Basecamp doesn't let me plan a continuous route

[Wrinkly]

Any help most appreciated.

When trying to plot a route on base camp all is well for a couple of minutes then sometimes when I go back to the panning tool, to allow me to move the page and return to the route tool, the route is not continued i.e the black line that goes to the last point of your route has disappeared and the route tool wants to start a new route.

Steve

 

[Flipfly]

I am still convinced that base camp is shite. It is so difficult to perform the most simple tasks I have given up. If I plan a route it invariably decides to recalculate it to the fastest or shortest route using major roads rather than the little tiny ones I want!
I'd love to help you, but I have had to give up with it as it makes no sense to me.

 

[Bumpkin]

PC or Mac? The former I can probably give a more definitive answer on.

On the PC version I tend to use keyboard short-cuts to switch between the tools whilst working on a route, these have the same effect as the buttons in the toolbar but, IMHO, are quicker and easier.

R = route tool
I = insert into route (elastic band, route must be selected)
H = hand/pan tool (I use this a lot as you can zoom with a wheel mouse as well)
E = Erase tool (route must be selected)
S = Select tool

 

[Bumpkin]

I am still convinced that base camp is shite. It is so difficult to perform the most simple tasks I have given up. If I plan a route it invariably decides to recalculate it to the fastest or shortest route using major roads rather than the little tiny ones I want!
I'd love to help you, but I have had to give up with it as it makes no sense to me.

Have you tried putting a couple of hours aside to get to grips with it? Granted, it's different from Mapsource (which has it's own set of idiosyncratic issues) and isn't particularly intuitive for the first time user. However I'm convinced that Basecamp is an an improvement on Mapsource, certainly in it's more recent incarnations anyway, and is far from shite.

I accept that it's not perfect either, what software ever is, but at least it's a work in progress and not dead in the water like it's predecessor. When I say 'not perfect' what I mean that there are minor improvements that could be made to make it better but, IMHO, as it stands it's the best tool out there to use for Garmin route planning.

Having said the above I ran back to Mapsource when I first tried Basecamp, tried again a few months later when I had a spare few hours and haven't looked back since. I still have Mapsource installed, I even installed it on my new Windows 8 machine, but haven't used it for months.

 

[Wapping]

The OP's question is answered in another thread.

Even Mickey, the world's oldest and most travelled man, has cracked it... And he doesn't even have electricity.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?369717-Basecamp-help-Please&p=3793781#post3793781

Scroll to the end.

 

[Wrinkly]

Many thanks for your input folks.

I apologies for asking a fair few stupid questions,but I do really find this sort of stuff difficult.

I am determined to get to grips with "Basecamp" and it is slowly coming together.

I've plotted a couple of routes today and as suggested by BUMPKIN using the "R" key on the keyboard to go back to the routeing tool and the "H" key to go to the panning tool,rather than using the mouse to go back to the tool bar at the top of the page has up to now appeared to have solved my problem.
I'm using a PC by the way.

I'll be along again shortly with another daft question

Steve

 

[Wapping]

With Basecamp's odd inability to move the map around with the hand tool, I really do think it's better to let the software pick a route from A to B, which it will do in seconds.

Then, use the route shaper tool to pull the route excsctly along the roads you wish to take. That way you'll be able to use the hand tool, no problem at all.

Just take a bit of care but really not much more than you'd take when using the point-by-point-by-point method.

 

[Bumpkin]

With Basecamp's odd inability to move the map around with the hand tool, I really do think it's better to let the software pick a route from A to B, which it will do in seconds.

Then, use the route shaper tool to pull the route excsctly along the roads you wish to take. That way you'll be able to use the hand tool, no problem at all.

Should have spotted and commented on that. Yes, you're right. That's the way I work, the using the hand (H key) and insert (I key) to adjust the route to my liking.

As a final check I run over the points I've added by opening the route dialogue, checking the 'centre map' check box at the bottom, and then clicking on each point. Doing this you get a close-up view of each shaping node and way-point that you've added to your route. If you need to adjust anything, such as a point off the road or one that's been accidentally placed on a nearby adjacent road, just use the move tool (M key) to click and drag it to where it should be.

Please note that to use the keyboard short-cuts the map needs to have 'focus' so you may need to click on it once before trying to change the tool. If doing this does something undesireable just use CTRL+Z to undo, then, if the route is no longer selected use the S key and then select the route again before using the keyboard short-cut you needed. Sounds fussy and complicated in theory, in practice though it's pretty fast.

 

[adventuredon]

I Use the arrow keys to move around while shaping

 

[Wrinkly]

With Basecamp's odd inability to move the map around with the hand tool, I really do think it's better to let the software pick a route from A to B, which it will do in seconds.

