hi don, i was just looking through some old messages that i've saved in my braillenote email folder and thought it might be worth commenting on a few issues which you raised. as i mentioned in a previous email to the list, i have not yet been able to find a house number. like you, i'm always prompted to accept zero which, as you stated, could end you up either end of what might be a very long street. i think ramp seems to mean a roundabout. finally, the a55 from holyhead to bangor was only built and completed about 5 years ago, but when travelling on this rd i'm informed that i'm on it. to end on a positive note, i find the space with x command which tells you the next intersection a really handy feature. if i'm looking for a rd that i'm not familiar with i sometimes have this information repeated every, say, ten seconds.
> ----- Original Message ----- >From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: Contribute Braillenote <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:24:57 +0000 >Subject: [Braillenote] gps mark 2. >Hello Listers, Firstly, may I apologise for the length of this email, but I >would really like to know whether the GPS mark 2 system performs better in >other countries than it appears to here in the UK. All will be explained if >you read my precis of an email which I forwarded to Pulsedata several days >ago. I contend it raises some issues which demand comment, but, so far, >though I gather the matter is being discussed, no official comment has been >received. Of course, if the GPS system is of no interest to you, please >exercise your prerogative and use the delete command. I am not in the >business of knocking Pulsedata, but I am genuinely interested in knowing if in >the States, or in Ausralia, or indeed anywhere, the system works better for >you. Here follows the email: >I fervently believe that I have not been specially picked-out by Pulsedata, >nor that the area of the Uk in which I reside is a special case. Therefore, >the multitude of faults and weaknesses I have detected in their gps mark 2 >system, recently released for use with the Braillenote family of units, are >definitely not the result of potential personal prejudice and undoubtedly >could be replicated countless times throughout this country. The system >purports to guide a person to the very door of a required address, whether you >make the trip by car or on foot. I live in a small village just south of >Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire in the west midlands some fifty >miles west of Birmingham in the UK. > The manual suggests that, in "virtual" mode, it can provide a route from > where you live, to where you wish to travel. I was told it was very good on > guiding one in cities. However, as I live in a rural village, I telephoned a > friend who lives in just such an environment. Having set in his address as > the starting point, I asked him to give me the address of a house in his > area, the route to which he knew. Firstly, we fed in the name of the street, > which was soon recognised, however, number 35 produced a negative result. > "number not recognised" said the machine, "will enter zero instead". This > seems to mean that one would be guided to the end of the street in question. > Well that's not too bad, one might say. We began to follow the route > suggested by the machine, fortunately not physically. "Very good," my friend > said, as turning by turning the route was divulged. The snag came when we > reached the actual street where number 35 definitely existed. It guided us > to the end of the said street, but unfortunately, it was a very long street, > and when we were at last told we had reached our objective, we were almost > two miles from where we wanted to be. I subsequently checked whether it was > a fairly new house, but was told that the exact year wasn't known, but it was > certainly built in pre-war times; that is, before 1939. > I have a niece living in Solihull, just south of Birmingham. Anybody > travelling by car from Shrewsbury, would definitely use the A 5' followed by > several miles on the M54 motorway; it is a journey of just over sixty-four > miles. Our GPS mark 2 system, however, ignored both these trunk routes and > suggested a route which took us a long way south, almost to the town of > bridgnorth, before taking us east, and then north, to reach Solihull. Now > it was true that, had we followed the recommended route, we would eventually > have reached my niece, but the journey was considerably longer, being some > eighty-eight miles. > Why was the vital M 54 motorway being disregarded? it was in fact opened > in 1983. Are the UK maps provided with this system really over twenty years > old? that could be part of the problem. However, the car-drivers in the area > whom I consulted, said this was nonsense as even before the M 54' the old A > 5, laid-down by Thomas Telford in the early 1800s, was always a more direct > route than the excessively >convoluted route recommended. > Another of my nieces lives with her husband and two children in a village > about four miles from Penzance in Cornwall. This was a trip which my wife > and I made only a couple of months ago; so we knew the distance was 302 > miles. The manual had warned me it would take some time for the system to > work out a route; it did. At last, however, a route was produced, it > seriously suggested a trip of some 474 miles. I will not bore you with the > precise route suggested, suffice it to say that it commenced by recommending > travelling over 40 miles in the opposite direction. No! it won't do. > Finally, though surely no more examples are really necessary, (though I gave > more in my email to Pulsedata), I had to do some work for a customer who > lives on the other side. of Shrewsbury. Now my wife, having lived around > here for many years, knew the way; it was just as well. The GPS system > suggested a route with a distance of 13,49 miles; the actual clocked distance > on the generally accepted route was 9,3 miles. > When one studied the lengthy route to Cornwall, one kept encountering the > word "ramp." I thought at first that it was a modern term for motorway, > however, nobody I've yet spoken to knows this term. I wondered if it was an > American term, but, consulting Webster's dictionary revealed that, if indeed > it was, then they were not aware of it. However, one can get used to new > terms, but surely, if the word "ramp" is synonymous with motorway, then at > least it should be accompanied by the number of that motorway. It is > obviously not helpful to be instructed to turn right and drive for miles on > "ramp", without indicating which one. > A further suggestion is that when asked for a street, pressing an agreed > code, should establish the town centre as your destination. I feel it is > indeed a little curious that I cannot ask for a route, for example, to > Blackpool, (a well known seaside resort), unless I can quote the name of an > actual street. I know I can ask for a list of streets, you should try it, if > you can spare the time, and unless you know the town well, what would be the > point? and of course a postcode, (zip code) search should be included; many > houses have no numbers but are known by name. > Finally, may I say that I consider this system has great potential. The > satellite linkage with the route created in the "virtual" mode, I found > worked very well. However, the advantage of mark 2 over mark 1, is the > "virtual" mode; it must be made to perform better. Though the "points of > interest" file is rather disappointing, consisting as it does mostly of a > list of Petrol (gas) stations, Incidentally, most of these I have checked in > this area appear to have closed-down, in some cases many years ago, yet one > can add to this list, but of course one has to personally visit the would-be > location. >Please do reply to the list if you have any comments or experiences which will >help make this system more useful. At the moment, I certainly can't trust it. > Don Cooper. >___ >To leave the BrailleNote list, send a blank message to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >To view the list archives or change your preferences, visit >http://list.pulsedata.com/mailman/listinfo/braillenote
