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Garmin DriveSmart recalculating routes

4421064
over 4 years ago

Sorry if this question has been asked elsewhere. 

I have been a Garmin user since about 2003 and simply cannot fathom why a route loaded from BaseCamp to my DriveSmart GPS must constantly recalculate.  When I map a route in Basecamp I want that route and only that route to be driven.  Back in the old MapSource days a missed point would cause the unit to ignore the missed point, recalculate for the next point not constantly try to get you back to the missed point. I use routes to give real time data on arrival times at various points along the route and am not interested if a point is missed.  After all the beginning and the end of the route is most important and not a missed minor point or shaping point.  Quite frankly Garmin has made using the GPS worse since the introduction of BaseCamp.  I hope I am missing something and educating me will fix this.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    No idea but it doesn't happen for me on my DriveSmart and I'm very happy with it. I suspect you're simply not using it and BaseCamp correctly, and don't understand the difference between viapoints and shaping points. Any point in the route as a viapoint MUST be visited, although if you miss one and decide you want to skip it then select skip viapoint in the menu on your DS. I only use viapoints for things like fuel and food stops. Any other point should be a shaping point, if you miss those your DS won't insist you visit it.

    This has nothing to do with BaseCamp but is how your DS works, although in BC you can set points to either be shaping points or not.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to SUSSAMB

    My comment about BC was not related to the problem I am experiencing with DS.  BC is a dog compared to MapSource and it is not very intuitive for me as I only use it maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Now back to DS I note that you're very happy with it, your satisfaction with it in no way lessens the frustration I have with mine.  Having said that I shouldn't have to interact with the DS unit if I, through no fault of my own, miss a via point. If memory serves, the GPS units I've owned prior to about 2010 would simply ignore any missed point in a route and recalculate to the next.  No interaction with the unit was necessary. It is as if DS is treating my route as a trip and I don't travel by trips.  So what do you suggest?  Sometimes those via points have to be inserted in BC in order to get the route I want.  I have put the beginning and end points in only to have BC place run the route through undesired roads or areas.. Doesn't matter if the BC and DS are set to "fastest" or "shortest".  My routes are typically a mixture of shortest and fastest segments simply because not every trip is covered by interstate highways or short distances.  In my opinion, thinking that routes are either shortest or fastest was a very bad assumption made by Garmin.

    Another related issue is that no matter what route I map in BC and download to DS when I initialize the route to start the journey the DS goes through a recalculation and I have been surprised at times that the DS has changed my preferred route especially if the end of my route goes through a major city.

    I use via points to give time and distance while driving, my understanding is that a shaping point will not display on the screen giving you the same data.  Is that correct?

    All that being said, should I be using shaping points to get the desired behavior out of DS?  So how do you define shaping points in BC?  Is there a way to redefine a via point as a shaping point when defining a route in BC?   

    Maybe my problem is that I'm trying to use my DS as a data display for my route.  It is very frustrating to have DS keep trying to get me back to some missed point for the next 15 or so miles after missing the sacred via point.  I want to drive my route not a trip or a route that DS thinks is best.

    I like Garmin products and have several but this monster is trying to be too much to too many. 

    Thank you for your time.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 4421064

    Unfortunately for you Garmin has moved on, devices are far more capable now and BaseCamp is also capable of doing way more than MapSource. I suggest you try this tutorial, which although it's aimed at Zumo users will help you understand things better:

    https://www.newenglandriders.org/learn-basecamp/

    If you're still struggling after that please come back and raise any problems you're still having.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to SUSSAMB

    Damn, I regret ever mentioning BaseCamp.  You think I'm stupid enough to think that Garmin hasn't "moved on"?  Is that all you can focus on instead of answering my questions?  I viewed those videos before no where in there is my problem addressed..  If you can't answer my questions about ensuring DS doesn't keep trying to get back to a missed point then go waste someone else's time.  SMH

