Multiple routes on one file or multiple files with one route per file?

[Bateman]

If I am planning a 5 day trip, do I open one mapsource file and plan 5 separate routes for each day of the trip on the one file, or do I have 5 different mapsource files each with a separate route and waypoints etc and transfer them all across to my GPS?

 

[Fanum]

If I understand you correctly, it makes no difference.....making five routes for five seperate days can be done in one Mapsource window or five....the instances of mapsource are irrelevant, and as they will slow down the PC by using up memory for each instance of the prog open, you might as wel do it all in one operation.

Just save each one (day1.gdb.....day2.gdb etc) and transfer them all in one go.

Don't forget to upload ALL the maps you need, not just the ones you don't have loaded yet (or it'll overwrite the existing ones and you'll end up with not all the ones you need )

 

[araspitfire]

I tend to collect everything related to one trip into one file... I tend not to save the selected map state...

As the trip progresses, I add the tracks and any new waypoints... making sure to collect each day's track segments into one (renamed) track.

Before the trip, if I only want to download part of my planning file, I save it, then delete everything I don't want to download, then close the file without saving...

Al...

 

[PanEuropean]

Bateman:

You can set up routes any way you want - one big route that covers the whole week, or a different route for each day that contains only the path that you intend to take that day. From a technical point of view, it doesn't matter how you do it. But...

For sake of simplicity and fewer headaches, it's preferable to set up smaller route segments (one route per day), rather than creating a single huge 'New York to Los Angeles' route. Recalculation times will be shorter, and if you have your GPSR set to 'auto-zoom', it will not be zooming out to a continent-wide view of the map in order to show you where you are along your single, cross-continent route.

Michael

 

[John Armstrong]

Bateman:
Recalculation times will be shorter, and if you have your GPSR set to 'auto-zoom', it will not be zooming out to a continent-wide view of the map in order to show you where you are along your single, cross-continent route.

Michael

Not very often but IMHO you're wrong Michael, the auto zoom on the 2610 is the next turn ie if the next "turn" is 100 miles away then it'll zoom out to about 30 miles map scale, if the next turn is 1 mile then the map scale you'll see will be approx 0.3 miles.

IMHO of course and YMMV.

 

[fcasado]

Not very often but IMHO you're wrong Michael, the auto zoom on the 2610 is the next turn ie if the next "turn" is 100 miles away then it'll zoom out to about 30 miles map scale, if the next turn is 1 mile then the map scale you'll see will be approx 0.3 miles.

IMHO of course and YMMV.

John, I don't think so...

The auto-zoom is the various zooms the unit does while you're riding (to show progress etc), it doesn't set to just one distance (i.e. 200m). Try turn the auto-zoom off and you'll see the unit is still zooming in for the next turn.

 

[John Armstrong]

John, I don't think so...

The auto-zoom is the various zooms the unit does while you're riding (to show progress etc), it doesn't set to just one distance (i.e. 200m). Try turn the auto-zoom off and you'll see the unit is still zooming in for the next turn.

Which is what I said, it all depends on the distance to the NEXT TURN, not the end of the route. If autozoom is "off" then the map scale won't change, unless a pictogram of the next turn is shown.

Or am I missing something?

 

[fcasado]

No...Well, Yes

IIRC the auto zoom will change according to the route, not just the next turn...

 

[fcasado]

From the 2610 owner's manual:

AutoZoom - When On the Map page zooms in and out as you travel. As you approach a turn, the Map page progressively zooms in. After the turn is completed, it will zoom out to show you the entire route.

 

[Bateman]

I tend to collect everything related to one trip into one file... I tend not to save the selected map state...

As the trip progresses, I add the tracks and any new waypoints... making sure to collect each day's track segments into one (renamed) track.

Before the trip, if I only want to download part of my planning file, I save it, then delete everything I don't want to download, then close the file without saving...

Al...

What is a Track - I didn't see much reference to it in the Mapsource help files though I see the option to create one? I assume itis different to a route.

 

[Mouse]

A track (as the term is used by Garmin) is a record of where you have been.

As you travel, the GPSR records your location at intervals. These data points are called "track points" and the collection of them is called a "track log".

This only happens if you have track log recording enabled in the options on your GPSR. If it is, try downloading the track log into MapSource, you will see where you have travelled indicated as a dotted line on the map.

Different units have different track log capacities, for example a 2610 only stores 2000 points which is enough for roughly 100-200 miles (depends how fast you are going).

The track log is displayed on the screen of the GPSR as a dotted line - if you can't see your track then try changing the zoom level in "Map setup -> Lines -> Track log".

 

[John Armstrong]

From the 2610 owner's manual:

AutoZoom - When On the Map page zooms in and out as you travel. As you approach a turn, the Map page progressively zooms in. After the turn is completed, it will zoom out to show you the entire route.

You're right about the manual.

Yeah, but, I'm sure that it doesn't do it. Best have a look tonight.

 

[John Armstrong]

Well I've had a look at my unit, and admitedly on a simulation, it does as I said and not as the manual

I just wonder when the manual was updated last? BTW I'm running 4.70.

 

[fcasado]

Well I've had a look at my unit, and admitedly on a simulation, it does as I said and not as the manual

I just wonder when the manual was updated last? BTW I'm running 4.70.

Dunno, but I've just bought a Quest 2 and the manual says the same... I'll have a look at the unit again...

 

[HMR]

For sake of simplicity and fewer headaches, it's preferable to set up smaller route segments (one route per day), rather than creating a single huge 'New York to Los Angeles' route.

