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[Audi A3/S3] Sat-Nav System


Mo-S3
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Finally got round to taking some photos of my DVD Sat-Nav system. Please excuse some of the quality of the images as ive not yet mastered how to work my new camera.

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There are a few more in the gallery which is un-named at the moment( gallery mod'ers take note plz)

If u want more pics let me know beerchug.gif

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I'd definatley change my mind if i wee u, Just think if u spend £2.5k on the options list for the car, how much of that r u going to see again when u sell it? No one keeps cars forever and its a known fact that all our after market mods sell better individually later on.

Besides if u go for a system like mine u can always return back to factory standard and reinstall it in your next car. Makes sense doesnt it !! the_finger.gif

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I don't understand why people are spending £2,000 and more on these manufacterer or after-market dashboard sat nav systems when there are the PocketPc and portable units available for under half the price which do the job just as well and give you a full-blown PDA thrown in as well. They also let you move them from one vehicle to the other (eg hire car) and you get to keep it when you sell your car! I've been using a Navman with an Ipaq for a year now (with the latest voice-guidance and address destination software) and it's got me everywhere I needed to go (navman.co.uk). One big advantage of the PocketPC/Navman set up is that you can postion the display on top of the dash in front of you where you can actually seen the scrolling map without having to look away from the road. I know that the fitted sysyems have a gyroscope dingus to keep your positon monitored when you lose sat fix (eg through a tunnel). but this happens so rarely as to be un-noticeable.

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Audidoody,

You have a good point about SatNav integrated into PDAs but I would be interested to know how they perform by comparison and where is all the map data stored without the associated 'Country' CD ?. i.e. can you drive anywhere in the UK without having to download new data or are you restricted to an area associated with the map data in 'memory' ?

I am probably one of a rare breed who opted for the standard Audi SatNav system i.e. integrated into the DIS without the moving map. I must confess I am well pleased with my choice. A big factor for me in my selection of options was having a factory-fitted stereo i.e. a custom-built model which would make it less desirable to steal. This essentially ruled out an after-market unit (head unit or SatNav). However I also wanted a Symphony head unit with the 6 CD changer in the dash rather than the boot, so the Audi DIS-integrated SatNav represented the ideal solution in my case.

Your point about taking your eyes off the road to look at a moving map was also well made. Both the PDA SatNav (which can be positioned where you want) and the DIS-integrated option are a bit safer in my view in this respect.

But how about the performance of the PDA version ? GPS is a system originally developed for US military applications which is inherently accurate to within a few metres. However since making the GPS signal available for third party applications the US deliberately introduce 'dither' to the signal (effectively a deliberate error) which causes the position derived from the 'dithered' GPS signal to jump around by up to +/-100m. It is for this reason that sometimes in a town / city with densely packed streets, starting the SatNav results in the system waiting until you have traveled a few hundred metres before it works out where you are. It is effectively calibrating out the 'dither'. I imagine on the factory-fitted system this calibration is performed by the Gyro which serves as a second input reference to the system to 'smooth' out the deliberate error. Given that the PDA doesn't have a gyro, do you find your reported position jumps around at all ?

Before I get torn apart on my rather crude understanding, I am no expert on the subject so some of my assumptions may be wrong. Anyway, just interested in your view of PDA performance versus an integrated SatNav. If the PDA version has no means of calibrating out the error I would imagine that it tells you to take the wrong turn ocassionally where turns off your current route are in close succession ?

Cheers,

R

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Good point Robin about the PDA wandering off course, coz i know it happens and can be a pain. Personally i HATE the added on PDA's sat on ur dash board makin it look as though ur a proper company car driver where as an integrated one can at least look oem and hidden when not in use. Using and entering data on the PDA cannot be done whilst driving under any circumstances using the little tool that u have and basically means that u have pull off the road and enter ur data. With my integrated sytem i know i can carefully enter data if i need to whilst im in traffic or can ask my passenger todo it whilst i give instructions and its very very easy to use too.

I can drive anywhere in Europe taking scenic routes or shortest routes, store my favourite places , download daa on to my pc etc. Not only that i have a full DVD player in case my nephew or others get bored whilst out and watch a movie,also have the facilty to integrate further cheap screens in the rear for their personal viewing. the list goes on.

Overall u cant compare a PDA sat nav guidance to a fully integrated SAt Nav system designed specifically to do that job and more !! fuck_scott.gif

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>but I would be interested to know how they perform by >comparison and where is all the map data stored without the >associated 'Country' CD ?.

All the maps are uploaded from the CD via the ipaq and stored on Compact Flash cards which are inserted into the Navman cradle. I have the entire UK, Ireland and Portugal (don't ask!) stored on a 128Mb card. I have France, Italy, Spain on another 128Mb card. With a 256Mb card you could have all of the UK and Europe maps stored in the GPS cradle.

>But how about the performance of the PDA version

I can only speak for Navman (the other popular ipaq system is Tom Tom) It's accurate down to at least 20 feet. The Navman is not only for the car but also designed as a handheld navigator, which is clearly not the case with a dedicated factory fit system. (ie when you're walking around a strange city). I tested it in my garden when the Iraq war was on to see if the Department of Defence had downgraded it. It was fine. The Blue Arrow tracked me when I walked 50 feet from one end of the garden to the other. Amazing!

>do you find your reported position jumps around at all ?

Nope. Never found that. Of course when you drive a route you know it never goes the way you would choose. But when you have no idea of your destination it works fine. I sometimes stick a magnetic mount re-radiating antenna on the roof of the car. But the receiver seems to have no problem getting a fix on its own just stuck on the windscreen mount.

> i.e. can you drive anywhere in the UK without having to download new data or are you restricted to an area associated with the map data in 'memory' ?

With the latest release of the Smartpath CD's from Navman you can store all of the UK and Europe on one Compact Flash. So it will take you anywhere you want without having to reload a map. (see above answer).

If you turn the unit off while indoors, time to first fix next time out can be as quick as 20 seconds.

I agree that it might not look so neat in the car. But the cost and portability advantages easily outweight this. Most of my driving abroad is in a hire car. So a factory fitted SatNav doesn;t do me much good when it would be in the car in the garage in the UK!

All the handheld GPS experts hang out at www.pocketgps.co.uk. The forums there will have all the answers.

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>Overall u cant compare a PDA sat nav guidance to a fully integrated >SAt Nav system designed specifically to do that job and more !!

Well I appreciate you have made a significant financial investment in your system and want to know you've got your money's worth. Certainly if you want to watch movies in your car a PDA-based GPS system is not much use (s'pose I could take the iBook along for that). But a PDA sat nav system is designed to do exactly the same thing as an in-car jobby, ie route you to your destination. They both use the same Department of Defence GPS satellites!

fuck_scott.gif

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Audidoody,

Although I am still pleased with my integrated SatNav for my own car, you do make a lot of good points about portability and also use overseas in hire cars etc. How much is the PDA with SatNav software and associated country data. Could you give us a breakdown including the FLASH card cost?. It sounds pretty interesting for these applications.

Thx.

R

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