GPSW.CO.UK StreetPilot III Tips

[mgillespie]

Just a thread to collate snippets of info from those that bought a cheapo StreetPilot III from GPSW.CO.UK

I'll start with the software setup and things I discovered last night.

Setting up the software, you are entitled to a free update to Version 8 maps DVD (unit is supplied with V7). If you phone Garmin, they will post one out to you in a day or so. Installation is a pain in the butt.

1/ You have to install the V7 maps, that came with the unit before you can update to V8. Install the single CD in the paper wallet, then when prompted feed in the disks from the V7 disks in the plastic case. When it asks for Disk 1, this is Disk 1 from the plastic case V7 maps, NOT disk 1 from the paper CD case!! When finished, skip the registration wizard, and proceed to updating MapSource BEFORE udating.

2/ I had to load an updated version of mapsource before it would talk to the USB card reader or unlock the maps correctly. There is a "Check for Updates" option on one of the MapSource menus, or the direct link at posted at the bottom. After updating to 6.11.1, things worked correctly.

3/ Register the V7 maps using the yellow card that comes in the box using the MapSource registration wizard. Make sure you register with Garmin, and create an account when prompted, you will need it later to upgrade.

4/ You can then upgrade the maps to V8. I tried to register them from within MapSource, but never managed it. However I did manage to get a new unlock key from the Garmin software update site listed at the bottom of this post. The site gave me a new unlock key for V8 maps DVD.

5/ Note, at this point, you will have V7 AND V8 maps installed, taking up unnecessary room on your PC. You can uninstall the "Mapsource V7 Europe" from Add/Remove programs, and it will leave you with just the V8 Maps.


6/ There is also a device updater on the CDROM in one of the directories (I think it's called WebUpdater). Connect the StreetPilot III using the supplied serial lead, and run it up. It will connect to the Garmin server, and determine if the software in the StreetPilot III is upto date. Mine was, as it was the latest 2.80. Worth checking thou. Web Updater may also want to update itself. If you are on a slow connection, you way want to check the software version using the System Information on the StreetPilot III, if it's already 2.80 skip all of this..

Anything else I find, I will post it here. Would be nice to know if there are any hacks to get speed camera databases on the unit. I know the unit does not support POI (Points Of Interest), but it does support WayPoints. If someone knows how to use WayPoints for Camera Databases, please enlighten...

Once we have some usefull info gathers, I will "Wikify" it.

Useful Links:

GPSW StreetPilot III Deal (http://www.gpsw.co.uk/details/prod3167.html)
Garmin Map Update Site (http://www.garmin.com/unlock/update.jsp)
MapSource 6.11.1 Update (http://downloads.garmin.com/MapSource_6111.exe)

[Rubberchicken]

I have a line on some speed cam database... Will investigate, and post here about it.

Furthermore:

When installing Mapsource, you get a choice about where to put it. I've found that while you do get a choice, it really REALLY wants to be in c:\garmin\.

Since my C drive was only 2 gigs (I'm a linux/machead, it's the first time in 5+ years that that win98 box is doing something useful) I put in and installed on a bigger D drive. No go. It lets me do the full install, but won't run.

Then copying all of C onto D and booting from the big one gave me a bigger disk, but by then my cdrom had moved from E to D and the registry still had E in it so the installer shat itself, requiring regedit to unfsck it.

Anyway. Works fine now, upgraded to 6.11something as well, all is fine.

Still have to hunt down some v8 maps though.

[anton88]

Mine arrived today - at the time i thought oh cr*p - i should have ordered the honda one, but i ordered the BEC01 bundle - glad i did. I was going to leave it and see what arrived. All ok.

Now ive just got to learn how to use it - will be sitting down tonight to read the Instructions and have a play about :D

Sorry this was me - somehow i managed to post a reply without signing in :?: :?: :?: :?: :? :? :? :? :? :?

[DaveS]

The forum hasn't been set-up properly.
I'll sort it.

[anton88]

been playing with the gps - Thanks mgillespie - your initial post saved a lot of hair pulling and screaming moments :D

The only trouble i'm having is with the usb card reader - ive tried loading all the usb drivers but cant get the damned thing to work :? Ive been on the garmin website and followed their suggestions but to no avail so far.

So i'm using the serial port cable direct to the gps with the card in the gps, but its taking 2 hours to download 50mb of maps so far :x

I'll try again tommorroe when im more awake incase i've missed something.

[anton88]

Having fun learning what the gps can do (when i should be working :oops: ).

