New Garmin Montana

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by NCD

OK. I'm getting what you guys are saying here. 2 clarifications please:

1. "Create a Route in Basecamp" means using the routing tool and plotting vias along your intended route, and it's best to avoid intersections just in case. Correct?

2. How many Vias does it usually take to make a route 'stick' where you want on a Montana? My Zumo needed a lot, as it would take a route with 100 vias in MS and discard 50 of them because it was a jerk and wanted me to ride boring roads.

1. Correct.

2. It depends. The test is to switch to Direct and back to along-road routing in BaseCamp. If it routes as you desire, most likely it will route properly on the Montana. But keep in mind that the Montana can only have 50 Via Points in a Route.

Cheers,

[Timmer]

We just returned from riding a month in Europe (that's a tale for another thread, but suffice it to say it was off the chart good) and used our Montana 600 for the very first time using CN Europe (latest verson). Here's some observations from an experienced GPS user.

1. Loved the visibility of the screen in full daylight.
2. Couldn't figure out how to remove via points in a route that was created on the fly on the unit. Usually I would just recreate the route using the same endpoint and revise my via points. Waypoints seem to be handled differently.
3. The routing was terrific on all sorts of roads. With the Toll Roads turned off and Major Highways, the unit was very creative in finding some super tertiary roads. It was spot on with respect to the proper exit from a roundabout.
4. Loved the battery backup to be able to take the unit into a restaurant or Pension to tweak routing.
5. The security torx is an "interesting" feature and clumsy for me to use as I keep the torx on a lanyard in a pocket under my riding pants.
6. The find lodging and fuel features worked quite well. Find addresses was spot on. I wish it would list cities in geographical proximity (I didn't care about cities in the US that had the same name as European cities). Could that be a feature request?
7. It was my primary speedometer for KM and distance to next in KM, I kept altitude in Feet as I comprehend that faster.
8. BC interfaced with it very well.
9. One doesn't appear to be able to view the daily GPX file (I have it set to store the GPX file on a daily basis) until after midnight unless the current track is the same route that's been using all day.

On balance, I really like the unit for the kinds of riding I do. .

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

create a Route in BaseCamp that follows the path you want and then create a Track of the Route.
Just before sending your Routes/Tracks to the Montana, change your Routes to Direct Routes.

Change the routes to direct routes? In Basecamp? explain this one a little more.

Once on the Montana make sure your Routing Activity is set to Automotive or Motorcycle Driving.
This will cause the Montana to calculate your Route into an along-road route. Now you can compare it to the Track as mentioned and verify that the Montana calculated the route as you intended. The side benefit of this process is that you can now EDIT this route on the Montana - including reversing the Route.

Cheers,

I got 3 days riding with my wife coming up in the near future. I want to create a couple back road routes and I will try this. In fact I will copy my Stone road routes to a new name, and try it on them as well. Sure will make the weekend go smother if I have more riding and less GPS fiddling.

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by TowPro

Change the routes to direct routes? In Basecamp? explain this one a little more.

In BaseCamp, select the Route and open it's properties window (various ways depending upon your OS). There you should be able to select the ACTIVITY from a list that contains among others Direct and Automotive.

Cheers,

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

In BaseCamp, select the Route and open it's properties window (various ways depending upon your OS). There you should be able to select the ACTIVITY from a list that contains among others Direct and Automotive.

Cheers,

Ok, so I save the file in basecamp with Direct Routing (so it tags the file with direct routing), then once I push it to the montana, it will follow what ever routing profile (Auto or ADV) that I have active correct?

I will have to try this.

[atlas cached]

Originally Posted by TowPro

Ok, so I save the file in basecamp with Direct Routing (so it tags the file with direct routing), then once I push it to the montana, it will follow what ever routing profile (Auto or ADV) that I have active correct?

I will have to try this.

In theory, yes!

[FatChance]

Originally Posted by NCD

I have always created my road and dirt road routes in Mapsource using the routing tool. I place vias on lots of intersections, and set the unit to navigate by ‘shortest distance.’ This has worked everywhere I have been in the conti USA, including the CDR. Will this approach still work on the Montana, assuming I am using City Nav? I ask because there was a post suggesting that points on intersections cause trouble on the Montana. Is that correct?

I used that same method for years with Mapsource and my 276C. Since I got my Montana and have done the same thing with Mapsource (I do save routes as gpx and copy to Montana) and also have done the same thing with Basecamp and used Basecamp to copy the routes to the Montana. Basecamp has some advantages, but saying that, I have not had any limitations using Mapsource with the Montana for my purposes.

