Garmin Rv 760 - 5000 mile trip to Nova Scotia

 

a copy of this is on Lance RV site and Garmin RV760 Yahoo group ..............

Now back to the other 1/2 of the original post - Review of the Garmin RV760 GPS.

Just for some reference and explanation of why the GPS did not perform as I wanted it to (75% my fault).

1. Original trip was mapped out on Garmin's Basecamp software with military precision - end of day stops were researched - roads were examined on Google Maps and Google Earth for confirmation. 2 hrs (per day) was added for lunch - fuel - pee breaks** and everything was uploaded (as a TRIP) to the Garmin - GREAT.

2. Then life interfered on the 1st day - we decided that life was boring and that we would flip a coin (we were camping just NW of Duluth MN) and if heads go the usual way - ie: Canada - USA - reentering Canada (at Sault St Marie) ..... well it came up tails and we decided to do the entire trip through the USA reentering Canada through Calias Maine (NE corner of Maine into SW New Brunswick).

3. So ignored all the saved trips and programed in Portland Maine as an intermediate (near end of trip USA destination) - otherwise it kept wanting to take us through Quebec and upper NB..... BUT - I forgot to change (ADD a check mark) to the "avoid toll roads" part of the profile for my RV settings (that cost us ~ $220.00 + in cash we were not expecting to spend). Anyway that was my fault not the GPS's.

4. Unexpectedly around major cities - Chicago, Cleveland and many others my FM Traffic receiver worked advising us of delays - car accidents and potential detours - excellent I was under the impression that was a paid service - but apparently not - its free, (also worked in Canada ONLY near Montreal PQ).

5. Another unexpected feature that I did not think about was the "avoid ferries" check box in the RV setup - remember I had my entire route planned in advance and there were no ferries. Well there are north of Montreal (using the avoid a traffic delay feature - the GPS was sending us on a ferry - YIKS"

6. The use of the ecoroute feature (hooked to the OBD2) only works in "auto mode" so when I wanted to see my instantaneous and average mileage I needed to change from RV to Auto - no big deal bit you have to remember to do so... PITA (Pain in the A__)

7. The steep grade, winding road alerts are "hit and miss" in Nova Scotia on the road to Cape D'Or the roads are hairpin turns dangerous grades and all-around fun if your on a motorcycle or in a sports car - not so much in an RV. NO WARNINGS at all. Yet in central Ontario - and parts of Quebec were there are gentle turns - its boinging every turn - crazy.

8.Lesson learned have a backup hard copy mapping system available - if you plan on going off your original plan.

9. The premise of my buying the RV 760 was so I would have access the database of campgrounds when out of WWW connection (CDN's traveling in the USA - data charges are crazy expensive so we turn off the data) we NEED a reliable data set on the GPS. Well thank God I had joined POI Factory (poifactory.com) and downloaded there data bases on CDN and USA campgrounds - because if the Garmin told us there we NO campgrounds within a 100 miles - often the POI data base would find 20+ (and they still missed a lot). but Garmin's database is TERRIBLE.

- thats enough for now I add more later..

2011 Lance 1985, 2008 F150 SCrew 3.55 gears (3.73 or 4.11 would have better for the BIG hills)

Garmin RV760 GPS with ecoRoute and Back Up Camera

interesting

I would recommend you get Delorme Topo, it has an interesting feature you will be able to see a profile of the altitude along your route, also you can add rest stops and fuel stops to your route, the route then can be exported and added to you PND.

Great report

Over the years, we've made the trip from Illinois to Nova Scotia many times ... Up through Michigan into Canada ... and also through the US up through Maine.

Hope you bought lots of lobsters.

Also, did you happen to drive into Meat Cove ... on the tippy top of Cape Breton. There is a campground up there that is one of our all time favorites.

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Garmin 205, 260W, 1450LMT, 2460LMT, HEREwego for iPhone ... all still mapping strong.

Database updates

tbrown16 wrote:

...

9. The premise of my buying the RV 760 was so I would have access the database of campgrounds when out of WWW connection (CDN's traveling in the USA - data charges are crazy expensive so we turn off the data) we NEED a reliable data set on the GPS. Well thank God I had joined POI Factory (poifactory.com) and downloaded there data bases on CDN and USA campgrounds - because if the Garmin told us there we NO campgrounds within a 100 miles - often the POI data base would find 20+ (and they still missed a lot). but Garmin's database is TERRIBLE. ...

If you came across any campgrounds you could recommend that weren't in our files or inaccurately located, please let us know and we'll get them added to make the files better.

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"There's no substitute for local knowledge" nüvi 750, nüvi 3597

nova scotia trip

You did the right thing going thro the US. There is nothing between the "Soo" ,as canuks call it,and Montreal. The worst part of US is Route 9, the Airline, between Bangor Me and Calias Me. You must now know why it is called the Airline, travel it a lot. exclaim

I remember the Airline

The first time I drove the Airline was in 1957 and it was at night in my 1953 Oldsmobile !
When I returned on it 2 days later I drove it probably 15-20 mph slower since I could see the curves of the road a lot better during the day ! I didn't realize the real hazard driving it at night !
Ah to be 21 years old again, in the Navy and invincible!

Drove it again 2 years ago - boy have they improved the road and the safety barriers !

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MrKenFL- "Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." NUVI 260, Nuvi 1490LMT & Nuvi 2595LMT all with 2014.4 maps !

Campground Review

I'll do that when I get a minute.