Routes or Tracks or ..... ?

Your device cannot read tracks so routes ;)

I suggest you incorporate enough viapoints so that if you deviate you have enough choice when you want to return or keep your nuvi running and it will try to take you back to your route. Is it really a nuvi though? Thought the 770 was a RV model?

You might also want to run some practice routes so you understand fully how your device works when you deviate.

Thx !

Yeah you are right it's the RV one, I am just so used to write Nuvi as I have a Nuvi 2575 and a NuviCam.;) hahahaha

This 770 I will buy new when we get to Europe because I have no have chance of buying one here and I am doing my Basecamp routing on a "older" European Map which is stored on my PC. (Yes I know a lot of ifs and buts)

What I know is that the ZUMO (motobike ones) you can deviate from the route and it will bring you back to that original route. Correct ?

If I make waypoints will not the 770 (when I deviate) try to send me back to waypoint I missed.

I was thinking of making per city 2 waypoints. 1 before entering the city and 1 leaving the city. Both with clearly identifiable names like
001 before London
002 after London

And when I deviate (after 001) and the GPS goes "beserk" I just would stop it and select the route again and select "002 after London
. Do you think that would work ?? Or .. ? And should I set them to "Don't warn.... "or not ?

Thanks again for tips, fortunately I have enough time left (around 8 months) ;)


Edit: I could of course buy a ZUMO instead of a 770 if that would be better, but I love the BIGSCREEN of the 770 as I will be doing ALL the navigating as my Wife can't read MAPS :(

All devices will navigate you back to the route. The Zumo can accept tracks so many owners load both, navigate by route but then see easily if they deviate as the track being a track doesn't change.

As for behaviour doing what you suggest will work. What I tend to do is make any point I'm not fussed about visiting or not as shaping or do not alert points. That way you can easily skip them.

Points I must visit, eg a planned lunch stop, I make a via/alerting point.

Thx (again)

maybe I am mistaken but there was something that the Zumo had above the other Garmins (Nuvi).

i can’t recall exactly what it was, but it had something to do with either skip via point or something.

i know what I am trying to do has a lot of ifs and buts because when making these routes sitting behind a desk several 1000kms away its not easy, because a) I don’t have the latest map b) google streetview hasn’t been everywhere and c) because I have no idea about the actual restrictions on route and most importantly c) we are on a holiday and plans can change ;) I know what we want to see but then even 57 days seems a bit short i(crossing 7 countries)

thanks again sussamb really appreciated

Although not a 770 user I am a regular Zumo user on a motorcycle (as well as UK camper, caravanner (RV) etc.) when the Zumo doubles up as the main navigation device even if the vehicle has a built in GPS.

According to the specs the 770LTM supports a microSD card as additional memory (as does the Zumo range), so I am making the assumption that these operate in a similar manner.
When planning long or complex trips I export my routes (including alternative daily variants) from BaseCamp onto the microSD card (which is installed in the Zumo and appears as a folder entitled Memory Card -> User Data) and not directly to the Zumo’s memory. I then Import the routes I need on a daily basis into the GPS by selecting the Apps -> Trips -> Import option which scans the microSD card for routes.

Each imported route is re-calculated according to the devices routing algorithms when imported.

If you are planning on purchasing a 770 in Europe you could pre-load a microSD card by using your PC’s SD slot simply by creating two folders on the SD card: “Garmin” and then as a sub-folder folder “GPX”.

BaseCamp should allow you to “Send” single or multiple routes etc. to the microSD card. Note however that although the folder appears in the BaseCamp tree structure as “Memory Card -> User Data” the route files will actually appear as .GPX files on the microSD card. One simple route sent in this way will create three .GPX files, Route.gpx, Route1.gpx and Waypoints.gpx so don’t go looking for the file names that existed in BaseCamp as “Paris to Rome via Berlin” or whatever you chose to call your BaseCamp route.

