Sat-nav in a Minor

[mirabelle]

I'm thinking about getting a sat-nav, which I'd like to be able to use in my Minors as well as in my modern car. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which make/model would be best? I'm only looking for UK maps, and ideally I'd also like traffic information to be available, although I don't have a radio fitted in the Morris's - will that be a problem?
Thanks, Andrew

[theminorsite]

Most run off a fag-lighter socket, which of course you dont have. As long as you've swapped to negative earth its a tenner at Halfrauds for a kit, or a fiver from anywhere else. I use a TomTom GO300, but they're long discontinued now. Fleabay has them for fifty quid or so (I paid £350 for mine brand new three years ago ) , and they're bulky but easy to use. Other models I have no experience of. One thing though - maybe the Moggy has thicker steel or something, but I find that it takes a bit longer to get a decent satellite signal in the Moggy than in the other cars I use it. The best thing for that is an external aerial kit, again from Fleabay, for around a tenner - just trace it round your door seal and it sticks magnetically to the roof

[neiltomlinson]

hi no problems
you can fit any sat nav in any car i have a garmin in mine down load tracks no nead for radio very good £160 cost me 2 months ago i take it in all my minors & modern car all i did with my minors was fit a cig lighter in
you dont have to you can charge up before you go out last days neil
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[paulhumphries]

I've a Garmin i3.
Very basic but friends with far dearer systems says it's just as good as theirs.
Cost me £99 brand new from KwikSave.
It takes 2 AA batteries (as well as working off cigar lighter socket).
Works fine in my Minor and all other vehicles I'd tried.

Paul Humphries

[Jay-Minor]

i use a tomtom for my works van and transfer it to my minor when needed, mine got me through 300 miles in france in my moggy without a hitch, they are great satnavs and i would not be without it.

[dp]

I don't know if they still do the offer but I recently got a Palm Treo phone* with which you get a free TomTom Sat Nav.

Anyway the phone displays the map and talk the directions to you while a little box picks up the satellites and communicates with the Palm via Bluetooth I.e. without wires. There is a cigarete lighter charger to charge the phone and satellite receiver but you could charge the phone normally and the satellite receiver I think via a USB connection of a computer.

The downside of this if you didn't have a cigarette lighter socket fitted is that the charger and/or phone could run out of charge and leave you stranded.

*costs about £250 but you can go for a sim only phone contract and recoup the cost in about a year/18 months.

[paulk]

I use the work Garmin a lot, but you do need a Lighter socket as without it the onboard battery only seems to last about 1 hour.

Is there any reason why you could not fit a cigar lighter in a +ve earth car but wired up as -ve earth (obviously insulated from the car body)

[paulhumphries]

I use the work Garmin a lot, but you do need a Lighter socket as without it the onboard battery only seems to last about 1 hour.

Is there any reason why you could not fit a cigar lighter in a +ve earth car but wired up as -ve earth (obviously insulated from the car body)

I find the battery lasts a little longer than and hour - but not much !
Rather then permanently installing a cigar lighter socket I'd recommend a trailing type -
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Tab ... 55&doy=8m8

Paul Humphries

[youngun]

Whats wrong with a bloody map, all this Sat-Nav stuff is a waste of time when a map does the same job for less than half the monitary outlay.......this is all IMHO though, maybe im just a cynical North Devon farmer.....

[rayofleamington]

youngun, - well said that man
We made it to Gambia with a dashboard compass in the 54 Minor - this was extremely useful in Madrid (if you've been there you'll know why). It never runs out of batteries, and nobody will break into you car to steal it.
It also doesn't tell you to drive into lakes, rivers or across level crossings when a train is coming, and will not tell you to drive the wrong way [against traffic] in temporary roadworks (a satnav user nearly had a serious accident on the jogle last year - the non sat nav users followed the diversions signs).

When driving to Timbuktu, the only time we got completely lost and had to back track to where we started (loosing a complete days drive) was when we followed the directions of the 3 guys with Sat Nav...

But yes - in some circumstances a Satnav would be great.

[paulhumphries]

Whats wrong with a bloody map, all this Sat-Nav stuff is a waste of time when a map does the same job for less than half the monitary outlay.......this is all IMHO though, maybe im just a cynical North Devon farmer.....