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 4421064

    I've already explained that. If it's a viapoint that's how the DS works. If you don't want that either use shaping points or use the skip function on the device if you miss a point but don't want to go back to it.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I've had this same problem for years, and I've had a Garmin GPS since 2001. My original GPS from 2001 allowed me to have 3 settings for how to re-route on the GPS when you went off route (or missed a waypoint along the way). The 3 options were, Always Recalculate, Never Recalculate, and Ask to Recalculate.  That GPS lasted me until 2015 believe it or not, and i always used MapSource to create my routes, then uploaded them to the GPS.  I had the GPS set to Ask to Recalculate.  When I had to take a detour or missed a turn for some reason, the GPS told me I was off route and asked me if it could recalculate. I almost always responded NO to that question. This kept the original route on the GPS and did not change it, no matter how far off the route i was. I could then see where the route was and could get back onto it as I originally programmed it. When i got back onto it again, the GPS would continue to give me directions as if I had never gotten off the route.

    I believe this is the same type of thing that you are talking about. In those days, a shaping point and a via point (waypoint) were basically the same thing. The destination time (or in those days the amount of time until I reached my destination) always recalculated as best it could to indicate when I would reach the next point or the final destination, even while I was off route.

    When I bought a new Garmin GPS in 2015 I now had to use BaseCamp instead of MapSource. It was definitely a change at first, but i finally got used to it, and as a whole, it is better. Unfortunately, the GPS's now days no longer have a setting to override it recalculating the route if you get off the route like my old one did. In late 2015 and early 2016 I expressed my disappointment to Garmin about removing this feature. Garmin personnel couldn't understand why I would not want the GPS to recalculate since it would always give me the fastest or shortest route during the recalculation. The simplest answer is (similar to what you explain), is that I wanted that route because I had done my research ahead of time and knew it was better than a route the GPS would select for me. I often prefer a smaller road with stop signs and fewer traffic for instance, rather than a major road with traffic lights. Some major roads are better at moving traffic along than others too. The GPS doesn't have this knowledge and reroutes me down a road I don't want, just like you explain. Sadly, there is no easy solution :-(  It is not BaseCamp or MapSource creating the problem, it is the fact that the GPS is automatically recalculating your route and trying to do something you don't want it to do.

    As for your questions about shaping points vs. via points (waypoints). In BaseCamp, double click the route name on the left of the screen. This will bring up a dialog box where you can see the beginning and end points of your route, as well as all points you've selected in between. Right click one of the via points. You can now select Alert on Arrival or Don't Alert on Arrival from the menu. If you select Don't Alert, the GPS will not tell you when you get to that spot while driving. This is what is referred to as a Shaping Point. Its only purpose is to force the route to go past that point as it creates the point, either in BaseCamp or on the GPS. If you select to Alert on Arrival, the GPS will allow you to select that point as a destination on the route, and tell you when you should arrive at that point. Once you arrive, or pass it, the GPS will then route you to the next point or the final destination on the route. You can only select the Alert or Don't Alert from BaseCamp. Unfortunately, the GPS does not have this capability. On the GPS you can either view the point or delete it. You cannot tell it to make it only a Shaping Point and not alert you.

    On a number of occasions i have experience the same thing that you explain. That is, the GPS recalculates the route for whatever reason. It now directs you to the shaping point or via point during the recalculation. A construction detour you weren't aware of now routes you around the programmed shaping point or via point. As you take the posted detour, the GPS keeps recalculating, trying to get you to the shaping point or via point that you cannot get to because of the detour. It will keep trying to get you to that point until it finally determines that you are far enough away that your next via point, shaping point or destination are a better place to take you to. This is internal programming on the GPS and out of our hands, and yes, it can be a real pain in the tires. There is no easy way out of it unless you stop the route on the GPS, then tell the GPS to take the same route again and select a different via point or destination as where it should lead you to.

