Setting off on tour is always an exciting moment, but before you can relax at your chosen campsite, you need to get there, ideally in the most hassle-free way possible – this is where having one of the best motorhome sat navs comes in. However, before you go out and buy one, it’s understandable that you may want to know what exactly a sat nav is.
In short, these gadgets act as digital maps, using GPS technology and satellite signals to locate your vehicle on a map, as well as tell you both the speed you’re travelling at and the direction you’re moving in. The more satellites that are able to see the sat nav, the more precise the information can be, with the gadget, in the ideal world, placing your vehicle to within a few metres of where it is, as well as showing you an accurate speed display. This can be particularly useful if you’re heading to a location you’ve not been to before and are driving in unfamiliar surroundings.
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As well as helping you navigate to your chosen destination, sat navs have other useful functions too. For instance, they can be used to help you find services or petrol stations, as well as warn you about upcoming speed cameras. Additional features include providing an estimated time of arrival and letting you know the speed you’re travelling at. In some cases, you’ll find they can also keep you updated with traffic conditions, hold-ups, accidents, and more, giving you real-time updates and redirecting you around potential obstacles so you can reach your destination as quickly as possible.
One point we will highlight for those who are fans of taking the ferry or Eurotunnel: in France, speed camera detectors are illegal, so be sure to turn the function off if you’re touring there and your sat nav offers the feature.
So you may now be wondering ‘do you need a special sat nav for a motorhome?’ What separates a motorhome-specific device from a typical sat nav is that it will come with specific features that will help to give you a more enjoyable experience on the road. The drive is the start of your tour and should be as stress-free as possible – and that’s where a ‘van appropriate sat nav comes in.
For instance, in the case of the Garmin Camper 1095, which Practical Motorhome’s editor Sarah reviewed recently, such as custom routing which takes your ‘van’s dimensions into account, Birdseye Satellite Imagery for simpler pitching, campsite directories, environmental zone routing, and much more.
It’s also worth noting that some sat navs can come with a built-in dash cam, which prevents you from having to worry about having numerous wires hanging around your cab, as well as buying one of the best dash cams for a motorhome. However, a point worth noting here is that the camera may not be perfectly positioned for clearly viewing the screen.
You may also find your ‘van comes with built-in sat navs, where the information is displayed on the dash. Practical Motorhome’s contributor, John Sootheran, explains: “While these look very smart and can integrate other functions, such as the entertainment and heating/air-conditioning systems, the sat nav data can become outdated over time, as the country’s road network evolves. While these systems can be updated, the main dealers often charge large fees to do it.”
In short, a sat nav should help you get from A to B in the most time-efficient manner, offering real-time information as you drive to give you a straightforward experience on the road.
Written with contributions from John Sootheran.
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