Road Angel

[Xantiaman]

Following a near miss with nine points, I took the plunge and brought a road angel. Result? Works a treat with my Mercedes CLK (W 2000) but ****** useless in my 10k (brand new) Citroen Belingo. All down to the UV filter Citroen, Renault and the better Mercedes have on their windscreen.

Am very impressed with Road Angel when it works correctly. Also impressed with Blackspot (who manufacturer it, I think). Happy to give advice and offered full refund. Have decided to stick with it. BUT reason for this post is to say that in my opinion the box should have 'may not work in your car- unless you shell out a further £60"

Take care out there

 

[flagstaff]

and road angel is ...

 

[JimmyTD]

Have a look here: http://www.blackspot.co.uk

and here: http://194.154.162.24/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1960

 

[GrahamC230K]

Following a near miss with nine points, I took the plunge and brought a road angel. Result? Works a treat with my Mercedes CLK (W 2000) but ****** useless in my 10k (brand new) Citroen Belingo. All down to the UV filter Citroen, Renault and the better Mercedes have on their windscreen.

Am very impressed with Road Angel when it works correctly. Also impressed with Blackspot (who manufacturer it, I think). Happy to give advice and offered full refund. Have decided to stick with it. BUT reason for this post is to say that in my opinion the box should have 'may not work in your car- unless you shell out a further £60"

Take care out there

Not sure which source you read your sales material from, but everything I have read has made it clear certain types of filtered and heated screens can cause issues.

PS. I own one too, 100% recommend them.

 

[Xantiaman]

Its true the literature tells you of problems with some vehicles 'in paticular certain Renaults and Mercedes', but you have to purchase it, open the box and get to the book to find this out. No mention at all on the box it comes in.

As said no problem with the machine or performance (in the right car). I do have a niggling worry that more and more maunfactorers may go for heated screens or UV filters.

I suppose my intial post was a reaction to my introduction of what appears to be a good product being tainted.

 

[JimmyTD]

Most heated screens are OK as they have a gap down either side where there are no wires, the Road Angel can be mounted here.

The UV screens like fitted to most Renaults are a problem and you will need a re-radiating aerial in most cases.

 

[Xantiaman]

The saga continues:

Having decided to keep the road angel I found the wires supplied to link it to my laptop wouldn't fit any of my ports. I brought a couple of adaptors with no joy (I'm certainly no pc expert). So gave up and contacted Blackspot - the manufactorers. Was told I needed to buy a 'serial to usb adaptor' but there was a fair chance this wouldn't cope with the initial download and these cables dont perform well with XP. Was offered the chance to buy a dedicated modem at 'cost' price of £20. A search of suppliers showed the adaptor was going to cost at least £25 + PP, so opted for the modem. This came the next day and works like a dream.

Sadly I cannot get over my irritation that this product is sold in the knowledge that without additional purchases it will not work in a number of cars and cannot be linked to a lot of computers (it isn't as if I'm running an old 386). All I need now is an email to say they are going out of business and no more updates will be available.

There you go, rant finished, thanks for listening ........ wheres me blood pressure tablets?

 

[mark999]

I agrree that having to buy additional kit is anoying. I had a problem that after buying a serial to usb converter (as my laptop didn't have a serial port) the road angel would not load up the very first (large) update.
According to Blackspot this is a known issue with windows XP.
Once the 1st update was loaded using a mates computer subsequent updated using ny laptop worked fine.

 

[GrahamC230K]

I agrree that having to buy additional kit is anoying. I had a problem that after buying a serial to usb converter (as my laptop didn't have a serial port) the road angel would not load up the very first (large) update.
According to Blackspot this is a known issue with windows XP.
Once the 1st update was loaded using a mates computer subsequent updated using ny laptop worked fine.

USB serial ports are notoriously poor at behaving like a true serial port. PCMCIA serial ports are available, but expect to pay about £100.

You can buy a Road Angel modem too.

 

[peteruk300]

How much is the Road Angel setup :!:

 

[JimmyTD]

I agrree that having to buy additional kit is anoying. I had a problem that after buying a serial to usb converter (as my laptop didn't have a serial port) the road angel would not load up the very first (large) update.
According to Blackspot this is a known issue with windows XP.
Once the 1st update was loaded using a mates computer subsequent updated using ny laptop worked fine.

The dedicated Road Angel modem is a similiar price if not cheaper than a USB-Serial adaptor and more reliable.

 

[Phil S]

I picked up a Road Angel a couple of weeks ago, and had it wired into my SLK. I find the seperate laser attachment gets in the way a bit (positioned it next to my rear view mirror), but have been very happy with the performance so far. Coincidentally, it picked up a 'mobile' signal for the first time ever, when I was driving down the M1 last night. There was no policeman in sight, and I couldn't see any suspicious cars in front or behind - so I guess it could've just been a little glitch. Spotted EVERYTHING else absolutely brilliantly though (including the 'average' specs in roadworks), so I'm happy.

It sits in an SLK quite neatly, with the relevant wires tucking behind the windscreen lip. Easy to remove when needed too...

 

[R Phillips]

The unit works well (the speedo is great) but the database falls well short of what it should be.

 

[GrahamC230K]

The unit works well (the speedo is great) but the database falls well short of what it should be.

Want to share an example?

I have never had reason to fault it on it's data.

 

[R Phillips]

To many cameras not in the database, driving out of east London it missed 3 permanent cameras (in areas with good site for gps)
Over a year ago It warned me of a camera on the A38 as I had just left the markings (i.e.250yrds to late), I told them about this and they said they would update the site, but a year later it's still the same.

 

[grayb]

When you get a 'mobile' signal it can be due to a camera having been located at roadworks and then subsequently removed. I experienced this on the A21 near Sevenoaks the other day. There was no where for a policeman to hide and I remember that there was a camera there when the road was relaid a year or so ago.

I haven't made my initial download yet (bought it a week ago) as the Blackspot website seemed to be down last Sunday evening...

Seems good otherwise - though it has been sliding about a bit on top of my C43's dash. I think I may have to try the bracket with suckers rather than the non-slip pad on the underside of the unit.

 

[GrahamC230K]

Seems good otherwise - though it has been sliding about a bit on top of my C43's dash. I think I may have to try the bracket with suckers rather than the non-slip pad on the underside of the unit.

Got mine with a large piece of velcro sticking it to dash (not permanent adhesive). For anyone cornering properly the non-slip mat don't work!

 

[grayb]

hmm... are you sure the adhesive on the velcro pad is not too permanent? Hate to have a sticky mark left on the dash! :!:

 

[GrahamC230K]

hmm... are you sure the adhesive on the velcro pad is not too permanent? Hate to have a sticky mark left on the dash! :!:

Used my own velcro pads - not the one supplied, which was also a bit thick.

 

[mark999]

Road Angel has a function where you can store any cameras you spot (into a personal data file), however I dont like tha idea of fiddling with small buttons on the unit whilst driving.