Most of you experienced gps users probably know this already, but you can add waypoints into the memory -i think this is really cool - so far added home (incase i forget where it is) :D , Ace Cafe and Chelsea Bridge - if we are ever to meet there again :? .

Still havent used it in the car or on bike yet - will be using it tonight or tomorrow properly :)

Will be looking forward to adding waypoints for byways, so i can find them without keep stopping to look at a bloody map. Also if i find a new trail or something i can add it as a waypoint whilst i'm there to find it again in future - as my memory is not so good sometimes.

Also handy is that it shows my speed - my bike speedo is in kph, and the cycle speedo doesnt have a light, so i cant tell exactly how fast i'm going at night! - so this will be good when i get it wired up foir the bike :)

[Rubberchicken]

Also if i find a new trail or something i can add it as a waypoint whilst i'm there to find it again in future - as my memory is not so good sometimes.
It's got a track log that you can download onto your computer, so you can see where you've been.

I think I've heard someone say that it just overwrites itself when the buffer is full, so you can keep it running all the time and you'll have at least the last X miles of wherever you've been... (X being at the very least a couple hundred miles, mine hasn't filled up yet)

[mgillespie]

The only trouble i'm having is with the usb card reader - ive tried loading all the usb drivers but cant get the damned thing to work :? Ive been on the garmin website and followed their suggestions but to no avail so far.


I had this problem, I tried to copy maps using MapSource, and it kept telling me the card was not writable. I updated the Mapsource to the latest version, 6.11.1 and it fixed it.

[mgillespie]

Wiki page in progress here:


http://wiki.xrv.org.uk/index.php/Garmin_Street_Pilot_III

[Kerbs]

Got mine yesterday have been trying for hours to unlock, download etc. etc
Am I the only one who can't get the b****y thing to work?
Best tip I can think of is don't go Garmin. What a pain in the arse, think I'll bin it and stick with maps at least that would be better for the old blood pressure!!!!!

[mgillespie]

I has loads of problems, until I downloaded the MapSource 10.11.1 update, after that, everything just worked.

[anton88]

I has loads of problems, until I downloaded the MapSource 10.11.1 update, after that, everything just worked.

Agreed - it seems you can only get the map unlock code to work once youve downloaded the mapsource update. :roll: - it was driving me mad at first :twisted:

KERBS - please persevere, as once you get everything working its well worth it :D :D I'm well chuffed with mine. I'm definatley no computer expert, and the Garmin instructions for the initial set up are not brilliant, but i'm sure you'll get there :wink: .

[Cie]

Guys, this is the kind of stuff that needs to go in the wiki :)

Nice looking page by the way Mark

[Kerbs]

Thanks for the encouragement Anton88 and I agree with Cie, well done Mark.
BUT having just gone through it all again and spent another couple of hours of frustration I think I shall contact Garmin on Monday , tell them what an absolute load of crap their instalation proceedure is and invite them to stick one Street Pilot 111 as far up their fundamental orifice as is possible.
No matter how good the product is supposed to be, if you can't access it, it becomes yet another piece of expensive, useless junk.
Thats my rant over. Oh b****x I still don't feel better!!!!!!!

Going to put the bloody thing back in it's box and try and forget about it cos I'm due in hospital tomorrow for surgery, which they won't do if the blood pressure is high. At the moment, well since I got the SP111, mine is through the roof!!!!

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Perhaps someone who lives nearby can help Kerbs out after he returns from his surgery. Two heads are better than one, and all that.

Hope it goes well, mate.

[Rubberchicken]

Going to put the bloody thing back in it's box and try and forget about it cos I'm due in hospital tomorrow for surgery, which they won't do if the blood pressure is high. At the moment, well since I got the SP111, mine is through the roof!!!!
I feel your pain.

I'm a mac/linuxhead and I think windows is braindead, but for this (and the occasional dos game and IE-only thing) I've got an old "sacrificial" Wintendo around...

I have a really short fuse when it comes to all things windows. Which is exactly what you don't need.

The trick I've discovered is that it HAS to be installed in c:\garmin, or it just won't work. (But it will only tell you that after you've fed all the cd's through, ofcourse.)

[anton88]

Got the usb card reader working at last. :D :D :D

Downloaded the 6.11.1 update again, and ran it. Then inserted the card reader into my pc, and this time it recognized it, then used add new hardware wizard to update drivers - now all working :D.

:?: Does anyone have any thoughts on wiring up the Street Pilot111 :?:

I was thinking of wiring it into the lights/horn or indicators, but when i switch the ignition off, the gps will switch off, as i'm not going to keep batteries in it - they add quite a bit of weight. I am thinking of soldering some connectors to the supplied power cable from GPS world and connecting it directly to the battery as the cable is long enough.

