Road Angel Professional Connected

[PetrolDave]

There are some hacks that can load camera info onto the Mk5 GTI's stock SatNav

Unfortunately, despite a lot of people having looked at it, there's no such hack for the Audi RNS-E sat nav.

Know what you mean about the low level location of the screen. One of the things I do like about having an extra box on the top of the dash is having an accurate speedo near my sight line.

[Chav]

Shame they dont make the RNSE environment open source. I'd love it!!

And I'd like to shrink some of the fonts so I can read full mp3 titles.

And maybe have the map showing overview and local at the same time all the time instead of just at junctions

And speed camera proximity too, as well as more trip information.

If only.....

[PetrolDave]

Shame they dont make the RNSE environment open source. I'd love it!!

That would be the answer to a lot of "I wish the RNS-E did ...." posts on a lot of forums...

How about it Audi? You' re making the RNS-E obsolete as you move over to MMI so why not hand over support of the RNS-E to the people who REALLY know what's needed to turn it into a great product - the users.

[Pincher]

I'm sure I read the the new BMW 7 series has a camera detector in the back of the rear-view mirror - or did I dream it?

[K-Lye]

So I've been reading through this (and other) threads with real interest as I'm planning on buying a detection unit myself. And unless anyone is going to correct me on this, I'd be wasting my time getting any sort of laser detection as frankly by the time it's detected anything, it's too late.

Well Graham

As I said, It's never been accurate yet on a mobile site. Never seen one when I'm warned of one and then came across one and not warned. Also noticed today that it seems to warn me...

My first choice was going to be this but after reading through I'm fairly convinced I should steer clear of this RA Pro Connected. However, have there been any further developments Craigyb or is yours currently languishing under last nights leftovers?

I am dumping my RA2, and getting one of these ;

Novus GPS Rider | Products | Auto Express

road angels are real crap.:mad: I have odered this unit today and NO update Fees ever.

I am tempted by the Pogo Alert alternative like SunGod but given this Novus GPS Rider is damn cheap by comparison (and smaller) I can't see any reason why not to get it other than the pretty LCD screen. My only real concern being how detailed their databases are - ie. will mobile hotspot info. be well out of date when compared to the others? What's your experience been like Golfer?

Edited July 28, 2008 by K-Lye

[RedRobin]

....^^^^ I think I need my sunglasses! Why have you switched on the blue lights?

[K-Lye]

....^^^^ I think I need my sunglasses! Why have you switched on the blue lights?

What? The blue text? Err.. Outlook habit I suppose

[craigyb]

Well my RA finally decided that the GPS satelite system no longer exists up in space and could not find any on a 6 mile journey, I did the usual power cycling with the remote and also manually form the button on the lid. Still no satelites.

As I said before and still maintain, what a crock of sh1t3 the RA pro is.

[Golfer]

I am tempted by the Pogo Alert alternative like SunGod but given this Novus GPS Rider is damn cheap by comparison (and smaller) I can't see any reason why not to get it other than the pretty LCD screen. My only real concern being how detailed their databases are - ie. will mobile hotspot info. be well out of date when compared to the others? What's your experience been like Golfer?

I am delighted with this; updates are free every week, database is better than RA2, and mobile allerts are a good extra, it also logs dangerous junctions ect, overall very impressed.

PS) it finds satalites within a minute of start-up.

[K-Lye]

I am delighted with this; updates are free every week, database is better than RA2, and mobile allerts are a good extra, it also logs dangerous junctions ect, overall very impressed.

PS) it finds satalites within a minute of start-up.

Ok then.. Novus GPS Rider it is then..

[K-Lye]

Ok then.. Novus GPS Rider it is then..

Hmm.. FYI.. I'm stil going to get it, but interesting situation with Talex vs Novus

Talex Lite Speed Cam Detector £59.99 in Aldi - Hurry!! - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

[CarMad]

I'm sure I read the the new BMW 7 series has a camera detector in the back of the rear-view mirror - or did I dream it?

It detects speed limit signs by sight the same is being fitted to the new Vauxhall Insignia as well. In the BMW it also cross reference's what it sees with DB a in the sat nav and puts the speed limit on the heads up display. At least that helps you know what the limit is, not if there is a camera if you are over it.

[AH101]

I think its time to add a little balance to this debate.......I'm about 3 weeks into owning a Road Angel Professional, Connected.

A little background first.....

I own a BMW 6 Series, drive about 24,000 miles per annum covering the UK and mainland Europe.

I'm certainly no street racer but drive quickly on motorways and I would like to preserve my license (wouldn't we all!)

Previous camera detectors include the RoadPilot Micro and the retro burn GPS camera software (Pimp-My-Nav Home) which allows you to use BMW's Professional Navigation System to 'install' camera sites - both very good but limited for what I want/need.

Scope.....

The challenge for me and GPS camera detectors has always been updating them - whatever system you have, it's only as good as its database and how up to date it is - and there's my problem, it relys on me!

