Navigation calibration...(?)

[CX7_Scott]

I attempted to "calibrate" my Nav system because it seemed to be a little-bit off from reality. Example; at 1/16 or 1/32 scale, It would occasionally show inaccuracies such as showing I already passed a road the was still ahead of me, or vice-versa... showing a road I already drove-past as one coming-up.

So... I cracked-open the manual and tried calibrating it. I drove to a residential neighborhood with no traffic and stopped in the road where a perpendicular street met with the one I was on. So I was right at a noticeable junction on the map. I zoomed-in... told it to calibrate... set the cross-hairs EXACTLY where my car was (or should be) and set orientation (no change, it was already correct).

You'd think that was it... right...?

I thought so too... nope.

As I drove-away... it looked like I was driving across someone's lawn on the GPS screen. So I pulled-up to the NEXT street intersection and tried it again. Was zoomed-in as far as it can be. I was as accurate as humanly possible in positioning the cross-hairs... hit enter... yet still... the tracking seems a little off.

Is it just because the GPS accuracy is not *that* granular and it "approximates" the location and visually "snaps" your position to a "known" road on the map...? or is my calibration still out-of-whack...?

Do any of YOU have GPS accuracy issues...?

Thanks in advance...
-scott

 

[TheMAN]

I think you need to sit there for 15 mins?

 

[RaiderMS3]

We have had similiar issues. My concern is that the software seems outof date. We have been on 5 year old roads, and it has us in lakes, offroad, etc. I asked the dealer about a software update, and their eyes turned all glossy and then I saw this expression on their faces:

 

[CX7_Scott]

Heheh... I like the BlueScreen.

Now, what's this about sitting there for 15-minutes...??? I didn't see anything in the manual about *that*. I'll have to read through it again.

Oh, and yeah... I tried driving around Boston last night and the NAV system was freaking-out because none of the roads & exits corresponded to reality. The arrow-icon kept jumping from road-to-road... trying to figure out where the heck I was because the roads stored in it's little brain, and the ACTUAL roads since the Big-Dig are totally different.

Either way - I hope that 15-min thing isn't true. Kinda hard to block a road or intersection for 15 minutes.

later...

 

[TheMAN]

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123643959

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Keep in mind...

I attempted to "calibrate" my Nav system because it seemed to be a little-bit off from reality. Example; at 1/16 or 1/32 scale, It would occasionally show inaccuracies such as showing I already passed a road the was still ahead of me, or vice-versa... showing a road I already drove-past as one coming-up.

So... I cracked-open the manual and tried calibrating it. I drove to a residential neighborhood with no traffic and stopped in the road where a perpendicular street met with the one I was on. So I was right at a noticeable junction on the map. I zoomed-in... told it to calibrate... set the cross-hairs EXACTLY where my car was (or should be) and set orientation (no change, it was already correct).

You'd think that was it... right...?

I thought so too... nope.

As I drove-away... it looked like I was driving across someone's lawn on the GPS screen. So I pulled-up to the NEXT street intersection and tried it again. Was zoomed-in as far as it can be. I was as accurate as humanly possible in positioning the cross-hairs... hit enter... yet still... the tracking seems a little off.

Is it just because the GPS accuracy is not *that* granular and it "approximates" the location and visually "snaps" your position to a "known" road on the map...? or is my calibration still out-of-whack...?

Do any of YOU have GPS accuracy issues...?

Thanks in advance...
-scott

Consumer-based GPS is "purposely crippled" due to military/FCC rules. I believe it has a build in error of 100 feet or so. I believe the logic is to prevent some nutcase from retrofitting the Nav system to a bomb. Though most bombs do casue damage beyond a hundred feet

My 3 has had similar issues occur. One day I was on the Mass Pike and the screen showed that I was driving between the Pike and route 30(!). A restart cleared the issue. I believe that some errors are caused by interferance between the satellite and receiver. I did get an updated DVD ROM from NaviTEQ a year ago. Before the update the maps would inidicate that I was driving through Boston Harbor. The updated Maps correctly indicate the Ted Williams.

My biggest beef with Mazda Nav is processing speed. Sometimes it takes FOREVER for it to calculate/recalculate a route.

Overall though I like it better than my wife's Garmin 2610. The Garmin looses GPS reception all the time, while the Mazda seems to hold the signal better.

I never got a Blue Screen of death though. Not sure if Mazda changed to a different GPS supplier. I know my 2004 3S uses Panasonic Nav.