Edit: When routing, I use waypoints in intersections and have never used direct routing. For the way I use the Montana on trips I never use tracks. It all has worked without problem for me. My routes have never changed on the Montana from which ever program I used to create them (Mapsource or Basecamp). YMMV, but it has worked for me.

[DRTBYK]

Just so as not to misguide anyone, I'm still a proponent of creating my along-road Routes in BaseCamp and then creating a Track for each. Both Tracks and Routes are sent to the Montana. I "Show on Map" the Track for the Route I'm navigating. If the Route misbehaves then I simply follow the Track and let the Route "recalculate". If it doesn't calculate a Route path that follows the Track I stop Navigating and restart the Route. Simple and almost always "fixes" any Route issue. And, I never stopped riding since I had the Track to follow.

Cheers,

[Yossarian™]

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

Just so as not to misguide anyone, I'm still a proponent of creating my along-road Routes in BaseCamp and then creating a Track for each. Both Tracks and Routes are sent to the Montana. I "Show on Map" the Track for the Route I'm navigating. If the Route misbehaves then I simply follow the Track and let the Route "recalculate". If it doesn't calculate a Route path that follows the Track I stop Navigating and restart the Route. Simple and almost always "fixes" any Route issue. And, I never stopped riding since I had the Track to follow.

Thanks much for that brief explanation.

Typically I follow tracks prepared and downloaded, and when out and about let the unit route me for ad-hoc directions. However, I do see a fair amount of value in your methodology and will likely adopt it for my future needs.

[NCD]

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

Just so as not to misguide anyone, I'm still a proponent of creating my along-road Routes in BaseCamp and then creating a Track for each. Both Tracks and Routes are sent to the Montana. I "Show on Map" the Track for the Route I'm navigating. If the Route misbehaves then I simply follow the Track and let the Route "recalculate". If it doesn't calculate a Route path that follows the Track I stop Navigating and restart the Route. Simple and almost always "fixes" any Route issue. And, I never stopped riding since I had the Track to follow.

Cheers,

I like this idea also. Just so I know what to expect first time around . . . my Zumo would take a route with say, 50 vias and only use about 30. The ones that it would discard would often cause the route to go astray from where I wanted to be. Does the Montana use this same 'logic' or does it leave them all in place? (That's why the high via count was needed on the Zumo to make the route stay true to form.)

[atlas cached]

Just want to ask, if, when a Route fails to behave as expected, you can just follow the Track instead, until the Route again begins to behave as you wish, why use Routes in the first place? Why not just use the Tracks you create?

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by atlas cached

Just want to ask, if, when a Route fails to behave as expected, you can just follow the Track instead, until the Route again begins to behave as you wish, why use Routes in the first place? Why not just use the Tracks you create?

i don't use tracks because only routes tell me "Left turn on X road in .5 miles".
sure I can use proximity alarms (as Dan has pointed out) but I mostly navigate by just the audio output of the GPS.
It has something to do with not wearing bifocal glasses and the size of the GPS screen

[atlas cached]

Originally Posted by TowPro

i don't use tracks because only routes tell me "Left turn on X road in .5 miles".
sure I can use proximity alarms (as Dan has pointed out) but I mostly navigate by just the audio output of the GPS.
It has something to do with not wearing bifocal glasses and the size of the GPS screen

Ahhh.

Prompted Navigation Directions.

Thank You. :)

[DRTBYK]

Originally Posted by atlas cached

Just want to ask, if, when a Route fails to behave as expected, you can just follow the Track instead, until the Route again begins to behave as you wish, why use Routes in the first place? Why not just use the Tracks you create?

OK, you caught me. I don't use Routing much at all. I only create them so I can easily create Tracks. When I do use Routing, it's usually to just play with the settings to see how the code will behave. On rare occasions I'll use Routing when I'm in unfamiliar Cities (that have good maps) so I can get better visual guidance from the GPS.

But, again, I'm a Track guy and Routing is just a "toy" to be played with - not relied upon.

Cheers,

[Yossarian™]

Originally Posted by DRTBYK

But, again, I'm a Track guy and Routing is just a "toy" to be played with - not relied upon.

True enough, but when you ride some of the places that I ride, you find out that the route you created, turned into a track, and are now following, isn't available as a means of transport any longer. Multiple fallen trees over roads or trails, roads now closed, bridges out, etc. It is in those instances where it is quite handy for me to look at the next waypoint on my intended track and perform a Route-to function to get me past the current hurdle.