I find the sat nav really difficult to use compared to our other car (Nissan Juke). There doesn't seem to be an option to simply type in a post code and instead I'm required to know city, street and then an intersecting street of the place I want to go!

Am I missing something here? Is there an option I've missed in the settings to find places by using a postcode?

Click on city, before entering anything by the number pad there is a postcode button

I feel so dumb... I've been annoyed by this for 2 weeks lol

I feel so dumb... I've been annoyed by this for 2 weeks lol

 

This is what forums are all about... hints, tips and sharing knowledge

 

Enjoy

Edited 21 January, 201610 yr by RickTT

Did exactly the same thing and had to ask on the forum and also after the dealer had showed me how to do it when I picked the car up!

and I still have to remember how to find the postcode button everytime I use the thing, it's actually not very intuitive.

I use it six-ten times a day, took a while but it's quick once you get used to it. I had my trusty tomtom for 6 years!

I still use my Garmin as some of the routing used by the Škoda is a little off! It has tried to send me a longer route on a number of occasions which seem to be a loop as you end up back where you were ten minutes earlier! The algorithm needs a few tweaks.

Seeing as we're on the topic of the sat nav, and my S3 isn't built yet so I can't check:

 

Does anyone know whether the Columbus unit on the SE-L Executive comes with the static speed camera location database/POIs and real time traffic built in? Or do you need to somehow add them later? Speed camera locations and real time traffic are two things I've really come to love in my TomTom unit (built into my current Mazda 6.

They are the two things I miss the most! No camera locations and the traffic avoidance is no where near as good as on my tomtom. However, I really do like the Columbus!

Agree with the dodgy routing - I have gone round in circles twice and in the early part of a journey (where I know where I am) the SATNAV has tried to take me on some obscure routes!  It even tries to take me down a lane that hasn't been a road for 25 yrs!

Does anyone know whether the Columbus unit on the SE-L Executive comes with the static speed camera location database/POIs and real time traffic built in? Or do you need to somehow add them later? Speed camera locations and real time traffic are two things I've really come to love in my TomTom unit (built into my current Mazda 6.

You'll need to import your speed camera database as a Personal POI. This needs to be converted to a "system update" which can be done online on several POI web sites (the option is usually VW Discover Nav Pro) or use the Skoda MyDestinations site.

The Columbus navigation relies on RDS-TMC for traffic updates.

I'm happy with the Satnav. My TomTom was 9 years old so didn't have any fancy traffic avoidance anyway.... Anything the Columbus has is a bonus :-)

You'll need to import your speed camera database as a Personal POI. This needs to be converted to a "system update" which can be done online on several POI web sites (the option is usually VW Discover Nav Pro) or use the Skoda MyDestinations site.

The Columbus navigation relies on RDS-TMC for traffic updates.

 

Good to know it's possible BillyJim. Thanks for replying.

I have the amundsden and find the entry of destinations, colour scheme and position of the screen in the car difficult to get used to. Sure I can look at the maxidot but it's nowhere near as clear in its guidance as my 2 year old tom tom. This also has liftime map and traffic. Downside of course is having it attached to the windscreen with wires trailing.

Does your external GPS work well with the heated windshield?

BillyJim

I have never heard my Columbus give out radar speed cameras, can not find any adjustments to change to get it to say when they occur? Am I missing something?

When you import a new collection of POI on the Skoda MyDestinations site there is a check box to add a sound alert. Theoretically if you have a speed camera database you can put that into MyDestinations using one of the supported formats, tick the sound alert box and then the site produces a zip file which you need to unzip to the root of a blank SD card. Then put the SD card in the car and go into the NAV menu option to update and it finds the POIs and uploads them to the car. The thing you can't do is change the amount of warning you get when you reach a POI that has a sound alert. It's a fixed value (I'm not sure what that value is).

 

Now I say theoretically becuase I tried using MyDestinations for a camera database and it either crashed in the web page or an error occurs when trying to update the satnav. I still use MyDestinations for my own personal POIs (about 200 locations) and it all works fine. As soon as I tried a cam database with over 5000 locations I got the problems I mentioned.

 

BillyJim uses software called 'POIbase' to get speed cams into the car navigation system. It's probably a better bet than MyDestinations but I didn't get on with the software so I use an app on my smartphone instead. I got CamerAlert - http://www.cameralert.com/ which uses the pocketgpsworld database for a £20 annual fee. The Phone connects to bluetooth so I get audio alerts through the car speakers and they are spoken alerts telling me the type of camera and speed restriction. You can also set how far in advance you recieve the warnings. I've been using it over the last few weeks now and it's been spot on. Plus, you can turn off the map mode so it uses no mobile data, just a GPS signal. I run the app, chuck the phone into the car phonebox and it's all set. The database gets updated regularly too.

I used the Sat Nav for the first time in earnest yesterday to go somewhere I'd never been before.

 

It didn't get off to a great start as you can either try the address or input the postcode, not both.

 

I was presented with 3 route choices & picked the one with what looked like the stopwatch next to it thinking that was obviously the fastest route (hadn't got round to reading the instructions) & set off, my wife was in our Yeti using an iPad, an 8 year old & Googlemaps. Our routes diverged after 20 miles. I realised something was badly wrong when it took me through several villages with 20mph zones & at one point down a no through road! I eventually looked in settings & realised that it was going the shortest route rather than the fastest - very misleading icon next to the route choice. Suffice to say I arrived about 10 min later than my wife who on the whole drives slower than I do.

 

This of course proved nothing except that this is my first Sat Nav that is not straight forward & I actually will have to read the instructions! I'm going to try it again next weekend with the correct settings & hope it can send me on a more sensible route, at least matching Googlemaps.

It shows a picture of all three routes which are also colour coded. Can't see how it went wrong

BillyJim

I have never heard my Columbus give out radar speed cameras, can not find any adjustments to change to get it to say when they occur? Am I missing something?

You need to enable it in Navigation: Settings -> Nav. announcement -> Note: "My POIs".

 

Quoted from the Columbus manual...

■ Note: “My POIs” - Turn on/off an audible indication when approaching a custom POI (if supported by the imported custom POI)

 

It sounds the default "bong" tone. The distance cannot be specified (AFAIK), but it is dynamic. The faster you travel, the further the advance warning.

Nor is it directional. It will warn of a nearby POI even if it isn't on your route.

Hi, I do find postcode entry slightly annoying, as starts with numeric keypad, so always have to change to ABC option, to enter the first letter.

Mike

Hi, I do find postcode entry slightly annoying, as starts with numeric keypad, so always have to change to ABC option, to enter the first letter.

Mike

It's a UK thing, in Europe all the postcodes/zip codes are just numeric I'm afraid.

errot

Edited 28 January, 201610 yr by FelisBengalensis

Does your external GPS work well with the heated windshield?

Yes, but putting the Garmin near the dashboard centre speaker really causes trouble. I suspect the magnet is playing havoc with the compass and in turn upsetting the GPS as it can't make its mind up where it's going! My dash cam has no trouble at all.

no prob with GPS reception

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/386558-which-phone-holder/?p=4515631