How to capture new Speed Cams on a TomTom and REPORT them

[Andy_P]

Note to self... This needs an update to show the different menu paths for NAV3 models!)

OK, sorry for the long posts (moved from an old topic), but here is a reminder of a few alternative methods of logging camera positions on a TomTom sat-nav (this post) and how to get your new sightings reported back to Pocket GPS World (see post #3 for that).

Firstly, before you do anything else, make a new POI category on the TomTom called "New Cameras" (or whatever you like) to store them in.
This is done in "Manage POIs" in the Preferences or Settings menu on the TomTom

Then:

Method 1 - Store straight into the "New Cameras" POI category
As you pass a camera on the road, tap to go to to Menu page 1 / Change preferences / forward arrow / Manage POI / Add POI / Scroll up or down and select category "New Cameras" / forward arrow / GPS position / then name it.
The position is stored at the moment you tap the "GPS Position" button.

Now, that's FAR too many button presses for me when driving, so:

Method 2 - Temporarily store the location as a Favourite - (This is my preferred method)
Tap screen / Add favourite / forward arrow / GPS position or My Location / name it anything quick (maybe just "30" or whatever).

Then at your leisure (i.e. not driving), copy it from the Favourites to the new POI category by:

Menu page 1 / Change preferences / forward arrow / Manage POI / Add POI / Scroll up or down and select category "New Cameras" / Favourite / select it / then name it properly.

Still too many button taps?

Method 3 - Quickmenu Favourites
If your TomTom supports the "Quickmenu" feature you can set it to JUST 'add a favourite' (as suggested above) in the Quickmenu preferences.
Now, with a single tap it will save a Favourite at your present location.

But this has two drawbacks:
1. it automatically gives the new favourite the name of the road you are on, no way to alter it at all, so you have to remember what the camera was, the speed limit etc.
2. On older software versions, if you try to add a second position while you are on the same road (maybe the M25 for example!) it overwrites the first one because it has the same name! Later software versions have corrected this silly bug and adds a "_1", "_2" etc. after the name. That makes this method a lot more usable!)


Method 4 - Quickmenu Map Corrections
If your TomTom supports the "Quickmenu" feature and you use MapShare you can set it to JUST 'make a map correction' in the Quickmenu preferences.
Now, with a single tap for each, this saves a whole list of un-named positions which you can review later.
To do this (when not driving) you go to Map Corrections. The TT will immediately say "You have marked x corrections. Would you like to review and change them now?"
Tap 'yes' and 'Handle now" then any of the selections to get to see the first one on the map (it seems to remember them in the order you entered them).
You can then browse through them one by one and note down the Lat/Long Positions for submission.
Just remember to tap "Back" and then "Delete" to go to the next one and never tap "Done" as that would add it as a Mapshare correction for TomTom!

Method 5 - Using the ScreenCapture add-on
Life member 'Brickie64' has alerted us to yet another approach... If you've added the 'Screen Capture' utility to your TomTom, you can use that to take a picture of the screen at the point where the camera is with just one tap. To enable the Screen Capture, follow one of the sets of instructions in THIS TOPIC.

Unfortunately, an image of the normal navigation screen will often not give you enough information to work out where it was! What's needed is to take the screen grab of one of the pages where your Lat/Long coordinates are displayed...
These are: 'Browse map' (if you have them switched on) and 'Help me/Where am I'.

The disadvantage of these last few methods is you need to either remember what you've seen or write them down somewhere as you mark them!

Personally I use method 2 normally, but if I know I've got a lot to log in quick succession (the M25 again!), I use method 4. As you can see, there are advantages and disadvantages to all of them.
_________________
"Settling in nicely" ;-)

[Andy_P]

Placeholder for NAV3 version of the above....
_________________
"Settling in nicely" ;-)

[Andy_P]

Submitting your results back to Pocket GPS World (and maybe get a free EXTENSION to your SUBSCRIPTION!)

To actually submit the positions, the preferred method is to transfer your findings onto the form on the Camera Submissions page

Sit yourself in front of your PC with the TomTom next to you.
You'll need to do a bit of setting on the TomTom first to get things in the right state:
(This is a LOT more complicated to read than it is to do, because I've tried to write down every step in detail. Once you've done it a couple of times it's REALLY simple.

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First, on the TomTom, go to "Change Preferences" and scroll through to the "Set units" section. Keep pressing "Done" until you get to the page where it asks "How should Latitudes and longitudes be displayed?"
Check the first option ("Degrees d.d°") is selected and press "Done".

Now, go to the "Browse map" screen (page 2 of the main menu)
Tap the "Options" button at the bottom and check "coordinates" is ticked
(depending on your model it will be on the first screen you come to, or you may have to tap "Advanced" to find it).

Tap "Done" and it will take you back to the map screen, and you should now see the Latitude and Longitude of wherever the blue cursor is, displayed in the bottom of the screen... something like e.g. N 52.12345°, W 2.54321°.
(If it isn't showing the coordinates, go back into the options and switch "Traffic" off, by unticking it).

You can leave those settings like that from now on, and you're now ready to submit your cameras.
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On the PC, follow that link to the submissions page.

In the first box on the form, select "Add new camera", "Change existing camera, "Remove camera" or "Mobile seen again"

Now in the second box you need to enter the coordinates...

Back on the TomTom's "Browse map" screen, tap "Find" / "Favourite" and select your first saved camera position from the list.

Assuming the blue cursor is still sitting on top of the Favourite, read off the coordinates from the screen and copy them into the "Find a location box" on the PC.

NOTE: you'll need to leave off the N, S, E, or W letters, and use a minus sign for W or S.
So, as an example, for N 52.12345°, W 2.54321° you need to type in 52.12345,-2.54321 (make sure there are no spaces anywhere, Google gets confused if you put a space after the comma!)

Or for N 52.12345°, E 2.54321°, type in 52.12345,2.54321 (no minus sign or spaces).

Click on the "Search" button and the map should move and zoom into the exact spot you had marked on the TomTom as a Favourite.

Now you can click and drag the Google map about if you like, until the flag in the centre of the map is EXACTLY where you want it to be, then (and this is important), click on "Accept this location".

That should enter the coordinates into the first two boxes on the form below the map.

Now go through the rest of the boxes, adding the camera type, speed and heading etc. (Heading is the direction on the compass that your vehicle would be going in to get "caught" by the camera. For a Gatso or Monitron type of camera, that's normally also the direction the lens is pointing in, but for a Truvelo or SPECS camera it usually ISN'T, so it's probably best to just think about your heading.

Add any comments (they can be really useful for the verifiers) then tick the box to confirm the country, and finally click on "Send Entry".

As they say on Blue Peter, repeat the process with the next Favourite, until you've done them all.

You should get an email confirmation of each camera you've submitted.
_________________
"Settling in nicely" ;-)

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