I’ve just bought a Garmin XT

[MaybeweeGS]

Having read Mr. Heath's carefully crafted, Route Creation Guidance, manual it seems to me, that even if you currently only using an offline, no voice guidance, route map -- with a gps location dot, it might be useful to adopt some basic principles from that treatise.

So if at some point you opt to use a Garmin, the "route rules" are already second nature.

Key points I took from the information are -

Do not start a route at your intended starting point. Always make the first navigation point a "short" distance from there.

Place a navigation point a "short" distance onward from any junction that is on the route.

If a "main road" is near your intended road place navigation points a "short" distance after any road junction that leads to that main road.

Zoom in and check navigation point locations.

If anyone thinks these points are not incorrect or irelevant -- please speak up.

 

[glenn2926]

Having read Mr. Heath's carefully crafted, Route Creation Guidance, manual it seems to me, that even if you currently only using an offline, no voice guidance, route map -- with a gps location dot, it might be useful to adopt some basic principles from that treatise.

So if at some point you opt to use a Garmin, the "route rules" are already second nature.

Key points I took from the information are -

Do not start a route at your intended starting point. Always make the first navigation point a "short" distance from there.

Place a navigation point a "short" distance onward from any junction that is on the route.

If a "main road" is near your intended road place navigation points a "short" distance after any road junction that leads to that main road.

Zoom in and check navigation point locations.

If anyone thinks these points are not incorrect or irelevant -- please speak up.

I plot routes using Basecamp as it is by far the easiest for me to use. I just draw my route on it and send to device. No need to start the route in The wrong place, no need for billions of way points, no need to export it as this, that or the other. No need to place navigation points or shaping points, and it costs nothing, it’s free.

 

[jefformston]

I plot routes using Basecamp as it is by far the easiest for me to use. I just draw my route on it and send to device. No need to start the route in The wrong place, no need for billions of way points, no need to export it as this, that or the other. No need to place navigation points or shaping points, and it costs nothing, it’s free.

Not very portable though, what do you do for a 3-4 week jaunt around Europe following the weather with no real plan when you leave home?

 

[MaybeweeGS]

i think i have been down this rabbit hole before.
I agree that Basecamp was a good tool when you got used to it.
However, no Windows so no Basecamp, creates the need for another solution.

 

[wessie]

Not very portable though, what do you do for a 3-4 week jaunt around Europe following the weather with no real plan when you leave home?

use the trip planner within the device. I do this with my Zumo 390 often, to the point it is by far the quickest way to plot a single day's route with 5 or 6 waypoints due to familiarity with the process. If mid trip I can use Google maps to locate the critical junctions and whack them into the Zumo. If in a hotel I can use the 10" Android tablet on wifi to give me more screen real estate to work with on Google maps. I tend to download Google map tiles so I am not reliant on 4G in the boondocks.

 

[glenn2926]

Not very portable though, what do you do for a 3-4 week jaunt around Europe following the weather with no real plan when you leave home?

Just stick the laptop in my panniers and plot routes using Basecamp according to the weather. The expensive paid for apps are ok for very basic A to B routes which some on here seem ok with. I/we like a more picturesque or interesting route.

 

[glenn2926]

i think i have been down this rabbit hole before.
I agree that Basecamp was a good tool when you got used to it.
However, no Windows so no Basecamp, creates the need for another solution.

Windows works here. Has it vanished elsewhere?

 

[casbar]

I plot routes using Basecamp as it is by far the easiest for me to use. I just draw my route on it and send to device. No need to start the route in The wrong place, no need for billions of way points, no need to export it as this, that or the other. No need to place navigation points or shaping points, and it costs nothing, it’s free.

The point is, no matter what software you use to plot your routes, once you manage to get them into the XT, you are at the mercy of the device. How to get it to follow your route or track is what is being discussed. The XT has a lot of quirks that can mess your planned route up.

 

[glenn2926]

The point is, no matter what software you use to plot your routes, once you manage to get them into the XT, you are at the mercy of the device. How to get it to follow your route or track is what is being discussed. The XT has a lot of quirks that can mess your planned route up.

I’ve only used it a couple of times as a back up to my 660 but so far it has followed the routes exactly. I’ll be trying it again tomorrow. We’ll see.

 

[mw3230]

I’ve used an XT for some years in conjunction with MRA and recognise many of the issues described. That said, how often is it crucial that every metre of a pre-planned route is strictly adhered to? I’d suggest that if a satnav follows a planned route for the majority of the planner’s intentions then the ride has been a success. Any ‘not to be missed’ road or location can be largely protected with careful positioning of shaping points

A more annoying problem experienced by our merry band of fellow riders is the seeming inability of satnavs to follow the same route but that’s a different matter which has been much aired

 

[casbar]

I’ve only used it a couple of times as a back up to my 660 but so far it has followed the routes exactly. I’ll be trying it again tomorrow. We’ll see.

It will, until it doesn’t. Read the stuff on the zumo forums and you will be fine

 

[glenn2926]

It will, until it doesn’t. Read the stuff on the zumo forums and you will be fine

I guess all routing systems work until they don’t. Luckily I can read a map. Many can’t, well not really read one.