Basecamp & Fenix...

Former Member over 11 years ago

I'm new to the whole world of garmin basecamp but find it practically useless to use with regard to plotting a route to be followed on my fenix. The mapping lacks any form of detail (even when set to most detail) to be able to plot a route safely and accurately and shows at best a few roads/rivers.

So, with that in mind, I thought I would bite the bullet and try to download a more detailed map and pay £20 for a garmin Birdseye select area to use for such route panning... Turns out you can't use this on basecamp as it's apparently for the unit (a unit that displays maps that is) and not a software PC based map. Am I correct in thinking therefore that I need to spend the £100+ for the OS mapping to just be able to plot routes, drop usable waypoint etc on basecamp?

If anyone can advise me on the best way about this or whether I'm just being stupid then please do. I don't mind paying (begrudgingly after spending £350 on the watch in the first place!) say £20-30 for a version of/ an OS map say for the Lake District that will allow me to plot routes/view my tracks on a detailed bit of mapping, but by god I refuse to have to pay over the odds for the map when I can just used garmin connect to plot it over a google satellite image and send the route to my watch that way instead; which really only begs the question - what is the point in garmin basecamp please?

Hope I haven't missed the point with it. Like I say, if I have please put me right! I'm hoping it can be used as a powerful route planning tool for hiking, fell running and mountaineering. That is what it was advertised as.

Best regards

Steve

0 Snowy48 over 10 years ago

Misunderstanding:
I think all Frank-Ottawa wants is the ability to NAVIGATE a route that he's transferred to the Fenix. I'm about to pick up a Fenix today and from what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong) you are able to do this Frank. I certainly hope so or I'll be returning mine within 24 hours.
I plan on using it for cycling and walking in the Lake District. The watch will navigate to waypoints created on a route by indicating the direction you need to be heading. To this end it is all I need when out walking as I only want it as a backup should my map reading via good old fashioned paper map fail however for creating cycling routes I will have to create a waypoint-heavy route as between waypoints the watch will simply point you in the direction your next waypoint dictates as the crow flies if you will.
The watch, again as I understand it, will show a breadcrumb trail of where you have already navigated. The Fenix and Fenix 2 have the ability to upload an extremely basic map onto it so that certain features are seen within your viscinity but the Fenix 3 does not have this feature.
I hope this helps.

0 schinder over 10 years ago

For your use case, if it's mostly cycling with some walking, get an Edge with maps (choices are Touring, Touring Plus, 800, 810, 1000). For cycling, it's much better having a device mounted on your handlebars than can be easily seen than a device mounted on your wrist that can't be, and navigation on an Edge is much better than on a Fenix. I'm a cyclist, and except on occasions when I want to try things out on my Fenix, I leave it at home and use my Edge 800 when road or mountain biking. You can bring an Edge along when you're walking and it will work just fine so long as you have some place to carry it.

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

Snowy48: I tested the Fenix 2 for hours and hours and returned it after 1 week. Yes you're right, you can upload a basic route using waypoints. However there are two main issues. The first issue is that it is a lengthy and complex process. The Garmin software that comes with Fenix is very basic. I live in a city of 1 million inhabitants and all I could see on this map were the 3 or 4 highways around the city and that’s it, nothing else. In order to create a decent route with waypoints you need to purchase a more elaborate Garmin map. If you don’t want to purchase the Garmin maps of your area because you have already spent a lot of money for the watch, then you can use free maps available on the web. The issue with these maps is that they can’t be read as is on Fenix, you need to convert them using specialized software or free tools found on the web. You will have to go through many steps using different software and online tools to finally be able to load a very basic route on Fenix. So let’s assume that you go through all this pain -- which I did!! -- the second big issue is when you want to use that route. If ever you have to change your route (voluntarily or as a mistake), then Fenix wouldn’t be able to do anything for you because you would have ONE single route loaded on your watch and there is no way to deviate from it. You spend hours creating and loading that route and that’s all you have so you better make sure to follow it. And even if you stay on the route it’s hard to navigate because Fenix will indicate how to go from one waypoint to another but following a straight direction with no consideration if there are obstacles between waypoints (river, dense forest, etc.). As a conclusion, yes you can do what you wrote above with Fenix but it will take you hours of preparation and you should make sure to stay on the route all the time. I ended up with a handheld GPS and I love it. The bottom line is that you need the ability to see maps for cycling and hiking and Fenix can’t provide this option.