Poor instructions about speed camera d/b installation

I recently got a TomTom700 from total pda and on the page displaying the item there was a link showing a free camera database.

There was nothing in the box, so I have started browsing the forums to find out what's going on. This sticky (TomTom GO Speed Camera Install) should give the info required, but the information shown:
go to www.tomtom.com then support, downloads, tomtom GO
Select the download EXE version like below
Version 4.40 (EXE)
is not very useful as I can't see the file i'm supposed to be downloading when I follow these instructions. A page containing similar information in the site's FAQ section contains a link showing the file in question, but this is as dead as a dodo.

So, can anyone tell me

• what the file I'm supposed to be downloading is,
• where to find it and
• if there are any other errors in the process mentioned in these pages?

Thanks

Larry

You'd probably be better off Subscribing to the following http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/module...ums&file=index where for £2 per month or £19 per year you'll get Camera updates at least once, and more often twice, per month. You'll get all cameras, including mobiles, which TT doesn't have.

All you do is download and unzip the TomTom .ov2 Zip folder, copy and paste all the cameras, and .bmp's on your first download, to inside your map folder.

I'd recommend the Speed Zoned Complete, as you can set up different warning distances to each type of camera e.g. 30mph 300yards (which will give a 20 second warning) 30mph 400 yards ( a twenty second warning).

There is also a table if you prefer a 10, 15, 20, 25 second warning.

[Martin Laverty]

There should be a website address and a password on your invoice. If not PM your order number.

Originally Posted by leisuresuitlary

I recently got a TomTom700 from total pda and on the page displaying the item there was a link showing a free camera database.

There was nothing in the box, so I have started browsing the forums to find out what's going on. This sticky (TomTom GO Speed Camera Install) should give the info required, but the information shown:
go to www.tomtom.com then support, downloads, tomtom GO
Select the download EXE version like below
Version 4.40 (EXE)
is not very useful as I can't see the file i'm supposed to be downloading when I follow these instructions. A page containing similar information in the site's FAQ section contains a link showing the file in question, but this is as dead as a dodo.

So, can anyone tell me

• what the file I'm supposed to be downloading is,
• where to find it and
• if there are any other errors in the process mentioned in these pages?

Thanks

Larry

BC, thanks for the suggestion, I might do that as the amounts involved are not significant. However something was advertised for ‘free’ and given that, I at least wanted to get my ‘free stuff’.



I PM’d martin this morning and he mailed me the appropriate files. In my view though, www.totalpda.co.uk should change the advice posted on their site and the forum so that it reflects what a user needs to do, rather than sending them to pages that don’t work (at least not in my experience, but not that my office website is perfect).



My observations of the database are below. I’m not sure whether these apply equally to the 'paid for' version as well as the free one; I’d imagine that the top two are not relevant to the paid for version, but the others probably are. I’d like to say that these observations are not based on use, just logic, so please correct me if needs be.

1. The database provided is a one off and you’d need to pay for the subscription mentioned by BC to keep it up to date.
2. It’s not clear from the information I got from www.totalpda.co.uk how old the database was at the date of installation to the TomTom - Users will presumably want to know the database was new at the point of installation (or at least how old it was at that point)
3. I’m not sure whether you can activate the proximity (audible) alert for all cameras at once, or whether you need to do each one at a time. If it’s the latter then you’ll either be spending a long time going through the list of all speed cameras in Britain, or need to keep a careful eye on the sat nav unit whilst you are driving. I assume that proximity alert can be activated for all cameras at once and I'm miss-reading things.
4. It’s recommended that you uncheck the option ‘warn only if speed camera is on route’ for a couple of good reasons I wont mention here. This may mean that any speed camera you pass within 100 meters of would set off the activation - whether or not it’s actually on the road you are driving on (light irritant), and therefore can not be directionally sensitive i.e. would activate for a speed camera on the northbound carriageway when you are heading south, (slightly more annoying).
5. You can’t drive around with the unit connected, but with no route planned and expect to be given any warning of nearby cameras – the warnings only work when a route is programmed and being followed.

On the whole one can’t expect the world from ‘free’ and some warning of speed cameras is definitely better than none, so I don’t want to sound too down on this post. It might be that some refinements will be made in later versions.


Larry

BC, thanks for the suggestion, I might do that as the amounts involved are not significant. However something was advertised for ‘free’ and given that, I at least wanted to get my ‘free stuff’.

What you could do is install the FREE TomTom cameras, pay £2 for the PGPSW database and run them together. You can then see how many positive or negative alerts each give.

The recommendation I gave if downloading and installing the Speed Zoned Complete is you can set individual alerts e.g. You may only need a 300 yard warniong for a 30mph Gatso but as the range of Mobiles is greater, you could set a 30mph one at 440 yards.

The initial setting up takes a few minutes but when you add updates and a 30mph Gatso is added, the warning will come automatically. There are some files where a camera is shown but the speed has not been reported. You can set these up to any distance you wish, let's say 400 yards. When the speed has been confirmed, the camera becomes, for example, a 30mph one, and you'll automatically get the 300 yard warning.

As you say, you have a choice of Warn when near or Warn on route.

Warn when near gives you a warning whether it is on your road or not, if you have a warning set at 300 yards you will get a warning if the camera is within that distance.

You can of course use Warn when on route and should only get a warnin for cameras on route. You could however get a false warning if the camera is on the other side of the road or on dual carriageways where the camera is reversable.

If youn plan to have your Sat Nav on without a route being set and you still want Camera warnings, you will have to set it to Warn when near.

There are thousand of free POI's you can download from the site I mentioned, including the London Congestion charge.

It's all a matter of personal preference.

I worked out the following to assist in setting up the cameras for different warnings. Below are the actual distances e.g. 30 second warning at 70mph equals 1026 yards. If you are driving at 70 then you don't really need a warning, so the second set of figures include a 10mph buffer to make things safer.

Personally I use the warning distances equal to a 15 second warning, many others use the 20 second warning and some the 30 second warning, especially for mobiles.

One thing I forgot to add, should you subscribe to the PGPSW camera database and find a new static camera is installed and you are the first to report it, you would, after it's been verified, be offerad a free lifetime membership to the database.

Actual Times/Distances



Mph - 30s - 20s - 15s - 10secs warning.

80 - 1173- 782 - 587 - 391 yards
70 - 1026- 684 - 513 - 342
60 - 879 - 586 - 440 - 293
50 - 732 - 488 - 366 - 244
40 - 588 - 392 - 294 - 196
30 - 441 - 294 - 221 - 147
20 - 294 - 196 - 147 - 98



These are the figures I recommend using... Mph - 30s - 20s - 15s – 10 secs warning. 70 - 1173- 782 - 587 - 391 yards 60 - 1026- 684 - 513 - 342 50 - 879 - 586 - 440 - 293 40 - 732 - 488 - 366 - 244 30 - 588 - 392 - 294 - 196 20 - 441 - 294 - 221 - 147

For some unknown reason the second set never showed as intended, so I'll try again.

These are the figures I recommend using... Mph - 30s - 20s - 15s – 10 secs warning. 70 - 1173- 782 - 587 - 391 yards 60 - 1026- 684 - 513 - 342 50 - 879 - 586 - 440 - 293 40 - 732 - 488 - 366 - 244 30 - 588 - 392 - 294 - 196 20 - 441 - 294 - 221 - 147

Sorry, it happened again but you should be able to work out the necessary distances fairly easily.