Depending on how many routes you Send to the microSD card (and over time if you don’t send every route at once) you will see multiple slightly differently named .GPX files appearing; Route.gpx, Route0.gpx, Route1.gpx. Waypoints.gpx, Waypoints0.gpx etc. These files all form part of the database structure that BaseCamp and your Garmin device (Zumo, 770 etc.) use to interpret your routing files so leave well alone!

You could also upload these files to Cloud based storage which you could subsequently download onto a microSD card on your arrival in Europe or simply use as backup plan.

When planning routes in Basecamp routes are made up of two types of points; via points (or waypoints) and shaping points.

Via Points (waypoints) will alert you (via the Zumo/770 etc.) when you arrive at that point, shaping points will not alert you when you arrive at or pass through the point.
The first and last points in any route are always Via Points, in between you can have zero or numerous shaping points.

A route can also have a number of additional Via Points, however there is an upper limit on the number of Via Points that a devices routing algorithm can handle, 50 per route seems to be the upper limit in a Zumo so I would guess that the 770 is similarly limited.

The basic structure of any route is a minimum of two Via Points (the start and end points), an additional (up to) 48 intermediate Via Points and any number of additional intermediate shaping points in between.

A logical route structure therefore consists of:
Start Via Point A;
[nn shaping points…];
[Lunch Stop Via Point];
[nn shaping points…];
[Afternoon Siesta Stop Via Point];
[nn shaping points …];
Final Arrival Via Point B.

If you deviate from your route between two Via Points then the routing algorithm will always continue to route you towards the next Via Point. If you try to by-pass a Via Point completely and re-join the route beyond a Via Point you intended to visit then the routing algorithm will continually attempt to route you back to the missed Via Point.

To overcome this there is a “Skip” option in the GPS devices active routing features (I.e. the feature is only available when a route is current and active) which allows you to tell the GPS to miss (skip) that Via Point and move on the next Via Point. According to the on-line manual this Skip feature appears to be present in the 770.

In a Zumo when you select a route in the device all Via Points (including the start and end points) show up as a list which gives you a chance to select which Via Point to go to next. So if your route contains 6 Via Points (including start and end) you may chose the third Via Point rather than the second Via Point. The device should then treat the second Via Point as just a shaping point.

Via Points can be set in a route via BaseCamp with a date and arrival time, a shaping point cannot be set in this way. E.G. The first (or start) point in a route is always a Via Point and you can set the date and time of your departure from this point. Intermediate Via Points can further be set with a Layover Time. Basecamp will calculate your arrival time at the final Via Point (i.e. your destination) using the routeing profile (average speeds etc.) you have selected (E.g. RV, Motoring, Motorcycling etc.).

This Basecamp feature is quite useful when deciding whether the 450 mile route you have planned between Towns A and B is achievable in a single day especially if you don’t aim to set off from point A until noon!

Note that when transferred to the GPS device and activated the routing calculations become real time and therefore will differ from planned times. Profiles used in Basecamp are not necessarily features of that particular GPS device, it will use its own internal profile, so BaseCamp is just a planning tool in that respect and real life routing times will be different.

Via Points created in a route are points that you really intend on visiting, the text showing up in BaseCamp route list as normal contrast text without the words “(won’t alert)” after the waypoint name.

Shaping points are points that allow you to configure each route with some degree of precession so that you can be guided along a specific road, e.g. you may wish to travel on quieter, back roads between towns A and B rather than the obvious fast motorway/peage/autoroute.

In BaseCamp shaping points show up in the list of route directions as “Place Name (wont’ alert)” and the text appears greyed out. Route waypoints (one or multiple) in BaseCamp can be toggled between Via and Shaping simply by clicking on the point(s) in the list and selecting right mouse and choosing “Don’t Alert” or “Alert on Arrival” from the menu options.

One feature that a 770 has that doesn’t exist in a Zumo is that you can set the RV’s dimensions so that you routes will avoid any width/height/weight limited roads. These features don’t exist in BaseCamp either so be aware that you could plan routes that cannot be physically followed in your vehicle.

