Traffic Cameras, preferred method.

[Brenbo]

I have looked in to which is the best way to have traffic camera sites highlighted whilst driving the GTI out and about in my local area.  This is not because I want to break the law or speed recklessly between sites.  It is more that it is becoming easier to get caught without even trying.  As I live in the South West I have found it hard to get a dedicated detection device or App which locates all known areas in and around Cornwall and Devon.  I originally tried loading Traffic Cameras as POI's on the Sat Nav as suggested on a thread on this Forum.  This allowed me to have Traffic Cameras as POI's on the Nav Pro but does not alert you when you are coming close to one.  So I then tried to find a dedictated device (legal), but after reading extensive reviews and researching which one would be best for my area, the overall census was none of them were updated enough for my area of the country to warrant forking out hundreds of pounds. 

I then tried several apps, some of which I paid for.  I found RoadPilot to be poorly updated and did not alert me to the more well known sites in my area.  Using apps also highlighted another problem for me.  I am super fussy about marks and rings left on my dashboard.  I tried a couple Dashboard and windscreen mounts and they all left a ring of some description which were hard to remove.  But I did eventually.

So I then go back to trying the POI method which although, does not alert me of oncoming cameras, It does provide a more comprehensive updated database of locations compared to the apps I have tried, which is good enough for me.

So as described on another thread on this forum, I subscribed to PocketGPSworld (£20 per year). I then downloaded the single file update.  The reason for this is Nav Pro has a limited amount of Personal POI's which can be installed by yourself.  The file format I downloaded form PocketGPSWorld was a .csv file.

The benefits of a .csv file is you can open it in Excel and even place your own Longitude and Latitude data in for other camera sites you think may not be in the file already.  The Traffic Camera symbol file downloaded from the PocketGPSWorld website with the data is about 20pixels square.  The Nav Pro icons for POI's are about 39 pixels square.  So I recreated the symbols for the Traffic Camera and Mobile Camera in Illustrator to make them larger and crisper when displayed on my Nav Pro. 

Once Symbols and Data are ready I went on to the following site

http://www.volkswagen.de/de/navigation/discover-pro/poi-listen-sammlung.html

This is where you upload the data and Symbol files and generate the software patch for your Nav Pro to update.  To read how to do this read the relevant post on the following Thread.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=254044.0

Once all is installed on the Nav Pro I have to say it much more comprehensive than any of the other options I have tried.  I can also do without the audible alarms and alerts after trying some apps with it built in.  I have to say some them were driving me crazy.  It is much better to have all sites on the map instead.

I must reiterate, i do not intend to speed or break the law with reckless driving over the speed limit. IT is just to help ensure I don't manage to do it while not trying to. 

I hope my ramblings on this post help some others with deciding which method is best for them. 

[mcmaddy]

Ive got the POI cameras on my Nav Pro and must say you dont miss an audible beep. The screen is big enough to see an unusual icon on. Have you lumped all the camera spots together so you dont get a traffic light or a 30mph sign??

[Sootchucker]

That reminds me, must update my database again (mine is from September last year) 

[monkeyhanger]

Ignite powdered iron oxide/aluminium (thermite) on the casing, burns at around 2500C, melting through the Truvelo casing and everything else in its path. 

Oh, right, this thread is about detection, not destruction of the feckers. 

My bad.

[Brenbo]

Someone locally got so hacked off with a fixed camera he cut it down with an angle grinder. I must say he has become a local hero.

I have installed all fixed camera locations as one POI with the same fixed camera logo on the Nav Screen.  I have also created a Mobile Camera version of the POI as well. I used to have a separate speed Camera POI for each speed i.e 30, 40 etc,. but there is not much call for it when the Nav Pro shows the speed limit for the road in the top left of the screen anyway. 

[thebear29uk]

On a slightly related issue for people in the South West I was driving back to Exeter on the M5 in Bristol and where they have the gantry speed signs with cameras - Jct 15-17 - I noticed a flash as I passed by one. Now the speed limits were unlit and my understanding was that the cameras only worked if they were lit. I think I was doing about 80 on a relatively empty motorway at about 7.30pm. So empty that it couldn't have been another car getting flashed as I was the only one in sight of the camera.

I've looked into this and some people talk about random flashes but I also read a report that the M62 cameras operate even with the speed limit signs switched off and loads of people have been caught out.
As I understand it if I have been flashed I should receive notification within 3 weeks but hopefully not.

Sneaky or what?

[monkeyhanger]

14 days to notify the keeper/owner, not necessarily the driver. If you're the owner or keeper then 14 days and you're safe.

[Laser1974]

Went to holland a few years ago and for miles the cameras were scorched,so I asked one of the locals in the shops and he said the people didn't want them there so they wrapped them in tyres and burnt the f---ers down 

[orcades]

I tried to install the PocketGPSworld POI list as well, but it didn't work for me, I'll try again.

Appreciate you do say there can be only one POI list, does that mean if I install the PocketGPSworld one I'll lose positions I've saved? Or does it replace the petrol pumps, hotels and everything else stored as a POI as standard and replace them with the PocketGPSworld database?

Many Thanks

[Sootchucker]

I "think" every time you upload a new personal POI set, it erases or overwrites what was there before. So if you already have filling stations etc on your system that you have added yourself, you would need to add them again into the new Speed camera database you are compiling.

Like I said I think that's how it works, but stand to be corrected as I've only so far uploaded one set of POI's back in September, and that was for all categories - Speed Camera, Fast Food, Petrol Stations.