So I was going to check out my friends new place tonight as she lives near Rosalyn Metro. I'm coming from Fairfax and put in her address in the NAV system and it gave me some WAY out of the way directions, basically taking 66 to 495, George Washingtion Parkway or something and said I was 30 miles away. So I'm thinking something is majorly wrong cause normally all I should need to do is go down 66 and get off at exit 72 and its right there.

So I'm traveling down 66 and as soon as I pass the 495 offramp the NAV system goes crazy, starts yelling at me to turn around and the little satallite in the top right corner disapears. Then it looks like the NAV shows my car on all these back roads as I'm traveling down 66 and eventually when I get off at exit 72, it has me in the middle of nowhere by this point making my NAV system useless.

Now on the way home I put my home address in and boom it wants me to go out of my way (30 miles) to get home, needless to say I hop on 66 and all the sudden the same thing happens, it starts yelling at me to get off the wrong roads then puts me on some back roads. As soon as I pass the 495 offramp the nav system is back to normal, it says I'm on 66 and I'm 7 miles from fairfax.

Any idea what the heck is going on?

By the way this is with the DVD nav system and the 2005-2 DVD.

 

Check your route preference, perhaps it is set up to avoid freeways vs fastest route.

 

Oops, upon second reading it sounds like the nav was behaving rather wonky, sounds like a dealer visit might be in order

 

Completely normal - I use 66 all the time and experience the same behavior. It constantly tells me to exit or make a left turn or a uturn screen sometimes goes blank white arrow spins around like something from the exorcist. I've reported this to Navteq a couple of times. I think it might be a liability issue concerning a limited access road - but a warning screen could be programed in as well. Another problem is on the toll road Rt 267 leaving town going toward Reston - looses navigation as I approach Hunter Drive and then directs be to go directly to Dulles airport and come back down 267 and take the Hunter drive exit. Sure is exciting living next to DC

 

Sounds like the mapping software to me....bad info in...bad directions out. If its the mapping software there is not much that can be done but look for updated mapping software which can be pretty pricey on these system. Lets just hope the NAV wanted you to do some extra motoring!

I love my Garmin GPS...has gone cross country several times, built in XM, live weather and traffic to route me around the nasty stuff, built in MP3 player and the first 2 years of map software updates are free...gotta love it for under $900

 

The problem is the map data supplied by Navteq, it's been wrong since the 2004 update. When I had the Cooper I filed a report with Navteq, it seems that it still hasn't been fixed.

For some reason Navteq has I-66 inside the Beltway as the smallest of small streets and doesn't recognize it as an expressway, so the nav system doesn't ever route you down it....

I noticed at Carmax one day over the summer that the Pioneer AVIC-N1 system has the same problem, same maps, same bad data.

There's no workaround, Navteq has to fix the data on the disks they're providing everyone.

 

at least Im not going crazy, but this is a major issue, since 66 is the key to getting most places. I think I'll start bugging them about it.

Thanks.

 

I believe that it may have been a deliberate decision, as Sam hinted at, because during certain times of the day, it is ALL HOV only (in the relevant direction).

I guess they didn't want to risk ever taking a solo driver onto the road during HOV restrictions. Since 66 OUTSIDE the beltway only has one HOV lane, it's not an issue there. But INSIDE the beltway... all or nothing.

I hate it too. Marina, James and I all griped about this last year - it became especially prevalent when we all caravaned back from MOTD!

 

Lets not forget that the CIA offices, specifically their Satellite Surveilance and scrambling center, is out that way... Herdon?

If could be they've added regional error-introduction on the GPS signal near that area. Same is true if you go up near Ski Liberty, PA (since the backside of the mountain is The Underground Pentagon, aka "Site R").

 

Please... You can run around with tin foil on your head... But the CIA, NSA, MiB etc. have nothing to do with I-66 been classified incorrectly by Navteq on all the in car systems they supply map data for... Especially when the online systems that they supply map data for have I-66 classified correctly.

Then there's the agency you kinda almost reference, it is the National Imaging and Mapping Agency in Herndon (NIMA) they don't do scamblining and aren't anywhere near the affected area on the maps...

