BaseCamp Activity Based Routing

If you create one of the 216 possible routes using activities and routing preferences, can we expect the Montana to re calculate the same route when uploaded?

Thanks

Currently there is very little intrinsic difference between Motorcycle and Automotive activity profiles. This will change in future releases.

Contrary to speculation, the same routing code is used for BaseCamp, MapSource, and all of our current GPSs. As the algorithm is tweaked, BaseCamp is updated, but the older GPSs are typically not. Also the environment and settings differ between the device and BaseCamp. The Montana is the first device to share the profile with BaseCamp. If you send a pedestrian route to the Montana it should use your pedestrian settings on the device.

Thanks, this is helpful. Sounds like the plan for new gps releases by Garmin is to be Activity aware of uploaded route. I can understand why this might not be possible with a firmware update. I have a nuvi 1490 I bought 4 months ago but I can't match preferences with BaseCamp because the Nuvi does not have the same or as many options as you find in BC. For example I can't find road preferences. Hopefully Garmin will release GPS's where you can upload routes that are activities and preferences aware get the same routes.

I understand about the route tweaking. GPS become obsolete just as fast as computers.

Thanks azdrmn, I just spent eight days on the road with my Montana. I think I understand what little difference there currently is between the Automotive and Motorcycle routing based on the several dozen auto-routes I did using both Activities. It did seem as though the Montana calculated the same route as the one I sent but it is often hard to tell given that the Montana does calculate ALL routes when loaded for Nav. It would/will help if there is a Set Recalculation to OFF feature on the Montana.

I currently create tracks from all routes I develop in BC so that on the GPS I can tell when a recalculation has changed my planned path.

After years of trying to figure out what Garmin's routing algorithms do, it will be helpful going forward to better understand the Activity Based Profile routing as changes are incorporated.

Thanks azdrmn, It would/will help if there is a Set Recalculation to OFF feature on the Montana.

I know the Zumo has the feature to set Recalculation to OFF but if you send over just a route with for example a start, end and a via, how does the GPS determine the route if is does not recalculate the route. It appears to me that garmin approach to solving the uploading of routes problem is using the same routing algorithm and giving the GPS the same activities and routing preference. Does the Zumo get enough information from MapSource to draw a route that matches the MapSource route without calculating the route.

Thank for the track tip for comparing recalculated routes on the GPS.

The issue for many of us that use Routes to navigate is that the older Garmin GPS units that support routing, by default, "REcalculate" the route when it is activated using the GPS's variables along with the Start/Via/End points. So, Recalc=Off is a good thing if you want to keep the intended path - no matter how often you deviate.

If one creates a route in MS or BC you expect to have the route be exactly the same when activated on the GPS. To accomplish this one must add via points along the route to "shape" it. If the route is very long it might take more via points to shape the route than the GPS can handle.

One of the [many] good things about BC's approach is that the Activity Profile is being standardized between it and the new GPS's like the Montana. This should reduce/eliminate the deviation between what you create and what gets "Calculated" on the GPS as long as the map sets are the same - to the version level.

As for the zumo, it is a "special" Garmin-animal. For the longest time, the zumo's would REcalculate any route that was transferred to it by default - thereby destroying the originator's intended path. The zumo team finally changed the code to allow imported routes that were sent to "internal" storage to not be REcalculated but rather Calculated using the data that came with the Route as long as the route was created on the same map set as was installed on the zumo. This made Route sharing much more consistent between zumo's and between MS/BC and the zumo.

Cheers,

... As for the zumo, it is a "special" Garmin-animal. For the longest time, the zumo's would REcalculate any route that was transferred to it by default - thereby destroying the originator's intended path. The zumo team finally changed the code to allow imported routes that were sent to "internal" storage to not be REcalculated but rather Calculated using the data that came with the Route as long as the route was created on the same map set as was installed on the zumo. This made Route sharing much more consistent between zumo's and between MS/BC and the zumo.

The irony is that one of the best ways to "inoculate" routes against map version changes is to set them up as if you were using them in a nuvi -- use "real" waypoints instead of shaping points -- and this makes the zumo's ability to prevent recalc nearly irrelevant.

I was darned if I was going to go "fix" my large collection of existing motorcycling routes to work with my zumo, only to have them go all wonky again every time I updated maps.

I'm glad the zumo has that preference, but we are not yet quite to that happy place where routes transfer without glitches.

-dan

Thanks for the info, with the above information, it looks like what if am looking for is a Nuvi with Montana features. The Nuvi that has the same set of routing preference as BC and at a minimum the Automative activity. When you upload a route along with the waypoints, the preferences should be set for the uploaded route. I would always have the same maps on BC and the Nuvi so for a few years until they tweaked the routing algorithm, I could expect the get the same route on the GPS I saw in BC. If I like the route fine, if I don't drag the route for shaping waypoints and when I upload the route I would still get the same route. I usually add waypoints and insert them in the route because it give me more flexibility on the GPS.

So, Recalc=Off is a good thing if you want to keep the intended path - no matter how often you deviate.

If one creates a route in MS or BC you expect to have the route be exactly the same when activated on the GPS. To accomplish this one must add via points along the route to "shape" it. If the route is very long it might take more via points to shape the route than the GPS can handle.

It seems like such a small thing to ask for... Why does Garmin not give us the ability to turn off "Route Recalculation" when we load routes which we've painstakingly created in Basecamp?

If it's possible for the Zumo, surely it must be possible with the best gps Garmin's ever made for my use, the Montana?

It seems like such a small thing to ask for... Why does Garmin not give us the ability to turn off "Route Recalculation" when we load routes which we've painstakingly created in Basecamp?

If it's possible for the Zumo, surely it must be possible with the best gps Garmin's ever made for my use, the Montana?

I know the Montana team is looking into doing this. Hopefully it will be in an upcoming firmware update.