Camera Warnings for opposite carriageway.

[Mr_Hat]

I'm using the PocketGps cameras (Jan 08 d/base) with my new TomTom One V3 and have noticed one slight annoyance in that I am being warned of some Red Light cameras and some SPECS on the opposite side of the road, it doesn't happen for every one, just the odd few.
When setting up my POI warnings I made sure that the option to 'Warn only if POI is on Route' had a big green tick in them all, but still I get spurious warnings.
Is this a feature of the database or the device?

Thanks.

[mikealder]

It is down to the device, if a camera is located on the opposite side of a motorway or Duel Carriageway the device will not warn you as it treats both sides as separate roads (barrier separation), if its any other type of road then you get a warning of cameras that face the opposite direction to that you are travelling in - TomTom does not support directional camera warning, even though the Pocket GPS World Speed Camera database does for the systems that cater for it using custom POI files - Mike

[if1977]

Just so you know it would be better to un-check the warn only if on route because if you are driving along with no route planned and you come up to a camera you will not get a warning about it and that might cost you dearly.
_________________
NEW Tomtom GO 500 (hope it is good)
iphone (running all day, doesn't like it)
XL LIVE IQ Routes (Got stolen and miss it)
GO 510 (in drawer now, time for upgrade)

[Mr_Hat]

Thanks for the speedy replies, and now you explain it, it makes sense.
And Ian, thanks for the heads up, I hadn't thought of that, nice one!

[mikealder]

Or you could do as I do, which is always drive with a route planned and check the Warn only when POI on route box - I find this reduces the false alarms from cameras on adjacent roads which occurs leaving the box unchecked.
Each to their own though, and we all use the device differently, I would suggest you try a week with it set up to warn all the time then a week with it set to warn only on route - then make up your mind as to what you find best for yourself - Mike

[if1977]

Just so you know mike i would never say anything different from you or say that you are wrong but when you say about (false alarmsfrom cameras on adjasent roads), i would like to say that some cameras on the other end of the road can catch you for speeding and it may be good to get warnings of these cameras. If i am wrong mike please correct me as i am preety sure about this.
_________________
NEW Tomtom GO 500 (hope it is good)
iphone (running all day, doesn't like it)
XL LIVE IQ Routes (Got stolen and miss it)
GO 510 (in drawer now, time for upgrade)

[mikealder]

Cameras on the other side of the road can at times be used to catch you out, these are Truvello types, where these are idented as bi-directional you will get a warning when travelling in either direction, the same applies for bi-directional Gatso cameras on duel carriageways. (The database contains the information to make this warning automatic, there are no additional setup steps required Truvello cameras are contained within the Gatso section)

As for cameras at the other end of the road being able to catch you - they do exist but only as mobiles, and even so it would depend upon the length of the road etc - Mike

[if1977]

Cheers Mike, makes things a bit more understanding about the database. Did not know that the site automatically new the difference. You learn something new every day.
_________________
NEW Tomtom GO 500 (hope it is good)
iphone (running all day, doesn't like it)
XL LIVE IQ Routes (Got stolen and miss it)
GO 510 (in drawer now, time for upgrade)

[mikealder]

Its not an automatic process, it is dependent upon the diligence of the membership to spot this information and notify the site, The verifiers for checking such information and MaFt for administering the changes and issuing the updated releases.
IIRC you have just been awarded a lifetime membership for such diligence - sharing information in this way, is, in the long run for the benefit of us all - Mike

[GerryC]

[mikealder]

[Andy_P]

Yes, I was going to add a note about this. With successive software revisions, TomTom seem to have made the "capture window" bigger, so that now many more cameras slightly off your route STILL throw up a warning.
This is especially noticeable with cameras on roundabouts at the end of motorway exit slip roads, when you are staying on the motorway.
Also cameras on the other side of a dual carriageway which only occasionally triggered a false alert, now do so at least 50% of the time.

There's nothing we can do about it, I suspect it was done to make sure that TT's badly placed POIs wouldn't be ignored by their own system!

[DennisN]

The TT mapping has degraded in this respect since the x00 series in my own experience. The x20 series is particularly susceptible to it. But FWIWIMHO the TT cameras are doing exactly the same spurious warnings for cameras at the other side of dual carriageways and motorways (when they've actually got camera sites!). I ran the TT cameras for a few days on all three of my devices recently just to convince myself that the pgpsw database is far superior. Quite apart from showing cameras where there haven't been any for months (old temp cameras in their database as fixed cameras), a number of local cameras warn for the opposite side of a dual carriageway. If you had opportunity to compare earlier map versions with current ones, you'd see less twists and turns in the more recent maps. I suspect this means they are less accurate (GPS position-wise) with the result that our camera POIs located by Long/Lat position are "moving" in relation to TT's maps.

Earlier map


Later map


I suspect we could do something about it, namely relocate all cameras a few feet off the side of the road. But that would presumably give problems to users of non TT devices, not to mention the large resources needed in order to do it.

I would imagine that so long as TomTom see fit to reduce memory in their devices AND include extraneous features like mp3 players, their mapping will continue to suffer in this respect. I wonder how long it will be before they issue maps with "virtual" roads like the London Underground maps which bear little resemblance to the street level layout. How I wish they'd get back to the core feature of Navigation.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[xda]

[Beefheart]

I'm very much a newcomer to the PGPSW Database and used it on my Nuvi 250 for the first time on a long trip this weekend between Whitby and Aberdeen.

On single carriageway roads (A697 north of Coldstream, for example) I found repeated irrelevant warnings of uni-directional cameras to be a pain. My Talex Lite only identifies relevant cameras ie those monitoring in my direction of travel. Can I set the Garmin to do the same?

In Longframlington, there was no warning for GATSO:347@30. Although the camera is active and shown on Google Earth, the database gave no warning for either direction for travel. This has been reported to PGPSW but, I wonder, how common these database problems are? I've never encountered anything similar in 2 years with the Talex Lite.

The A90 between Dundee and Aberdeen is completely dualised but, contrary to what has been posted earlier in this thread, the PGPSW database was giving an alert for all (or nearly all) the GATSOs on the opposite carriageway. Is this a database problem or a Garmin problem?

First impressions are that the system is not as User Friendly or accurate as the Talex Lite so any advice in fine tuning things will be much appreciated. Thank you.

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