Street Atlas isn't all that great... any ideas?

swellfellaT · 02-02-2004, 11:53 PM

I've been using Delorme's latest version of Street Atlas and their usb receiver for a few months now... And I'm finding that neither of them are that great. Street Atlas isn't very accurate, which I find especially irritating. Furthermore, as many of you have mentioned, I can't get the usb receiver to respond after I come back up from hibernation (I have even tried a cable mod that one of you suggested, which was succesful and makes the gps stay on all the time, but doesn't seem to help re-establish usb connection to the unit). Needless to say, I'm irritated. This is the only issue in an otherwise great system. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated

robiewp · 02-03-2004, 01:21 AM

I use the same setup, and haven't had any problems with accuracy. Infrequently i'll be 10 feet off the road, but this i've seen in every GPS software that didn't "snap to road".

I too wouldn't mind hearing about alternatives though.

rgardjr · 02-03-2004, 02:00 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by swellfellaT

I've been using Delorme's latest version of Street Atlas and their usb receiver for a few months now... And I'm finding that neither of them are that great. Street Atlas isn't very accurate, which I find especially irritating. Furthermore, as many of you have mentioned, I can't get the usb receiver to respond after I come back up from hibernation (I have even tried a cable mod that one of you suggested, which was succesful and makes the gps stay on all the time, but doesn't seem to help re-establish usb connection to the unit). Needless to say, I'm irritated. This is the only issue in an otherwise great system. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated

Delorme says that the hibernation issue will be solved by using a serial cable instead of USB. I'm going to try and see if I can hack a serial on to my modified USB cable. I must have done the same mod as you-constantly power the earthmate with 5volt regulator by passing usb supplied power. I'll let you know if I have any success. Right now my plan is to connect the green Data+ usb wire to pin 3(transmit data) of a serial cable and white Data- wire to pin2(receive data). If this doesn't work I'll probably buy the serial cable from Delorme for $35.

swellfellaT · 02-03-2004, 09:15 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by rgardjr

Delorme says that the hibernation issue will be solved by using a serial cable instead of USB. I'm going to try and see if I can hack a serial on to my modified USB cable. I must have done the same mod as you-constantly power the earthmate with 5volt regulator by passing usb supplied power. I'll let you know if I have any success. Right now my plan is to connect the green Data+ usb wire to pin 3(transmit data) of a serial cable and white Data- wire to pin2(receive data). If this doesn't work I'll probably buy the serial cable from Delorme for $35.

Sounds like what I've done... and it does do what it is supposed to (but this doesn't seem to fix our problem). One thing you will experience is almost immediate postion fix, which rocks when you can get the freakin' thing to work. Let me know what happens.......

swellfellaT · 02-03-2004, 09:16 PM

While I'm here, does anyone know of any nav software package that does "snap to road'? Tried the infamous search, but to no avail....

spectrrr · 02-03-2004, 09:35 PM

snap to road? not sure what that is...

rgardjr · 02-04-2004, 01:53 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by swellfellaT

While I'm here, does anyone know of any nav software package that does "snap to road'? Tried the infamous search, but to no avail....

I've been using Destinator 2 and it does this-it's good and bad though. Sometimes when I'm in the right lane on the freeway it shows me on a parallel road. When I'm in the parking lot at the grocery store it shows me still on the road-it doesn't like it when your not on the road!

nl4jy · 02-04-2004, 04:29 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by rgardjr

I've been using Destinator 2 and it does this-it's good and bad though. Sometimes when I'm in the right lane on the freeway it shows me on a parallel road. When I'm in the parking lot at the grocery store it shows me still on the road-it doesn't like it when your not on the road!

I have destinator2 also, along with their gps mouse. I can go offroad without a problem. But there's 3 things that I don't like about it and maybe destinator3 will fix them.

1-When I'm not on the service lane of the highway, it kept saying I am, and that is annoying when it tells me to do a "left turn follow by a right turn" every time the service lane have an entrance to the highway. VERY ANNOYING!!!

2-The route it gives is horribly long. This could be fix if there's a way to put pitstops along the route. But this can't be done cause the program doesn't have that option.

3-Why the He*l do they still seperate the maps into section on a laptop that have infinite space (compared to a pocketPC). I understand that the program was first written for pocketPCs but when it's for a laptop, whouldn't it be wise to make it into one big map??? When I travel through states, it's D*MN ANNOYING to switch maps on a tiny 7" touchscreen.

kalito · 02-06-2004, 06:04 PM

i have street atlas 2003 and on the map it shows me like i'm going over building / about a 1/4 of a block away from the place i'm supost to be...a shame... i fell more loss when i see the map...

TheSpecialist · 02-06-2004, 09:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by kalito

i have street atlas 2003 and on the map it shows me like i'm going over building / about a 1/4 of a block away from the place i'm supost to be...a shame... i fell more loss when i see the map...

I had the same problem and my PC did wacky things also. After I added the ITPS they went away. I always assumed the power wasn't stable and it freaked out the GPS. I can't say it will work for you but it worked for me. Maybe you should use a meter and see if your voltages are all over the place.It wakes about a minute but I do sync up with the GPS after hibernation.

kalito · 02-06-2004, 10:44 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TheSpecialist

I had the same problem and my PC did wacky things also. After I added the ITPS they went away. I always assumed the power wasn't stable and it freaked out the GPS. I can't say it will work for you but it worked for me. Maybe you should use a meter and see if your voltages are all over the place.It wakes about a minute but I do sync up with the GPS after hibernation.

is running in a laptop...

toadster123 · 02-07-2004, 05:03 PM

Go into ur bios and change some settings... i forget exactly what they are..but i think u can have it so the usb will re-recognize or something when u come back from hibernation/suspension....

At least thats what i did one time when my usb mouse didnt work after suspending the pc and then resumming it..

Just look in hte BIOS settings.... search google if u still cant figure it out...
There might have been some kind of side-effect..but i dont remeber... sorry

TheSpecialist · 02-07-2004, 09:36 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by kalito

is running in a laptop...

No, Epia 5000. I did also add a usb keyboard, and turned on all of the usb options turned on in my bios. Maybe that did it.

kalito · 02-07-2004, 10:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by TheSpecialist

No, Epia 5000. I did also add a usb keyboard, and turned on all of the usb options turned on in my bios. Maybe that did it.

no i meant i have it running on a laptop.....

rgardjr · 02-09-2004, 03:54 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by swellfellaT

I've been using Delorme's latest version of Street Atlas and their usb receiver for a few months now... And I'm finding that neither of them are that great. Street Atlas isn't very accurate, which I find especially irritating. Furthermore, as many of you have mentioned, I can't get the usb receiver to respond after I come back up from hibernation (I have even tried a cable mod that one of you suggested, which was succesful and makes the gps stay on all the time, but doesn't seem to help re-establish usb connection to the unit). Needless to say, I'm irritated. This is the only issue in an otherwise great system. Any suggestions or feedback would be appreciated

I bit the bullet and ordered the serial cable from Delorme's website. I received it today and in 2 trys the earthmate and Destinator came out of hibernation without any problems. Now I have to dismantle the dash again to replace the USB cable with the new serial cable. I'll update this post later with some more testing 2/2 is pretty good, but it's still a little early to celebrate.
Update: The delorme serial cable is working with hibernation perfectly!