Rand McNally 730....any good?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by americanmadetrucker, Dec 1, 2015.

  1. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Good thinking.. if 13'6" you cannot fit very easily under a 13'2" RR bridge. If you remember where it is I can Google it and RM can check to make sure it is correctly entered into the Map DB.
     
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  3. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    For long distances, google + a trucker atlas is best. Anything over ~500 miles and the unit seems to lack adequate RAM to route consistently & optimally. This is with the 520, but I hear the same issues persist on the x30's...

    This has nothing to do STAA restrictions, because once you get closer and recalculate it'll come up with the correct route.

    When chosing "shorter" routes (instead of "faster"), you'll almost always get a longer, and bizarre, route.

    2 years after reporting bugs like erroneous "dirt road warnings" going to every truck stop off i80 in Nebraska, they still persist.

    The maps are ~1 year out of date by the time they are finally released. And instead of releasing regular map updates, RM seems to wait to release them when they have a big new feature update -- about once every year... So you'll often find yourself on a road while the RM shows you in a field and keeps trying to recalculate. This has nothing to do with solar flares or satellite issues -- its a 1-2 year-old road RM doesn't recognize. And those satellite issues? they do happen and they seem to affect the RM far more severely than a cell phone gps (possibly because android can use GPS and cellular positioning).

    Navi.exe errors cause the unit to crash

    They keep piling on new features instead of focusing on fixing the existing bugs. And the new features rarely help you to do a better job navigating (they're not something useful like a satellite view, they're more like "that's neat I guess.")


    So what does it do OK? It'll probably route you on a road that is truck legal. Rarely the optimal route, but most of the time legal. Of course there are exceptions (last week it wanted me to take County Road 195 from US23 to the General Mills warehouse in Caledonia, OH. CR195 has a 12T weight limit through Caledonia)...

    And it is useful for searching for upcoming truckstops along your route.

    But really the main thing RM has going for it is Mark Kling helping out on the forums.


    Overall? It is a flawed tool in a field of bad choices that still manages to be useful.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2015
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  4. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    Yes, well, that won't work if you are running Linux like I am.
    Will it?

    Windows or Mac, but they don't see fit to include an open source program for Linux users.
    Why is that?
     
  5. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Expand the above to see comments.
     
  6. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Linux is not supported.

    That is an RM business decision above me in the food chain.
     
  7. Moosetek13

    Moosetek13 Road Train Member

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    I know, yet you made a blanket statement...
    You need a computer with connection to the Internet.

    You actually need a computer with an internet connection using a supported operating system - which doesn't include Linux.
     
  8. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    For those that need details...

    A working TND, with a working Computer either a PC with a Windows or a Mac operating system. A valid USB cable that is RM supplied with your purchase that was and should be included in the box you opened. Using the link of www.randmcnally.com/dock to download the correct Dock version, with your Anti-Virus disabled on the install. With your valid computer on either Windows or Mac, connected via Wi-Fi or Lan to a internet connection. If loading Maps, then suggest a high speed network.

    For those that did not understand the post, a user had mentioned they used a phone connected to a HotSpot to update the TND. The Tablet is the only RM GPS that can be updated via a Hotspot from a device.
     
  9. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    Set trailer to 48' 96"
    Route from Chicago to Phoenix

    repeat 10 times. It'll probably pick 3 different routes with 50-100 miles difference.

    On all of those routes, note the final leg between Gallup and Phoenix. When the route originates in Chicago, it will stick to the interstate to Flagstaff and then come down 17.

    Now route from Gallup to Phoenix. It'll (correctly) shave 50 miles and go through Payson, AZ.


    I'm on the latest maps... TA in Grand Island, TA in Ogallala, Flying J in Big Springs, etc

    Satellite view. As in an overhead image of the actual location (e.g. to see if truck entrance is on a different street from corporate address)

    Streetview hasn't been on that road, but the signs are posted at each intersection.

    Here you can sorta see the "Weight Limit 12 tons" sign looking down 195 from CR174:
    Screenshot_2015-12-05-19-37-06.png
     
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  10. Mark Kling

    Mark Kling Technology Contributor

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    Expand above to see remarks.

    These are all items that should have been posted in the TND support Thread. Issues cannot be fixed if not known, and then later popped as a negative against the TND when it was a map issue.

    Other GPS units (Than RM) also use the HERE maps, so the issue would be with anyone using HERE.

    It may seem trivial to find an issue and don't say anything, but hold it against a company. You (Drivers) see these issues, but don't mention them. How will anything get updated/fixed if not known?

    It took me all of about 20 minutes to find the three truck stops, verify the roads in HERE, and then submit an update to HERE for them to verify the edits. They should appear corrected in the next major map update and you the driver will not see the "dirt road" warning again. But, again, do not say anything and the issue persists for ALL drivers and all GPS units using the HERE Maps.
     
  11. double yellow

    double yellow Road Train Member

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    You might get more reports if RM didn't ignore them. I used to post almost daily in the support thread, but figured why bother...


    TA Ogallala dirt road warning reported March 2014: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...mcnally-products.108112/page-694#post-3877383

    Big Springs, Ne dirt road warning reported March 2015: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...roducts-part-two.255563/page-153#post-4530564


    Gallup to Phoenix routing issue reported in October (yeah, it is a different origin, but gallup is on every route from Chicago to Phoenix so the ideal route from gallup to Phoenix should be a part of the ideal route from Chicago to Phoenix)
     
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