Rerouting my route !!

[Wapping]

OK - I have a laptop and a little netbook both with latest version of Mapsource on. However netbook, which did not have a CD drive, was running an older version of City Navigator. Copied the necessary files onto a portable drive - and now have 2008 City Navigator on GPS, and both computers, so should be ok..

.. but, spoke to Sam at Garmin UK who says that the only real way to stop your GPS route IN ANY WAY from changing a carefully planned route on Mapsource is to put in lots and lots of map points!! - what a pain this would be if you are on a long extended trip!

I guess I can turn recalculate to either off or prompted on the GPS device with the same effect. BUT, I really just want to be assured that a route planned at length on Mapsource will be followed religiously by the GPS device ...

Ah, the maps were different. So, that's cleared that up.

Now to your new observation.

It is not a pain at all.

Most days' rides on most holidays are what? 300 miles, 400 miles? Many bods baulk at doing that. Do not do routes much over that length as you do not need to.

I plan my daily routes using the Route Tool, simply clicking on the roads I want to use, in conjunction with a decent map. I do this so that the device then calculates the route where I want it to go, not where Mapsource wants it to go.

I add very few waypoints, if any at all. More often than not I have no waypoints, as they can often become a pain in the arse (see other thread).

Of course I was going miles off road and definitely needed to pass through a certain waddi or sand dune, or turn at a specific palm tree then I would use waypoints, or I would never know where I was. But, on the roads of Europe, with buildings, signs and numbers I can manage without; the Route tool with it's little trail of electronic dots is fine. It simply gives the gps device and clever route plotting software something to refer to, nothing more.

If you go to the 80 Vireees a moto sticky thread in the French Travel section you will see lots of examples of what I mean. No waypoints, just clicks with the Route tool. They didn't take long but there is a few thousand miles of very detailed roads.

Of course if you just click on two distant places, with nothing in between, and simply say to the PC or the device, "Take me from here to here, according to the Preferences I set" and then it later needs to recalculate (say because you go off route due to a detour) it may well change the route as it has to, in order to get you to where you wanted to go in the first place. You will be moaning if it simply stopped the moment you deviated from the route, would you not?

Try helping your gps device along, it will help you later more than you will ever know.

 

[stevia13]

HI Wapping,
I have sent you a PM.
Steve

 

[Wapping]

HI Wapping,
I have sent you a PM.
Steve

So I see....

What's your question?

Maybe we can answer it here?

 

[stevia13]

Well -
1. Using the routing tool and the electronic "dots" - this is how I do it, BUT the question is how many dots to put in / at what interval to prevent the GPS from doing its own thing. Have you ever noticed on Mapsource going from one point to another, even though they are quite close together, that the software will route you via an elongated route, and that the only way to avoid this is by putting in a greater concentration of "dots".

Also, can you clarify just why waypoints can often be a pain in the arse!!

S

 

[thosoneill]

Mine is showing CN europe NT 2010.2 on both my PC and on my gps device, ie. they are both the same. What's the news on yours?

i am not hijacking the post however my 660 reveals three versions loaded each box checked with a green tick as follows

CN Europe NT 2010.20 3D
CN Europe NT2010.10 (1) GERETSREID, DEUTSCHLAND
CN Europe NT 2010.20

(1) ALL

does this seem correct

 

[Tomcat]

At the risk of adding to the confusion, this is how I plan routes - and I've never had problems with the 550 recalculating something different to Mapsource.

First tho', it's important to differentiate 'waypoints' from via points (or shaping points). Waypoints are created with the waypoint tool in Mapsource, and are best used only for the start and end points of the journey, and maybe for one or two specific places you want to stop at in between. Via points are created when you drag n drop a route in Mapsource using the selection tool (the arrow icon).

The GPS will always try to take you to a waypoint, but if you decide to ride off route, it won't take you back to a via point that is behind you. For example, you're in France, find a road is closed on your chosen route and have to follow a detour. If you have a waypoint nailed somewhere on the closed section of road, you'll keep getting routed back there. If it is a via point, you generally won't.

I have routing prefs in Mapsource set to 'Fastest', and the slider biased towards minor roads. Don't use 'shortest' in the GPS or Mapsource as it will take you down cart tracks just to save a few yards of distance.

I usually plot routes by sticking a waypoint at the start and end points and then let Mapsource calculate a route. Then use the route selection tool (turns on a black rubber-band effect) to pin the middle section of the route onto your chosen road. This creates a via point. Don't pin it in a village or town, just to a section of road (this way Mapsource will take you the fastest way round towns and villages). Wait for the recalculation and just keep using the route select tool to pin the route onto your chosen roads. Its much easier if you have a paper map to give you an overview. Sometimes you need to set Mapsource to the highest workable scale (eg 1 mile) so that every road is shown.

