5x: Overlay of track on map without navigation?

something that my hand-held gps unit can do is that i can start recording any activity that will show up on a map and then i can browse a .gpx track that i have loaded on there and i can enable that .gpx track overlay over this map without actually getting guided navigation.

this is great because in familiar ares, or even unknown, if i can make a decision whether to follow a track or not, or just to use it as a guide.

from what i recall when i had a fenix 3 once you loaded "navigate a track" you were stuck with it, a large error would pop up and the watch would constantly beep either to take a specific turn or because i deviated from the track.

is this feature possible in 5x somehow?  can i view a loaded .gpx file in the topo map but continue my activity without it being a navigational activity?

thanks

  • There is a work around.

    Drag and drop a gpx file of yours tracks in the area you go to a software called IMGfromGPX that creates an IMG map that you save in the Garmin folder.

    Than you are ready to go.

    regards.

  • On my Fenix 6X Pro, during a bike ride I can look the map of an older activity I recorded on my device and it displays my position on it too. I can track myself on it. However, that way it needs manual pan to track my point on the map. So using the navigate option and choosing the activity is better. You can probably disable some notifications about it.

  • interesting, how would i then bring up that IMG/overlay it?

    just to be clear, what i'm talking about is not a previous activity. 

    • let's say i'm going somewhere unknown and proactively i create a gpx track that i think i want to follow based on online information available.
    • i load that gpx track into my watch and drive out to the location
    • i start an activity (without actually selecting to navigate the saved track from above)
    • as i go through the paths on the area i find some alternate paths that i would like to explore.  if i were to select navigate activity in the step above my watch would buzz at me because i'm deviating - correct?
    • i want to kinda flip flop between the .gpx path and my current path simply as a reference, without actually navigating it?  this way i can still go in the general track/direction that i planned but i'm at liberty to deviate without alarming my watch.

  • The img map created by IMGformGPX is like any other map you might have in your watch. You can enable or disable it.  And of course it is transparent so it won't block any of yours others installed maps but only add its own features.

    You can choose magenta color for the one that would be your  "main" track and any other color for the alternatives and not "navigate" it. I do exactly that but I also choose navigate it. It will will show me "off course" until I return to it.
    Because I like to use " TBT course-points" I only navigate .fit files so I don´t know anything about buzz and alarmes. 

  • hmm, i'm really really intrigued by what you're saying.

    so my workflow would be something like:

    - create a .gpx file of my route of interest

    - drop the above .gpx into IMGfromGPX and get the .img file as output

    - drop the above .img file into /GARMIN folder on my watch

    - start an activity and go to settings-> maps-> and enable 1) my normal TOPO map and 2) the .img map in stpes above?

    and what you do is all of the above except that you create a .fit file instead of a .gpx and also drop the .fit file on your watch along with the .img file?

  • hmm, i'm really really intrigued by what you're saying.

    so my workflow would be something like:

    - create a .gpx file of my route of interest

    =  yes. the route of interest and any others alternates

    - drop the above .gpx into IMGfromGPX and get the .img file as output

    = yes

    - drop the above .img file into /GARMIN folder on my watch

    = yes

    - start an activity and go to settings-> maps-> and enable 1) my normal TOPO map and 2) the .img map in stpes above?

    = yes 

    and what you do is all of the above except that you create a .fit file instead of a .gpx and also drop the .fit file on your watch along with the .img file?

    = img file to /Garmin and gpx, tcx or tcx go always to /Newfiles

    Take the img and gpx attached to your watch and just high light lets say "MTB" activity and:

    -press and hold "up-menu"

    -choose "Navigation"

    -choose "Courses"

    -choose the attached course "Piracaia MTB LAGUINHO CABRITO"

    -choose "Map"

    You can than zoom and pan to see the result.

    All blue lines are "alternates tracks" I draw and the magenta the main one.

    You can see the created map at Basecamp as well. In order to that you need a pen drive with a root folder name /garmin, to drop your img´s files in there, and enable their view using  the software "JaVaWa Device Manager"

    PS: make sure the map "I_Piracaia" is enabled.

     

  • I was not able to attach the img and the gpx file here so let me know in private if you still need them to understand the process

  • thank you very much! i'll give this a try.  i definitely don't think i'll be planning as many alternate routes as you have but it's great to know that there is a capability for this.

    just got the watch this week and still am figuring stuff out on it vs. keeping my handheld gps, but this makes me very hopeful of having one device on the wrist that does mostly all of it.

  • I like this, thanks  marcossaad_ for a good workaround. I will definitely give a try.