Imperial vs. metric and navigation

[rlubikey]

For navigation I still use maps. No batteries to run down, no annoying voices to choose. Most maps these days are metric and have kilometre squares, or multiples thereof. But I still think in miles. Back in the 90's my cycling friends and I noticed that if you measure a distance on a map "as the crow flies" and multiply by 1.5, that's a pretty good estimate of the actual distance by road - or footpath, depending on your mode of transport. As a mile is 1.6-and-a-bit kilometres, I merely count the km lines (or estimate on the diagonal) and that's the approximate number of miles for my journey**

Cheers, Richard

** Assuming the route doesn't contain a convenient Roman Road from A to B!

[Chris A]

26 minutes ago, rlubikey said:

For navigation I still use maps

Navigation? I just set the sat nav and set off, get confused about the route it wants to take me compared to the route i thought i would take. Get lost, wander about a bit and eventually get back on target. That if fine when out in the Triumph for fun.

I've had a series of dental visits over the last month or so, last one tomorrow. The journey from home is a rural one and very quiet, so far I've managed to avoid doing the same outward & return route more than once. Not necessarily on purpose.

I'm ok when along the coast, just keep the sea on the same side and I'm fine.

[PeteH]

Sat Nav? (AKA Sat NAG!). Brilliant kit, right up to the point where it wants you to take the Route known to have a 10ft-6inch bridge in a Lorry 14ft 3!!. Hence the Truckers Atlas in the motorhome. Michellin maps arn`t that much better having got me into a French Village with a route out requiring a sharp right turn, 32ft and a Trailer!!.

[Chris A]

35 minutes ago, PeteH said:

Sat Nav? (AKA Sat NAG!)

You should hear the arguments my wife has with it! Do you thing the Nav Sat voice can be sited in divorce proceedings?

Our Nav Sat voice is quite nice and unlike the previous car doesn't say 'recalculating' in a disapproving tone when I don't do what she wants, she just puts up a revised route.

Ours is set in French, we did try English but couldn't understand the accent. Even tried Spanish, once, spoke far to fast!

 

[JohnD]

You used to be able to download SatNav voices of all types and styles.  Mine came with male and female, and different accents!  But imagine you can, Yoda direction giving?  Hmmmmm?

[trigolf]

I used to have John Cleese's voice on mine - " bear right, beaver left" used to make me chuckle...

[Chris A]

27 minutes ago, JohnD said:

But imagine you can, Yoda direction giving?  Hmmmmm?

How about Leslie Philips in 'The Navy Lark' - Left hand down a bit. Works for me

[PeteH]

I heard one "voice" --- Ozzy Osbourne?. Left F`ing turn, Right F`ing Turn, Make a wrong turn? and it was something like Turn around you W`er Etc;. Funny when you first hear it. But boring after the first 50 miles I would suspect.

On the star wars theme. Darth Vader, might be interesting.?

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, JohnD said:

You used to be able to download SatNav voices of all types and styles.  Mine came with male and female, and different accents!  But imagine you can, Yoda direction giving?  Hmmmmm?

A while back you could download voices, not only celebrities such as Billy Connolly, but also scary voices that would randomly come out with phrases such as 'don't look behind you'.... that must have been great when driving alone at night. One of the stories involved being pulled over by Police and as the Policeman leaned in to talk to the driver, a deep sepulchural voice suddenly said: 'Don't look in the boot'...

[JohnD]

No need to imagine:

And, to prove that  they were real:

 

[Gully]

I switch the sound off on my Sat Nav - the rolling map and lane display is sufficient. However, I never go anywhere new without a map and generally check the AA Route Planner as well as punching data into the Sat Nav. Google Streetview is ideal for letting you know what key junctions etc are going to look like in advance. When we stayed overnight in St Quentin on our way to the Alps back in April, I'd navigated my way from the Autoroute to our hotel near the station on Streetview to gain familiarity. 

Gully

[Colin Lindsay]

Best sat nav I've had in ages was my daughter, last night - I collected her from a concert in Belfast at 11pm, the streets were absolutely jampacked with buses and taxis and every side street for miles was packed with parked cars. She just started her phone and navigated me through the city like a rally navigator - this lane, next junction right, into left lane, left over bridge.... brill. I should hire her full time. 

[PeteH]

1 hour ago, Gully said:

I switch the sound off on my Sat Nav - the rolling map and lane display is sufficient. However, I never go anywhere new without a map and generally check the AA Route Planner as well as punching data into the Sat Nav. Google Streetview is ideal for letting you know what key junctions etc are going to look like in advance. When we stayed overnight in St Quentin on our way to the Alps back in April, I'd navigated my way from the Autoroute to our hotel near the station on Streetview to gain familiarity. 

