a comparable floorplan came in around 5500, which was just the weight savings I was looking for.
While some like the Aluminum siding, I prefer the fiberglass. It would seem much more difficult to clean the aluminum, with all the ridges. With fiberglass, its a straight up and down wall, and I'm free to scrub it up and down and back and forth.
I've also seen posts from Aluminum campers that had significant damage to their RV from hail. It would take a pretty big hail stone to break fiberglass.
IMHO
Larry
RE: Very cool Hurricane tracking website
Take a look at the National Data Buoy center site from NOAA.
www.ndbc.noaa.gov.
After selecting the region, you can click on any of the station numbers and examine the data, often only a hour hold, that the weather buoys and ground stations are transmitting. On many of the stations you can read wave height and period between waves.
Very cool.
Larry
RE: Hurricane Evacuation
Hi all,
A VERY cool web site to examine during these hurricans is the National Data Buoy Center.
www.ndbc.noaa.gov
Click on the map in the general area (look at the western gulf of mexico) and then you can click on each of the marine data buoys or reporting stations in that area.
Here's a oil rig that has a weather reporting station on it.
http://seaboard.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=42361
Look at the data. The wind direction shows the eye of the hurricane passing near them and clocking around in direction. Wind speed made it up to 100.8 knots (about 120MPH) sustained. I believe many of the measurements are not available due to the rough conditions.
On the same page, look towards the top for the hyperlink "Combined plot of wind speed, gusts and air pressure" and click on that.
There are many reporting stations that you can click on in this area. It's a very cool web site.
Larry
RE: A story and a question????
If the dealer is that far away, I'd just come up with some tests and do the testing myself. Put in 10 gallons (measured) of water into each tank. let it sit for 2 hours, and then drain and measure what comes out. If it's still 10 gallons, you can be reasonably assured that the tanks and lines arn't leaking.
If you test and determine that you DO have a problem. Then I'd definately take it back to the dealer.
Larry
RE: Like some input on camera systems
Hi all,
I have the swift hitch wireless system (about $300). This is meant for the camera to easily clip onto your tailgate with it's magnetic base and allow you to hitch up without a helper guide. I've used this now several times to hitch up by myself, and it does work.
http://www.swifthitch.net/
I've also built a small stand that allows me to mount the camera inside my KZ Spree 318BHS and point the camera out the back window. One of the previous posters mentioned that the camera is only good for things that are close. I would say that there is a degree of truth to that. The camera does have a fairly wide field of view, which makes vehicles seem farther away. The advantage I have found to this though is that with the wide field of view I can usually set the camera not only to see cars behind me, but also to capture a portion of the bikes mounted on the bike rack on the back of the trailer, which is a great comfort for me to be able to check the bikes as we drive down the road.
The wireless reception is what I would call 'poor' when mounted in the RV. It's understandable though. It's 35 feet away and has to transmit through the RV and through the SUV walls. So it's static'ie at times and then resolves to a clear, clean image a few seconds later. It's good enough though for me to get what I want out of it, which is, "do I have many cars behind me? Are they tailgating? Whats the status of the bikes?".
The camera system (camera and monitor) have internal batteries that power them for about 3 hous. They also have a power adapter for 12V, so you can plug them into a 12V receptical. It also comes with a 115V charger. I don't have a 12V receptical (yet) in the RV where the camera is, so I only have the rear camera for the first 3 hours of any trip and then it's battery will run down.
The camera and monitor have good resolution and are color. Forget about using it at night unless it's to hitch up. Anything outside of 10 feet is lost in the dark.
I find it's a very nice gadget to have. I charge it up the night before a trip. I can use it to hitch up fairly easily, and then transfer the camera to the RV very easily, and it fullfills the purpose that I bought for it. I would recommend it for anyone that it interested in getting a backup camera system. They just have to be aware of it's limits and accept them.
Larry
RE: Freak accident
The neighbor needs an attorney because the dirt-bag or his family will sure as heck sue him for chasing him in the first place! Isn't meth a wonderful drug? He was probably on it.
