Turn Off Auto Recalculate on Routes Created Outside the GPS!

After having done so much work
Many people simply won't buy a unit which does not take routes as downloaded and just navigate them, assuming of course that the same maps reside and are enabled on the gps.

This is a feature that many are waiting for.

Automatic Route Destruction

My guess is that the developers at Garmin don't use the units themselves. Thus they can't understand the problem with automatic off-route route destruction.

Maybe I can try to explain.

For a huge number of GPS users the road choise is more important than the destination. Not only they who drive 4WD, Quad, MC, snowmobiles or bicylces off road but also caravan pullers and 18 wheel truck drivers. They all have in common that they want to plan the route in detail and they must be able to trust that the GPS follow exactly the planned route.

I myself ride 11000 km off road MC every year. I, and my about 50 friends, mostly use 276C/278/478 for two reasons. One is the overview over alternative roads that is needed when the road is blocked by a fallen three or something. The other is that we can upload routes without import recalculation. The routes contains typically both "follow road" parts and "straight line" parts since the routable maps seldom contains all the forest roads.

When we ride around in the swedish forests or pyreneean mountains we very often find interesting roads close to the planned route. And then it is absolutely required that the original route is frozen and not destroyed. We just zoom out and keep an eye on the map so we don't get too far off track.

But there is a problem. That is the stoneage technology used in the 276C/278/478. It often looses satellite reception in deep forests. Since the is no other Garmin model with the same functionality we are finding other solutions. One is to convert the route to a track and then convert the track to a trackmap that we upload to the GPS. The other is to use two GPS:es. I use one 278 zoomed out for the overview with a normal route running. This works best in open areas with good reception and when the road is on the map. The second GPS is an eTrex zoomed in with several trackmaps installed. The eTrex never ever looses satellite contact and the trackmap is independent on background map quality.



The setup works fine riding standing up in full speed . If you have seen Baja 1000 or Dakar Rally you understand what we are doing.

But, but, but. I would gladly junk my two outdated GPS:es if Garmin could provide me with a Montana that support upload of routes without recalculation. Or even better - a GPSMap 620 with the same functionality as the 276C.

:(

I really wish I could tell if Garmin is actually listening to us at all. The issue of forcing automatic route recalculation is in many forums now, and I've sent emails and bug reports into Garmin on several occasions. I have never seen any type of response from Garmin to say if they even acknowledge that this as a problem. It would be nice if someone from the Montana development team would post a reply to some of the forums, like ADVrider, or even this one. Just tell us if this issue is on the radar at all. Perhaps they don't even understand the problem we're having, and are just assuming that we don't know how to use our devices? It seems like they really don't care. Perhaps motorcycle riders are just too small a portion of their customer base.

GARMIN: if you're listening, please get in on this conversation!

As a new Montana owner -- and long-time GPSMAP 276 owner -- add my voice to the chorus. To the Garmin software developers: please ensure that, when I take the time to create detailed routes in Basecamp, those routes are not then recalculated when I call them up on my Montana.

I rarely plan routes ahead of time, but I have a Montana 600 and it does in fact have the option to disable automatic route calculation.




So, maybe I just don't understand the issue? Are you saying that routes get recalculated on import even when you turn off recalculation in this menu? Once a route is on the GPS, these options definitely do seem to work for me but I haven't tried importing any new routes since Garmin added this feature to the Montana firmware (last September IIRC).

I rarely plan routes ahead of time, but I have a Montana 600 and it does in fact have the option to disable automatic route calculation.




So, maybe I just don't understand the issue? Are you saying that routes get recalculated on import even when you turn off recalculation in this menu? Once a route is on the GPS, these options definitely do seem to work for me but I haven't tried importing any new routes since Garmin added this feature to the Montana firmware (last September IIRC).

The feature you have mentioned only keeps the unit from recalculating the active route you are navigating if you deviate from the route. It does not effect the condition folks are discussing here - which is when a route is save to the unit from another source (like BaseCamp or another GPS) and you want to view/navigate the Route. The Montana (for example) by default re-calculates the Route based on the local Montana Route preferences set in your current profile and then the Routing data.

The end result is that the Route could be completely different from the original. What folks want is very basic - calculate the Route based upon the data in the Route file and nothing more.

Cheers,

OK, thanks, now I understand the issue.

Marketing ploy?

They want us to own 2 Garmins, one for routes, and one for tracks :^(

The end result is that the Route could be completely different from the original. What folks want is very basic - calculate the Route based upon the data in the Route file and nothing more.

Cheers,

I think I want more or maybe I want less. I just want to drag a route to my gps and get the same route. I realize current GPS must re-calculate the route and different GPSs have different preferences which makes re-calculating and getting the same route difficult. Sending the preference information to a GPS like the Montana can help but I think a better solution would be to send enough hidden waypoints to make the GPS get the same route. This would probably require a new GPS but if Garmin would make every GPS accept a route from BC and the user get the same route, it would be a very compelling reason to buy Garmin.

I think I want more or maybe I want less. I just want to drag a route to my gps and get the same route. I realize current GPS must re-calculate the route and different GPSs have different preferences which makes re-calculating and getting the same route difficult. Sending the preference information to a GPS like the Montana can help but I think a better solution would be to send enough hidden waypoints to make the GPS get the same route. This would probably require a new GPS but if Garmin would make every GPS accept a route from BC and the user get the same route, it would be a very compelling reason to buy Garmin.

Current GPS's (those with sufficient program overhead) don't have to recalculate imported routes. They were programmed to do that. They could be re-programmed/enhanced to Import a Route "As-Is". The zumo 660/665 Team came very close to this. We know Garmin understands the issues - they use to do it correctly and then decided they needed to be more creative, or predictive, or just appear smarter than the user (comment withheld).

The issue is really how to circumvent the GPS's software Nav Engine so it doesn't do what it was coded to do and still allow the GPS to function correctly in other regards.

Since we don't have a Garmin Forum for the devices we are discussing, what I would like to hear on this forum is; How BaseCamp Development is going to "help their customers" with this issue?

Cheers,

Since we don't have a Garmin Forum for the devices we are discussing, what I would like to hear on this forum is; How BaseCamp Development is going to "help their customers" with this issue?

Cheers,

Yes Please,

The Zumo 550 comes pretty close, but still will alter some routes upon import. The shaping points help a lot for forcing the routes to do what we intended with our hard work in BaseCamp.

This is a very desirable feature that was present in older Garmin devices. We know it can be done, DeLorme does it. Garmin used to do it. We get very angry when the best things are taken away by the decisions of those who don't use the devices most useful functions.