Sat Nav Update

[JohnD2]

Hi. T-Spirit, dofr 1Mar08. Does anyone know whether the sat-nav updates its mapping automatically to take account of changes in the road layout, new roundabouts etc: or is there provision for updating at all?

J

[The Traveller]

Hi John,

Not sure about the Gen2 Prius (it certainly won't be through some over the ether method as you describe), but the local Fleet manager told me that map updates on a Gen3 TSpirit are done by loading up from a disc inserted into the Audio/Nav system. That means, of course, that you spend your money with Toyota, not Garmin or TomTom.

That leads on to the matter I've raised in another thread about getting your own data onto the SatNav. Many users are familiar with the notion of adding their own Points of Interest (PoI), usually by plugging the unit into a PC and downloading them direct to the unit from a Website. That includes safety cameras, amongst other things. Toyota must surely have a way of getting such data on there, but I'd like to know how you do this on a fixed unit? No real answers yet.

[timberwolf]

On the Gen 2, the Navigation ECU is under one of the front seats and is a DVD based system. AIUI all the navigation and POI data are encoded onto the DVD - and therefore I understand that there is no way to add a Speed Camera POI database.

I believe new DVDs are released each year around about Sept or Oct time - as with all GPS maps they will already be out of date just because of how long it takes to update the data and then for a manufacturer to incorporate those changes into their own products. You can check and order updates (expensive) from http://www.toyota-mapupdates.eu/ or probably from your dealer.

I've been fairly disappointed with what I think is archaic and suboptimal routing of the Denso system compared with my old Garmin Nuvi 300. I believe that companies like Denso that provide the in-car satnavs haven't been developing their products whereas the portable units from Garmin and TomTom have had competition that has forced continued effort to improving the route finding algorithms.

[JohnD2]

Thanks for replies. It won't be the first time in my life that I've been disappointed! I shall buy an update of the 2 1/2 inch to the mile maps from my local discount book store, priced at £6. I would also be prepared to pay a reasonable sum for updates via the TOC.

J

[timberwolf]

On the 2.5 inch to 1 mile map scale only the Motorways, A and B roads are named? When the A1 changed around Leeds, I never bothered to update my Garmin, which meant that it got very confused when it thought I was driving across fields :)

[tjones7]

Last night on the way home I noticed a white circle with a red surround icon on the sat nav screen (Built in satnav on Gen 2 TSpirit). Not having seen it there before, I clicked on it and the info said something about the road being closed, gave the direction it was closed in and mentioned it was a traffic update.

I saw in the paper this morning that a couple of hours earlier there was a serious accident that caused that road to be closed.

I wasn't aware that the sat nav updated like this, as I thought it was purely disk based.

[Ogo]

Your GPS device probably has built in TMC (Traffic Message Channel) receiver. So it did not receive any map updates. It just received information that specific road is closed due to traffic jam or accident. This information is being broadcast inside normal FM radio broadcasts as special RDS payload.

Yes, TMC brings GPS to new levels of coolnes. ;)

[timberwolf]

Yes, the last few years of the Gen 2 that have satnav include TMC, I vaguely recall that the letters TMC are displayed possibly in outline as a logo somewhere on the map display or maybe somehwere on that option bar that you can choose to display across the bottom.