    Here again, if you could tell the GPS not to recalculate, it would solve the problem, but you can't. The GPS will automatically recalculate your route and there is no way to stop it. I've even had it recalculate when i wasn't watching it and didn't even know that it was recalculating. Suddenly it was telling me to take a road that I knew I hadn't programmed the route to take me on. Another tell tale sign that it does a recalculation when I didn't realize it is when the destination time suddenly changes. Usually it lengthens the time. For instance, it has been telling me that I will arrive at 2:05 PM and I suddenly notice that it is now telling me that i will arrive at 2:17 PM. It recalculated the route and didn't tell me it was doing so. It does actually show on the screen that it is recalculating, but it does not speak that it is. If I am paying attention to traffic and don't see the screen briefly show that it is recalculating, I miss that it did it. This is rarely ever a good thing.

    Not only should the GPS tell us it is recalculating in spoken words so that we know it is doing it while we are watching traffic, it should also allow us to tell it not to recalculate at all, or ask us if it should recalculate. My original GPS from 2001 allowed me to do this, and it told me when it wanted to recalculate. My newer GPS's since then do not do this, including my newest GPS which I purchased just this week.

    Have I done a better job of answering your questions? These are frustrating issues for me as well.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 3842276

    You most certainly confirmed what I've been experiencing.  I know that it is not a BC issue and thus my frustration with the other poster focusing on that.  My latest GPS suffers from the same weakness you describe.  I liked the way the older units handled being off course and it seems pretty backwards for Garmin to ignore those of us that want to drive the route that we have mapped and instead treat the route as if it's a trip. If I miss a shaping point just get me to the next point in my route.  I too have been driving and noticed that all of a sudden I am supposed to make a turn to go back to a missed point.  I suspect that it was easier for Garmin to do it that way from a programming standpoint but who knows.  Thanks again for ensuring that it wasn't just me that had noticed what I consider to be major flaw.  Too bad Garmin has not been responsive to this problem.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 4421064

    Unfortunately you're in a minority. Most want to be rerouted if they miss a viapoint as they placed that there as they want to go there, it could be a lunch stop they've planned for example.  As I've already explained you have two choices that will solve your issue. Either use shaping points or manually select to skip a viapoint you've missed. 

    I regularly travel routes on my DriveSmart 50 and don't experience the issues you describe, as I use the appropriate mix of points. I know when I moved from my 1490, which used the older route planner, to a nuvi 2508, which used trip planner, I struggled at first but it's a question of learning how to use the new device rather than expecting it to work exactly as an older device did. We do it all the time when we change our phones, computers etc. Changing your GPS is no different.

    If you feel you have a genuine suggestion you can always make it here www.garmin.com/.../

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to SUSSAMB

    As I had reported to Garmin back in 2015 and early 2016, the problem is much bigger than just routing to a missed via point.  I agree with you that there are times when going to a missed via point is important and you want to still go to that location. I have no problem with it attempting to route that location. The bigger problem is that we can’t override the GPS and prevent it from automatically recalculating, and, there is nothing that we have to confirm or agree to that says it even recalculates. The GPS can recalculate the route without our even knowing it if we aren’t looking at it when it does the recalculating.

     

    Here are a couple of examples that are ridiculous for it to recalculate. I’m on a 2 lane road and stop to get gas at a gas station which is right along the road. It is a large station and the pumps are 200 feet off the road (can even be much less than that). I pull off directly into the station on the right and pull up to a pump. After getting gas I can pull right back onto the same road in the same direction I was traveling with no problem since I am making a right hand turn to pull out of the station and back onto the same road. Because the station is at the corner of an intersecting road, as I get back into the car I notice that the GPS has recalculated my route and tells me to go to the intersecting road, turn left and then turn right at the stop sign to get back onto the road I was originally on. By recalculating, I know that somewhere on my route it will tell me to go somewhere that I didn’t preprogram it to go. I will explain more on this in a moment. There is no reason for it to have recalculated my route to begin with. The GPS thinks that I am off route though and automatically recalculates my route. Yes, I have gotten used to the fact that it does this, but now I have to reload the route once I leave the gas station and am heading back in the direction I am supposed to be on, and in the correct direction. This now causes me to have to take my eyes off the road to focus on the GPS to reload the route as I am driving, which is a hazard because I am not focusing on traffic on the road. It is an accident waiting to happen. Thank you Garmin. As I pull into the gas station the GPS could warn me that I am off route and ask me to have the route recalculated. I could verbally say NO or quickly press the button to say No on the screen and all would be good. I could even do this while I am stopped at the pump. There is much less possibility of an accident this way.

