GPSMAP 60CS screen cluttered by route point labels

The 60cs is a rather antiquated unit. I got one of those and use it, for APRS only though. My recommendation is not to use Base camp for that unit.

The problem is that MapSource and BaseCamp are using waypoint symbols not supported by the 60CS and they therefore they show up as "blue flags". The solution is to configure both programs to use a symbol the 60CS does support. This is done with Windows registry settings.

MapSource

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Garmin\MapSource\Settings\Waypoint\ViaSymbol

BaseCamp

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Garmin\BaseCamp\Settings\Waypoint\ViaSymbol

Both keys are of type REG_BINARY. The trick is setting the value to a known good value for the 60CS. I think "City, Small" will work the best. That is code 45,0,0,0.

If you don't know how to add/change registry settings copy'n'paste the following into a text file (use Windows Notepad) and save it as, say, ViaSymbols.txt. Exit Notepad (or whatever) and change the extension to .reg. Then double-click on the file to add/change the settings in the registry.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Garmin\MapSource\Settings\Waypoint]
"ViaSymbol"=hex:45,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Garmin\BaseCamp\Settings\Waypoint]
"ViaSymbol"=hex:45,00,00,00


PS: The above changes will apply to new routes created in BC/MS. You should be able to force the change to existing routes by doing a "recalculate" or just recreating them.

Thank you for the reply, SARLABS. So you are suggesting that if I used a Montana, for example, the route would load and display without big waypoint labels cluttering the screen?

If anyone is willing, I could upload a simple test route file. I'd like to hear if you have the same problem with the route I created. If this problem can be solved simply with money (buying a new Montana, etc.), that is a solution I can accept. This old 60CS has served me very well for a long time.

I think those who have used Garmin GPS products for a few years and especially those who have owned multiple models can affirm the frustration with the lack of feature consistency. Each family of devices seems to have it's own quirks about how it wants the data defined making it difficult to create data that can be truly shared across a wide range of devices. For example, just look at the various point limitations of the various models--all over the map. (pun intended?)

My immediate solution to the 60CS waypoint label mess is to use tracks instead of routes. Tracks have several advantages--at least on the old 60CS.

• Tracks can have 500 points. Routes only support 250. So you can have greater detail with a track--saving you from artificially breaking up your route into smaller segments just to get the detail you want.
  
• Multiple tracks can display at one time allowing you to see options as you travel. Only one route can be displayed at a time.
  
• ...and now, apparently, it's the only way to display a path without waypoint label clutter
  

The downside of tracks instead of routes is you don't get routing functionality that includes time/distance to destination data and of course you don't get routing help. For the type of backroad/trail motorcycle riding I'm doing, I normally turn off the routing help anyway--I just want to see the line on the map--I don't need turn-by-turn assistance and wouldn't hear it anyway. I do really miss the time/distance data, though. When leading a group, it was helpful to have an idea how long it would take to get to the lunch stop or how many miles to the gas station.

I think a lot of the problems guys like me face is that we are not able to take advantage of auto-routing because of the type of paths we are travelling which include off-road trails, abandoned logging roads, and such. We need highly detailed point-by-point routes/tracks to follow. Typically these might be 150 miles and require anywhere from 300 to 800 points to get the detail we want. Since the majority of the GPS market simply needs to enter 2 points and let auto-routing do it's thing, that is where the software and hardware is focused.

Thanks!

The problem is that MapSource and BaseCamp are using waypoint symbols not supported by the 60CS and they therefore they show up as "blue flags". The solution is to configure both programs to use a symbol the 60CS does support. This is done with Windows registry settings.

MapSource

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Garmin\MapSource\Settings\Waypoint\ViaSymbol

BaseCamp

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Garmin\BaseCamp\Settings\Waypoint\ViaSymbol

Both keys are of type REG_BINARY. The trick is setting the value to a known good value for the 60CS. I think "City, Small" will work the best. That is code 45,0,0,0.

THANK YOU, STUARTMW! When I get home this evening I will play with this. What you describe should solve the "blue flag" issue, but I wonder if this will do anything to prevent the labels from displaying?

The problem I'm having now is that when I load the route--say with 248 points--every point displays it's name label on my little 60CS screen. In MapSource, there was a way to select all points and indicate to only show the icon--not that it always worked! I can't find this option for route points in BaseCamp.

I don't think you can do this in BaseCamp (yet).

BTW MapSource will work fine with your 60CS. You can continue to use it if you want.

Some units can't load tracks, some can't load routes with more than 50 points, etc. :)

Welcome to Garmin hell, I mean, world :D

I'm a Linux user. BaseCamp is one of 2 applications that keep me tied to Windows. I got the drivers working in Linux and figured out how to import and export data from my 60CS. There are some pretty amazing browser-based apps out there now that do most of what I need BaseCamp to do for me...without the annoying object naming restrictions BaseCamp has. So maybe I can hack together a solution that gets me 100% off BaseCamp and MapSource. I "simply" want to create and manage GPS data with the least amount of hassle....and some sharks with frick'n lasers on their heads. Is that really too much to ask?

:)

If I understand correctly, what you are trying to do is easy, but I don’t know what you will see on your unit. I’ll assume you have different types of objects (waypoints, routes or tracks) in a list and want to change all of the waypoints.

1. Select the list.
2. Half way down the map window you will see a little tab. Click on the tab to swap the lower left window with the map window.
3. Click on the Flag to display only the waypoints
4. Crtl-a will select all the waypoints
5. Edit menu > open selected item
6. Choose the waypoint you want and what you want displayed (symbol)

This will give you the display you want in BaseCamp,

For single waypoint, just double click on the waypoint to see the waypoint properties window.

If I understand correctly, what you are trying to do is easy, but I don’t know what you will see on your unit. I’ll assume you have different types of objects (waypoints, routes or tracks) in a list and want to change all of the waypoints.

1. Select the list.
2. Half way down the map window you will see a little tab. Click on the tab to swap the lower left window with the map window.
3. Click on the Flag to display only the waypoints
4. Crtl-a will select all the waypoints
5. Edit menu > open selected item
6. Choose the waypoint you want and what you want displayed (symbol)

This will give you the display you want in BaseCamp,

For single waypoint, just double click on the waypoint to see the waypoint properties window.

Thanks for this, BTLAAKE. Not exactly the issue I'm having. It's not the "normal" waypoints I'm struggling with. It's the "waypoints" that are part of the route. I used to call these "route points", but seems the terminology as well as the way these things are represented in the exported GPX is a moving target. The only access I can find to these points in BaseCamp is to double-click a route. Then I can see and select any route waypoint or all of them, but there are not any properties of the points that I can tweak.