'Don’t put Waypoints on junctions’ advice

[Wapping]

Following on from the open Letter to Garmin thread….

I am interested in the ‘Don’t put Waypoints on junctions’ advice that came up as a possible explanation of part of the routing instruction problem.

I can see that Pan European and HMR both recommend / suggest that Waypoints are not inserted right on top of a junction.

Whilst, as Pan European pointed out, I don’t think it is the complete cause of the routing instructions problems, it does seem sensible advice.

However, does the same advice apply to the Root Tool clicks used when plotting a route?

The only reason that I ask is that we sometimes use the Root Tool clicks to measure the distance between significant junctions when preparing Route books, the distance measurements being very accurate. The click points get left behind in the complete Garmin route file and, I guess, are transfered to the GPS device as well.

If it is the case that Root Tool clicks on junctions should be avoided too I guess a simple ‘workaround’ when preparing a route and a parallel Route book would be to:

(i) Click the junction to junction route using the Route Tool and establish the distance.

(ii) Take a note of the distance and insert it into the Route book.

(iii) Hit the Undo button.

(iv) Then re-click the Root tool button on the same route but away from the junction.

Richard

 

[PanEuropean]

Another possible alternative might be to offset all your 'click' waypoints by about 50 feet from the junction. Because the offset distance remains constant (e.g. 50 feet before the junction), the distances would not be affected.

Having said that... I just want to make sure we don't start a panic here about putting waypoints on top of junctions. Sure, you can do it, there is no "for sure" hidden problem associated with doing so. The only possible problem that you can encounter is this: If you are working at a tight zoom level, and you are not careful where you click, you could put your waypoint on the wrong side of a roundabout, or on an entry ramp to a motorway - which would result in kind of a funny looking route.

So, just to keep life simple, it's a good practice to try to avoid putting the intermediate waypoints right on top of road junctions, unless the road junction is really, really simple (for example, 2 - two lane roads crossing over each other, nothing more than that).

Michael

 

[Wapping]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

No great panic here.

I am definitely familiar with the problem of accidentally clicking on the wrong carriageway. It was one of the first fun lessons I learnt when plotting my own routes, having learnt the hard way the joy of going around in a sort of circle.

I have got reasonably used to zooming in and out when plotting routes to avoid the loops that can be innocently imported. I also find it helps to watch how the pink route line gets drawn in between Route tool clicks, to make sure it doesn't approach from the opposite direction of travel. It was interesting to read your comments on the other thread relating to Garmin's efforts to write out these accidental loops.

I can't say I have ever noticed a real routing problem, or more precisely a routing instruction error, from plonking a Waypoint or Route tool click right on top of a junction myself.

I don't use Waypoints that often, other than for marking fuel and fuel stops when on an organised ride but think I will start playing with them.

Richard