Living with the Road Angel Connected Professional.....

So far so good.

Delivery from Road Angel was fast and efficient, packaging and instructions were good.

I was a little sceptical at first about the windscreen mounting system but this has also proved to be very flexible and resillient.

Two remote control units were a nice touch and operating the unit from the remote control was easy.

I chose to hard wire mine (well BMW did it for me) so I've had none of the previously mentioned battery problems.

Too soon to comment on over heating issues - the weather hasn't been good lately but I'm off to the South of France in 3 weeks so I should be able to comment at a later date.

The screen is very clear and the sound level can be adjusted (it would be nice if the alerts could be send through the cars hi-fi!)

For me one of the main features was the auto update - when an update is sent (GPRS I think) a red light flashes on the unit - bearing in mind how often this flashes (4 or 5 times a day), I now know how out of date my previous databases were.

In addition, if you see a 'live' camera site, with the press of 1 button, the whole Road Angel Professional Connected 'community' is automatically alerted for the next 2 hours to this live site.

With regards the database accuracy, no problems so far - areas I know very very well are covered accurately and alert in plenty of time. It will be interesting to see this in operation in areas I'm not so familiar with.

On initial installation, the unit took a long time to pick up satelites both from cold and warm starts - even though it did eventually pick these up, my climate windscreen proved to be the problem. An external antenna soon sorted this - on average cold starts pick up the satelites within 4 minutes and warms starts within 40 seconds.

Early days, so far so good......I'll let you know how the next few weeks go.

[craigyb]

I'm pleased your happy with your RA, but I've yet to see a camera van at a location it warns me about.

Mine is also hardwired, but still had the battery issue until firmware upgrade fixed it. The light still flashes to indicate the charging suspension is inoperation, but at least it works

Also upto 4 minutes to lock to the satelites from cold is appaulling. I could be 5-10 miles away by then and past several cameras. Mine seems to be taking longer each day to lock to satelites.

Edited August 12, 2008 by craigyb

[AH101]

I'm pleased your happy with your RA, but I've yet to see a camera van at a location it warns me about.

In the 3 weeks I've had it, I've also yet to see a camera van at a location it warns me about - having said that, it warns me about all of the sites where I know cameras have been in the past, for me it only has to save me once to have easily paid for itself.

Mine is also hardwired, but still had the battery issue until firmware upgrade fixed it. The light still flashes to indicate the charging suspension is inoperation, but at least it works

Glad to hear the upgrade fixed it - mine's the same, despite being hardwired, the battery indicator flashes from 1 bar to 5 bars indicating it is still charging. Assuming I've understood you correctly, maybe this is a feature but like you said, it still works - maybe this should be a firmware update

Also upto 4 minutes to lock to the satelites from cold is appaulling. I could be 5-10 miles away by then and past several cameras. Mine seems to be taking longer each day to lock to satelites.

Agreed, 4 minutes could be improved but luckily for me, 99% of the time when I'm cold starting I'm pulling my car out of the garage so by the time it locks on I'm only about a mile down the road (luckily they happen to be roads I know very very well) - 10 miles away in 4 minutes would be 150mph, do you drive a Bugatti Veyron :)

On balance, whilst the cold satelite lock could be better than 4 minutes, the amount of time and trouble it saves me by updating itself more than offsets this for me.

[dwolfuk]

Ive not had my RA Pro for long but for me the main pull was the auto updates. I did have a RA 2 hardwired and rarely updated it. With all the roadworks round me on the m1 etc and the average cameras changing nearly weekly it was getting annoying with all the beeping where there used to be cameras. The RA 2 had problems occasionally getting a fix sometimes taking nearly 10mins. Ive not had this with the Pro with cold starts taking less than a min to get a fix (sometimes its near instant - In theory the gps should know where you stopped and by the clock should know where to look for the sats when you turn back on presuming your outdoors when you power back on).

Camera vans as AH said are being displayed in locations where i have seen vans in the past so im confident its reliable (its still not a substitute for good observation though). Saying that i havnt passed a camera van in these locations for a while. Its nice to get a bit of a heads up though especially when driving somewhere i dont know very well.

As i said the main reason was auto updates and with it appearing to update 7-8 times on a 3hr journey it certainly makes you feel like your getting your money's worth.

[PetrolDave]

it appearing to update 7-8 times on a 3hr journey

If all those updates are necessary it implies that cameras are being moved 50+ times per day!

Sounds like not all of them are necessary, but you're paying for them since they use GPRS - sounds like the cost of ownership is much higher than it needs to be.

My real "beef" with RA is that even with a crime number when my RA get stolen they still would not disable it from being updated nor refund me the update subscription that I could no longer use - pretty rubbish "customer service" IMHO.

[AH101]

If all those updates are necessary it implies that cameras are being moved 50+ times per day!

Don't forget that when a 'live' camera site is detected by a RA Professional Connected user, this alert is then sent to all RA Professional Connected users hence one of the reasons for the numerous daily updates - this and the automatic updates was one of the main reasons why I purchased the unit.