Nobody's forcing the theif to flee. I understand that there are a few wierd judges that might give us pause, but most of they would probably slam the door on this sort of lawsuit.
Larry
RE: The criminal mind (or lack thereof)
One of the best stories I ever heard was given to me at the FBI academy in Quantico. Seems some enterprising robbers decided to do a armed robbery of a bank on wall street on payroll friday. So they come in, show their guns, fire a shot and announce "This is a robbery". Virtually every customer in the bank draws their service revolver on them. Seems that the bank was next door to the FBI NY office.
RE: 4" Bumper Weight Limit
Hi all,
I purchased one of these through my local RV dealer and paid him to have it welded onto the frame.
http://www.drophitch.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=171
This is a class 3 receiver, so it's much more then capable of carrying a bike rack and some bikes.
I then called Swagman bike racks and asked if they could recommend a receiver based 3 bike rack for my RV. They don't have many bike racks that are rated for RV use, but they do have a few. This is what they recommended and what I purchased.
http://www.swagmanbikeracks.com/shopnew/product.php?productid=16214&cat=23&page=1
When it came in, I was very surprised at how heavy and beefy it is. I now take my bikes with me where ever I go.
Larry
RE: Camping World dump site closed forever
FWIW: I understand perhaps being "ticked" after going out of the way to a dump site expecting it to be "open." But, I don't understand complaining about a "freebie" being full or closed----sewage disposal costs have sky-rocketed along with everything else....a single 1000 gallon pump-out can be $300-$400 some places today....
....and perhaps the complaint deserved the response, too?????? (We didn't hear both sides of the story!!!!)
J
As I read the post, it looked to me like the OP had a problem with the attitude of the store manager, that came through the phone loud, clear and angry. It did not seem to me that the OP's problem was the lack of a free service, but rather the gruff and abrasive manner of the explination.
While it's possible that the store manager was overly tired from answering the same question over and over for different callers, I think that we can all agree that we each deserve a respectfull deminor when dealing on the phone with a establishment that we have done business with in the past.
IMHO
Larry
RE: DISH Network, DVR receiver, Guide?
Yes, do a hard reset. I found the little button on my receiver under a flip up pannel and did a reset and that did it.
Larry
RE: Looking for a new 2 slide trailer
Here's a link that get's you close to my floorplan.
http://www.kz-rv.com/spree/floorplans.html
Look for a click on 318bhs.
While I looked at the Jayco and others, their weight all seemed to come in around 6500 dry. I tow with a Expedition EL, which can tow up to 8600 lbs. Hummm. 6500 dry means 7000 off the lot, add 700 lbs of gear and you're getting awfully close.
Look at the Jayco G2. I checked and it weighs in at a heafty 7855 lbs.
The Skyline Limited is at 7400 lbs unloaded.
The KZ 318BHS is 5500 dry.
One of the nice things I've found is that the floor plan still works with the slides in. You can still cook, use the bathroom, make it to all the beds and the dinette with the slides in. We've now camped through a couple of thunderstorms where I brought in the slides to reduce what the wind can blow on and we were fine. It's also nice to be able to use the bathroom when you're on the road without having to move a slideout.
KZ has a very good rep in the industry.
Larry
RE: Looking for a new 2 slide trailer
Take a look at the KZ Spree product line. I have a KZ Spree 318BHS. Very nice product. It's a 2 slide product. I've had mine for 9 months now and no problems. It's weight was what helped me pull the trigger.
Larry
RE: Encrypted WIFI ?
snip snip snip
That said, in comparison, the systems used with Wi-Fi (WES, WPA, WPA2) are fairly weak and they can be broken but it does take some work and doing it is beyond and "average" home computer user. The security available to Wi-Fi users isn't perfect but it is "good enough".
Yes, EXACTLY! So if you're doing Wi-Fi using ONLY one of these protocalls to provide protection, then you're on shaky ground. But most people use a browser when using Wi-Fi to access the internet, and when you browse to a secure site, the browser will then switch to https mode (just look at your URL line if your not sure). This will TUNNEL SSL (which is very heavily encrypted) inside the Wi-Fi encryption. You're quite safe at that point.
Larry
