This is an old thread, but having come across it looking for something else entirely I might add LOL, it might be worth just adding a few points for members to keep in mind.
There are currently 2 available Garmin applications for route planning -
MapSource and
Basecamp. MapSource has reached the end of it's development and will no longer be supported by Garmin although it is still available for download. BaseCamp is still under development and is still in need of some improvements in order for motorcyclists to ditch MapSource completely.
When updates to maps are download BaseCamp is also downloaded and installed by default. A lot of users are not aware of this fact as it doesn't install a desktop icon.
When planning routes it is essential to always create these with both the GPS and the application (MS or BC)
using the same map versions.
Now to the crux of this post. MapSource and BaseCamp use different indexing systems as indeed do Google and other map providers. This is important if you created a route in one map version (say a couple of years ago) and now want to use it in the GPS that now has installed a later map version. Recalculating the route in the GPS might appear to work but in fact it doesn't and can lead you astray unexpectedly. Also, recalculating the route with MapSource doesn't work because it is not able to recalculate the indexes......it was never designed for this.
However, all is not lost and this is where BaseCamp comes in handy and is useful for this function even if you don't want to use it yet as a replacement to MapSource.
BaseCamp is able to recalculate an old route including the indexing and will reliably produce the same route that you spend hours creating. Here's the way:-
(a) Open your old route - gdb file - in BaseCamp.
(b) Double-click on the route in the left hand panel which will open the Properties page.
(c) With the Properties tab active at the bottom right hand side of the page you will see the Recalculate tab which you should activate. The route will now be recalculated with the correct indexing.
(d) Now close this page which will return you to the BaseCamp home page.
(e) With your route active either right-click and choose Export or go to File > Export. Give your file a name and from the drop-down box either choose the gpx or gdb formats. I personally choose the same name and the gdp format (same as original) and replace the original with this now updated and recalculated route.
(f) The file is now ready to be sent to the GPS if required.
I've referred to 'indexing' several time so it might be worth a couple of lines explaining what exactly I am meaning.
When you plan a route and adjust sections of it using the rubber band method under the point where you release the mouse will either be a white box when the route is place at a junction using two differing road names i.e. a crossroads or T-junction, or a black box if you place a box anywhere else on the road i.e. not at a junction.
In the case of the former (white boxes) these will be announced by the GPS but not flagged. With the black boxes (not recommended) this creates flags and the map view of your GPS will be full of blue flags. Both white and black boxes are 'indexes' and have a definite reference in map creation software. Updated maps can, and more often than not do, have slightly different reference points and simply using the Recalculate function is unable to re-index these points to where they should be hence the possibility of your route being thrown out. An example of this could be that an index point has now moved to the opposite side of a dual carriage/motorway which unless zoomed in 100% may not be noticeable but will cause the unit to announce 'make a U-turn' at the appropriate time.
The old way (and only accurate way) was to revisit these old routes, locate the index points and drag them off position with the mouse before moving them back again. This obviously can be a lengthy process but for ride leaders an essential process because they generally retain routes for several years for use again.
BaseCamp has made this process a lot simpler and quicker. It's also an idea to use this method if someone sends you a route (gdb or gpx file) that may have been created in a map version that does not match yours.
Hope this post will have been of some use to someone?