Maybe the super secret National Reconaissance Office in Chantilly? It's an independent agency not affiliated with the CIA... and nowhere near the affected area. But they do satellite surveilance... not that they would have anything to do with (or care) about I-66 in the Beltway... Oh and the roads around their offices show up fine...

Sam and Haemish's theory was one that I had back when we still had the Cooper, as it was the only logical one I could come up with...

The problem is that creating "exclusion areas" like having the system avoid I-66 can be done on the maps, without screwing up the data. Downtown London is a perfect example of this, parts of London are in a "Congestion Zone" and if you enter these areas in a car, you get slapped with a fee. There are cameras on every street into the Congestion Zone that record the tag of every vehicle that enters... The MINI nav in the UK can be set to avoid the London congestion zone, but it doesn't affect the actual map data... So it stands to reason that there should be some way Navteq could code the data to avoid HOV areas without screwing up how I-66 is classified...

 

I wouldnt even mind if the NAV system didn't tell you to go on 66, but if you did it would auto adjust and say well this person obviously wants to use this road so lets give directions based on it rather then flip out.


Howard

 

Was around that area today....my Garmin did not have any issues. There are a few military installations around here where the GPS will only pick up some of the street names and not much else. Quantico is a different story because of Q-Town being a city surrounded by a military base.

The mapping software needs to be updated every year especialy with all of this construction going on around the country...if you have not done it then I thinks its probably time.

 

Howard PM,

If your problem is based on Navteq programming, the vehicle location should still be properly displayed on the map. If it is not, something else is happening. I have the same problem intermittently on my older CD/Nav. The map actually showed me out in the middle of the Chesapeake one time. Seems to reinitilize itself and work properly after just afew hours or days. Can't get it to malfunction long enough to get it to a dealer. If yours is still malfunctioning, its a dealer only issue.

 

If my nav system works in every other place in the DC metro area I've gone and seems to break only on 66 past the 495 exit, then mysteriously starts working when I get back on 66 past the 495 exit, then I'm about 100% sure its not malfunctioning.

 

Isn't there a new software update available for the internal NAV?

 

Ahh! The dreaded Falls Church Triangle. Lost a couple of battleships there. The MINI has no chance!

 

It could also be a 'dark spot' for satellite reception, although I have traveled that route before and not have had any trouble with my 'clip-on' GPS. I have experienced in other areas though that, in specific spots, I lose most or all satellite coverage due to.... well, not sure. Makes my GPS go haywire for a bit, though.

Your situation sounds more like bad maps though.

-Paul!

 

I have heard of this Falls Church Triangle....bad bad stuff. Minis have gone in and have never been see again. Folklore has it that when the mini goes in a hummer comes out.......Believe it, Or not.....?

 

Ha Ha - we Washingtonian know better than to ever mention any of those agencies in an email.

Now you're subject to at least six months of having the following monitored:

all emails
all instant messages
all text messages
all telephone calls
all snail mail
all web activity
all bank accounts and credit card transactions
when you sleep
when your awake
where you travel
where your kids travel
what you eat.

Plus - as a bonus - a complete background check of you and everyone you have ever known, and a complete psychological profile

Just another day at ground zero

 

Those of you with Garmin or other portable GPS units...

Where did you end up sticking it?

Not sure if I should put it on the dashboard. Then I'd have a big wire hanging down and it sort of says, "Hey everyone, look, it's an easily stolen device which probably gets stored in the glovebox!" But there's not exactly a lot of good choices.



I think I need a cupholder adapter...

 

The Garmin 2600 models and above come with a flexi-bean bag base with lead inserts so you can mold it to any dashboard. It will not slide no matter how tight that turn is! Only one 12v connection is necessary as the the speaker is built on to the power cable. Its portable and I never leave it in the vehicle and if I do go someplace with it, nobody would know that it was in the car anyway! Easily fits in the glovebox or under the seat or wherever. These models also have a built-in antenna. It takes about a minute or so to set it back up so if you left the wires out then I guess you were in a hurry!?

For the units that have the internal HD...like a laptop or IPOD....leaving them in a very hot/cold vehicle for more than a few hours or overnight is only asking for a quick death to the drive.

Other models have suction cup bases for the dash or window