CDR King NAV-58F 3.5” GPS Navigator, Is it Worth the Price?

For months before I bought my Garmin Nuvi 1300, I was waiting to get my hands on the just released NAV-58F GPS Navigator of CDR King.

at first glance, the specifications and features on CDR King's website:

NAV-58F
3.5” GPS Navigator
Price: PhP 5,800.00
Warranty: 6 months (better than the usual 1 month)
Replacement: 1 week

Following discussions on the net, the GPS unit has no tracklogs, meaning it does not record tracks and therefore next to useless for mapping. It's like an entry level Garmin Nuvi.

No information yet if it supports Garmin's IMG file format to use either Roadguide or Open Street Map (OSM).

Is is recommended? If you know a friend from the states coming home, just buy any Garmin Nuvi online from Amazon or eBay and have it shipped via balikbayan boxes or hand-carried. I bought my Garmin Nuvi 1300 at just $149.00, P600 more than the cost of this unit so think twice :P

NAV-58F 3.5” GPS Navigator Features and Specifications:

* CPU: Atlas IV 500MHz, Arm 11
* Display: 3.5” QVGA TFT LCD with touch screen
o Brightness: 250 units
o Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels
o Back Light: Adjustable
* On board Button/Keys: On/Off + sleep, Wake Up button, Reset hole
* Sound System: 1W 8ohm built-in speaker
* Memory:
o Internal Memory-RAM: DDR 64MB
o Internal Flash: 1GB Nand Flash (standard), supports up to 4GB
* GPS Features: Built-in Patch Antenna ; GPS info
* Tracking Sensitivity: -159dBm
* Tracking: L1, C/A code
* Channels: 64 parallel channels
* Reacquisition: 0.1 sec (avg.)
* Hot Start: <3 sec (avg.)
* Warm Start: <38 sec (avg.)
* Cold Start: <43 sec (avg.)
* Position Accuracy: Within 10M
* Max. Update Rate: 1Hz
* Velocity: 0.1 m/sec. (max)
* WAAS: Available (Above GPS chip data follow original spec.)
* Temperature:
o Operation: -10°C to 50°C Storage; -20°C to 60°C
* Audio:
o Software volume control
o Built-in speaker 1W, 8 ohm


Connection:
* USB: USN 2.0 host or client
* Expansion: MicroSD ™ , Supports up to 8GB (Max)
* Battery: Built-in 850mAh Lithium-Poly Battery
* Recharge through USB jack


Software:
* Windows ™ CE 6.0 core
* Photo & Text Viewer


Accessories:
* Car Charger
* Cradle/Gooseneck
* USB Cable
* User manual, Quick Guide

GPS Routing Errors Open Street Map Philippines

For quite some time now I've been using OSM (Open Street Map) on my Garmin nuvi 1300 not asa navigational tool but to map my area to be usedby my direction-challenged wife someday.

On my first days of using OSM, already found several bugs and routes that lead to nowhere some of these are:

1. Roosevelt avenue from EDSA Munoz up to certain area has a center island that doesn't actually exist. Status: corrected a few months ago

2. Some U-turn slots on EDSA near Munoz missing. Status: Corrected

Pending map errors that need correction/updating (it's still too complex for me to do this on Potlatch and I can't find the time to learn either JOSM or Merkaator)

1. Mandaluyong:

Pioneer St has a center island from the EDSA-Boni tunnel up to the entrance of Legend Villas therefore you can't turn left from Pioneer to Madison St or turn left from Madison St to Pioneer due to the center island obstruction

2. Quezon City

Del Monte Avenue (frisco) doesn't have a center island except on the bridge near Roosevelt Avenue. Also, it narrows down from 4 lanes to a traffic-prone 2 lanes from the bridge up to West Avenue

the E. Rodriguez and Araneta Avenue intersection doesn't allow left or right turns to the other but use the u-turns (some missing). Turn restrictions should be added as well as matching u-turn slots. I pass by this area everyday on my daily trip to work but i've yet to gather tracks to update OSM for this one

3. Cainta, Rizal

Ortigas Avenue from Ortigas Bridge to another bridge near Junction (Felix avenue, Imelda Avenue and Ortigas Avenue extension). This messes up routing if you're going to Countryside and De Castro even Super 8, Ever et al

4. EDSA

Several u-turn slots missing e.g. those under Kamuning flyover for the EDSA to East Avenue and Timog Avenue

5. Makati

I have to check out the intersection of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas might be the one giving me those routing errors that i thought were just due to GPS errors introduced by the tall buildings. Will have to confirm this though


6. Pasig City

C-5 and Ortigas Avenue corner has missing turn restriction and u-turn slots.