With a bit of practice you can create long routes with a small number of via points by judicious choice of where you place each via point. Via points are listed in route properties, and appear as black squares along the route. Hover the mouse to find the name of the via point on the map, and you can then delete it in route properties if you change your mind.

Avoid circular routes by breaking the journey into an out and a back route.

I usually save routes in .gpx format in Mapsource (File, Save As) rather than the default .gdb. GPX files can be saved straight onto SD card in the Zumo (can't remember which folder), and it avoids the step where the Zumo converts a .gdb file into .gpx format (which is what happens if you load .gdb routes into the Zumo direct from Mapsource).

I have recalculate turned off on the Zumo, and if I leave my planned route I just zoom out a bit until I can see the route on screen and ride back to it. If you've gone far off route you can always use the Zumo touchscreen to create a point on the original route and get it to guide you back to that point.

Hope this helps. It's worth persevering with, as the Zumo is a brilliant bit of kit used in conjunction with Mapsource.

 

[Wapping]

i am not hijacking the post however my 660 reveals three versions loaded each box checked with a green tick as follows

CN Europe NT 2010.20 3D
CN Europe NT2010.10 (1) GERETSREID, DEUTSCHLAND
CN Europe NT 2010.20

(1) ALL

does this seem correct

CN Europe NT 2010.20 3D and CN Europe NT 2010.20 go together. One is simply the 3D map version of the other and works only if you chose the 3D view option.

No idea what: CN Europe NT2010.10 (1) GERETSREID, DEUTSCHLAND is.

It looks like an earlier map version, particular to Germany?? GERETSRIED (I before E) is a town in Germany, at least according to Google, in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen area, Bavaria if that is any help.

Did you load a specific German map for some reason? If so, Tommy, for you ze war ist over.

 

[Berin]

Well -
1. Using the routing tool and the electronic "dots" - this is how I do it, BUT the question is how many dots to put in / at what interval to prevent the GPS from doing its own thing.

Wondering what it is you're doing here.

Open Mapsource, if you have more than one map set installed select the one you want from the drop down menu.

Select the routing tool, click where you want the route to start. Then click where you want the route to end.

Route done. No dots. - just two waypoints. If you want to go via a specific place, click on that place before the destination - or put it afterwards with the waypoint tool and drag the route to it.

Save the route and send it to your GPS.

Have you ever noticed on Mapsource going from one point to another, even though they are quite close together, that the software will route you via an elongated route, and that the only way to avoid this is by putting in a greater concentration of "dots".

Go to edit>preferences>; select the "routing" tab. See what's checked - if you've selected a category to avoid it will avoid it! See whether you are using "faster time" or "shorter distance". See where the slider bar is set on "road selection"


Consider reading the "how to" stickies in this section

Also, can you clarify just why waypoints can often be a pain in the arse!!

 

[Wapping]

......
Hope this helps. ....It's worth persevering with, as the Zumo is a brilliant bit of kit used in conjunction with Mapsource.

All good advice from Tomcat and exactly what happens when you shove waypoints (see another thread) in the middle of a route. I hate 'em.

I prefer to use the Route tool for plotting, rather than the Route selection tool but that's just me.

A decent map definitely helps.

 

[Wapping]

Well -
1. Using the routing tool and the electronic "dots" - this is how I do it, BUT the question is how many dots to put in / at what interval to prevent the GPS from doing its own thing. Have you ever noticed on Mapsource going from one point to another, even though they are quite close together, that the software will route you via an elongated route, and that the only way to avoid this is by putting in a greater concentration of "dots".

Also, can you clarify just why waypoints can often be a pain in the arse!!

S

Tomcat has hit the nail right on the head with his post, vis-a-vis waypoints. He uses them at the start and end of routes. I don't, but it doesn't matter. He uses the rubber band tool, I very often don't. I guess it's why they are called Personal Computers? What suits him, doesn't suit me but the results are very often the same.

Re. the rest? The 80 virees a moto routes show you how many I use. I rarely suffer from recalculation problems or prompts unless, I go off route.

I have the device set so that it asks me if I want to recalculate.

In a very big town, when I have missed a hotel, I may well say YES... .. simply as it will do the work for me and I can concentrate on the traffic. In the country I say NO and just zoom in and out to pick the route up again.

I also have the route written down on the tank, so on detours I usually just follow the detour, confident that it will bring me back at some point, negaiting the need to recalculate. If I get lost I stop and look at a map.

It looks very likely that your problem with recalculation prompts came from loading routes created in different maps. It was bound to recalculate, the roads were different.

Now that you have the same maps loaded on both the PC and your gps, have you tried creating a route and loading it up? If so, do you get the recaluate message?