Would this be safe to do, as i'm no electrical expert, and i dont want to drain the battery (the cable already has an in line fuse fitted) .

Any feedback gratefully received.
Thanks Ant.

[mgillespie]

Well, I wired mine to the switched ignition, as I don't see why I would want it on when the ignition is off (and I don't want it to drain the bike battery if I forget to switch it off, and having to manually switch it off will become tiresome very quickly.... )

I used the feed to the tripometer and soldered the leads onto that, as there is a 12v and a GND in that lead, and it's easy to tap into with the screen removed. Keep the fuse in-line. Watch out, Black is +12v (not GND as you would expect...)

[Cie]

I ran the power/speaker lead that came with the unit, under the tank with the rest of the loom.

I waited until I was fitting the autocom, so it wasn't unnecessary faffing. So I have a single clean cable powering it, and feeding the intercom. It's powered from the switched side, in the fuze box, as per the wiki switched supply article.

I have a set of batteries in the GPS, so I can have the unit on when the bike's off. It's ideal this way, getting a feed from the bike, when you turn the bike off, the GPS gives you 30 seconds to tell it to switch to it's own batteries, or it powers down.

[anton88]

Thanks guys, I think i'll have to save up for some more rechargable batteries ! - as i like the idea of still being able to use the gps off the bike.

At the moment i'm using the batteries from my sons (er mine :oops: ) remote control car.

I had a look at the wiki, but on the dominator i havent got room in the fusebox to fit the wire to, and i dont have the @ tripmeter.

I'll try and carefully work out where i can wire it into - try and work out which bits are 12v :? If i get it sorted i'll post results here and get my arse into gear and try and put something on the wiki.

Had a bad experience when i fitted a cd player to my car many years ago - used a multimeter to try and check voltages, and did something wrong, and ended up melting the plastic on the multimeter wires and burnt some holes in my fleece :oops: :oops: :oops:

My fault i spose - i was always daydreaming in my physics lessons (i remember bits about currents and ohms but thats about it :oops:

[mgillespie]

Most things on the bike are switched earth. meaning that everything has a live feed, and any switches (tank level, neutrel indicator etc etc) have the switch on the GND side. This means you can pick up a switched live from any of these, and use a seperate ground termination.

You should note this is only good for low current devices. Anything that need some meaty power should be feed via a relay. Here is a good article.

http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html

I may Wikifiy something similar.

[anton88]

Thanks chappies :D :D :D :D :D :D , i'm now a very happy man - managed to wire up the gps power supply without blowing anything up :D

Had to take my front fairing off to get to all my wiring. Managed to find a switched Live wire and wired into that ok (i think its for the headlights - not 100% sure - its like sphagetti junction in there), and fitted the earth into the earth wire for the left indicator.

Whats better, both these wires had rubber sealed bullet connectors, so i just fed the bare ends through the centres of the male parts (ooo err) and folded the tips back over, and then they fitted snuggly into the female parts ( :oops: ). All tight and waterproof :D

Checked and all working ok - gps can be switched on when ignition on, and switches off when ignition off - just ordered some spare rechargable batteries for when off the bike).

[mgillespie]

Most things on the bike are switched earth. meaning that everything has a live feed(either permenent or ignition switched live), and any switches (tank level, neutrel indicator etc etc) have the switch on the GND side. This means you can pick up a switched live from any of these, and use a seperate ground termination.

You should note this is only good for low current devices. Anything that need some meaty power should be feed via a relay. Here is a good article.

http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html

I may Wikifiy something similar.

[anton88]

Has anyone successfully used the uk Gatso maps on their StreetPilot 111?

I went through the wiki and downloaded the UK Gatso maps, but before i download them onto my gps, I am just wondering if it will slow the system down a lot, as there are over 3000 listed as waypoints, and i thought the streetpilot 111 could only hold 500 waypoints ?

I've got Citynavigator V8 in the on its way in the post to me, so when it arrives i'll have a go, but just wondered if anyone else already using this?

Cheers Ant.

[Cie]

I think Mark suggests cutting out the cameras that aren't in your area

[mgillespie]

Import them in, sort them by longitude or latitude, and then remove the ones you don't want.

Anyone know a tool that sorts the references by country from the Lat/Long, that would be a handy way to create seperate files by county.