I have quite a collection mostly due to missing U-turn slots and turn restrictions or a center island in the middle of the road that really doesn't exist. I've corrected some missing road links and breaks but most of the map bugs i listed above are too much for me at of the moment.

If you stumbled on this post and know the area I'm talking about, you can update the map yourself at the Open Street Map official website.

Garmin GPS Routing Algorithm: How Does it Make Decisions on Routes to Take?

I've been trying to search Google for clues on garmin routing algorithm that it uses to make decisions on routes from one point to another.

I used to be an inter-network routing engineer, mostly using BGP and OSPF, to find the optimum path packets should take to reach the destination. GPS routing is no different, I know there are certain parameters to tweak in order to affect the route calculations Garmin GPS (like my Garmin Nuvi 1300) make.

This is not exhaustive but I know these parameters and certain tags matter but I still don't know which ones take precedence over the other in routing decisions:

1. Total distance (probably the single most influential in logic calculations)
2. Highway classification (toll roads, trunk, primary, seconday, tertiary, residential, service road et al)
3. Number of lanes
4. Maximum speed

GPS settings such as Ecoroute (fastest or most fuel efficient route) also count on this one for sometimes, the routes suggested by a GPS unit differs from Garmin Mapsource.

Anyone who can leave a definitive study on Garmin routing algorithm please leave a comment.

Garmin Nuvi 1300 Price, Free Maps, Tips and Tricks

At last, I finally got my hands on a shiny new Garmin Nuvi 1300 courtesy of a kababayan who i met online and bought the unit (along with an OBD II code reader) and hand-carried here (even if I've really yet to meet him)

Garmin Nuvi 1300 Review:

Car-mount GPS unit with 4.3 inches display, speaks street names but is kinda slow to respond to touch commands. JPEG viewer.

comes with dash-mount kit and car charger (no Garmin mapsource CD installer), 1s track log recording (diagnostic logging mode) but I still can't find the data storage folder for the hidden tracklog.

I got it installed with OpenStreetMap (a free GPS map of the Philippines) accurate in Quezon City, Makati where I initially tested it.

Garmin Nuvi Price in Philippines is about P7000.00 but local support/service centers not that many so you should know where to take your Garmin products for repairs.

This would be the initial post about the Garmin Nuvi 1300, watch out for more!

Google Maps API Key Error Problem on OpenStreetMap

Weeks or months ago I encountered an error while accessing Open Street Map Philippines (url: http://www.openstreetmap.com.ph

the error pop up says:

"This web site needs a different Google Maps API key. A new key can be generated at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/."

I tried to access the same website using Firefox, Safari and IE all with same results. I asked freinds to access same but with successful results, they can see the map of the Philippines.

What could be the problem on my side? Is it my laptop running Windows Vista? I don't think it's really Google Maps API key problem but just another "user error."

I'll try to access the map using my other OS (Ubuntu) on my laptop later. If you guys know of any solution to this Google Maps API, just let me know. I'm too busy to try to find the solution myself.

Lusting for Garmin NuviPhone: Mobile Phone GPS

For quite a long time now, I've been lusting for a GPS unit, first with a mapping capability like a Colorado, Oregon or 60CSx but no looked like scaled down to cheaper Nuvi car dashboard-mount units

I just saw the new Asus Garmin NuviPhone G60 and I can't help but ogle at it on the web. But at a price tag of about SG$800 in Singapore and US$500 in the US, my practical side will always win...even the upcoming Garmin nuviphone m20 can make me buy it. I can however buy a Nokia cellphone or a Sony Ericsson with GPS functionality.

Hope to order my Garmin Nuvi 1300 soon...and post reviews plus sources of the latest updated Philippine maps for GPS enthusiasts

Police in Manila with GPS Devices?

I read the news lately with the Manila Police District being equipped with GPS devices for them to go to a crime scene aided with the satellite-guided device. It's a good move actually coupled with police visibility and camera surveillance but a GPS won't cut it of the police can't get to the scene on time.

Regarding policement, what irked me recently was just yesterday, Makati traffic police went up to a driver of an FX who apparently beat a red light on Paseo de Roxas. The driver argued with the traffic enforcer and later showed his ID declaring himself a policeman. The enforcer went away without saying a word or penalizing the "mamang pulis." Good thing for the policeman too since I wasn't able to see his plate number.

Policemen should be enforcers of the law and not lawbreakers. Those scums really think they're above the law.