Can we assume you haven't used a SATNAV then ?
I felt the same as you until a mate demonstrated his and then I could see the advantages.
Take a wrong turning and it recalulates the route.
Motorways busy - take next exit and it will take you on alternative side roads.
Need to get to an address you have never been before - just enter details and mine will take you straight to door even remote ones.
Getting low on fuel, hungry etc - it will direct you to nearest pertol station, McDonalds, cafe etc.
Been down the motorway and had to go into a service station (rather then risk reading a map whilst on the move) and then found you've missed an exit.
They are a tool just like a map.
Personally I always use the "belt & braces" method - take a map book and also print out a local map of any address I'm going to but as yet the SatNav has got me everywhere I want to go without refering to them.

Paul Humphries

[mal]

Just my two penneth..........

They should be all banned........ with todays traffic on the road you need to watch whats happening around you and consentrate on the driving.. NOT looking at sat-nav contraptions, it's like mobile phones are now banned for this reason...
I agree with Youngun & Ray, whats wrong with the good old fashioned way... a roadmap
Just one other point.. why do you want to drive a 50's or 60's car and then fill it with modern crap just so you can get to your destination quicker... sit back and relax and enjoy

Mal

[lynda]

I bought a Road Angel navigator 6000 because they claimed 8 hour battery life, which is more than I'm likely to need in a day. It seems to be more like 4-5 hours, but I'm in the process of getting a new battery fitted as I don't think it's charging properly.

I find a Satnav much safer than a map. I don't need to look at it when driving, set it all up before I go and just follow the spoken instructions. In my opinion it's safer than trying to look at a map while driving! It also lets me know well ahead if I'm appoaching an exit, or if I'm going to need to be in a different lane, so it gives me time to adjust where I am in the road without having to try and change lanes at the last minute.

[mirabelle]

Hi, and thanks for the comments and information thus far. Just so as people understand where we're coming from, here's a brief explanation as to why we posted this question: We run a wedding car hire business with our two minor convertibles, and to date we've done almost 100 weddings, successfully using a large selection of maps. On occasions, we're requested to do weddings that are somewhat distant, so we're not able to survey the route in advance. We're just looking at using the sat nave as an additional tool to supplement use of maps, as it's not very convenient to pull over with the bride in the car to consult a map book. Thanks again, Andrew & Judith

[rayofleamington]

mirabelle,
That's ok - it wasn't meant to be a gripe at you (I remembered the wedding business - I've bought some parts from you I think - if you're the guys near 5-Ways). In some circumstances SatNav cn be very useful indeed.
However, recent studies show 'distractions' to be the biggest cause of road accidents - much more than than speed. Surveys show that 10% of drivers admit to programing the SatNav whilst driving.... I presume none would admit to it if asked by the police.

I didn't find anything on a quick search but I expect that SatNav's also account for a high percentage of vehicle break ins - generally because they are on display on the dash!

[ColinP]

Which is the bigger distraction;-

1) A driver using a sat-nav (with audible directions)?

2) A driver trying to read a map while driving?

With a co-pilot/navigator in the passenger seat, I'm more than happy to rely on their map-rading and an OS Map.
With me on my own, I keep the GPS on (flying power lead), and the maps close to hand.
The GPS/map combination os wonderful - provided you stop to read the map. You can get your location from the GPS and check the map for options.

I recommend the i3 (use rechargable battries - about 6 hours' use + spare set), though I've also used the Garmin Vista (really designed for outdoor use rather than in a car).
Both work very well when placed on the windscreen.

Colin

[d_harris]

I tend to use the map book these days as I have a very very good map book for the south hampshire area. However if I was heading to somewhere a little more remote or somewhere that I wasn't entirely confident of the route I would take the sat nav.

Tom Tone one. Its a great little system when it works but I keep having to reset it as it stops turning on (which is a little irritating!)

[dunketh]

I have a map and a wife to read it.

Niether of those actually help with directions but the ensuing argument makes you much more determined to reach your destination and get out of the car!!

[d_harris]

Yep, the girfriend is no good with the map book!

[Sidney'61]

I didn't find anything on a quick search but I expect that SatNav's also account for a high percentage of vehicle break ins - generally because they are on display on the dash!

Everyone says the dashboard cover infront of the driver in the 948cc 1000 minors is completely useless but it's pretty useful when you've got a sat nav, you can read the directions on the sat nav as it's right in front of you and when you're not in the car its perfectly hidden by the glovebox cover.

sorted!