Anybody have a backup plan?

[dave64o]

I always check Google Maps before I go someplace I'm not familiar with just to get an idea of how I should get there. I find that a GPS doesn't always give you the route you'd prefer to take if you knew where you're going, so I prefer to do some homework before hand.

My car doesn't have a GPS, so I have a standalone GPS that I take with me in those cases. I update it regularly so it's as current as possible.

If my wife is going with me, she almost always takes her iPad and we use that. The larger screen makes it easier to see and plan alternate routes if we need to consider one (i.e. in case of construction, accidents, etc.).

 

[troy mcclure]

I normally know where I am. I always look at google maps at home and only rely on my phone for the last few turns. I print directions for places that are way off the beaten path. My band never plays more than 60 miles from our home base.

 

[bassstrangler]

Post a thread, poo poo on the responses, typical TalkBass.

It sounds like the OP already had a back up plan.

Hopefully he won't encounter any Mothmen, Montauk monsters, marauding gangs of cannibals, rapists and Sasquatches when his batteries die, his phone breaks, his IPad implodes, his extra charger shorts out.

If he had an atlas he could defend himself by beating the aforementioned deviants with it. This is truly a first world problem thread. The best part is the backlash of the OP not wanting to revert to anything "old school".

My advice, stay at home and hide. The world is just too big and dangerous.

 

[7615]

For driving directions?

What would you do if you were 2 hours from home at 2AM, in the middle of nowhere, and your phone crapped out?

I drive all over the place for my gigs, and rarely know anymore where I am or how I got there. After my phone dying on me more than once (at good times, thankfully), I've become a bit concerned about the above happening.

My car doesn't have a GPS, and I was considering picking up one of those old fashioned Garmins or something. Just as a backup. I'm not sure if any of them even work anymore though . On Amazon, they all seem like the last ones bought were a decade ago.

Has anyone done this? If not, what's your B plan?

Paper maps - relatively new concept - but they do work.

 

[40Hz]

I kinda suspected a pole reversal would cause a few additional casualties, as would extreme solar activity. Though navigation may not our first priority at that point.

Yeah. I’m thinking your most immediate concern would be finding a safe place nearby to hunker down and stay put in.

 

[Vooter]

For driving directions?

What would you do if you were 2 hours from home at 2AM, in the middle of nowhere, and your phone crapped out?

I drive all over the place for my gigs, and rarely know anymore where I am or how I got there. After my phone dying on me more than once (at good times, thankfully), I've become a bit concerned about the above happening.

My car doesn't have a GPS, and I was considering picking up one of those old fashioned Garmins or something. Just as a backup. I'm not sure if any of them even work anymore though . On Amazon, they all seem like the last ones bought were a decade ago.

Has anyone done this? If not, what's your B plan?

I've never used GPS. Before I drive somewhere unfamiliar, I usually go online (at home) and memorize the route, and I still use maps. But I also have a good sense of direction (and have always been a map and geography nut), and if I end up getting lost-lost, there's always the sun during the day and the North Star at night for directional references...

 

[Stevorebob]

Start with a better scheme: Plan your route to and from then commit it to memory. No backup plan needed.

Gotta memorize 150 songs, so what’s a few streets?

 

[40Hz]

Dedicated GPS is superior to cell phone fake GPS. Yes, they still pick up satellites. Which is why they are better than cellphone navigation.

Got that right. Rare are the times when our old Garmin GPS can’t sync up with a satellite. Plus it has some nice extra features. Like putting up a photo of an exit or transfer ramp before you need to make the turn so you know what it looks like. I also think the lane selection indicators and other telltales it puts up are better designed and implemented than what you see with the usual google maps/smartphone integration many car manufacturers were passing off as a “GPS.” I’m guessing somebody must have challenged that, because they're calling it an “onboard navigation system” now.

I also never got bad directions from the Garmin. More than I can say for the terrible smartphone based directions some people got that made the news recently.

 

[mongo2]

For driving directions?

What would you do if you were 2 hours from home at 2AM, in the middle of nowhere, and your phone crapped out?

