Frequently asked questions

Vehicle height can be set from 7′ 0″ up to 16′ 11″ (200–500 cm in metric mode, in 5 cm steps). The factory default is 13′ 6″ — set your real height, measured to the tallest point including anything on the roof, before you drive.

Vehicle length can be set from 1 ft up to 80 ft (1–25 m in metric mode). Setting it to OFF disables length-restriction warnings entirely; height warnings are unaffected.

The warning distance is configurable from 500 ft to 10,000 ft — nearly two miles — in 250 ft steps (200–3,000 m in 100 m steps in metric mode). The first advisory alert sounds when a hazard that is too low or too long for your vehicle comes within that distance.

Separately, the status screen's AHEAD readout shows the next known overpass or restriction within roughly a mile in your direction of travel — whether or not it is a problem for your vehicle — with its posted limit and live distance.

Three ways at once:

• Screen — an inverted banner with the posted limit and live distance; close to the hazard the entire e-ink screen inverts.
• Beeper — a loud two-tone warble that repeats at your chosen interval (10–120 seconds) while you approach, and switches to a fast, insistent pattern when you are close.
• Blue light — blinks during an active hazard alert (steady means the device is simply on).

Alerts escalate in stages: an advisory at your warning distance, then an urgent alert close to the hazard (within about 1,000 ft / 300 m, or half your warning distance, whichever is smaller). Once you are past the hazard, the OVAPAS stands down on its own.

Yes — press any button during an alert to mute that alert; the on-screen banner stays until the hazard is passed, and the next hazard alerts normally again. You can also turn all audio off (Settings > AUDIO, or hold the ○ button on the status screen); the screen then shows an unmissable AUDIO OFF band and visual alerts continue. Audio always returns to ON when the device restarts, so a silenced device never stays silenced by accident.

No. The OVAPAS is fully standalone: the complete hazard database is stored on the device, and GPS is the only signal it uses. There is nothing to pair, no app, no account, and no subscription — warnings work the same in mountain passes and cellular dead zones.

More than 135,000 documented low-clearance and restricted structures across all 50 states and DC, including Alaska and Hawaii — about five times the next-largest warning database. It covers posted vehicle-length restrictions as well as low clearances. Nine in ten structures are direction-aware: the OVAPAS stays quiet when you drive across a bridge and speaks up when you approach the underpass beneath it; the rest simply always warn.

No device can. If you can see a bridge and the screen shows nothing ahead, that bridge is not in the database. The OVAPAS is a driver aid: its warnings are a supplement only to posted signage and never a substitute for it. Always obey posted limits and plan routes appropriate for your vehicle.

Updates are free for life. Download the OVAPAS updater for Windows, macOS, or Linux from ovapas.intulon.com, connect the device with the included USB cable, and run it — the updater finds the device, fetches the latest firmware and hazard data, and applies them in minutes. The device verifies every update before installing and keeps your settings. An interrupted update cannot damage the device; simply run the updater again.

Over 14 hours on a full charge, measured in-house with GPS on. The OVAPAS runs on a built-in rechargeable 1200 mAh battery and charges over USB (cable included) — you can also just leave it powered from a dash USB port. At 10% battery it sounds three low beeps occasionally; at 5% it beeps urgently and the screen shows PLEASE CHARGE TO CONTINUE.

Yes — the e-ink display stays legible in direct sun on the dash, where phone screens wash out. It has an adjustable backlight for night driving (the power knob's rotary ring controls brightness while the backlight is enabled in Settings). The screen may flicker during updates; that is normal for e-ink. It also keeps its last image when powered off, so check the blue light to know the device is on.

Yes. A single UNITS setting switches the entire device — height, length, distances, and speed — between feet/inches and metric.