     

    Here is another scenario. Due to construction, a bridge on an interstate is out. Traffic is routed around the bridge to the oncoming side of the divided highway, narrowing the road to one lane in each direction around the bridge. The GPS now thinks I am off route and recalculates the route. It basically tells me to continue the way I am, but somewhere further up on the route it will tell me to take a road that I didn’t program it to take. Was there some reason for this recalculation? Once back on the side where we are supposed to be, I again have to reload the route in order to get the original route back. At this point I am now driving at high speed again, and having to focus on the GPS for a moment instead of traffic. Yet another accident waiting to happen. I could pull over to the side of the road, stop and then reload the route, but why is this even necessary?

     

    Here is another scenario as well. An exit on the interstate is under construction. The exit is still open but not in the exact same location as the map shows it since the original ramp is under construction and a temporary ramp has been created. The GPS will think that I missed the off ramp and automatically recalculate. It has even told me to go to the next exit, go the opposite direction on the road I want to exit onto, make a U-Turn and then go in the direction that I want to go in. It tells me to do this while I am on the temporary exit that leads me in the direction I actually want to go in. I am essentially on the proper exit, but it doesn’t line up properly with the map and so the GPS thinks I am off route and automatically recalculates. It is a minor change in the route and there is no need to tell the GPS to calculate a detour route (a feature of the GPS which I have never really found a good use for, but I can see for some people may be useful).

     

    Construction isn’t the only cause for a recalculation of course. It can simply be that the road has changed and is not yet updated on the map yet. There are also a couple of intersections near here where the road is such that for whatever reason the GPS thinks I am off route when I am doing exactly what it is telling me to do. Most are when I am turning right onto another road. At one intersection I am turning right but there are 2 ways to make the right turn. One is at the intersection itself and another is to take a short bypass to make the right turn. If I turn at the road itself, the intersection is very rough and usually full of potholes. The road I am on starts to make a gradual bend to the left and the bypass road is such that you continue straight on the road for about 150 feet instead of making the bend to the left. You can then turn right off of it and the road is much smother. The bypass makes a T intersection and is actually safer anyway. Where the bypass meets the intersecting road, it is about 100 feet onto the intersecting road from where the intersection is located if you go through where the pot holes are located. Both roads are on the map and you don’t deviate more than about 100 feet between the two methods of turning right onto the intersecting road. If I program the GPS to route me on one of them but decide while I am there to take the other route, the GPS will do an automatic recalculation of my route every time because it thinks I am off the route. There is no reason for it to recalculate, but it does anyway, and I again have to reload the route as I am driving to make sure that the entire route is what I programmed it to be.

     

    Another place it often automatically recalculates for no reason at all is when going from I94 heading south (also known as Rt. 394) onto I80 heading east near the border between Illinois and Indiana. The map on the GPS shows I am on the road properly and following exactly where it tells me to go, but it will do an auto recalculation anyway. Traffic is always heavy in that area and now I again have to reload the route as I am driving in order to get the full original route back again.

     

    Getting off at a rest stop along an interstate highway will cause an automatic recalculation of the route. There is only one way off and one way back on the highway again. After getting back on again, I have to reload the route because of the recalculation, and again, while I am driving. As I mentioned above, it is either that or pull over to the side of the road and reload the route, but now instead of merging onto the highway from the rest stop I have to pull onto the highway between traffic from a stopped position on the shoulder.

     

    On the GPS I had from 2001 I could tell the GPS to ask me to recalculate before it just did it. I could then quickly say No on the screen and it would not recalculate anything. That feature is no longer available, yet by removing that feature it makes my driving safer?

