Planning a route using waypoints

[Droopy Dick]

I have planned a ride-out route for the RoSPA group that I belong to.

Using Mapsource, I have marked every relevant junction as a waypoint.

Each waypoint is numbered sequentially, ROSPA 01 - ROSPA 55.

Is there an easy way to load these waypoints into a route, or do I have to add each one separately?

Or, was there a better 'Garmin' way do do the whole exercise?

I did exactly the same for my IAM group run. It forced the GPS to take the route I wanted, but does seem a tad long-winded way to input the route, esp. if you have a run where there may be 120-150 junctions to mark.

 

[Deleted account W]

You need to use start and finish waypoints to create a route. Let mapsourse work a route out between them, then use the arrow curser to drag your route to the roads you want it to take. Don't bother making all those other waypoiunts, just drag and drop the route to where you want to go and it calculate it for you.

Dead easy

If your struggling then I'll talk you through it if you ring me

 

[PanEuropean]

...Let mapsourse work a route out between them...

That will work find if the route is more or less in a straight line from A to B, but it might yield unexpected results if the route is circular.

Another way of doing it would be to open MapSource, with the waypoints in view on the map, then just drag a route line from 001 to 002 and then 003, etc. It shouldn't take that long to do it.

Michael

 

[Deleted account W]

That will work find if the route is more or less in a straight line from A to B, but it might yield unexpected results if the route is circular

Good point, Droopy don't try and let mapsourse work a route out using only one waypoint

Use two, even if ones only a few doors down the road from you. Get it to work a route between the two then drag it onto the roads you want to use on your ride

 

[HMR]

Using Mapsource, I have marked every relevant junction as a waypoint.

Each waypoint is numbered sequentially, ROSPA 01 - ROSPA 55.

Is there an easy way to load these waypoints into a route, or do I have to add each one separately?

Or, was there a better 'Garmin' way do do the whole exercise?

MapSource can automatically create a route from any sequence of waypoints.

1. Select the sequence.
2. Right click on the selected set of waypoints and choose "Create route using selected waypoints"

But this is no good way to do it for several reasons. One is that many of Garmins devices are limited to 50 waypoints/route. Using only two, start & end, is more efficient in combination with rubberbanding/snapping (= drag & drop) the route to preferred roads.

Also - one should avoid using points in junctions. It may confuse the guiding instructions. Use instead points on roads between junctions.

 

[Droopy Dick]

That will work find if the route is more or less in a straight line from A to B, but it might yield unexpected results if the route is circular.

Another way of doing it would be to open MapSource, with the waypoints in view on the map, then just drag a route line from 001 to 002 and then 003, etc. It shouldn't take that long to do it.

Michael

I've tried Whatton's method ... it took some doing. I could set a start point, but didnt find any way to tell it that there was an end point. However, I found that managed to set a route that I coudl save. I guess I still find Autoroute (that I've used since before MS bought it) much easier.

Perhaps I ought to find a Tom Tom Rider device to see how easy it is on that.

Anyway, after some playing, I seem to have managed it.

Trouble is that many of the ride-out routes are circular. We may do 250 miles in the day, but we almost always end up where we began.

Setting waypoints, and then planning a route by first labelling waypoints, and then clicking and entering each way point on to the route list was clumsy.

I think part of my issue is sorting out the right scale for MapSource, and altering it as needed.

But yesterday's route went OK-ish. I'd forgotten to tape over the IR port, and the bright sunlight did have the 2610 doing some odd things at times. Still, it was aways easy to reset.

Perhaps I have been doing things wrong, but I deliberately chose all my waypoints to be the junctions at which we needed to turn. MapSource didn't seem to find this a problem, although some careful mouse handling was required at times.

In all honesty, I suspect that what I really need is a tad more practise.

 

[PanEuropean]

...In all honesty, I suspect that what I really need is a tad more practice.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. After you construct a few of the routes such as what you have described, you'll get to know where the 'potential problems' lie, so far as the GPSR being too helpful is concerned. Once you get used to this, you'll know where to drop intermediate waypoints to ensure that the route conforms to your wishes.

There is a way of doing this directly from MapSource that is quick and easy, but it's kind of hard to describe in text. I wrote a very detailed reply explaining how to do it, complete with lots of pictures, about a month ago in response to another inquiry about the same subject. Have a look through the last month or two's posts, you might find it.

As for your intermediate waypoint positions - I do recommend that you try to avoid dropping them directly on top of intersections or junctions. It's best to drop them 100 feet or so either side of the junction. Not only does this avoid problems with certain complex type of junctions (especially those with multiple lanes), it also avoids distracting the rider just as he or she negotiates the turn. You know those pop-up dialogs that say "the waypoint is on your right"? Better to have them appear prior to or after the intersection, rather than right at the intersection, when you want the rider to be presented with a conventional 'next turn' dialog that shows them which way to go.

Michael

 

[Searanger]

Hi Guys - 2 comments here:- Firstly I have no probs creating a route but cannot 'drag' the route - Is there a secret? The other comment here is "I'd forgotten to tape over the IR port" - Is this a recommended fix for something?
Colin

 

[araspitfire]

Once you have a route, grab the "selection" tool (looks like an arrow, or just press the s key). click on the route (on the map view) and it imediatly reverts to 2 straight lines... click that middle point onto the road (get the right side if divided) you want to ride on...

Something that makes using Mapsource a breeze is getting used to using the keyboard to do as much as you can... w selects the waypoint tool, z gets you zoom, h gets you the hand, + and - zoom the map in and out without the tool...

It's not as solid in this respect as it could be (sometimes tool keys won't work until you click in the map window, but if your selected tool happens to be waypoint.... )... but you get used to the quirks quickly enough...

Experiment a bit and you too will be assimulated...

As for the IR port thing.. I gather that 2610's were prone to trying to intrepret commands given by the sun thinking it was the remote...

I'm not sure if this is the case with my 2820, but I'm experimenting with making my own remote with a microcontroler that I was planning on using to give my 60C a voice... I discovered that the common practice of riding the pulse codes on a carrier frequency (each pulse from a tv remote consists of a number of 40 kHz pulses) isn't used with the 2820... it's just a sequence of pulses.. a complicated sequence of pulses though... but it would make the remote function less effective in the sun..

Al...

 

[Steptoe]

But yesterday's route went OK-ish. I'd forgotten to tape over the IR port, and the bright sunlight did have the 2610 doing some odd things at times. Still, it was aways easy to reset.

The other comment here is "I'd forgotten to tape over the IR port" - Is this a recommended fix for something?
Colin

As for the IR port thing.. I gather that 2610's were prone to trying to intrepret commands given by the sun thinking it was the remote...

..

Waahaaay - a question i can answer

If you've the latest unit software, you can turn the I.R. function off .

To turn IR On/Off...

Menu, Options, Menu, Enable/Disable remote

 

[PanEuropean]

If you've the latest unit software, you can turn the I.R. function off .

True. However, if you have the latest software, it is darned unlikely that you will have any problems with spurious IR signals being detected by the GPSR, unless you are unlucky enough to have the GPSR mounted right beside a chromed bit of motorcycle structure that is constantly reflecting sunlight directly at the IR lens.

I have never, ever, encountered a problem with spurious IR signals - probably because there are no chrome or other reflective surfaces near where I have the GPSR mounted on my moto.

Michael