InReach - importing accurate routes

Former Member over 7 years ago

Is there a way to import a GPX file for navigation that actually lines up correctly with a map? When importing files from RideWithGPS the route data is being "simplified". In the attached image I have a route that I imported. In the top section I've been adding back in detail by hand. Down below is what the original imported track looks like. Note that the route doesn't follow the map in the turns. On a recent ride I arrived at an intersection and couldn't even tell which way to turn.

Right now I'm going back to my imported routes and adding in the detail but there has GOT to be a better way. This is a nearly 400 dollar device and I shouldn't have to be doing this by hand. Hopefully I"m just doing it wrong? ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1373586.jpg

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Derrick over 7 years ago +2

Before they updated the webUI I was uploading files with thousands of data points, no problem. InReach evice handled it well. Now the same file if I want on my device I have to split it into 20 files.…

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0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Just got off the phone with Garmin support. BLEAH.... So the InReach can only support routes with 500 data points making it almost useless for navigation. I guess that would be OK if you were just navigating from way point to waypoint, but for turn level directions... nearly useless. The big problem is that currently the website simplifies the routes too. It wouldn't be so bad if the earthmate app could show detailed routes and the InReach only held simplified routes. If you have your phone, there's no need to even look at the screen on the InReach. BUT the earthmate app simplifies the routes too. Doesn't seem like it would take much for Garmin to make it work that way. That would make the InReach a pretty sweet device without much development effort.

0 CowboySlim over 7 years ago

IIRC, some folks divide too long routes into several pieces that touch end-to-end on the screen.

0 Derrick over 7 years ago

Before they updated the webUI I was uploading files with thousands of data points, no problem. InReach evice handled it well. Now the same file if I want on my device I have to split it into 20 files... And I have noticed this puts a much much bigger strain on the device (switching between device menus extremely slow). In fact one time I tried to upload a large path into 70 separate little files on the website and even the web kept crashing from too many routes. This NEVER happened to me before the data point limitation was put in place.

I found that their new 200 point limitation is very hindering to the device. The device doesn't really care how many data points there are in a GPX/KML file. Since at different zoom levels it will just draw just a couple hundred course vectors. Though when zooming down the vectors become more fine and it will display a few hundred fine detail vectors at max zoom in. However with lots of little files at large zoom levels there are lots of stray disconnects making it harder to view the direction of travel.... this also never happened with one large file.

Unfortunately there is now no way to upload files with more than 200 points. I have a similar thread about me trying to "upload useful KML files". The only way now is to split into many smaller files... though as mentioned above this comes with issues.

In my opinion I don't believe the web developers are handling the issue very well. When speaking with support on the phone I was told that this data point limitation was because the webUI would hang if trying to EDIT large KML/GPX.... as a software developer myself.... putting a cap on everything is a poor solution. They should just make it so you can't edit a file over 200 data points... and if you want to edit a larger file it should give a disclaimer that the file would be reduced...

Speaking of reduction. The web reduction method is poor. Simply taking e.g. every 7th point if you upload a file of 1400 points. I'm working on a Matlab utility for smart reduction that does regression and minimizes heading and path distance error from the original file... Maybe I'll post a GitHub link when I finish. It would be better than letting Garmin reduce our files...

Use to be able to get larger files in by pulling them from Garmin Connect... seems like they patched that in the last couple weeks... So now I'm back here on these forums..

I plan on calling them again and talking to some support people.... If I could just talk to a developer. Or shoot I can do some freelance work if the employees at Garmin really think this is so difficult.

Also when "syncing" the device if you close the sync application right when it is updating maps you can view internal files... I was hoping I could then just drag and drop some GPX files, but it seems at some point things are getting converted to some proprietary DeLorme format. Still haven't had time to dig around that very much... also don't want to accidently brick my device.

If you call Garmin again, keep us posted. Hopefully if they see that a lot of users are dissatisfied with this these limitations on what should be a very capable 400 dollar device, then hopefully, just maybe, they might do something about it....

No less important to me... I find it a safety issue for myself. Since hiking in deep snowy mountains in the middle of nowhere that accuracy errors of only 20 feet can cause me to hit obstacles and get in more dicey situations, sometimes for considerable time, and this is all pretty much avoided if I have accurate path files... which only happens if I get GPX/KMLs with thousands of points. And there is no reason I should get in a dicey situations hiking/scrambling because Garmin REMOVED a feature. Now some will say you shouldn't rely on technology, and I don't. But it sure as blank helps.