     

    Now to the idea that somewhere ahead the recalculated route will tell me to go on a road I did not preprogram it to take me on. The problem here is that there is often more than one road that will get you to where you want to go, whether that be to a via point, shaping point or final destination. When I preprogram a route in BaseCamp and upload it to the GPS, I have reviewed the roads that I will be taking. Sometimes I know that some roads are better to take than other roads, and often BaseCamp will automatically route me on those roads without my doing anything to purposely take those roads. At other times I have to create a shaping point to take the appropriate road that I want to take. When the GPS automatically recalculates a route, it will often take me on different roads than what I programmed the route on BaseCamp with. Now, I am no longer taking the route that I had reviewed ahead of time and felt was the best route. If I could tell the GPS not to recalculate, it would keep my preprogrammed route and I wouldn’t need to worry about it taking me on roads I didn’t want to take.

     

    The biggest problem of course is that I can’t tell the GPS to not recalculate the route. There are several reasons as to why I think it chooses different roads than BaseCamp did. First, I have more options in BaseCamp as to what types of roads I want to take. For instance, in BaseCamp there is a screen in the Options dialog box where I can setup an Activity Profile. The Routing tab has more options than the GPS does and I can even adjust custom speeds for various types of roads. As a whole, the options in this dialog box seem to work better than similar options on the GPS as well. The GPS has more limited memory capacity than the computer has, so it is more limited on making good choices.

     

    Another reason is due to the fact that the GPS may be using actual traffic data to recalculate the route. In some rare instances, this is actually a good thing. The GPS may try to take me on a road that has less traffic than what I programmed it to take me on. It should still be my choice though. I should be able to tell it take me on the original route and not a different one. I have noticed that if the GPS detects there is a faster route because of traffic it will warn me of it and provide me with an alternative route (or tell me that I am on the fastest route and add time to my destination). However, if it needs to recalculate automatically for some other crazy reason, it does not give me this option and automatically calculates to what it feels is the fastest or shortest route, depending upon the setting on the GPS.

     

    As the other user pointed out, I too often program the route I want to take that I feel is the fastest or shortest and not necessarily what BaseCamp or the GPS may feel is the fastest or shortest. In essence, it can be a combination of faster and/or shorter. I almost always have the setting set to Fastest Route in both BaseCamp and on the GPS. For some reason, the two methods of calculating the route automatically don’t always agree with each other though. As a result, if I preprogram a route, I never trust a recalculation by the GPS to give me the same route that I preprogrammed and had chosen to take.

     

    As for missed via points that it continues to reroute you too. There is an option that may help with this, but it is not something I think of at the time, and certainly not in heavy traffic. To do this go to map screen. In the lower right corner this is a button that either looks like a wrench or 3 vertical dots (depending upon how new the GPS is). That button will bring up a screen of buttons that can be selected which will then appear on the right side of the map. One of the items is Change Route. While the GPS is giving you directions as to where to go, one of the options in the Change Route screen is called Skip Next Shaping Point, and another is Skip Next Destination. Clicking either of these will skip the next location it is directing you to. This of course could be a missed location as the other user was describing. I don’t always know why the GPS is telling me to take a route that it is telling me to take after it recalculates, so this is not something that I immediately think of, nor have I actually used it myself, but it will probably work if the purpose of why it is telling to take a particular route is to go back to a shaping point or via point that was missed.

     

    To me, the GPS is something that should be helping me get to where I want to go. I do the lengthy trip planning ahead of time and let the GPS tell me on my journey how to get there based on what I researched and planned ahead of time. I shouldn’t have to worry about it recalculating and telling me a different route as I am on the road unless I want it to do so. I know that a lot of people simply trust that their GPS will always get them to where they want to go and don’t care what route they actually take as long as they get there. Those same people are the ones you sometimes here on the news that end up in a retention pond because their GPS told them to turn somewhere and they blindly followed what they thought it was telling them. I guess the other user and myself are more intelligent users. We shouldn’t be in the minority at all, but there are a lot of stupid people out there. Sadly, I see them on the road all the time, not knowing where they are going, or driving badly.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 3842276

    And remind me sometime to tell you how it recalculated to a route in the opposite direction from my preferred route due to a slowdown that amounted to 5 minutes but tge recalculated route was 20 miles longer.