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Cyclops Driver
Safety System |
11th March 2003
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Review by
Darren Griffin
With the recent announcement by the Government that
speed camera numbers are set to increase the availability of GPS based
camera warning devices will be a benefit to anyone who spends any
amount of time driving in the UK.
Cyclops are a new entrant into this market with their
Cyclops GPS Driver Safety System. It has a RRP £369.00 which makes it
the cheapest GPS based warning system available at time of writing and
has some useful features that help it stand apart from its
competition.
Open the box and you will find all you need to get up
and running quickly. You get the GPS unit, 12v
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Power Lead, Mains Power adapter, Velcro dash mount and
a PC serial cable. Instructions are basic but clear. Included in the
purchase price is 6 months access to the update facility through which you can
add new camera locations to the unit’s internal database. After this
initial period you can purchase updates in one or two year increments. |
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Getting Started
The Cyclops unit is manufactured in high quality black
plastic with a prominent display. On top are two buttons whilst at
the rear are connections for power, optional remote antenna (for use
in vehicles with coated windscreens or demist elements which block the
GPS signal) and pc interface. Unlike other similar devices it has a
pleasant rounded design that will sit well in modern cars.
To get up and running simply find a convenient location
on your dashboard where you can view the display and reach the
buttons, affix the Velcro mount and plug in to a cigarette lighter
power supply. Once power is supplied the unit initially displays
a red X which indicates that a GPS signal is not being received.
As with all GPS units the first time it is switched on it can take a
while to download the GPS almanac data and initialise before getting a
satellite lock. |
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This is only necessary the first time it is powered on,
warm starts take much less time and in tests the unit achieved lock in
under a minute.
On the road Cyclops can be configured to display a
basic compass heading when no camera alerts are operating, this is a
useful feature especially for those whose sense of direction is poor!
It also has an overspeed function which can be configured to give an
audible and visual warning anytime you exceed a pre-defined limit
(This can thankfully be switched off!).
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Alert Sequence
When Cyclops detects that you are within 800yds of a
safety camera location, it firstly displays the speed limit that is in
force in green on the display (Knowing what speed you should be doing
within a safety camera zone is really very useful) as you get within
600yds the speed display turns red and an audible alert sounds, both
the audible alert and the flashing increase in frequency as you pass
the 400yd marker and finally the continuous tone as you pass 200yds.
Once you have passed the camera location and the display shows a clear
symbol and the system resets.
It is worth pointing out that Cyclops is also SPECS
aware, for those that don’t know, SPECS is the new digital speed
averaging system that is being rolled out. The system monitors
your speed between two locations to obtain an average for that section
of road; this prevents drivers from braking for the cameras and
accelerating in between. If you were to do this between SPECS
cameras you would still be prosecuted if your average speed on the
SPECS monitored section was in excess of the posted limit. |
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Cyclops will warn you within a SPECS zone by
automatically giving a visual and continuous audible warning if your
speed exceeds the limit in force within the monitored section. I’ve left the best bit till last! Unlike
some other GPS
warning devices that use warn of all cameras within a preset distance
regardless of direction, Cyclops uses intelligent filtering software
to only warn of cameras ahead and on your carriageway. It will not
warn of cameras that are on the opposing carriageway unless they are
mounted in the central reservation and can be oriented in either
direction. It will also not warn of cameras on intersecting roads
etc. In tests this worked superbly.
Cyclops Close Up
Actual Size – width 12cm, height 4cm, depth 10cm
Cyclops warns of fixed,
temporary and regular mobile sites. If you find a location that
Cyclops does not know about (we never found any!) you can record them
for submission to Cyclops. Simply press and hold the new location
button, when the letter C appears on the display let go of the button
and press again to confirm you wish to record a camera location,
that’s it!
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Updating the unit and
submitting new sites to Cyclops is done by connecting the unit via the
supplied serial cable to a host PC. Once you have logged into the
website you can download the latest camera database and submit new
locations simply and quickly. Unlike its competitors there is no
monetary reward for submitting a new camera location; instead you are
entered into a monthly prize draw.
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Front of Cyclops |
Rear of Cyclops |
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Its display is large and
clear and was easily visible in bright sunlight. The display has good
contrast and in use was not distracting during night time driving.
I liked this unit, it was
simple to install, didn’t stand out like a sore thumb on the
dashboard, did all it promised to efficiently and amazingly was 100%
successful in alerting me to all the cameras on the test routes.
Although it does not currently offer a speed display function this is
being introduced in April. Suffice to say that as soon as I’d
returned the review unit I missed it!
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 Pocket GPS – Special Offer
As a special offer to all Pocket GPS visitors, we have
arranged that you can purchase a Cyclops for only £356.70 inc. VAT
through our website saving over £12!
To take advantage of this special offer, simply click
on the picture to the right and you will be connected directly to the
Cyclops website where the discounted offer price is displayed within the
Purchase Online section.
Cyclops PRO’s
Cyclops CON’s
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Review unit supplied by
Cyclops UK Limited on 0800 389 8180 |
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