No matter how the Auto Zoom thing works it's always a good habit to create a number of shorter routes instead of having only one Long Way Round route.

The issue of storing routes in one or several MapSource files is more complicated. I would recommend to store all routes & waypoints for one trip in the same file. Never store anything whatsoverer (except maps & POI's) in the unit itself. Always erase the unit memory for routes, waypoints & tracks before you upload a new set. The only problem I've seen with this approach is that MapSource becomes quite slow when you have 30+ routes.

On my computer I have 3-4 different waypoint databases (a MapSource file with only waypoints). One holds local POI's, another contains all Alp passes, etc. I also have about 100 files with routes for various trips. When I plan a trip I typically take a copy of one of the waypoint databases, add/create a few routes, and uppload all of it to the GPS.

 

[PanEuropean]

...On my computer I have 3-4 different waypoint databases (a MapSource file with only waypoints). One holds local POI's, another contains all Alp passes, etc.

HMR:

Why don't you just use the 'categories' feature of MapSource to assign each waypoint to a different category? If you do that, then you can choose to view only waypoints from each category on both your GPSR and when using MapSource.

I do exactly that - I have 5 categories of waypoints: North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Motorcycle. If I am in Africa (as I am now), only the African waypoints show up when I do a find or construct a route, because I select the 'Africa' category as the active one. When I go back to Europe, I switch over to the Africa category. This way, I can keep everything in one place (one file), and I don't have to worry about duplicates, getting out of date, not having the waypoints loaded, etc.

Concerning routes - if you frequently and repetitively use the same routes over and over, maybe it might make sense to keep multiple files. However, I think most of us ride a route once, and then file it away for future reference (historical record). This can be done by just downloading the contents of the GPSR (waypoints, routes, maps and tracks) and saving them in a file called 'GPSR Download May 23 2006' or similar. Once we have done that, we can then erase the route from the GPSR itself if we don't plan to use it again in the near future - but we still have it on our computer if we want to either re-use it or refer to it again.

If you do have a need to store many routes on your GPSR (for example, off-road routing), just preface the route name with a number or a letter that will cause both MapSource and the GPSR to sort the routes alphabetically. For example, if you have a library of 30 favourite off-road routes that you want to have available, preface each route name with N, S, E, or W, followed by a space, to indicate where it is in reference to your home base. Both MapSource and your GPSR will then sort them for you alphabetically (E-N-S-W) when you display the route list - that will help you find the one you want faster, and avoid confusion.

I cannot figure out the reason why you state 'Never store anything whatsoever (except maps & POI's) in the unit itself.' Do you mean 'Don't use your GPSR for long term (archival) storage of routes and tracks? If so, that makes sense, because if the route memory becomes cluttered with routes you don't need, it will slow you down when you try to find the route you want. But, there is no valid engineering reason to support your statement... from purely an engineering point of view, you can store as much crap as you want on your GPSR. Heck, I sometimes transfer pictures (JPEGs) from my Sony camera into my GPSR just to empty out the memory of the camera when it gets full!

Michael

 

[HMR]

HMR:
Why don't you just use the 'categories' feature of MapSource to assign each waypoint to a different category?

I use the 'categories' feature to organize the waypoints OK but not to a large extent. Could be a good idea to do some thinking and try to come up with a good set of 'categories'. There are obvious advantages with having all waypoints in one file.

However, I think most of us ride a route once, and then file it away for future reference (historical record). This can be done by just downloading the contents of the GPSR (waypoints, routes, maps and tracks) and saving them in a file called 'GPSR Download May 23 2006' or similar. Once we have done that, we can then erase the route from the GPSR itself if we don't plan to use it again in the near future - but we still have it on our computer if we want to either re-use it or refer to it again.

I think this is close to what I am doing. I create (on the PC) a few routes and store them in a file named YYMMDD_area.gdb. When I'm back again I sometimes download the trace and store it in the same file. After that I always erase the GPS route/trace/waypoint memory.

If you do have a need to store many routes on your GPSR (for example, off-road routing), just preface the route name with a number or a letter that will cause both MapSource and the GPSR to sort the routes alphabetically.

Since I prefer to split up the planned ride into shorter routes I typically have 5-25 routes in the GPS. I always name them "01 from xxx to yyy", "02 from yyy to zzz", etc with the purpose to make them show up on the route list in the same order as I plan to drive them.

I cannot figure out the reason why you state 'Never store anything whatsoever (except maps & POI's) in the unit itself.' Do you mean 'Don't use your GPSR for long term (archival) storage of routes and tracks?

Yes this is what I mean. But not only that. To avoid confusion and to make it easier to find waypoints I only store data in the GPS that I plan to use until next time I touch base (= home). In the future it may happen that I, by using 'categories', may choose to have a copy of all my waypoints always in the gps. But only a copy! The underlying database will always be in the PC to protect against theft or technical problems the GPS.

But, there is no valid engineering reason to support your statement... from purely an engineering point of view, you can store as much crap as you want on your GPSR.

On some models OK. But I have used only SP3 and 276C and neither of them have memory available for external data.

 

[John Armstrong]

Well I've had a look at my unit, and admitedly on a simulation, it does as I said and not as the manual

I just wonder when the manual was updated last? BTW I'm running 4.70.

A BM Nav 2 on 4.70 does zoom to the next turn.

However, if the distance to the next turn is proportionally similar to the distance left to route, you MAY see the whole of the route.