P68 - Courses in EXPLORE
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Tracks which follow roads, paths and trails.
Nearly two years after I bought my XT, I noticed that the App on my Smartphone has introduced something that Garmin called 'Courses'. Gone is the track tool, which plotted straight lines between route points - the Courses tool pins itself to the roads, tracks, trails, or footpaths which provide the shortest distance between the two points. It will still produce straight lines, and the features can be toggled by a magnet icon at the bottom of the screen.
The website does not have this feature - but it has recently introduced 'Courses' to the Waypoints, Tracks, Routes and Activites that appear in the icons within the Library. Maybe that is an indication that the facility to add courses on the website will appear in due course.
Pic 1 - The Course Editing screen.
The Magnet icon toggles the creation of courses that stick to roads and paths with courses that are straight lines between adjacent points. Points can be moved and deleted. Selected section can be dragged to follow different roads and paths. The undo button is really useful. Once saved (top right), other options become available.
Pic 2 - Sharing the Saved Course
Available after the route is saved. The file gpx file is named with date and type and can be sent to any apps that have the facility. In my case the app is on the same device as my Drive App, so I selected that. The Drive App opened and sent it to the XT.
Pic 3 - Drive App Message
The gpx file shared from the Explore App, pops up a message on the smartphone, prompting you to send it to the XT.
Pic 4 - Message on the XT
If the XT is turned on this message pops up immediately. If it is turned off, it pops up as soon as the XT is turned on.
Pic 5 - Where To ? -> Explore -> Tracks
Here the XT is still synching with the Explore database, but it has found the Course that I created. There is no special category for 'courses'. They are tracks.
Pic 6 - The Preview Map
The preview map - shown here on the XT screen reproduces the track (or course) exactly as it was plotted in the Explore App. Pic 6 shows the entire track, Pic 1 shows the Explore App detailing just the most westerly part of the track - nearest to the coast.
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The information on these pages has been acquired from personal experience of using and testing the behaviour of Basecamp and my Zumo XT. I have no links with Garmin, and these pages should not be regarded as instructions. They are presented for interest only. The contents of these pages must not be shared, copied, transmitted, redistributed or re-published in any form without my permission. (C) JHeath 2021.