Amundsen+ Sat Nav SD destinations

[Hockey]

Hi all. I have just bought a new 2013 Skoda Octavia L&K 1.4 TSI DSG. "I'm lovin it".

I would like to use my computer to plan my trips/routes, save them to a sd card and then import them to the sat nav. Is it possible to import routes from other sat navs, like Tom Tom?

My car has a Amundsen+ sat nav with DAB and in the user manual it says: "By using a web application that can be found on ŠKODA 's web site, it is possible to create destinations as visiting cards or pictures. These destinations can then easily be imported via the SD card into the radio navigation system." Hmmm.... I can not find this application anywhere.

Does anyone out there have a solution?

Hockey

[buddiedave]

Sorry Hockey dont know. Still waiting on the update for my 62 plate amundsen+ :(

[biggy7]

How do you go about getting an update for the amundsen+?

Online?

[buddiedave]

Waiting on dealer - I complained after buying a new car with out of date satnav.

I went to get the update the other week but it was the disc for the other system that had been released.

[allan1888]

You cant import routes on the Amundsen + or the Columbus units as far as I know. With regards to updated maps your local dealer can help with that some dealers will update for free some will charge for the update, it's down to the individual dealer. There is a chance that you have the latest maps just because certain roads ain't on it doesn't mean it's out of date. Take the m74 extension in Glasgow Columbus v8 was out well after the road was completed but the mapping database had not been updated by navteq but v9 now has the m74 extension due to it being update. The newest Amundsen update is v4 if I remember correctly but it ain't been out long so if you got your car before the update was out then the dealer can charge for it if they wish

[biggy7]

Anyway to tell what version I have at the moment?

[allan1888]

The dealer or someone with vcds would be able to tell you. I'm not sure if he Amundsen has the same hidden menu as the Columbus unit. Chances are you will be on version 3 or 4

[TDIum]

What hidden menu? Tell me how to try and find it and I'll find out if its there or not.

[allan1888]

on the columbus unit if you press and hold the setup button it can bring up a hidden menu if it has been activated by dealer or vcds. the menu shows FW version and map version information. Im not sure if the amundsen has this menu .

[biggy7]

Holding setup works. Thanks mate.

image sharing

[SDNav]

This might be of interest:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/187429-poi-on-sd-card/#entry3312854

[A6TDH]

Has anyone found a way to get "Safety Camera" info onto an Amundsen unit? Its a pain having to use Tom Tom when you have a system fitted in the car.

[brownfox]

No update is available yet for the amundson+ if your car is a 2012 on blackline its been checked and discussed fully on here we will just have to wait+wait+wait.

[Zhyryk]

My car has a Amundsen+ sat nav with DAB and in the user manual it says: "By using a web application that can be found on ŠKODA 's web site, it is possible to create destinations as visiting cards or pictures. These destinations can then easily be imported via the SD card into the radio navigation system." Hmmm.... I can not find this application anywhere.

Does anyone out there have a solution?

Hockey

With AMUNDSEN+ you can use only vCards in .vcf format. One .vcf file for one gps location.

I described the process (in russian) here http://www.drive2.ru/cars/skoda/octavia/octavia_mk2/zhyryk/journal/288230376152997283/ . I hope google translate will help you =)

P.S. Sorry for my english

Edited 13 August, 2013 by Zhyryk

[Chappers.]

Holding setup works. Thanks mate.

image sharing

 

I think that my Blackine may well be using an older version of the mapping software:

 

Checking it out mine is stating the following - 

 

Navigation data: version

0038

 

Navigation data: data medium

EUR_W_0038

 

Might have to contact the dealer - can anyone confirm that this is the V3 mapping?

[allan1888]

I would say that is V3 maps that you have. Speak to your dealer some will update them for free others may charge.

[pmillson]

With AMUNDSEN+ you can use only vCards in .vcf format. One .vcf file for one gps location.

I described the process (in russian) here http://www.drive2.ru/cars/skoda/octavia/octavia_mk2/zhyryk/journal/288230376152997283/ . I hope google translate will help you =)

P.S. Sorry for my english

 

Zhyryk's guide is very useful but it didn't quite work for me, because the manufacturers seem to have added another 'security' feature which prevents the machine from recognising vCards created in a text editor. (WHY? WHY? WHY?) However, if you use the VW 'Nav-Companion' web application, which is only on the VW website, not the Skoda website, to generate a vCard, it places an id tag on your SD card, and you can then create your own cards and navigate where you like. In case anyone is wondering 'Why bother?', this is the only way with the Amundsen that you can navigate to co-ordinates rather than postcodes, which is essential for someone like me who lives in a very rural area. So here, in case anyone else is interested, is the procedure, modified from Zhyryk's post. Sounds complicated, but really isn't, and works well.

 

- go to http://www.volkswagen.de/de/navigation/rns-510/adressnavigation.html and follow the instructions. Just enter a postcode in the box marked 'Ort', hit 'Suche starten', then select one of the places in the list and hit 'Speichern'. This will download a vCard of the chosen destination with the extension .vcf.

 

- Create a folder 'Destinations' in the root directory of a standard SD card.

 

- Copy the vCard you have downloaded to that 'Desinations' folder.

 

- Insert the SD card into the Amundsen, select 'Nav', then select any of the symbols for choosing a desination - Address, Destination Memory or Last Destinations.

 

- Machine should say 'Preparing vCards', then the bottom left button will change to 'SD Destinations'

 

- Select 'SD destinations', and the destination you downloaded will be displayed. You can import it to the machine's main memory or just select it and start navigation.