Your idea of setting entry and exit points for main towns as Via Points is sound, it allows the device to negotiate one way streets, vehicle size limitations etc. in between according to its latest mapping. However in big cities try to ensure that the device doesn’t try to take you the “fast” way around (which in the case of your example of London) is the M25. You may not want to travel around the M25 (or the Paris Boulevard Peripherique for that matter) unless you really, really want to!

You could update your copy of BaseCamp with free to download, up-to-date copies of Open Source Mapping which will allow you to do all the essential route planning using recent maps.

Good luck with all that lovely route planning ;)

Just to add the nuvi and camper models are limited to 30 points in a route, not including shaping points. I believe the limit for shaping points is 125 between other points so you should never need them all :)

Also importing of routes on newer models take place automatically and your device has a limit on the number it can hold. Given the length of your trip and the wish to have 2 routes per day you shouldn't hit the limit, which I think is 200 on your device.

In 1 word WOW you guys. When I woke up this morning I didnt expect to have so much information to process


I will report back after I have read all the info at least 2 times

Again thank you Guys Jamaubrit and SUSSAMB for all the INFO

I am planning to drive max around 150km's (on Slow winding roads) a day with exceptions up to 500km.

I just checked and the 150km routes have around 18 via Points (naming as I said before 001 before City, 002 after city etc with the city being small villages,) I don't intend to use that feature for big Cities or do I wish to enter a lot of Big Cities

The 500km route has just a starting point and an End Point (and nothing else) as I want to travel as fast as possible and as straight as possible to my destination but these routes are very seldom, 1 max 2 of these during the whole 57 day trip.

I have heard about setting the height/width etc of your RV in the 770, but on local RV forums people aren't that happy with that feature they said that often they get send down roads with Height restrictions (for example 2.20 while in the GPS it's set that your RV is 3.0m). So I will not use that feature and use common sense and my eye sight to determine of that road is passable. (also a good tip from someone was to put op a sticker on your dashboard with Height/Width/Length of your Vehicle so that in stress situations you don't have to go and look for it ;) )

It would be brilliant if the 770 has that Skip Viapoint option, but because the trip doesn't start until May 2019 maybe a better option is then available from Garmin. Will come back here and ask

Thx for the Tips with the SD card, but I am taking my Laptop with me and I will only be sending 2 routes (max) to my Device every day. The reason why I am taking my laptop is because suppose I make these 2 routes.

[Route 1]
Start Point A
Via Point 001
Via Point 002
Via Point 003
Via Point 004
End Point B

[Route 2]
Start Point A
Via Point 001
Via Point 002A
Via Point 003A
Via Point 004A
End Point C

But we end up doing this

Start Point A
Via Point 001
Via Point 002A
(Deviate from Route)
End Point D

Then all the next day routes are messed up as I was expecting to leave next morning from either Point B or Point C, but we are leaving from Point D ;)

The global direction will be the same but the destination for the day could be different, maybe because the intended RV stop is full or .....

I will try your suggestion with the Open Source Maps but wouldn't that effect the routing much / or the re-calculation done by the device ?? My concern is that I want to keep the routes intact as MUCH as Possible and I don't want the GPS to create a completly different route.
[For example I have created a route (to surprise my wife) to Enter a street from a certain direction which is a LONG way Round so not logical from a GPS point of view. If we enter the street as suggested by the GPS my wife would already know where we are and that would spoil the surprise ;) ]

After given it some thought, I am now going to do this.
Only make 2 routes for the 1st couple of days of the trip and for the rest of the trip make Global Routes.

Example of a Global route is this (https://goo.gl/maps/sWGngT8p6ns)
Example of a Daily route is this (https://goo.gl/maps/ZtVaxt3vJ1y) (wifey wants to see LOTS of Mountains)

Global Routes span more then 1 day. And when we arrive at our destination for the day. I split the Global Routes to become next day routes. First I expect to take it quite some time but practice makes perfect.

What do you think Guyz ??

Again thanks a lot for the tips and tricks, REALLY really appreciated.

If you have your laptop with you all should be good. The latest nuvis do have the skip viapoint option so you may find your 770 does too.