Can BaseCamp generate routes?

That's one of the reasons why I asked for the feature "Create Track from Route" in my Feature Requests from yesterday :) A route consists of a few points only, the path between will be calculated on the PC or GPS device. So it may happen that your PC based route is completely different from the GPS device route - it depends on the routing settings you had setup before.

To get the same path on PC and your device you should check the following presumptions at least:

- check your routing settings in BaseCamp and on the device (both must be the same).
- check you map data, also the activated map must be exactly the same on the PC and GPS device.

Greetings,

Oliver

A route consists of a few points only, the path between will be calculated on the PC or GPS device. So it may happen that your PC based route is completely different from the GPS device route - it depends on the routing settings you had setup before.

To get the same path on PC and your device you should check the following presumptions at least:

- check your routing settings in BaseCamp and on the device (both must be the same).
- check you map data, also the activated map must be exactly the same on the PC and GPS device.

Greetings,

Oliver

A computer created route can be customized exactly to your needs with the use of via or "shaping" points. It doesn't have to be just a beginning and end, hundreds of via points can be used. Most decent GPS units will accept and use these computer created via points in the route calculation, resulting in the route you want being duplicated on the GPS. Having the same MapSet on both computer and GPS is extremely important as mentioned above. BaseCamp doesn't quite have the flexibility of MapSource when it comes to via points but it's pretty good.

That's one of the reasons why I asked for the feature "Create Track from Route" in my Feature Requests from yesterday :) A route consists of a few points only, the path between will be calculated on the PC or GPS device. So it may happen that your PC based route is completely different from the GPS device route - it depends on the routing settings you had setup before.

To get the same path on PC and your device you should check the following presumptions at least:

- check your routing settings in BaseCamp and on the device (both must be the same).
- check you map data, also the activated map must be exactly the same on the PC and GPS device.

Greetings,

Oliver

I hope this post makes it onto the thread; I just wrote a long one and it disappeared when I tried to preview it. The site made me log in again, and then the post was just lost. So here goes, again.

I routinely make routes with fifty or a hundred points, so I don't buy the "few points" thing.

I'm not aware that my device is doing any "routing" at all, but then I've never used maps in my GPS's before yesterday. It just shows a straight line between the endpoints - I'm guessing that the "routing" only applies along roads.

A computer created route can be customized exactly to your needs with the use of via or "shaping" points. It doesn't have to be just a beginning and end, hundreds of via points can be used. Most decent GPS units will accept and use these computer created via points in the route calculation, resulting in the route you want being duplicated on the GPS. Having the same MapSet on both computer and GPS is extremely important as mentioned above. BaseCamp doesn't quite have the flexibility of MapSource when it comes to via points but it's pretty good.

I was aware that I could painstakingly trace along the trail with waypoints, if that's what you mean. That's what I've been doing for years with Nat'l Geog. Topo! (a stunningly cruddy piece of software, but perhaps closer to the standard for GPS software than I'd thought.)

It was BaseCamp's obvious ability to trace the trail for me that was really cool made it appear to be useful. And I know it's doing it, since I can export the route to a .GPX file, which contains a whole slew of points. I guess I could crank up some other program (like the dreaded Topo! or GPSBabel) to send the GPX to the device, but that seems kind of stupid.

I was aware that I could painstakingly trace along the trail with waypoints, if that's what you mean.

OK, I'm confused. Are you trying to route on a trail that exists on the map or a track that someone has already traveled that doesn't show on the underlying maps? If it's an existing trail, a via point, not a waypoint, at the beginning and end of the trail section should result in a route that follows that trail. It does for me. The trick is to place via points so the software has no other option but to follow the trail you want. The exact same maps must exist on the computer and the GPS.

If you're talking about tracks that have been recorded and uploaded to BaseCamp, right click on the track in the list pane and select "Create Route From Track" The only thing BaseCamp lacks in this regard is the ability to filter track points by criteria to reduce the number of points needed to define a route, to the minimum needed to be accurate.

Routes are useful for planning hiking trips at home, but I prefer tracks when I'm on a (hiking) trip. The reason for that is simple, trails on topo maps are not very trustworthy and in addition to that in a lot of cases not routable.

Here is an example of what can happen if you are trusting routing or better if you do not create a track instead of a route...



As you can see there is a small gap in the trail (which is not the fact in reality) and so the PC cannot route between the two points. It calculates a completely wrong and dangerous detour instead. If BaseCamp would support "Create Track from Route" I would do the following workaround here.

1. Create a route from my starting point to the gap.
2. Create a second route from the other side of the gap to the target.
3. Create two tracks from the routes and connect them to one.

So, Garmin, please add this function to BaseCamp :D

Thanks,

Oliver

OK, I'm confused. Are you trying to route on a trail that exists on the map or a track that someone has already traveled that doesn't show on the underlying maps?

The "existing trail" situation is the one I'm in.

If it's an existing trail, a via point, not a waypoint, at the beginning and end of the trail section should result in a route that follows that trail. It does for me.

It does for me, too. Works like a trained pig at the county fair.

The trick is to place via points so the software has no other option but to follow the trail you want.

It follows exactly the trail I wanted. So far I love it.

The exact same maps must exist on the computer and the GPS.

I have only ever had one set of maps on either the computer or the device, the one I installed yesterday.

But the software will not send that route to the device. It will export it to a .GPX file, with its many intermediate points, but when I send it to the GPS, only the endpoints show up, with a straight line joining them.

Routes are useful for planning hiking trips at home, but I prefer tracks when I'm on a (hiking) trip. The reason for that is simple, trails on topo maps are not very trustworthy and in addition to that in a lot of cases not routable.

I couldn't agree more. The fact that trail maps, even highly respected ones like the Green Trails series, are often highly inaccurate is the main reason I got a GPS in the first place. And most of what I do with the device is uploading my tracks to produce accurate trail maps.

But that doesn't work very well if I've never hiked the trail. Just last night, for instance I was poking around on my new maps and saw an unfamiliar and unnamed trail forking off from a popular local trail. I would like to explore it, and I could always trace along it by hand, creating a bunch of waypoints and building up a route. But that's a boring, rather stupid exercise where a computer could do a much better job than I. And it does!

It just won't send the #$%#^$# route it created to my GPS!

The "existing trail" situation is the one I'm in.
But the software will not send that route to the device. It will export it to a .GPX file, with its many intermediate points, but when I send it to the GPS, only the endpoints show up, with a straight line joining them.

Then I'm afraid it's beyond me. I use BaseCamp for route editing when traveling, and upload the edits to my 376c or 478 chartplotters. The routes, complete with all of the via points load and navigate just fine. I've used it (BaseCamp) for simple route planning as well with no issues, on road and off. It almost sounds like it's the device that isn't accepting the created route.

Attach a .gpx file to your next post and I'll see if it uploads to my units.

Edit:

Just read your last post. I've no experience with 3rd party maps on Garmin units. The maps you're using may be the problem.

I just lost another long, carefully crafted posting, because this website again forgot that I was logged in and then lost the post when I logged in. This is the most frustrating computer experience I have had in 50 years of dealing with computers!