Help navigating route "off-road"

[jerrybo]

I'm fairly new to GPS... still very much in a learning mode and have some questions. I use my 60CSX primarily on my KLR 650. I have learned to create routes and follow those routes "on-road". However, when I attempt to follow a route "off-road" I get no indication that I need to turn at an intersection...only that I'm approaching said intersection. The reason I need to navigate "off-road" is because of the 50 via point limits for "on-road". I plan to navigate Big Dog"s Continental Divide route with some segments having over 200 points.
My question is what type of guidance instructions should I expect when navigating a route "off-road"? Are there some settings on the GPS that I need to change in order to be prompted for a turn? Also, I have the same question when navigating a track...how will the GPS prompt me?
I found the following quote on this forum, “If you find you need the pointers and the distance info, a pretty effective way is to combine the track with an off-road route. These routes can be up to 250 points (vs only 50 for a "follow" roads route). Put way/via points at important turns. Use the route for general direction/distance guidance but the track to stay exactly - on track.”
How do you navigate both a route and a track ? Do you switch back and forth or do both simultaneously?
I've searched the forum and haven't found any help with the above questions. I apologize for the long thread but would really appreciate your help.


Jerrybo

[wbbnm]

I have a 60cx and use it a lot for navigating off-road. After several fiascos trying to use routes I now navigate using tracks. A lot of other guys here do the same thing for the same reasons.

But I do create routes on the computer using Mapsource as an intermediate step. The auto/follow-the-road routing in City Navigator is very nice for this but sometimes I have to shift over to Topos when the road I want isn't in City Nav.

Anyway I use a free program called WinGDB3 to convert routes to tracks these days. It nearly always gives me more than 500 points, so I have to filter them down in Mapsource. WinGDB3 alse has a filter, but I have found it doesn't do nearly as good a job as Mapsource.

If you use BaseCamp instead of Mapsource, it has the route-track conversion built in.

Obviously navigating with tracks you don't get the turn-by-turn directions. And I will occasionally miss a turn. But it is because I am not looking at the unit and so I would probably have missed the turn had I been using routes.

I also put hard waypoints (as opposed to vias) in about every 3 miles just because I like seeing them on the screen and waypoints show up whether you are following a route or not.

[jerrybo]

Thanks for the input but I still don't understand how to navigate a route "off-road" or a track if it doesn't give you and indication to turn or follow a certain road.

My questions are:

What type of guidance instructions should I expect when navigating a route "off-road"?

Are there some settings on the GPS that I need to change in order to be prompted for a turn when in off-road mode?

Also, I have the same question when navigating a track...how do I follow a track if the GPS doesn't direct me?
Thanks,
Jerrybo

[wbbnm]

First you have to turn the track on so it is visible. Then you just ride so as to follow the track line. It is actually kind of mindless.

I navigate by occasionally looking at the GPS and making sure I am still following the track I want to be on. I also look ahead for upcoming turns.

I do sometimes miss a turn and have to backtrack.

This works better if you pick different colors for the track you want to follow and for the track being created as you ride.

[dlh62c]

Your going to have to be more diligent watching the gps’s display when following a track. You just have to keep the pointer on or close to the track line on the screen. Tracks can be followed or used as a reference during a ride. As your riding along you might find a road and you want to see where it goes. If the track has been enabled as ‘Show On Map’, you can always zoom out on the gps and see the track and where your at in relation to it. Then work your way back to it, if the road goes no where.

The newer generation of Garmin gps’s like the 62/78 series allow you to navigate a saved track. This allows you to use the trip computer data fields. I’m not sure the 60’s will do this.

Pointer: The data field arrow points in the direction of the next waypoint or turn

Distance to Next: The remaining distance to the next waypoint on the route

Distance to Dest. The distance to your final destination.

You can add ‘Proximity’ warnings to waypoints. The gps will warn you at a distance (i.e. radius in miles, feet or yards) from the waypoint. This can be set in the gps or in Basecamp. In BC and on the gps display, a red circle will appear around it. You might drop a waypoint at a intersection, then set the proximity warning at 0.125 mile. The gps will warn you when your close, but you have to be looking down to see it. There are tone warnings, but you won't hear them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9GqUrc2aqY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8aWvnwt37o

Hope this helps?
daryl

[Countdown]

[QUOTE=jerrybo;18773183 I plan to navigate Big Dog"s Continental Divide route with some segments having over 200 points. My question is what type of guidance instructions should I expect when navigating a route "off-road"? Jerrybo[/QUOTE]

First none of the CDR is "Off Road"! However the roads it uses are not on your 60's base map. You need to download Roads & Rec or City Nav so you can see all roads and intersections.

Second, I have 18 tracks of 500 points each for the CDR ready to download to your 60 on GPSXchange.com.
There are also files of optional routes and a file of the actual divide so you can see how close you are actually riding to it.

Third, as stated above by wbbnm, you don't "navagate" tracks you just ride and keep an eye out for turns on your GPS. For the CDR you will go miles and miles on the same road with no turns so it is not really rocket science to follow them.