Road Angel Help

[reflexboy]

A friend of mine has recently purchased the new RoadAngel (£380). It works fine and we can recommend it 100%, but to trigger warnings via GPS the unit needs to be recieving at least three satilites. The problem is that it can take up to twenty minutes from switch on for this to happen. He has spoken to Blackspot (manufacturers)and is currently on his third replacement! This isn't good as the other day I had it in my Merc and we passed three fixed cameras and it didn't warn us of them as the satalite reception icon was not shown. Anyone else having problems with slow start up times to recieve sataliters or is my friend on his third duff one?

 

[Roy Newling]

I had a similar problem, but Blackspot recommended an external aerial and it now works a treat.

 

[reflexboy]

Thanks Roy-I may have to investigate this. How long generally does it now take to pick up the satalites from switch on? Has it dramatically improved it, and to what extent? Thanks in advance.

 

[Roy Newling]

It takes two minutes or less to pick up four sats.

 

[landover]

External receiver mate.. You need it in some places.

 

[gpilko]

As with anything that relies on receiving a satellite signal, you'll get a quicker lock on if the receiver can see more sky. If possible, try moving the receiver further back towards the windscreen, I use a 3rd party GPS system for Satnav, you?d be surprised what a difference something so small makes.

As numerous people have suggested, an external aerial is by far the best solution, you?ll find a massive difference if using of these. Not sure if its just my unit, but if you power it on for a couple of minutes while the car is stationary, it picks up the required number of satellites much quicker.

 

[grayb]

I find that my Road Angel usually gets three satellites after a minute or two - unless I'm parked outside my office, which must be in a shadow or something - when it can take 5 or 10 minutes. We are in slightly rolling countryside here!

 

[sgregory124]

Never had a problem with my Road Angel, switch on in the morning and out of the garage and the little bugger is all hooked up and ready to go as I turn the engine off and go back in the house...lol

Simon
1997 C36 AMG

 

[Mikesmerc]

Very handy devices. Pity they are illegal to use over here

 

[reflexboy]

Update

Well, now my mate is on his 3rd RoadAngel, I was so impressed I bought the company-sorry I mean I bought one (RoadAngel, not a shaver from Braun!) :lol:
I dont seem to have any problems with picking up 3 or 4 Sats about 2-3mins after power up, and it hasnt missed a Gatzo yet. What a fine piece of kit. The only thing I find annoying is the silly little power plug at the rear of the unit. I leave the windscrren mount on all the time and remove the unit when I leave the car, but plugging it back in every time is a fiddly pain in the rear. I leave the lead permanantly hardwire into an ignition aux swithced feed. What I would really like is a docking station type mount where I can just put the unit onto it and it connects the power as well-Just like my Nokia handsfree kit, that would be fantastic. Does anyone know if they make one?

 

[Supercue]

I also have a Road Angel - the Micro one, it's the Tits, never missed a gatso or a truvelo (Whatever its called) Go get one and get yourself a clen license within 4 years (If you have points on yours at the minute)

Just Realised that its not a Road Angel - It's a Road Pilot

Tha Laser gadget that goes with it is a bit annoying, but you can go into a setup menu, to turn the Volume down and bringing the beeping down to just a second, so now i can live with that.

I leave mine permantly mounted and update it once a month, The sat's are picked up as soon as i leave the house, usually 2-3 minutes.

The GPS box didnt work at first, when i had it installed, read Road Angels website, says tinted windows, Met Paint and a few other things can affect it, took it back to the company that installed it. They moved the box a few inches, then worked fine, didnt need an external unit.

So have a go at moving the gps unit before you invest in the external unit.

here's mine:

The MICRO ROAD PILOT, its that good i didnt even remember the name of it.

 

[JonW]

Just bought my first merc, C220 CDI and have mounted micro road pilot exactly in position as last post. Where can I get an ignition switched power supply from, everything in the fuse box next to the drivers door seems to be live full time. :?

 

[reflexboy]

Hi Jonw-i replied to you on this on the other post about Road Angel Mounting. Good luck mate.