Then, use the route shaper tool to pull the route excsctly along the roads you wish to take. That way you'll be able to use the hand tool, no problem at all.

Just take a bit of care but really not much more than you'd take when using the point-by-point-by-point method.

I'll give this method a try..Although,I am able to move the map around using the hand tool.

Steve

 

[Wapping]

Excellent.

Do watch out for one quirk of the 'pull the route around' method.

There is a bit of a knack to it. You might notice that if you start at one end and drag the route, then drag it again, your first drag might move, too. The reason? It's simple:

You start with one single route, going from A to B, maybe over many miles.

You drag one bit, changing it to A to C via B

You then drag it again, making it A to D via B and C.

The clever device works out a 'better' (though not where YOU want to go) way for you to get from A to C and on to D by missing out B.

One method of reducing the chances of this happening is to make your first pull of the route reasonably close to the middle of the route and then work out from there. If you look at the roads, it's sometimes possible to second guess where the computer will pull your route through. For instance, there is a very good chance it will always chose the fastest / most direct roads, irrespective. Anticipate this and make your drag onto the lesser road(s) to give the device a clue. Another example might be where the computer generated route takes you through a town, when the more 'sensible' route would be to take the much longer (but ultimately probably quicker) very nice ring road the local council has spent a lot of money on. Practice makes perfect.

Another tip is to have a big screen to work from, as opposed to an 11" laptop or mini-computer. The big picture is often very helpful. Getting to know and love your zoom and detail tools, too.

Always, irrespective of what method you use, check your route after completion. It's a good idea to run 'recalculate' too, before you do so, just to let the computer jiggle itself about. Then check you are happy. Checking should highlight any glaring errors (small side streets chosen, or clicked nearby by error, and bizarre short cuts) and above all give you a feel for where you will be riding as and when you do set off.

Last of all, check the routing preferences you have set. If you have told your computer that you really do want 'twisty roads' it WILL do its best to find them, every time, without fail. This is annoying if you really want to go from A to B (via C E G and W) down other straighter or more direct routes. It will screw up your pulling around no end, leaving you ranting that BaseCamp is crap... When all it was doing was acting precisely on your instructions. Customers asked for a 'biker' or 'windy roads' feature to be added, chiefly as it stopped them having to think or look at a real map for themselves.

 

[Bumpkin]

Customers asked for a 'biker' or 'windy roads' feature to be added, chiefly as it stopped them having to think or look at a real map for themselves.

Which is precisely why I try to neutralise such nannying, which is possible with the 660 and Basecamp, not sure about later models though. I prefer to be in charge of my own destinty. The only use I can really see for the twisty routes option is that if I found myself somewhere I didn't know and wanted to go for an unplanned ride. Having said that I'd probably have a Michelin regional map of the area that I'd look at first. Not sure how the twisty route feature works but I bet it's just some additional meta data in the mapping data stating that a particular road is twisty and the GPS then tries to string as many of these together as possible and make a route out of them. Any actual on-board analysis of how each potential road twists and turns within the algorithm would, I expect, bring your Zumo to it's virtual knees.

 

[Wapping]

Turning off all the routing preferences on the computer and device, along with having them both matching, is my favoured approach, not least as it reduces the chances of errors and glitches creeping in.

Many bods say that this turns it into a very basic device. Quite right, yes it does. All that I want it to be is a handy electronic version of my old paper maps and hand written routes, both rolled into one. I want it to display a purple line from A to B (via as many points as I like) no different to the highlighter - and before that biro or pencil - I used to crayon onto a map. My maps and sheets of paper didn't (and still don't) play music or answer the phone, I don't want the electronic ones to do so either.

I want to know the estimated time of my arrival and the approximate remaining mileage, without me taking 10 seconds out of my life to work it out. If I have to, I will. I don't want to know how many times I put the brakes on or changed gear, when my last service was or that my current / average speed is 10 or 100 mph.

I want, with a reliable compass, to know if I am travelling N, S, East or West and to be reminded, via my Favourites, that there is a not too bad cafe 22 miles down the road and another 27 miles away. I don't want to know the weather, as I can see and feel it. I have no great desire to know that the Munich ring road is slow going, as I am in Baden-Baden, which is moving freely.

I don't want it to auto-recalculate my route every 10 minutes as I have chosen to cut or corner or because I have not gone precisely where I told the device to take me, 7 weeks ago when I plotted my route whilst watching TV and eating a curry.

In short, I want it as a servant, not as my master.

 

[Wrinkly]

Wapping.....Bumpkin.

You two should write a manual......I'll be first in the queue....

Steve