 

Now you can create your own vCards to navigate to any lat/long co-ordinates. The following is the minimum code required:

 

BEGIN:VCARD

VERSION:3.0

GEO:55.726302;-1.952211

FN;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Cocklawburn

END:VCARD

 

The co-ordinates must be in the form above, i.e. decimal, not minutes and seconds.You can get co-ordinates from Google Maps by right-clicking on a point and choosing 'What's here?', or you can convert from OS grid using a host of web pages and apps. The FN; line is the name of the destination. So simply copy and paste the above into a text editor (e.g Textedit (Mac) or Notebook (Windows)), substitute your own co-ordinates and place name, save in a PLAIN TEXT document with any filename you like (Amundsen will just read the FN name) and the extension .vcf, , and save to your SD card. One card per destination.

 

Works very well and a lot cheaper than scrapping the machine and buying a Columbus, which is what I was facing.

 

By the way if you want to update your maps with this version of the machine, you can only do so with a genuine Skoda SD card - machine will not read maps from any other card. No SD card is supplied with the machine. Each Skoda card is 'assigned' to a particular machine when it is first inserted, so you can't borrow one. How much do you think they want for a genuine Skoda SD card? £210. I kid you not. Next time, just buy a Tom Tom or Garmin - that's what I would have done but for various reasons I won't bore you with I need an on-board machine.

 

Hope this is useful to someone.

Edited 8 November, 2013 by pmillson

[philroche]

@pmillson Thanks for posting. That worked perfectly for me too. I had all my POIs in GPX format (Garmin) and used http://www.cacheblogger.de/gpx2vcf/index.html to convert to VCF. I had over a hundred VCF files in my Destinations directory on the SD card and it was able to read them all.

[pmillson]

Zhyryk's guide is very useful but it didn't quite work for me, because the manufacturers seem to have added another 'security' feature which prevents the machine from recognising vCards created in a text editor. (WHY? WHY? WHY?) However, if you use the VW 'Nav-Companion' web application, which is only on the VW website, not the Skoda website, to generate a vCard, it places an id tag on your SD card, and you can then create your own cards and navigate where you like. In case anyone is wondering 'Why bother?', this is the only way with the Amundsen that you can navigate to co-ordinates rather than postcodes, which is essential for someone like me who lives in a very rural area. So here, in case anyone else is interested, is the procedure, modified from Zhyryk's post. Sounds complicated, but really isn't, and works well.

 

- go to http://www.volkswagen.de/de/navigation/rns-510/adressnavigation.html and follow the instructions. Just enter a postcode in the box marked 'Ort', hit 'Suche starten', then select one of the places in the list and hit 'Speichern'. This will download a vCard of the chosen destination with the extension .vcf.

 

- Create a folder 'Destinations' in the root directory of a standard SD card.

 

- Copy the vCard you have downloaded to that 'Desinations' folder.

 

- Insert the SD card into the Amundsen, select 'Nav', then select any of the symbols for choosing a desination - Address, Destination Memory or Last Destinations.

 

- Machine should say 'Preparing vCards', then the bottom left button will change to 'SD Destinations'

 

- Select 'SD destinations', and the destination you downloaded will be displayed. You can import it to the machine's main memory or just select it and start navigation.

 

Now you can create your own vCards to navigate to any lat/long co-ordinates. The following is the minimum code required:

 

BEGIN:VCARD

VERSION:3.0

GEO:55.726302;-1.952211

FN;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Cocklawburn

END:VCARD

 

The co-ordinates must be in the form above, i.e. decimal, not minutes and seconds.You can get co-ordinates from Google Maps by right-clicking on a point and choosing 'What's here?', or you can convert from OS grid using a host of web pages and apps. The FN; line is the name of the destination. So simply copy and paste the above into a text editor (e.g Textedit (Mac) or Notebook (Windows)), substitute your own co-ordinates and place name, save in a PLAIN TEXT document with any filename you like (Amundsen will just read the FN name) and the extension .vcf, , and save to your SD card. One card per destination.

 

Works very well and a lot cheaper than scrapping the machine and buying a Columbus, which is what I was facing.

 

By the way if you want to update your maps with this version of the machine, you can only do so with a genuine Skoda SD card - machine will not read maps from any other card. No SD card is supplied with the machine. Each Skoda card is 'assigned' to a particular machine when it is first inserted, so you can't borrow one. How much do you think they want for a genuine Skoda SD card? £210. I kid you not. Next time, just buy a Tom Tom or Garmin - that's what I would have done but for various reasons I won't bore you with I need an on-board machine.

 

Hope this is useful to someone.

Update: after a good deal of confusion, and this is something that could confuse a stupid person, I have finally realised, with the help of a hex editor, that the problem is nothing to do with id tags or security, it's to do with the way Macs and Windows encode carriage returns in unicode documents. If you create a plain text document in a Mac, and type in the code for the vCard,  the underlying hex code for the carriage returns will mean that the Amundsen does not recognise the vCard. If you download from the VW website and edit the file, it works (as long as you don't replace the carriage returns) because you have Windows-encoded carriage returns (0D 0A). Mac carriage returns are just 0A. If you have a Windows computer, you don't have a problem: just use the above vCard code and edit and save in plain text. If you have a Mac, you need to generate the file on a Windows machine (Windows emulator might work), or download from the VW Navcompanion app as above and edit, or edit the code in a hex editor. God the hours I've wasted on this. OCD.