Waypoint pain

[GrinningGSer]

I don’t think you’ll find many fans of Explore here. I abandoned it years ago.

The site that I name ; explore.garmin.com
This is simply an online depository of XT2 data , but can be used for more if wished. ( I do not use it )
However , I’m thinking that you are referring to the Garmin Explore app , which is very different and not what I was talking about , and I have no knowledge .
Confused eh ?

 

[Mzokk]

The explore website and its connection to the Zumo XT is an abomination and should be burned with fire I believe that using it with Tread makes it more palatable but I haven't got an XT2 to try it.

I've sort of ended up doing a mix and match with my XT and MRA. I was out for a run today over Slieve Croob, Gullion Altnamackin Kiltybane lake Castle Roche, Cooley Mountains and back roads through Monteith and Katesbridge home. I used MRA for navigation on Android Auto but for POI's I use the XT. I have created .GPI files using POI loader of Loos, Picnic Sites, and Commonwealth War Graves which are set up with proximity warnings so that if I'm out for a planned or unplanned ride I can switch these on/off and when the proximity warning pops up I can tap the POI and be directed there.

If MRA replicates the amount of info that you can associate with a Via point or waypoint with its implementation of POI's I could use that (especially if linked to proximity warnings). However, I suspect that because you can use so many mapsets in MRA including google maps, things like cafe's and petrol stations are easy to find and incorporate into a route making the need for POI handling less pressing?? In the meantime I use both and recognise that my use case might be a bit niche

Garmin's POI loader for PC hasn't been updated since 2013, so I suspect it was never heavily used, but I noticed that they updated the one for MAC in 2020 maybe to work with Apple Silicon??

 

[Berin]

The site that I name ; explore.garmin.com
This is simply an online depository of XT2 data , but can be used for more if wished. ( I do not use it )
However , I’m thinking that you are referring to the Garmin Explore app , which is very different and not what I was talking about , and I have no knowledge .
Confused eh ?

the Explore app, I believe, works alongside the Explore website. The explore website seems to be used for a few things, including inreach data, and as you say can be used to create routes, waypoints, collections. I’m guessing, as I don’t have a tread or an xt2, it’s the same one I experimented with for my 710 before it wiped out all the routes I needed for a TET trip during a sync.
Hateful piece of software

 

[Berin]

@Berin
Would that be the .gpx file I created and offered up for your trip? How did you find it?
Testing out the Montana 710 at the moment and it's doing well.

Yes, it was. It was very helpful, thank you, and the Maltese cross icons were great.

I put those POI’s in Basecamp, where you can do sensible things like have 1 waypoint in multiple folders and have waypoints not as part of a route. I created all the routes in Basecamp and options, based your Templars file with other useful stuff like hotels and other sites worth visiting added as waypoints and with a folder per day.

I then sent all that data, the routes, tracks and waypoints to my XT, as primary navigation system, and then also uploaded the gpx files of routes, tracks and waypoints to Dropbox.

I also uploaded routes and tracks to MRA, and created a Templars POI category in MRA, so I could modify routes on the road if needed. Mercifully I think I only needed to do that once.

Although it’s workable to some extent the waypoint management on MRA is nowhere near as good as BC, which is why for longer trips I create the routes in BC.

 

[Berin]

You can import your favourites (if saved as GPX locations) to the POI list. You can change each POI to the relevant flag for the location type (fuel station / food spot / hotel / etc). So when searching for POIs it will bring up those on the map & your favourites (as a POI). Or if you do not want to select any POI's except your favourites (imported as a POI), they will always appear on the map.

Yes, but I seem to recall you have to zoom right in to see them, don’t you?

 

[Mzokk]

the Explore app, I believe, works alongside the Explore website.

The explore app does work alongside the explore website but for motorcycling it's only a way of accessing your explore website routes. For routing it's primarily aimed at cycling/walking and won't for example route along motorways. I think it was originally supposed to be a routing tool for the XT as well but now the XT is excluded from the list of compatible devices.

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/614327#devices

 

[DJ123]

Yes, but I seem to recall you have to zoom right in to see them, don’t you?

I've just tested it for the difference;

The imported ones can be seen from a 5KM zoom, the inbuilt filters are 1KM zoom;


This is an imported POI - 5KM zoom is the furthest out it can be seen.




This is an inbuilt waypoint filter - 1KM zoom is the furthest out it can be seen

 

[Berin]

The explore app does work alongside the explore website but for motorcycling it's only a way of accessing your explore website routes. For routing it's primarily aimed at cycling/walking and won't for example route along motorways. I think it was originally supposed to be a routing tool for the XT as well but now the XT is excluded from the list of compatible devices.

https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/614327#devices

it was (is) dreadful. I did use it so that Mrs Berin could see where I was via an In Reach when I was in the wilds of Australia and it was quite good for that, but it was a disaster with my 700 Montana.

Interesting they’ve removed the XT as a device. I recall having to do some kind of workaround to not have the XT linked with it.

 

[Wapping]

I’ve just been using MRA to plan a short European trip.

The waypoint/favourites handling is still dire. If you want to use the same waypoints/favourites in different routes, it’s still a massive pain as every single favourite ever made is listed with no way to search or and no other way to include a waypoint that is not part of a route.

This problem is now being worked on by MyRoute’s owners:

 

[daesimps]

To manage expectations - their last comment in timelines for the web planner overhaul was “unlikely in 2025, probably next year”

It should be good though - it’s already my planner of choice, with just a few minor gripes.