[Kerbs]

Hi guys I'm now back in the real world, surgery over, offending bits gone and just waiting for the punctures to heal and I'll be back on the bike again. With a working Street Pilot 111.
Garmin were disinclined to shove it, unfortunately halfway through our little chat the phone went dead!! Anyway whilst I was out of circulation a mate of mine (web guru ) spent a few hours with it and got it sorted.
Thanks for the good wishes Dee Duble Yuh and Ant you were so right, it is certainly worth sticking with.
Thanks for the support guys. Geuss what, on the pre op check they said my blood pressure was a little high!! What a difference a week can make.

Kerbs

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Welcome back.

If you've really just shoved bare wire ends into the female bullet conncetors you might find they become unreliable. If so, get proper male items; much bigger and firmer to ensure good penetration... or am I thinking of something else?

Secondly, if you use a switched live, doesn't the thing go off when you stop for fuel? A permanent live seems more sensible to me. You're unlikely to leave the device on the bike when not in use, so battery draining isn't e problem.

[Kerbs]

Thanks DDY.
I too ordered the Honda pack so got the wrong Ram mount, however I had already ordered the Touratech lockable mount which arrived today and is now fitted. Have also plumbed in the electrics direct to battery so it's allready for when i'm clear to ride. Medics say another 3 weeks. B****x to that summeris too short.
I would recomend to have a look at the Touratech mount, it really is a cracking bit of kit and mounted on the crossbar I can still see both speedo and tacho.
I agree with you DDY wiring direct is the best option especially as when not in use my @ is permanently on an Optimate so no worries about drain.
Chuffed to bits with the set up, can't ride it so I'm going to have a beer or two get it out of the workshop and give it a clean then have another beer or two. Under orders got to take it easy!!!!!!

Kerbs

[mgillespie]

I assume it's one of these Touratech mounts: http://www.touratech-usa.com/shop/show.lasso?SKU=065-0056

would like to see a photo of it fitted to the bike...

[Cie]

Mark,

That TT mount is the dog's dangleys, I've seen one in the flesh on Caveman's bike.. but it's a lot of money. I've been thinking about getting one for some time now.

[Kerbs]

Hi Mark,
Yep thats the one,cost £75.54 including P&P. I ordered it from the Touratech UK site. I agree it is expensive but the quality is top notch and as Cie says it looks the mutts nuts.
I will see if I can post a picture or two.
Kerbs

[anton88]

Hi guys I'm now back in the real world, surgery over, offending bits gone and just waiting for the punctures to heal and I'll be back on the bike again. With a working Street Pilot 111.
Garmin were disinclined to shove it, unfortunately halfway through our little chat the phone went dead!! Anyway whilst I was out of circulation a mate of mine (web guru ) spent a few hours with it and got it sorted.
Thanks for the good wishes Dee Duble Yuh and Ant you were so right, it is certainly worth sticking with.
Thanks for the support guys. Geuss what, on the pre op check they said my blood pressure was a little high!! What a difference a week can make.

Kerbs

Kerbs, FANTASTIC - i'm so pleased you got it sorted.

Hope your recovery goes well.

Used mine properly on the bike today, and it was bloody brilliant :D Now got a full set of rechargable batteries fitted, so when i switch the bike off, as Cie said :thumbleft: I can just switch over to batteries and use it off the bike :D

[Maverick]

MapSource 6.11.1 Update (http://downloads.garmin.com/MapSource_6111.exe)

Right a word of caution, do not download the 6.12.1 version before installing the 6.11.1 version as it will stuff up the unlock wizard dll file :roll:

I installed the latest update version and then had to revert back to the link that Mark gave as above before everything worked properly. Now to see if the USB reader is ok.......i'll be back :lol:

[Yeti]

top tip:

spend your money on 2500mah rechargables from a camera or such like shop. 2100 minimum I would suggest.

They are brilliant and last for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages. (dont worry but they do seem to run hot??)

expensive but worth the dosh.

Mine were 11 quid for 4 so had 2 left over for the digi cam. Charged them all only once so far (8 days) and use the GPS off the bike in the tent sorting routes for at least an hour a night, and i left it on all day one day as I forgot to plug the bike power in. :oops:

Only when it said low voltage did I realise!! I **** myself and thought the bike wasn't charging the battery! :oops:

I bought a fast charger for them from maplins with a lighter adapter and they only take 70 mins to charge in the tank bag! top banana!

by for now

[Maverick]

Right three hours later and software install (version 7) and GPS working and in order. Already noticed unless I have not read the instruction properly but there is a few functions my GPS V do have which the Streetpilot does not.

Fuel usage, Distance to Next, ETA etc.......Going to read the instructions now and see if it does feature some of these just mentioned. Next thing to do is order some waterproof lighter sockets :wink: