My Route nightmare

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I have a mac .... !!

(Just been playing and importing routes with recalculate off, then once route is in, putting recalculate back on, and all seems to be fine .... ).

:thumb2

But all you are doing there is switching on or off, the device's ability to recalculate whilst riding a route. As I read it, you are not actually prompting a recalculation at all.
 
I don't profess to have the insight that Wapping does. But I have been using MRA for years now and never had an issue. I use 1.0 for the Nav VI as the only difference between 1.0 and 1.1 is as I've said earlier, one gives you waypoints, the other gives you shaping points. I change within the device and again I haven't noticed any recalculation when I do that. I do have auto recalculate off when using a MRA route. I get turn by turn and the line to follow. I've never had any map warnings, but I have a gold subscription and plan my routes using the HERE map, which is the garmin maps. It just works.

There you go everyone, MRA can and does work. Just as BaseCamp can and does work, too Why some have difficulty with MRA and / or BaseCamp and / or their GPS devices, is another matter entirely.
 
I agree with what your saying.

I unwittingly went on a 1,500 mile trip planned on My Route and expected to perform flawlessly on my Garmin Nav6.
i had no back up plan other than my mate who had the same route thrown on his TomTom rider 5, he experienced pretty much the same problems but at different times?

I feel i was fortunate on this trip because the NC500 which was the main part of the trip was clearly signposted, you dont need a GPS at all for that part.
If i had been on a trip to Spain as i am planning for next year, the whole trip including stop off point and most importantly Fuel fill ups will be planned.

I dislike Basecamp because using it is frustrating.
i move the map or zoom in and out and it reloads the whole map pixel by pixel as if its downloading on an old 56k modem.... and that's with maps downloaded to the PC.
when you consider how many times you move the map while planning and having to wait 10-15 seconds each time for the map to refresh you end up pulling your hair out.
There is something not right about the whole thing.
Even though i have maps downloaded to the PC it still needs my Nav6 plugged in to the PC or i cant see map detail.... which suggests that basecamp is still using at least some part of the map over USB

What i might try is creating a route on My Route App and saving the GPX file and loading it into basecamp to check it before sending it to the GPS

“importantly Fuel fill ups will be planned.” Sad state of affairs if you plan down to this level, also heading for problems. I’ve found many a time petrol stations shown on the SatNav are no longer there and many that are there aren’t shown. Plenty of petrol stations in Spain, never ever had a problem finding fuel. Some of the best rides I’ve had in Spain had been purely off the cuff and certainly impossible to plan into a route from the comfort of your armchair back in Blighty.
 
“importantly Fuel fill ups will be planned.” Sad state of affairs if you plan down to this level, also heading for problems. I’ve found many a time petrol stations shown on the SatNav are no longer there and many that are there aren’t shown. Plenty of petrol stations in Spain, never ever had a problem finding fuel. Some of the best rides I’ve had in Spain had been purely off the cuff and certainly impossible to plan into a route from the comfort of your armchair back in Blighty.

Which is all well and good but it doesn't go too far to helping the bod with the problems he's having with My Route and the routes he's seeing displayed on his GPS device.
 
But all you are doing there is switching on or off, the device's ability to recalculate whilst riding a route. As I read it, you are not actually prompting a recalculation at all.

The way i read it, if you use a shaping point when you build the route, it is only a shaping point. The route doesn't 'have to go there'. If you then load it from lap top to device with recalculate in the settings, the very first calculate the route (like ... load it into the nav) will instantly ignore those shaping points, because they're not 'must go to' points. If your recalculate is off, it will load the exact route.
 
Your device will load exactly the route it is sent, shaping points, via points and waypoints, along with any details you have applied to the via and waypoints, for example, stopover times. A BaseCamp created route will be limited to only what is needed. From other sources, the route may include all sorts of other stuff, which may well confuse the device, as can be seen in the comments about straight lines coming from routes created in MRA.

The movement of a route from the device's internal memory into Trip Planner, will require some sort of processing, the device advertising that it's calculating the route, with a percentage counter showing the progress. That is not recalculation per-se, it is simply a conversion of what is (in essence) a track into a route. That will happen whether you have recalculation turned on or off.

I will try to find an example of a non-Garmin route which, whilst it appears to be a single sinuous route following the roads, also has straight lines lurking in the background.
 
Here’s the example I was talking about.

It is a GPX route (it is actually a track) downloaded from the Alpentourer site and then displayed as a route in Pocket Earth Pro, just so I can see it on my iPad.

As you can see, there are two dark blue lines, you can ignore the other colours, they are simply other routes I have saved in the Pocket Earth app. One follows the roads exactly, whilst the other is simply straight lines that join the via points.

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I then uploaded the route into BaseCamp and got this:

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You can see the grey outline of the track, following the roads and the straight lines, via point to via point.

I then asked BaseCamp to recalculate the route, which gave me garbage. As you can see it is significantly different to the track.

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I then sent the file to my Nav V. The Nav V has to recalculate / process the data, it can’t do it any other way, no matter if you turn recalculate on or off. The processing took a while, but that did not surprise me.

The device dished up, three separate things:

1. A route of zero length, that had nothing between the start and finish.

2. A route that was all but perfect.

3. A perfect copy of the track.

So, what does this tell us?

A. Do not assume that a route coming in from a third party, in this case via Alpentourer but it could just as easily be from MRA is always a route, it is very often a track.

B. Do not assume that nothing else comes across at the same time, which might serve to confuse things.

C. Recalculation, within Settings > Navigation has nothing to do with the importation of routes into the device or the displaying of routes in Trip Planner, but it has everything to do with the way the device will (or will not) get you back onto a route, should you ride off it.

D. Some recalculation / processing will always occur before a route is displayed in Trip Planner. Whether what is displayed is accurately correct or nothing more than straight lines, will depend on a number of factors.

E. The device can perform some pretty powerful processing / recalculation of a route, rendering it completely useable.

F. Always check everything, before you leave home.
 
could you upload all or part of the .gpx file you are having issue with to dropbox or similar so as it can be looked at more closely, or a file that you you have created using MRA. I have used files in various garmin nav units from all over the net created with many different pieces of software, and always seem to manage to get them to work as they should with out to much bother.
And as Wapping said above i use a pc not a mac and have several garmin units at my disposal.
 
Barnoe, as Lee says, it would be really helpful if you could share the .gpx file with us, please.

If it's easier, maybe email it to Lee or me.
 
The way i read it, if you use a shaping point when you build the route, it is only a shaping point. The route doesn't 'have to go there'. If you then load it from lap top to device with recalculate in the settings, the very first calculate the route (like ... load it into the nav) will instantly ignore those shaping points, because they're not 'must go to' points. If your recalculate is off, it will load the exact route.

I keep my auto re calc off. if for any reason you stray of the route , miss a turn or something ,or even forced of the route ,road works etc, I zoom out a little so I can see where the route is on the nav, then find me way back to it without altering anything.
 
“importantly Fuel fill ups will be planned.” Sad state of affairs if you plan down to this level, also heading for problems..

This was because i am having problems, if im down to 20 miles of fuel and the icon comes up on my Nav6 to locate a petrol station, by pressing it the route gets recalculated and its all A roads from then.
So as to avoid this i included the petrol stations on my route every 200 ish miles

could you upload all or part of the .gpx file you are having issue with to dropbox or similar

here is the link to the route on MRA
https://www.myrouteapp.com/en/social/route/4751293?mode=share

This is the GPX 1.0 file
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EeI1kUu5wNrE1ZvaoWJCMn3gMX6BLdKc/view?usp=sharing
 

Thank you, Barnoe.

1. Don't get distracted by comments about fuel stops. It's your holiday and your GPS device, add whatever you like to it and use it just as you want to. The fellow won't be there with you on your holiday when you want to go looking for fuel, that's for sure. That being said, Spain is not the Kalahari desert. There are lots of cars, whose lots of owners must buy fuel somewhere reasonably close to where they live and / or travel to, without too much difficulty. I toured for a while on a bike with a 14 litre tank, which gave a range of about 140 miles; forgive me for mixing the units. If I can do it on 14 litres, anyone can do it with their uber GS / GSA, trust me.

2. Now to the much more pressing issue. I have downloaded your GPX file into BaseCamp on my Mac. I have also updated the maps on my Mac and Nav V, so that they matched yours, just to remove the possibility of mismatch issues.

a. The file consisted of a route and a track.

b. The track displayed perfectly.

c. The route displayed straight lines, between A and B via lots of announced via points (10 or more) no doubt created when you shaped the route in My Route.

d. I sent the track and the route to my Nav V. The track displayed perfectly. The route displayed but it had two problems, being:

i. It was straight lines.

ii. It took no time to go from A to B.

Clearly something was wrong.

e. As a quick way of saving the situation, I summoned up the track on the Nav V and asked it to convert it into a route. This took a little while but the result was successful. I now had a route on my Nav V, fully drivable A to B, Rochdale to Hollee, 145 miles in 3 hours 35 minutes, just as you intend it to be when you created it in My Route.

f. I then went back into BaseCamp on my Mac and asked BaseCamp to recalculate the the route. This it did successfully, the magenta snapping onto the roads exactly. It matched the track. I. short, as near as I can tell, perfect.

g. I then sent the recalculated route to my Nav V and imported it into Trip Planner. It displayed properly. Rochdale to Hollee 151 miles in 3 hours 20 minutes. Good enough.

h. Then I changed all the announced via points (created when you shaped / created the route in My Route) into unannounced shaping points, which also worked perfectly.

CONCLUSIONS

A. The track created by My Route is perfect and can be used on the device as a track or successfully converted from a track into a route, from within the device itself. That alone would have saved your holiday.

B. The route, as provided by your shared file, if sent sent straight to my Nav V, gave only straight lines. It needed to be recalculated.

C. Recalculating the route in BaseCamp resulted in a perfect route which, when sent to my Nav V, was perfect.

D. Using My Route was the start of your problem. I am certain that had you created the same Rochdale to Hollee 150 mile route in BaseCamp from the start, none of this would have happened.

E. You could have saved yourself by using the track.

F. Recalculating the route in BaseCamp would have meant that a perfect route Rochdale to Hollee would have been sent to your device.

G. Depending on how your used your GPS device, how it routed you when you hit GO, will depend on a number of factors; too many list here. I can though imagine why it routed you directly to the end point (from wherever it was you happened to be standing at that moment) by the fastest route, which was probably nothing like the route you had created. If I am right in my guess, that is simple user error, down to nothing maybe nothing more than you possibly choosing the end point as your destination. The device would then do just that. In other words, you have asked the device to: "Take me from where I am standing now, to the end point, via roads you (the device) chose, as dictated by my preference settings". So it did exactly what it had been told to do by its master, ie. you.

G. It's all a mix of two different softwares (My Route and BaseCamp) which we see creating problems quite often, along with a dollop of user error. The latter we see quite often, too.

H. It is all quite saveable, once you understand why the problems have occurred.

:beerjug:

PS I have series of screen shots, which I can insert to show you the various stages of the points above.

PPS You'll have noticed that there was a lot of recalculation and / or calculation involved throughout the stages above. Contrary to Giles' theory, none of these recalculation processes altered the route, other than to make it workable. It was all quite safe. Indeed, had the recalculations not been made, you'd have been stuck with the straight lines or been forced to use the track. In short, recalculation in either BaseCamp or from within the device itself, saved the day. Recalculation, when going off-route, is another matter entirely.
 
I will presume Richard has used a newer unit, so using an old 660 and 550 and also using the NT map set not the NTU map set, I get pretty much the same results as Richard, no issue with either unit, and no issue recalculating the route from straight lines to what it should be, in either basecamp or on the units themselves. pictures pictures below.

The only conclusion i can make from all the problems you have had is that you are doing something wrong or have something set on basecamp or your actual unit or maybe a combination of all, as you can see from Richards post and my own, that there is certainly no issue with the route or track.

All work was done on a pc and not a mac.

Also Richards description is a lot more precise than my own with better pictures.:D:D:beerjug::blast
 

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Screen shots

A. The straight line route in BaseCamp. In the second screenshot, you can see the grey track line of where the route is meant to go. The route meant to follow the small unclassified road, running parallel to the M6 motorway. Instead of which, the route is a straight line.

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B. The straight line route displayed on my Nav V. Note that the estimated trip time is zero, another big clue that something is very wrong

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C. The track, successfully converted into a route, from within the Nav V

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D. The straight line route, having been recalculated in BaseCamp on my Mac. I renamed it only because I wanted to be sure to remember that I had recalculated it and to find it on my Nav V

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E. The recalculated route, displayed successfully on my Nav V

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Barnoe,

It looks like Lee and I have both come to the same conclusions, he using a PC, me a Mac. The only difference is in the map set types, I think necessary only because as I am using a Mac / BMW Navigator device, whilst he is using a PC and a generic Garmin device.

