Sat Nav Speed cameras

[JHS]

I have just noticed that my sat nav has no speed camera warnings! This is something that I found very uaeful in my Honda and Volvo.
Is there any way to install them without paying MB a kings ransom?
2016 C250 with Command sat nav.

 

[moonloops]

Use the Waze app on your mobile. Real-time reporting on cameras, broken down cars, police activity and sadly potholes.

Driven by social use.

I bitched once as it took me on a 1 hour detour. I later found out that the original route had a 6 hour road closure.

 

[Lennox]

Use the Waze app on your mobile. Real-time reporting on cameras, broken down cars, police activity and sadly potholes.

Driven by social use.

I bitched once as it took me on a 1 hour detour. I later found out that the original route had a 6 hour road closure.

Yes learn to trust it. But refresh just before you take a detour to get the latest data.

 

[Deleted upon users own request member 138506]

I have just noticed that my sat nav has no speed camera warnings! This is something that I found very uaeful in my Honda and Volvo.
Is there any way to install them without paying MB a kings ransom?
2016 C250 with Command sat nav.

There are many websites with downloadable poi's for speed cameras. Put them on a memory card in folder named PersonalPOI and load into Command. Works on NTG4.5/7 not sure about NTG5. You can set sound alerts and visual alerts and works very well.

 

[clk320x]

Yes learn to trust it. But refresh just before you take a detour to get the latest data.

Good advice

I ignored it once as the road appeared clear (little did I know I’d get stuck about 5 miles up and sit stationary for 2 hours ) never doubted it again...!

 

[markjay]

There are many websites with downloadable poi's for speed cameras. Put them on a memory card in folder named PersonalPOI and load into Command. Works on NTG4.5/7 not sure about NTG5. You can set sound alerts and visual alerts and works very well.

I had Speed Cameras alerts with the Becker Map Pilot, it worked very well.

I now have COMAND NTG4.5 with the speed cameras database provided by third-party and loaded as Personal POI on SD-Card, but I find it less useful - the main issue is that it alerts you of a speed camera within a given radius, even if it is not actually on your route (e.g. it's on a parallel road to yours, or even behind you, etc).

Waze speed cameras alerts obviously work well, it is always up-to-date, though interestingly it provides an audible alert only if you are actually speeding.

With regards routing, the OP's car will have the TomTom Live Traffic service, but it requires subscription renewal, while Waze is obviously free.

Incidentally, where Waze really shines these days is for drivers in London - dozens of roads have been closed to private cars over the past 6 months, meaning that existing map data is useless.

 

[JHS]

Checked the VIN and I have NTG5/NTG5.5
I will now trawl through all the applicable databases to find one that looks OK.
In the meantime I will look at Waze.
Thanks for all your inputs.

 

[stubax]

I got a Garmin55 dash cam, this has speed camera alerts amongst other things and works well.

 

[markjay]

Checked the VIN and I have NTG5/NTG5.5
I will now trawl through all the applicable databases to find one that looks OK.
In the meantime I will look at Waze.
Thanks for all your inputs.

I bought mine off SCDB.info, and it seemed OK.

That said, I have no experience with other providers, so no idea if it's the best.

 

[SG94]

Pocket GPS World has what’s widely regarded as the best camera database in the world. They supply many sat nav map makers.
20 quid a year for weekly updates, and if you report a camera and are the first to do so, you get a year free.
I’m still in my 7 free years having reported many of the new HADEX cameras on the motorways when they where installed.

Unfortunately, the 2020 Command does not allow POI to be loaded, so I run the DB on a Garmin dash cam instead.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

If it is a regular route, you'll know where the cameras are
If it is a new route, isn't it easier just to be more observant ?

 

[markjay]

If it is a regular route, you'll know where the cameras are
If it is a new route, isn't it easier just to be more observant ?

Agreed re the location of the cameras. The issue for me specifically in London isn't the location of the cameras, but the changing speed limits. Yes I should be observating the signs while driving, but it's good to have Waze remind me what is the speed limit on the current road (most though not all are now 20mph). So I'm not actually using the speed camera database I have for COMAND.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

I agree on constant changes to speed limits - on my old 8 mile commute, there were 7 changes ....from 20 up to 60 and back down to 20...

 

[jimbg]

Pocket GPS World has what’s widely regarded as the best camera database in the world. They supply many sat nav map makers.
20 quid a year for weekly updates, and if you report a camera and are the first to do so, you get a year free.
I’m still in my 7 free years having reported many of the new HADEX cameras on the motorways when they where installed.

Unfortunately, the 2020 Command does not allow POI to be loaded, so I run the DB on a Garmin dash cam instead.

I used to use the same source for years but now use Waze running in the background from Carplay.

The only problem with the POI approach is that it warns you that you are close to a POI and does not understand that it may be on the other side of the road.

 

[markjay]

I used to use the same source for years but now use Waze running in the background from Carplay.

The only problem with the POI approach is that it warns you that you are close to a POI and does not understand that it may be on the other side of the road.

...on on a parallel road (but within the notification radius), or simply not on your route (i.e. if you are about to turn off the road you're currently on). I found it too confusing to be useful...

 

[V6GBJ]

I bought mine off SCDB.info, and it seemed OK.

That said, I have no experience with other providers, so no idea if it's the best.

Hi Markjay. How do you find SCDB - now a few months on? I looked at Pocket GPS World but theirs is apparently not compatible with NTG 5.5 whereas SCDB is.

 

[markjay]

Hi Markjay. How do you find SCDB - now a few months on? I looked at Pocket GPS World but theirs is apparently not compatible with NTG 5.5 whereas SCDB is.

It's the whole idea of using Personal POIs as speed camera database that doesn't work for me.

The key issue is that you are being notified of each and every camera within a certain radius, even if the camera isn't in your path. This might be relevant when looking for a petrol station, but it's quite distracting because you're not really interested in knowing about cameras on parallel roads or in other locations that are not on your route etc.

The other issue is that (on my COMAND NTG4.7 at least) the Personal POIs cannot be permanently copied to the internal HDD, instead they must remain on the SD-Card, and if it's removed then there's a time-consuming process to run each time the SD-Card is reinserted.

That said, I had no issues with the SCDB database itself, it worked well in terms of what it was supposed to do, my generic reservations above notwithstanding.

 

[jimbg]

But as mentioned before if you NTG 5.5 then presumably you have Apple Carplay and Android Auto?

Then do try Waze running in the background, you can run whatever you like on the screen and you will getstill audio alerts for cameras, etc.

If a 70 odd year like me can manage it, then well......

 

[V6GBJ]

But as mentioned before if you NTG 5.5 then presumably you have Apple Carplay and Android Auto?

Then do try Waze running in the background, you can run whatever you like on the screen and you will getstill audio alerts for cameras, etc.

If a 70 odd year like me can manage it, then well......

Thanks Jim. Yes I do have Carplay/Android and Waze but I've never done much with Waze. Somebody said that it uses lots of data which might produce higher network charges. How do you find it? I've been thinking of adding one or another cam database for a while but I've accelerated the process after being zapped by a camera at 35 mph a couple of weeks ago!

 

[jimbg]

I used to use the POI method before all this tech came along but it was OK within it's limitations as mentioned previously.

I am not sure how much data it uses, but it cannot to big a deal judging from the user fan base.

Maybe experiment on a decent trip and check your allowance at the beginning and end of the trip?
I have a 30GB per month for £10 so never check it.