I have loaded the open street maps for my local area on the device (by overwriting the base map). Is it possible to get turn notifications to pop up automatically, or just the breadcrumb on the map?
I haven't tried using turn guidance but others have said it doesn't work. I recommend turning it off and using course points.
If you are not familiar with course points, they can be added by route planning software to tcx files. They contain a location and turn direction. When you reach the location there is a display at the bottom of the screen that shows a small icon for the turn direction. You can add a data field, "Course pt distance", that shows the distance to the next point along with the direction icon. I find that field very useful.
I use RidewithGPS and with a slight modification to the file have no problems. Just plan a route with it and output as a tcx file. The points in the cue sheet will be added as course points. Use a text editor to modify the "TotalTimeSeconds" entry towards the top of the file. It is way too low and needs to match the total times between the first and last timestamps. It has been noted that you can just add a zero to the value. That modification is needed in order for the 520 to find the course if you do not start at the beginning.
Unless you have premium membership, RidewithGPS puts the course points right at the turn. It is better for them to be before the turn. BikeRouteToaster and maybe GPSies will put them before the turn for free. There are some other treads on this topic
BikeRouteToaster tcx files work fine for me, turn guidance on, you get an audible beep and a little text box popping up to tell you to turn left, or right, etc. As mentioned already you can set warnings tox metres ahead of a turn to warn you that one is approaching.
, turn guidance on, you get an audible beep and a little text box popping up to tell you to turn left, or right, etc.
You get the beep and text box without "Turn Guidance" being turned on. They come from the course points. "Turn Guidance" and "Course points" are two different things. "Turn Guidance" doesn't work. It generates the purple line that doesn't follow the course. If it worked it would generate turn prompts different than the course point prompts.
I haven't tried using turn guidance but others have said it doesn't work. I recommend turning it off and using course points.
If you are not familiar with course points, they can be added by route planning software to tcx files. They contain a location and turn direction. When you reach the location there is a display at the bottom of the screen that shows a small icon for the turn direction. You can add a data field, "Course pt distance", that shows the distance to the next point along with the direction icon. I find that field very useful.
I use RidewithGPS and with a slight modification to the file have no problems. Just plan a route with it and output as a tcx file. The points in the cue sheet will be added as course points. Use a text editor to modify the "TotalTimeSeconds" entry towards the top of the file. It is way too low and needs to match the total times between the first and last timestamps. It has been noted that you can just add a zero to the value. That modification is needed in order for the 520 to find the course if you do not start at the beginning.
Unless you have premium membership, RidewithGPS puts the course points right at the turn. It is better for them to be before the turn. BikeRouteToaster and maybe GPSies will put them before the turn for free. There are some other treads on this topic
There is a selection to notify before the turn but it only works with a premium membership. RWGPS adds a course point for each cue sheet entry to tcx files. That course point will be right at the turn without a premium membership. With the premium you can choose to make it before the turn. I have premium membership and get the the pop up before the turn. But the Course Pt Distance data field shows the turn icon and distance counting down to it. I rely on that more than the pop up.
- disable the "Turn guidance" on the Edge
- use bikeroutetoaster.com and setup your track
- after that change/ delete the course points
- go to the Export function
- Export as TCX
- select "include course points"
- select "Add Course Point Warnings"
- set the warning distance.... it´s pre defined to 50 meters
- if you want you can define a Prefix like "!"
- put the TCX file in the Garmin/ New Files Folder
The 520 has plenty of space for the course point notification text, but it is limited to (I think) 11 characters which is taken form the CoursePoint Name tag within the tcx file. It would be much better if the notification text was taken form the Notes tag and split across two or more lines of display - there is plenty of room to do this. The Edge 500, with less room to display information, does a better job of this than the 520.
