Different Route Calculation Between Unit and Computer

I've recently planned routes on laptop using Basecamp for the first time. Taken a bit of brain recalibration but I think I've got it sussed.

One issue has raised its ugly head: when transferring the route from Basecamp to the unit, the unit finds a different route. For a route with a few waypoints included it seems ok, but for a straightforward "start to finish" route there is more room for a problem.

As an example, I did a route (mainly as a practice because I know where I'm going!) from Folkestone to Portsmouth for the ferry. Basecamp gives the expected route - M20, M26, M25, A3. When I transfer it to the unit, it takes me along the coast road - A259 and A27.

Both are using the same map and software updates (which I downloaded that same day), and both are set to "faster time." The times for both routes are very close - one is 2hr08, the other 2hr11.

Anyone have any suggestions for how to avoid this? Can I force the unit to take the route Basecamp has calculated? In this particular instance it is fairly inconsequential - and I'd avoid taking the coast road anyway - but for some of the routes in Spain I particularly want it to take the route I've pored over and selected.

The only thought I've had is that the unit might have suggested the coastal route because at the time of calculation there might have been traffic delays on the M25. Is this even a possibility?

(Just to confuse me even more, I've just done the route on the unit from scratch and it's given me the M20/M25/A3 route...)

Make sure that the settings for route preferences etc are exactly the same on computer and the device

Have a bit of a read of this and see if it helps
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/396216-Basecamp-and-Nav-5-My-way

Thanks, Rick. Settings for route preferences are the same.

Thanks also for the link to that other thread. I'll read it when I can be bothered! One thing I can't make work is the "Alt and left click" function. Does nothing on my laptop. To amend/drag the route to where I want I use the "insert" function, which works fine.

Try installing the latest maps.

deleted

When you transfer a route it just transfers the data you have in to creating the route. If you only put a start and end point the device only gets those and so will work out the route depending on the settings you have selected on that device. If you put one or two waypoints in to create your route it will use them too but it is still calculating the route between those points.

What I do is put in enough via points to force the calculation in such a way as it follows the route I planned. Obviously you do need to make sure you are using similar settings in both Basecamp and the device to minimise the number of via points needed. You could in theory put in enough via points so that whatever the settings the device has no choice but to send you on your chosen roads but you might need a lot of via points! I use via points rather than waypoints along the route but I prefer to have my destination as a waypoint, likewise anywhere along the route I really must go (often a cafe where I will be meeting other riders) I find the fact that these waypoints automatically go into my favourites can be useful if there is a change of plan. I can simply create a new route to those waypoints should I, for instance, need to get directly there rather than following the route I had planned. When you place your via points think about the options the device will be faced with, if you place a point just after a junction you will be ensuring the device takes you on the road you want at that junction.

I use Mapsource which automatically produces unannounced via points for me, I think in Basecamp you have to go in an adjust each one yourself. i am sure the resident Basecamp experts will come along and correct me if I am wrong in that assumption.

Good luck anyway, just play with the thing-try it out on roads you know well and experiment with different methods until you find what works for you. There are some who will tell you there is one true way, don't listen, whatever works for you is the right way.

John


John

Me and my mate have this problem all the time. We both have Garmins, both relatively new units within a year of each other . We go on a couple of decent trips a year together and he will usually program the route into his computer and then download onto both devices it's amazing how many times on a trip the devices differ in route making decisions , both set to the same settings and nothing to do with new roads or old mapping .

There is a setting under preferences in basecamp that says `transfer routes to device without recalculating` (or words to that effect). this will send the route to your device exactly as drawn and it should not recalculate it - unless you go the wrong way of course.......

Quinten said:

One issue has raised its ugly head: when transferring the route from Basecamp to the unit, the unit finds a different route. For a route with a few waypoints included it seems ok, but for a straightforward "start to finish" route there is more room for a problem.

As an example, I did a route (mainly as a practice because I know where I'm going!) from Folkestone to Portsmouth for the ferry. Basecamp gives the expected route - M20, M26, M25, A3. When I transfer it to the unit, it takes me along the coast road - A259 and A27.