Sounds like not all of them are necessary, but you're paying for them since they use GPRS - sounds like the cost of ownership is much higher than it needs to be.

Monthly costs are fixed at £4.99 (or £54.99 for 1 year) which covers the cost of the SIM/GPRS connection and the updates - I agree, it could be cheaper but based on my experience, not hugely more expensive than similar devices/services.

For me it would be nice if the SIM had mainland Europe coverage but unfortunately, it only covers the UK - so when I leave the UK I'm up to date, thereafter, the longer I spend abroad the more out of date it becomes (until I return)

My real "beef" with RA is that even with a crime number when my RA get stolen they still would not disable it from being updated nor refund me the update subscription that I could no longer use - pretty rubbish "customer service" IMHO.

Difficult to comment on this as I've (luckily) not been in this situation - surely the easiest option is to just cancel your Direct Debit if paying monthly.

You had me worried about this so I rang Road Angel - they stated that if my unit was stolen, they could de-activate it and that if I bought a replacement unit directly from themselves, they could transfer the balance of any pre-paid subscription - which seems logical and is good news ....this question was in the contect of a RA Professional Connected, I didn't ask about how this would work with their other units.

[PetrolDave]

You had me worried about this so I rang Road Angel - they stated that if my unit was stolen, they could de-activate it and that if I bought a replacement unit directly from themselves, they could transfer the balance of any pre-paid subscription - which seems logical and is good news

They "could", but would they?

I had paid 3 years subscription in advance so there was no Direct Debit to cancel and no offer was made to transfer the subscription to replacement if I bought one.

It's nice to see they appear to have changed their position, ...but they still aren't going to see another penny of my hard-earned cash! It's bad enough to suffer the aggro of your car getting broken into and SOCO crawling over it for finger prints, so for RA to be unsympathetic was rubbing salt into an open wound.

[craigyb]

Well I travelled from Manchester to London again today and the RA told me of something like 15 camera vans, none of which I could see, unless they are getting sneaky and disguising them as bushes and sign posts.

For me it's too many false positives, regardless of the auto updates I think it's a terrible product.

On the plus side, it did lock to the satelites within a 100 yards this morning.

[AH101]

PetrolDave & Craigyb - we all have to base our opinions on our own experiences and I fully accept that. Notwithstanding this, I believe it is always good to balance negative experiences (which we hope are the exception) with good ones - hence my recent posts.

Based on the RA Professional Connected posts in this forum I very nearly didn't buy one - I argued with myself for a few days before committing to the purchase - 3 weeks in and I have no regrets.

Well I travelled from Manchester to London again today and the RA told me of something like 15 camera vans, none of which I could see, unless they are getting sneaky and disguising them as bushes and sign posts.

Craigyb - interesting recent BBC article BBC NEWS | Wales | Police use anti-speeding horsebox ..... Speed cameras disguised in a horse box!!!!!

.....I hope you weren't travelling too fast from Manchester

[PetrolDave]

Craigyb - interesting recent BBC article BBC NEWS | Wales | Police use anti-speeding horsebox ..... Speed cameras disguised in a horse box!!!!!

That was in March .... and the Chief Constable has been forced to apologise.

[craigyb]

There is no cost for the GRPS updates, it's all part of the £4.99 a month subscription.

I drove back from London last night and it told me about 7 camera vans. Again, none to be seen, so I deleted them.

If all those updates are necessary it implies that cameras are being moved 50+ times per day!

Sounds like not all of them are necessary, but you're paying for them since they use GPRS - sounds like the cost of ownership is much higher than it needs to be.

IMHO.

[Sarto1965]

I purchased the RA Professional Connected in April and today have had to return it as the unit continually just shuts down. No explanation was given by RA other than they are aware of the problem?! Considering how much this cost and the monthly subscription, can anyone please tell me why this is happening, and what is the premanent fix. Installing the latest firmware did NOT resolve the problem. Kind regards Mark

[dwolfuk]

They "could", but would they?

I had paid 3 years subscription in advance so there was no Direct Debit to cancel and no offer was made to transfer the subscription to replacement if I bought one.

It's nice to see they appear to have changed their position, ...but they still aren't going to see another penny of my hard-earned cash! It's bad enough to suffer the aggro of your car getting broken into and SOCO crawling over it for finger prints, so for RA to be unsympathetic was rubbing salt into an open wound.

I luckily havnt had this either and hope i never will - I did speak to blackspot who told me the same as AH. they also stated that with it being a connected unit they could track it if required and also disable it without the theif needing to connect the unit to a pc first. This in itself would IMO deter theives as its not going to be any good to them for long enough to sell it.

I had already bought one when i found this thread, but i hadnt received it so i was already considering returning it before id given it a go. Had i not ordered it i probably wouldnt have bothered. I have to say though im extremely happy with it upto now and im glad i gave it a chance.