RKT BMR
10-26-2003, 10:07 AM
I configured the RKT loaded, with the NAV, and absolutely love it. It has been an indispensible tool on more occasions than I can recite. Even thought the OEM system (especially the MkIII system from 2001) is rather low-tech compared to what's available, I like it nonetheless, and am quite satisfied.
Now, on to the point of this thread. One little annoyance of the system is that if you don't clear out a destination after arrival, the system will continue to perform routing calculations and draw a white route line on the map even though it is not providing guidance, to the destination information stored. This can be really annoying.
I've found a way to turn this "bug" to my advantage, however, and thought someone else might find this useful.
Most of the miles put on my car are commuting the 30 mile trip to work and back from Scotts Valley, CA, to HP in Cupertino, M-F. As such, the nav system is pointless for this driving. What's more, displaying the map for this trip was novel and interesting at first, but now is just stupid and boring, so lately I've been experimeting with displaying the audio screen, the enhanced OBC, or just shutting the thing off entirely, for my ordinary driving around familiar environs where the nav and the map display are just techno window dressing.
I've settled on the OBC. The reason is driven by a novel use of the "bug" with the nav: By setting my destination to my home location, even though the nav is not providing guidance, it calculates distance and ETA to the "destination" continously, and this data is displayed in the full (not split) screen display of the OBC. So, at all times I have an estimate of my ETA for getting home, no matter where I am "over the hill" (the Santa Cruz Mountains). This has been extremely useful on many occasions in the last month, especially when talking to my wife and letting her know when I'll be home. It's also useful in figuring out if I have enough time to go somewhere and/or make a stop when I have a definite time I have to be home for some reason.
So, this is the "normal" mode of my nav display these days. I only switch to the map when I need to figure out some streets, and then use the "destination input map" to scroll around the area I need to look at.
NOTE: I've been diligent in upgrading the nav software as new versions have come out. I'm currently running v22, which has the split-screen capability (introduced in v18). However, the MkIII systems come stock with v17, which does not do split screen. Can't remember if v17 gives ETA and distance data in the OBC.
Now, on to the point of this thread. One little annoyance of the system is that if you don't clear out a destination after arrival, the system will continue to perform routing calculations and draw a white route line on the map even though it is not providing guidance, to the destination information stored. This can be really annoying.
I've found a way to turn this "bug" to my advantage, however, and thought someone else might find this useful.
Most of the miles put on my car are commuting the 30 mile trip to work and back from Scotts Valley, CA, to HP in Cupertino, M-F. As such, the nav system is pointless for this driving. What's more, displaying the map for this trip was novel and interesting at first, but now is just stupid and boring, so lately I've been experimeting with displaying the audio screen, the enhanced OBC, or just shutting the thing off entirely, for my ordinary driving around familiar environs where the nav and the map display are just techno window dressing.
I've settled on the OBC. The reason is driven by a novel use of the "bug" with the nav: By setting my destination to my home location, even though the nav is not providing guidance, it calculates distance and ETA to the "destination" continously, and this data is displayed in the full (not split) screen display of the OBC. So, at all times I have an estimate of my ETA for getting home, no matter where I am "over the hill" (the Santa Cruz Mountains). This has been extremely useful on many occasions in the last month, especially when talking to my wife and letting her know when I'll be home. It's also useful in figuring out if I have enough time to go somewhere and/or make a stop when I have a definite time I have to be home for some reason.
So, this is the "normal" mode of my nav display these days. I only switch to the map when I need to figure out some streets, and then use the "destination input map" to scroll around the area I need to look at.
NOTE: I've been diligent in upgrading the nav software as new versions have come out. I'm currently running v22, which has the split-screen capability (introduced in v18). However, the MkIII systems come stock with v17, which does not do split screen. Can't remember if v17 gives ETA and distance data in the OBC.