There is nothing wrong with your modern GPS device, it simply suffered from the old saying, ‘Crap in, crap out’. That is not the device’s fault. Mix in some innocent user error and trouble is all but inevitable.

There is actually nothing wrong with the route per-se, nor indeed with the track. The problem came that you had sent your device a route that was straight lines, as that is what you had received from My Route. Again, that is not Garmin’s or your device’s fault. Had you recalculated the route and / or used the track version, all would have been well.

Despite all the moaning that we see on these pages, Garmin GPS devices are more than capable of running complex, bespoke routes, several hundred miles long, very reliably. They always have been, so it’s nothing new. But, they can only do it if the data (the route) they receive is useable and / or at least recallable into a form that the device can use. Think of it like this: 2 plus 2 on a basic calculator (or the world’s most powerful super computer) gives 4. If by error it is asked for 2 plus 3, it will give 5. That is not the calculator’s fault, it has only done the best it can, with the data and instruction it has been given. A Garmin device really is no different. Give it a route (data) that is straight lines, it will give you straight lines. Tell it to do something and it will do exactly what you have asked it to do, within the limitations of your own preference settings and it’s own processing ability and pre-set algorithms.

Get to know My Route; it very probably is good but it’s definitely not perfect. Get to know BaseCamp, if nothing else to help you see and cure glitches that come in from My Route. Above all, get to know, understand and love your very clever (but sometimes, very dumb) Garmin device. It will love you back, I promise. It might even (if you are lucky) find you a petrol station.
 
Barnoe, miles off topic but here’s a tip about fuel when touring in foreign lands or even Scotland.

A. Know how big your tank is. Lots of riders don’t, though they’ll know the price of fuel to sixteen decimal places.

B. A very good rule of thumb is: 10 miles range per litre of capacity. Therefore, a 14 litre tank will give 140 miles, a 24 litre tank 240 miles and a 36 litre tank…. Well, you can guess the answer, no doubt.

C. Let’s say you have a journey of 300 miles and a 24 litre tank, you’ll be 60 miles short. The great temptation is wait for the fuel light to come on, maybe indicating that you have 20 miles’ range left. In other words, about 80 miles from your destination. Terror fills your mind!

D. Don’t do that. As you ride along in Western Europe you will see petrol stations, no doubt about it. You’ll also no doubt want to make a stop at some point. When you get to say 120 miles into your journey, with still 180 miles to go but the fuel light nowhere near on, pull into a petrol station and fill up again. If you can coincide this with a coffee or lunch stop, better still. You are now back to a 240 mile range, comfortably enough to cover the 180 miles left and with a very handy 60 miles spare in case you get lost! The fuel light will not come on. Terror will not set in.

One last tip…. No matter how tired you might be, always try to end the day by filling up, if possible. That way you will always start the next day with a full tank, removing one potential variable from your life. If you can’t, then fill up at the first petrol station you see, even if the light is not on. A full tank, is a good tank.
 
Thank you Wapping. Excellent advice.

I'm going to have another look at Basecamp to see if I can understand it. I've never quite got my head around it, but I'll give it another go.
 
Thank you Wapping. Excellent advice.

I'm going to have another look at Basecamp to see if I can understand it. I've never quite got my head around it, but I'll give it another go.

Thank you.

There are lots of very good self-help tutorials on YouTube and, of course, help is never far away in this section. I had a sharp learning curve * on it, definitely made harder as I had never owned a Mac before and possess the IT skills of a chimp. But once I realised it was not so very different from MapSource on my old PC, it wasn’t so bad and nothing like the monster I had read about. Suddenly, it just clicked, if you get my drift.


* Accelerated as I about to take eight bods from UKGSer to France and wanted it to go well. Phew! Made it.
 
B. A very good rule of thumb is: 10 miles range per litre of capacity. Therefore, a 14 litre tank will give 140 miles, a 24 litre tank 240 miles and a 36 litre tank…. Well, you can guess the answer, no doubt......


350 Miles .... :nenau
 
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