A3 Speed Camera - POIbase

Cruiser89

Cruiser89

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Hi Chaps,

Was doing some work on a customer's pioneer unit today and downloaded POIbase. NEver needed to use it before so installed and downloaded the latest update.

Something very interesting caught my eye...

2.0.0 - Released on: 19.03.2014
  • Neu unterstützte Navis:
    • Audi A3 8VS (Beta)
Not sure if anybody had seen this but could be worth a punt for you guys! If I had an 8V hanging about in the workshop I would try but don't.

Enjoy!
 
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Not got a car to test it on yet, but the PC side of it works quite well.
Limitations are that the number of categories is limited to 5 unless you pay for more, and also each category is limited to 5000 entries, again unless you pay for more. Even then the limit is only raised to 20000 per category so a consolidated UK speed camera file wouldn't fit. Price for the space and category lifts is €4.95 a year.
Other than that it seems quite a nice little tool.
Needs input in csv, kml or gpx format, and icons in gif, png, or jpg with a size of 22x22 pixels.
Output files are written to an SD card for importing to the MMI.
 
At the moment, it seems that only Germany, Austria and Switzerland are available. I've dropped them a message to ask when other countries will become available.

I've used their database for a couple of years on my Pioneer VW unit for Belgium and France, and it seems pretty accurate.
 
Update: they've fixed the system, and all countries are now available to download. I've been doing some digging, and I found the following page (translated by Google):
Google Translate

The bottom line is that, whilst the speed cameras will appear on the display, no warning will sound because of a restriction in Audi's hardware. They say it's possible that Audi will release a firmware update to remove this restriction, but of course that could just be a sales pitch ;)
 
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Thanks for this update........I have read the translation, but I'm a little confused!

If you download the data to a blank SD card, how do you then transfer the data to the Audi sat nav SD card?

Hope you can help?
 
Sorry, I don't have the car until June :(

Although, reading the translated description, it seems that the MMI detects the files on the SD card and imports them automatically.
 
Details of the process are shown in the Audi Connect operating manual, under the heading Special Destinations.
 
I don't have the Audi Connect option, as I only have the standard MMI system.....can this be updated with this POI / speed camera database update?
 
Just tried this with mine and the answer seems to be no. :(
I have the standard SD card navigation.
Also found that the co-ordinate input doesn't seem to allow decimal co-ordinates to be input.
 
Thinking about it, I can't see any point in having speed camera icons on the satnav display without audible warnings.

Surely constantly keeping an eye on the display wouldn't be a good idea.
 
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SockToy said:
Tom tom speed camera app on phone?
Click to expand...

I use a TomTom with the PGPSW camera database and with the TomTom you can set the type of warning you want to hear and at what distance from the camera with different distances for different speed limits.

I've never tried the TomTom App on a smartphone but I would think it is probably similar. If you look at the Personal GPS World website at PocketGPSWorld.com Sub-Menu you will probably find a review of the smartphone App.
 
Too many probably = unlikely as my old lecturer used to tell me !
 
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h5djr said:
I use a TomTom with the PGPSW camera database and with the TomTom you can set the type of warning you want to hear and at what distance from the camera with different distances for different speed limits.

I've never tried the TomTom App on a smartphone but I would think it is probably similar. If you look at the Personal GPS World website at PocketGPSWorld.com Sub-Menu you will probably find a review of the smartphone App.
Click to expand...

It's a shame that a TomTom stuck to your windscreen with a cable trailing down to your 12v socket is such an inelegant solution when compared to a built in sat nav.
 
Last edited:
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You cannot probably still hear your phone beeping over Bluetooth/its speaker running the TomTom speed camera app, while using the inbuilt nav though.
 
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AllanG said:
????? You've lost me there???
Click to expand...

When people overuse a particular word like probably, allegedly etc there is apparently a high 'probability ' that what is being proposed is wrong.
 
PilotAudi said:
When people overuse a particular word like probably, allegedly etc there is apparently a high 'probability ' that what is being proposed is wrong.
Click to expand...

Oh, you mean like IMHO. Which you use plenty.
So there's a high probability that what is being proposed (IMHO) is wrong.

Live by the sword, die by the sword.
 
Opinion has nothing to do with probability theory Mr 8. I'll PM some lecture notes if you like.
 
audi upgrades
Scott said:
It's a shame that a TomTom stuck to your windscreen with a cable trailing down to your 12v socket is such an inelegant solution when compared to a built in sat nav.
Click to expand...

The only cable that's visible is about 50mm from the door rubber to the unit. All the rest is hidden out of site and connected to a 12v in-line socket that my dealer installed behind the dash board. To me that's more than worth it for the extra features and ease of use that the TomTom has over the in-built Sat Nav.
 
h5djr said:
The only cable that's visible is about 50mm from the door rubber to the unit. All the rest is hidden out of site and connected to a 12v in-line socket that my dealer installed behind the dash board. To me that's more than worth it for the extra features and ease of use that the TomTom has over the in-built Sat Nav.
Click to expand...

Ah okay, that's not too bad then. Personally, I think that the benefit of literally having a sat nav available at the flick of a button (rather than getting it out, mounting it to the windscreen, plugging it in and waiting for it to turn on) is worth the cost, and the only feature I miss is the ability to have POI notifications - I do love voice recognition with Audi Connect where I can say "online destination alton towers" for example. I find that very useful and it works for most places, as well as the ability to use the wheel as a touch pad...but each to their own! I always used to get frustrated with the cable but looks like you've got that covered.
 
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^ Fortunately for me, I'm adept at writing with my left hand, I wouldn't say it's pretty, but the system seems to recognise my pre-school scrawl!

These days, due to high usage of keyboards and lack of handwriting practice, my right hand usage isn't much better !!!


