Zumo User Forums

GPX v1.0 (route,track, POI)
All points become Via Points (for Zumo 660 perhaps ??)

v1.0 contains a track and a straight line route - ie there is no detail of which roads to follow. The XT will calculate its own route to join up the intermediate routing points.

All of the points (via and shaping) are converted to Via Points.

GPX v1.1 (Route, Track, POI) Updated 8/1/22, checked 1/6/2022
Via Points and Shaping Points are transferred correctly for the Zumos XT, 59x and 39x

GPX v 1.1 produces a route which contains the main route points, with Start, End, Shaping and Via Points. The start and finish points are plotted as Via Points. Intermediate points are set to Via or Shaping according to the MRA status of Hand / Tear Drop (or Hard / Soft).

The gpx file contains no detail of the roads to be ridden so the route is shown here simply as straight lines. The Zumo will calculate its own route on loading so the map on the XT screen shows the actual roads to be taken. This route may be different from the roads that MRA selected, but will still pass through all of the points in turn. The track is an accurate reflection of the route that was drawn.

The XT can convert a track to a trip (without intermediate points, but will not deviate from it) and of course the track and the route can both be drawn on the same map to aid navigation.

This is now the option that MRA recommended for the XT when I contacted them about using v1.1 not sending the shaping points. The Interface on RMA still has an info button saying that v1.2 has been tested for use with the XT - which I find a little confusing. Shaping Points and Via points are both sent to the XT, and the XT will automatically calculate a route to between these points. Prudent placing of shaping points and attention to the routing preferences will create a pretty good match to the route in MRA.

This version also creates a track which is identical to the track created in MRA. If this is also displayed on the Garmin screen, then it will be easy to spot the difference between the MRA track and the Zumo route.

GPX v1.2 (route, track, POI) Updated 8/1/22 and modified again 18/3/2022. Checked 1/6/2022
Only Via Points are Transferred, not Shaping Points

v1.2 (route, track POI) has recently changed and now plots a route between the Via Points in the order that they appear on the MRA route. However, none of the plotted Shaping Points are included. In Basecamp this draws as a straight line - as shown, but in the XT, a proper route is drawn along roads. This is because MRA has recreated the same trick that Garmin has always done with BC and Mapsource - it keeps the route intact by defining it with hundreds/thousands of intermediate invisible 'ghost points' - and sends all of this to the Zumo. The Zumo keeps this route intact, unless it recalculates the route when all is lost. With no Shaping Points in place, this can result in a very different route.

In my experiments, this route behaved like Basecamp routes with Shaping Points removed from the route. That is, the plotted route on MRA and BAsecamp is retained exaclty as it is - as if the shaping points were in place. However - as soon as the route is recalculated, the XT has no knowledge of the shaping points, and calculates a route which visits only the Via Points.

However, normally with different mapping, the Zumo would re-calculate the route on transfer. In a few of my tests the XT recalculated v1.2 routes on import, but on other occasions it does not. I think that this may be to do with the difference in when HERE maps are updated and when Garmin publish their version for the XT - but this is a guess - a working theory which I cannot check until the maps change again.

At present 4 Jun 2022 using CN Europe NTU 2023.10, V1.2 routes are not being recalculated on import to the XT.

GPX v1.1 (track, POI)

v1.1 contains a track. Although the caption indicates Points of Interest, I didn't use any in my test routes. POIs are placed separately, and I could not find a way to make them an integral part of a route. However, if used, MRA exports these and they appear in the Favourites / Saved locations of the Zumo.

Waypoints Updated 8/1/22

None of the above methods deal with Waypoints - as defined by Garmin. MRA seems to use the term 'Waypoint' as being any point on the route. But Garmin use the term very differently. For Garmin, these are named locations which are saved on the Zumo as 'Favourites' or as 'Saved' locations.

However, MRA does cater for Points of Interest (POIs). These can be placed anywhere on the map - you can use downloaded POIs or you can create your own. Your own POIs can be saved as a file, and then loaded into your Library. Any of the built in POIs or your own POIs from the library can then be included in a route. MRA does this differently from the way that Garmin does it. The POI is there on the map and a route point can be set in exactly the same position - but there are then two 'things' in the same position. The POI simply sits there occupying the same place without actually being part of the route.

To be fair - this is exactly what Basecamp and the Zumo does with the Garmin Waypoints or Favourites - except you wouldn't know it. The Zumo hides the fact because in the gpx file it declares all of the favourites first. It then repeates the same name and the same coordinates for a duplicate route points, so that the distinction between a favourite and a normal route point becomes somewhat blurred. MRA makes this distinction very clear. You cannot create your own POI and put it into the route. You must save your POIs in your librabry before you can use them - and then it asks if you want to place them as a route point (wwhat MRA calls a Waypoint) or keep them as a POI. However - MRA now makes POIs appear in the Favourites or Saved places of the XT.

Name of Route Points

With the Zumo XT and Zumo 595, the name that is given to a route point is nearly always lost when transferred. The XT obtains a different name, seemingly using lat/long coordinates to look up a place from its database. Only Saved Waypoints retain their name when transferred to the Zumo XT.

However in my limited number of tests, somehow MRA route points manage to retain the name after being transferred to the XT. Which is brilliant. Purely from my own observations, the reason for this may be in the gpxx:subclass information that appears in the gpx file after a Via Point or a Shaping point. If this is not present, or if it is subsitituted with (-gpxx:Subclass-);000000000000FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF(-/gpxx:Subclass-), then the route point is not renamed.

(Incidentally, the same is true for routes that are prepared in Basecamp using the 'Direct' profile),