FAQ’s

Satellite navigation systems can only be programmed to go either by the fastest route or the shortest distance. When you or I decide which way to drive somewhere we usually do a combination of both. We may also not take a particular road because we do not like negotiating a junction at one end of it. Unfortunately satellite navigation systems are not clever enough yet to take all of this local information into consideration although you can program to go via a certain location, be it a town or road, so it will generally go along a route you prefer. The moral of this story is really to never bother using a Sat Nav to get somewhere you already know.

Heated front windscreens like those on Fords and Jaguars are fine. These windscreens have little metal elements in the glass but the unit can see between them without any additional accessories being required. It is heat reflective glass that you get on mostly French cars which is a problem.

Most probably; many modern French cars and a few high spec German models actually have a heat REFLECTIVE windscreen which has a metal coating all the way over the glass which is designed to reflect the suns UV rays and keep the car cool. However it also reflects satellite and radio signals. Your windscreen would have a purple tint if it had this and it would require you to mount a little antenna up behind the rear view mirror for satellite reception where the windscreens are free of this coating.

We would suggest you look at the Road Angel Navigator 7000. This is a waterproof unit to IPX6 and has a handlebar mounting option you can buy suitable for bicycles and most motorbikes, depending on your handlebar. This unit comes as standard with a windscreen mount for you car so you can use it on both modes of transport.

While many of the satellite navigation systems we sell have speed camera data on them, particularly the Snooper and Road Angel products if this is on interest to you, no system actually has any form of laser detection. This is for several reasons. It's illegal to have a product that detects laser in Europe and these units are designed for sale and use across Europe. Laser detection will also probably be illegal to have in the UK within a year or so.

However most importantly, laser detection generally would only confirm that you have been hit. Since it is a narrow light beam that is only emitted when the police are firing the gun at you, and it obviously works at the speed of light, your speed will have been taken before you can react. Therefore manufacturers like Snooper and Road Angel are now going down the route of alerts for the most common mobile sites via the GPS database to give you some advanced warning and you can also add your own alerts whenever you see a mobile van by pressing the store button on your unit as you pass.

GPS systems using TeleAtlas data have mapping for Northern Ireland included in the UK map set but not Southern Ireland. If you live in the Republic or close to the border we would recommend you look at products powered using NAVTEQ mapping who happen to include mapping for both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the UK mapping products.

This is correct, at a constant speed your GPS based speed reading will actually be more accurate although it will lag slightly when breaking or accelerating as the systems only recalibrate once every second. Car manufacturers deliberately over calibrate the car speedometers so that if you are caught speeding they cannot be held liable. The speed of your car is also taken from the revolutions of the wheels. If you change the wheels or tyres (such as put on a bigger set) this will effect your speed reading as you will actually need to be going faster to generate the same revolution of your wheel since the circumference is larger.