How do I see a GPX file as a traditional route in BaseCamp?....

chrismckay

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Hello Guys,

Once a year I do an overseas motorcycle trip to Europe from Scotland , and once a year I dust off BaseCamp and try to get my head around the workings of the programme.

Traditionally I enter the routes manually via Basecamp and load onto my Garmin device.

This year however I have found some ready made routes on the UKGSER forum that cover the areas of Germany and France that I will be touring, however there is some things about using this method that I would like the forums advice on!!!!
I have the option of downloading these routes as a GPX file, I have done this and saved the route to PC hard drive and then imported into BaseCamp, however when I open the file the route appears as a selection of waypoints connected by straight lines and not following the road as such. Can anyone enlighten me if there is something I can do to make it look like the traditional routes that I am used to seeing, as in they follow the roads?

Also…..can I alter the GPX file/routes so that I can add in my own personal points of interest and extend the routes to suit and then have the new route saved in preparation for exporting to my Zumo?

Would I be correct in thinking that the GPX file is just a selection of waypoints entered in an order and it is down to my software (BaseCamp) to create the road route according to my chosen preferences and options?....as per above how do I convert this to a route?
Any help would be very welcome

Chris….:D
 
I'm doing this from memory but if you right-click on the route do you have the option to refresh the route? Take this option and I think your straight lines might then become curvy ones!:D
 
Phew, lots of questions OP, here goes....

Question one is to you: Are you using a PC or a Mac?

To help you best, please can you point us in the direction of the
ready made routes on the UKGSER forum that cover the areas of Germany and France that I will be touring
so that we can download them, that way we'll all be looking at the same thing. Better still, share with us the .gpx file of routes you've created for your holiday. Use Dropbox if the file is large.

when I open the file the route appears as a selection of waypoints connected by straight lines and not following the road as such. Can anyone enlighten me if there is something I can do to make it look like the traditional routes that I am used to seeing, as in they follow the roads?

Answer: The most obvious and usual reason for there being a series of straight lines between shaping or waypoints, is that the map you are displaying the route on does not have sufficient detailed information within it to show the route properly. What I suspect is happening is that the route is being displayed on your computer in Garmin's BaseCamp 'base' (undetailed) map. Load the latest detailed maps onto your computer and all might then be well.

If your GPS device has the detailed maps installed in it but you have not connected it to your computer whilst looking at BaseCamp, try connecting the device. BaseCamp will draw the detailed map from your device onto your computer. But, as soon as you disconnect the device, the detailed map will vanish. Reconnect the device and your computer will draw the detailed map across again, disconnect it and the detail vanishes again. That method is fine as long as you are happy to connect your device to your computer each time. If you do not think that it's fine to do so, load the detailed maps onto your computer.

The other possible reason is that you've maybe got your preferences set to something like 'Off road', which will then join the points up with straight lines.

Look at the map detail first though.

Also…..can I alter the GPX file/routes so that I can add in my own personal points of interest and extend the routes to suit and then have the new route saved in preparation for exporting to my Zumo?

Answer: Yes you can. There are lots of very good video tutorials out there (and some quite good threads on UKGser) on how to do it. Here's a very basic example:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NDLyicG_Ge4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Google really is your friend here. Try something like: 'amending a route in BaseCamp' or 'adding a waypoint in Garmin' or some such similar set of words. You'll find something that helps you, I promise.

Would I be correct in thinking that the GPX file is just a selection of waypoints entered in an order and it is down to my software (BaseCamp) to create the road route according to my chosen preferences and options?

Answer: It is more than 'Just a selection of waypoints'. Between each of the way or shaping points, the magenta line of a route will bring with it thousands of tiny invisible breadcrumbs, which tell the software the route to follow very precisely.

Yes, if you had just the waypoints and nothing else the software would join them up (calculate a route) between them, according to your preferences.

how do I convert this to a route?

Answer: What is the 'this' that you want to convert into a route? You can convert a track into a route and a route into a track, very easily within BaseCamp. If that is what you are trying to do. Once again, Google is your friend. Try something like: 'Convert a track into a route Garmin'...

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zk06mnbRr_A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Double click on the route in the left pane & check the activity is not set to direct.

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Fantastic Guys....:thumby:

I have been using all your information that you kindly offered and i know have a working knowledge of the system.

thank you...:beerjug:

Chris...:D
 
Great.

What was the cause of the straight lines? Map detailing, routing activity setting or something else? If it was something else, what was it? I only ask as it might be helpful to know for the future, in case somebody else asks.

Thanks.
 
Please take into consideration that if you download a route that has waypoints and just straight lines between them, and you go to refresh or recalculate (or whatever it may be called) the route, it will depend on your settings (preferences) and whether they are set to the same as the software that created the route for it to make an identical route, (it may be a lot different than intended).
 
Great.

What was the cause of the straight lines? Map detailing, routing activity setting or something else? If it was something else, what was it? I only ask as it might be helpful to know for the future, in case somebody else asks.

Thanks.

Hello Wapping,

It turns out that after using the re-calculate feature the route followed the roads. Result...:D
 
Thank you.

In summary, if anyone has straight lines displayed on a route, try the following:

1. Perform a recalculation, though do check that the route offered up matches where you expect it to go

2. Check the settings to ensure that they are not set to 'off road' or 'direct'

3. Check that the detailed maps are installed and fully activated
 


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