Gully

Another vote for street view, saved my A*** a couple of times in the motorhome(s) In recent years. Was`nt available back when I was on the Lorries Though☹️. and 13-4, wo`nt go under 11-6 In Shrewsbury😁. A mistake you only make once!.

Pete

Edited June 23, 2023 by PeteH

[Morgana]

Through France and down to the Adriatic with German auto-touring maps and an atlas. It was OK when the car was new, so no reason the mk. 1 noggin can't work now! Not a fan of sat-nav drongos failing to read signs and ending up stuck fast in a Cornish lane blinking as though they've awakened from a long sleep and wondering how they got there. Abscond from your brain at your peril. At least in the UK one hits the sea sooner or later. Many stories of drivers on the continent selecting a similarly-named place to their destination by mistake, and blithely driving several thousand miles to a distant country without realising they were heading entirely in the wrong direction.

Itineraries pinned to the dashboard work well for longer trips. I've recently found a 1940s 'Motorist's Logbook' in a family file which details journeys up and down the country, mileages, itineraries for directions and dates and costs for work done on the Riley Nine. Another world...

Edited November 11, 2023 by Morgana

[JohnD]

I was taught, prior to any trip, to write a "Movement Schedule", with all the details in it.   This allows you to work it al out beforehand, and is a valuable way of putting it into memory, and having  a printout for each day.

John

Like this:

Movement   Schedule            

Personnel:                                                       Vehicles:

 [If a team or group]

Equipment:

[EG tents, camping kit, trailers etc.]

 

Schedule, OUTBOUND

Schedule, HOME BOUND

[Daily targets for time leaving, travel duration, arrival time.]

 

Route: OUTBOUND

Route HOME BOUND

[Daily details, road numbers, distance to next junction for turn-off, objective for that night’s stop, etc.]

 

[I work out schedule and route from the AA Route finder.     Google Street View is very useful for envisioning the approach to turn-offs, and finding overnight stops.

May be set up in Word as separate pages, which can be taped to the dash for each day.]

Risk Assessment

Hazards	What needs doing?
Breakdown [EG RAC France From a UK mobile 00 33 472 43 52 44 From landline (free) 0800 94 20 44]	Insurance, HiViz vests x2 Warning Triangle [Other national requirements, eg France Breathalyser]
Medical	Tablets, etc
FIRE	Extinguisher
Tired driver	Follow HGV protocol

 

Documents and other equipment:

EG: UK driving licence, passport

Vehicle folder :

Motor insurance certificate

V5 registration document

MoT certificate.

RAC Euro Breakdown cover documents

 “UK” plate sticker

Headlamp beam deflectors

Breathalyser/alcohol test

Spare bulbs

First Aid Kit

Pad and paper. 

For foreign travel: Mark speedometer: Mway - 130 km/h (80mph), Main- 110 km/h (68mph), Other- 80 km/h (50mph), Built up-50 km/h (30mph)

Emergencies

Carry RAC card, smart phone & recharger

[dougbgt6]

First time I went to see Uncle Pete he told me how to get back to the motorway. I set off, looked down at the sat nav and found I was supposedly in the middle of a field. I suspected he'd done something to it, then it started speaking in German and I knew!

Doug

[Pete Lewis]

that was new roads   M1 J11A    and ...................i dont speak german 

just got/fitted  a new CH boiler and there is a handbook of 86 pages in every language possible 

with one page in english  !!!   this is a Vailant  thats german    Grrr !!!!  

Pete

[PeteH]

19 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

that was new roads   M1 J11A    and ...................i dont speak german 

just got/fitted  a new CH boiler and there is a handbook of 86 pages in every language possible 

with one page in english  !!!   this is a Vailant  thats german    Grrr !!!!  

Pete

Same with a recently purchased Canon printer, huge page when unfolded, size of a broadsheet newspaper. 1 tiny section in English the rest both sides in every language known, I am sure including languages from Starwars?

Pete

[GrahamB]

4 hours ago, PeteH said:

huge page when unfolded, size of a broadsheet newspaper. 1 tiny section in English

Many regulations state that the device must be supplied with instructions and warnings in the language of the intended market.  The manufacturer does not know where the device may end up so they include every possibility.  To save paper and printing costs, the text is sometimes in a very small font as the regulations do not specify that the words must be legible to the naked eye !

[PeteH]

44 minutes ago, GrahamB said:

legible to the naked eye !

Whose?.🙄