Both are using the same map and software updates (which I downloaded that same day), and both are set to "faster time." The times for both routes are very close - one is 2hr08, the other 2hr11.

Anyone have any suggestions for how to avoid this? Can I force the unit to take the route Basecamp has calculated? In this particular instance it is fairly inconsequential....

Click to expand...

Hello, stout guardian.

I can maybe help you. Here goes....

When you create your Folkestone to Portsmouth ferry route on your computer, I guess you are asking it for A (Folkestone) to B (the ferry) with no other intervention on your part, ie no shaping or waypoints in between, just one single continuous magenta route line from A to B? Your computer will do that for you, according to the preferences (parameters) you have set.

When you send the route (the single magenta line, A to B) to your GPS device it's quite possible that you are only sending points A and B to the device, with nothing in between. Your device, whose preference settings might be different (though you say they are the same) looks at the two points A and B and (because it has nothing else to work with) creates a route to join them up. The device's memory / computing power in less than your computer's and / or the algorithms used might well be different, so the route offered up is sometimes different.

Try doing it another way. Ask your device to take you from A (Folkestone) to B (ferry) itself. It will do this based on the preferences you've set it to. You might notice that the device offers up more than one choice, perhaps? Is one 'better' than the other?

To fix the problem and help to force the device to take the roads you want to use, you can always insert some shaping or waypoints into the route whilst you create it on your computer. You can also have a look at the 'send to device' preferences and / or at the tick boxes that appear in any pop-up screen that might appear when you send a route from your computer to your device. From memory, there are choices of what to send. Play around with these, you can't break it. Remember though that if you change your settings whilst playing around, the computer and device may well retain the changes into the future, which can lead to some frustrations.

When creating any route for use on holiday, I always fire it up on my device before I go, just to make reasonably sure a glitch has not occurred. This little safeguard is particularly true of routes that I might have received from a friend or some third party source, which might bring with them all sorts of oddities. These are easy to investigate and / or fix at home, rather than trying to do it when I'm rolling out of the hotel's gate or hooning along.

Stay patient with BaseCamp whilst you learn. It is a powerful tool, better (or if not, just different) to Mapsource in some ways. Similarly, your Navigstor V is a great GPS device. Practice by all means, you can't break it. But the best way to really learn is to create routes you'll use and then ride them with your GPS device. Yes, you'll make some mistakes and / or the device might not behave quite the way you think it might or should. Yes, you'll find something that works and then two days later you'll forget what it was.... and then remember again in the middle of the night. We have all done it. The whole GPS 'experience' (to coin an annoying modernism) is now very reliable, once learned. Once done, they are a great aid to motorcycling.... just DON'T be Nutty and DO take a map.

There is a setting under preferences in basecamp that says `transfer routes to device without recalculating` (or words to that effect). this will send the route to your device exactly as drawn and it should not recalculate it
I think you will find that is not quite true, the unit uses its own Algorithms so it can change slightly. If you create a route in Basecamp with a number of Via points, export it to your GPS, import them and look at the distances they are not always the same. Likewise send it back to Basecamp and you will see the changes. Granted these are not much, but on say 3 different model units and 6 riders they often have variations. I have had this with a group of friends, one wanting to do a turn and no one else knows why.
GPS is a fantastic thing, but like us it has its imperfections.

As N1Rat says, there might be some slight (or even very rarely, significant) variations in the route offered up on a device between shaping or waypoints, over that created originally on the computer. However, if between points G, E and F and / or X, Y and Z or even just A to B, there is no other road or no other roads that can be taken within the preferences (parameters) set then the routes will very probably not differ significantly, if at all.

A simple check before setting off that all is near enough well stops most problems. Similarly, some basic care taken when creating a route in the first place, coupled to a desire to understand the whole process, also helps. Some bods can't be bothered but hey-ho.

How about sending the device route it creates bavk to basecamp to see if it also re calculates that way

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How are you doing, stout guardian?