I drive all over the place for my gigs, and rarely know anymore where I am or how I got there. After my phone dying on me more than once (at good times, thankfully), I've become a bit concerned about the above happening.

My car doesn't have a GPS, and I was considering picking up one of those old fashioned Garmins or something. Just as a backup. I'm not sure if any of them even work anymore though . On Amazon, they all seem like the last ones bought were a decade ago.

Has anyone done this? If not, what's your B plan?

I'm old school and still use maps.

 

[bearfoot]

Got that right. Rare are the times when our old Garmin GPS can’t sync up with a satellite. Plus it has some nice extra features. Like putting up a photo of an exit or transfer ramp before you need to make the turn so you know what it looks like. I also think the lane selection indicators and other telltales it puts up are better designed and implemented than what you see with the usual google maps/smartphone integration many car manufacturers were passing off as a “GPS.” I’m guessing somebody must have challenged that, because they're calling it an “onboard navigation system” now.

I also never got bad directions from the Garmin. More than I can say for the terrible smartphone based directions some people got that made the news recently.

only exception I have found was when I drove into NYC, in the Times Square area the Garmin could not get oriented and just kept spinning around.......fortunately I have some sense of direction and found my way...

I also find the dedicated GPS is better because there is no cellphone battery concern, and of course the windshield mounting kit is standard with a real GPS.

My Garmin does not have the photo feature. It does give better directions than the phone. Just the other day, my phone wanted to send me 14 miles to go on a 3 mile trip. The phone / Google map could not understand a one-way main road. I believe this is a sneak preview of what driverless taxis will be like. Most of the time they will be fine, but there will be millions of cases of the driverless taxi taking people on crazy long routes because the software glitched. "please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times...for your safety, the doors will unlock when you arrive at your destination...*click*...."

 

[jmlee]

I have a backup camera...

 

[40Hz]

only exception I have found was when I drove into NYC, in the Times Square area the Garmin could not get oriented and just kept spinning around.......fortunately I have some sense of direction and found my way...

Combined with the fact Manhattan is mostly a numbered grid with alternating one-ways. So street directions are largely superfluous…until you hit the Village.

I’ve run into a lot of glitchy issues in the Times Square neighborhood. I suspect there’s some undisclosed “homeland security” related things in play in that location that might have a little something to do with it.

I also find the dedicated GPS is better because there is no cellphone battery concern, and of course the windshield mounting kit is standard with a real GPS.

I don’t worry about the cellphone battery with our car though. We have onboard USB ports on the dash with enough grunt to keep the phones charged. And the dash display in the car supports Airplay. So the screen on the phone automatically mirrors to the 6x9 dash screen when Google maps is engaged.

In fairness, the phone thing is ok for basic directions. Mostly. But the dedicated GPS is far superior. The display is cleaner and better thought out. And it’s somewhat cartooney look is actually easier to read. Kinda like the “just the facts ma'am” displays you have in aircraft.

And IMO the Garmin lane indicators, warnings, and other tattletales it uses are easier to spot and suss out in a glance when they come on.

We also lucked out and got lifetime map updates when we bought ours.

I still prefer the GPS and use it for longer trips where I can actually benefit from using it. Doing that also leaves the car system free to play audiobooks, music, or podcasts while I’m driving instead of hosting Google maps.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Joe I know it is confusing but when you look on the automatic transmission of your car or a manual one, it is the letter "R"... and that's what I use when I plan to backup with my car...

 

[Joe Nerve]

Guys and girls... my apologies.

I realize looking back that my original post WASN'T clear, and I therefore got defensive about some of the responses. My title was deliberated, but my opening post was vague and then I just started reacting to responses and explaining why they didn't apply.

I goofed.

And I'm out of here now.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

There used to be these things called maps.
Big sheets of paper with a picture of an area...

You mean like a photo of the place you are going to so you recognise it when you see it? But how do you know how to get there?

With sat navs my main annoyance is when it says 'go north' as if I always have a compass and a sextant with me to work that out.