(That came out wrong, didn't it)
 
Nope, neither of the systems supports speed camera alerts in any meaningful way.
 
I think people can try and justify a standalone sat nav unit all day long with minor details like audible POI support but the fact is that the built in sat nav is a VASTLY superior option, there is just no argument there.
 
pat15312 said:
I think people can try and justify a standalone sat nav unit all day long with minor details like audible POI support but the fact is that the built in sat nav is a VASTLY superior option, there is just no argument there.
Click to expand...

In your opinion. To me the built-in Sat/Nav would be useless and a major step backwards for the main reason I have a Sat/Nav at all and that is the PGPSW speed camera database which gives me an audible early warning of the presence of a speed camera. I very rarely use the actual navigation facilities. For most short journeys I already know my route. For longer journeys, particularly accross Europe I plan the route on my computer and prepare a route card which my navigator (my wife) uses to keep an eye out for the various road signs. To us both this is all part of the fun and enjoyment of any holiday.

Others may prefer the built-in Sat/Nav option and if they use the navigation features a lot it may be worth while, but when I used it for a day in a demonstrator I personally found it much more difficult to use than my TomTom. I like to be able to plan routes, add POIs, add favourites and carry out updates sitting at my desk using my main desktop computer rather than sitting in the car. Very easy to do with the TomTom but impossible with the built-in Sat/Nav.

If you are happy with the built-in version thats fine, but that does not mean it's VASTLY superior. It may look better but to me it is a VASTLY INFERIOR device that does not do what I want. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A good look device that does not do the job is not a thing a beauty.
 
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Agree to disagree. Form is primary to function IMO but in this case I think that the built in nav is better on both fronts to a TomTom.
 
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I must say that I find the speed camera (not safety cameras are they?) alerts on my Garmin so useful and really miss them on my in car sat nav. Its a huge pain having to stick it on the screen, plug it in and wait for the maps to load. But it's so easy particularly in a nice quiet smooth and relatively relaxed car like the A3 to creep above the limit now and then. Particularly in a strange location when you are conscious of which turn, or looking for something specific, when you're multi tasking (something my wife feels men aren't so good at!)

I've so far resisted using the Garmin in the A3 so far though.

So it's really is a shame that we cant add camera locations to our in car units. Perhaps some one may find a way, I do hope so.
 
I've come up with a bit of a cobbled-together solution, but it should work (I can't test it fully until my car arrives in June).

The company which sells the camera database that shows the camera locations on the MMI (without audible alerts) also sells a basic standalone device for around £50, including 5 years of updates. I've just bought one of these which I plan to stash in the armrest, permanently connected to power. Then I'll add the same database to the MMI, meaning (hopefully!) I'll get both visual and audible warnings.

Fingers crossed!

POI PILOT 3000 GPS-Warner Europe
 
steeve said:
I must say that I find the speed camera (not safety cameras are they?) alerts on my Garmin so useful and really miss them on my in car sat nav. Its a huge pain having to stick it on the screen, plug it in and wait for the maps to load. But it's so easy particularly in a nice quiet smooth and relatively relaxed car like the A3 to creep above the limit now and then. Particularly in a strange location when you are conscious of which turn, or looking for something specific, when you're multi tasking (something my wife feels men aren't so good at!)

I've so far resisted using the Garmin in the A3 so far though.

So it's really is a shame that we cant add camera locations to our in car units. Perhaps some one may find a way, I do hope so.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's so easy to creep above the speed limit and get caught by a camera. Since I've been using my TomTom I've only ever been caught by a mobile device as I always get plenty of warning by audible beeps of fixed ones. With the screen fixing for my TomTom permanently fixed at the right-hand end of the windscreen I just have to press the button on the TomTom with the same hand that I've just used to start the car and the maps come up straight away. The only time I take the unit out of the car is to carry out updates, add things etc and then it means disconnecting the small USB plug on the underside of the 50mm wire from the door rubber and sliding the unit out of its holder. It certainly works well for me.
 
Althought my installation isn't quite as neat as h5djr's ( I still use the 12v socket, but the cable is mostly hidden from there to the mounting point on the rhs of the screen ) I do have the GO 1000 which has a magnetic mount with integral connector. I don't leave my Tomtom in the car all the time, but quite literally by placing the unit on the mount it connects and powers up at the same time.

The main reason I didn't even consider the in-built sat nav was that I rely heavilty on the live traffic updates n the GO 1000. At the time I ordered the 8V Audi Connect wasn't an option and the in-built units only have the RDS based traffic updates which only cover motorways and major roads, and even then not to the same level of detail as Tomtom Live.
 
Just been out and tested the PGPSW CamerAlert app on my mobile. It works, after a fashion.
It gives voice warnings of upcoming cameras, and transmits it via the Bluetooth Headset facility. All good so far.
Being a Bluetooth link, it mutes the volume of any media you have playing, so there are great gaps in your radio or music listening. Also not sure what would happen if you were in the middle of a phone call.

I would have preferred a method where it overlays whatever you are listening to, rather than blanking it out. You can, if you want, set the app to output the sound through the phone speaker, thus not interrupting the sport just as your favorite team score the goal that wins the trophy, or whatever else you listen to. But how loud is your phone? Would you hear it over the cheers of the crowd?
But it does give an audible warning of speed cameras.
You have to have a subscription to download the database, and its about £20 but you get weekly updates included. (Well, most weeks anyway).

I know it's an extra thing to do when you get in the car (establish Bluetooth connectivity; start app), but it's a possible solution for those who don't have Connect, but would like the alerts for cameras without having to watch the screen.
 
We put our garmin in the space in front of the cup holders. It sits perfectly and doesn't slide around. We dont use it apart from it telling us fixed cameras in sound alert.
 
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