Using custom routes - change routing to off road ???

[Malarkey]

Hi guys, first time on the forum but read lots of previous posts. I'm a long term Garmin user and have had various difficulties with various models following the prepared routes in - I fond the best one was the 600 series as it seemed more intuitive and got us back on track if we strayed off without constantly trying to sent you back to points you missed.

I've just upgraded my 595 to the new XT2 because on our last trip it kept losing the route and was really struggling so I'm hoping the new XT2 has ironed out these gremlins.

So to cut a long story short I thought I'd research how to stop the Garmin making up a route rather than following a planned route that you have designed and I came across some info on the Garmin site about the routing options so I wondered if anyone had tried this and if it works because whenever we used this on the old 595 it just gave us straight lines and no way to actually navigate it.

the info is:-

Why does my Garmin device change my custom route to follow the road?

The same reason applies to the portable devices as to the handheld devices as to why the device keeps changing the route to follow the road. The difference is the menu selection to set up the routing preference in the device. The 3 routing options to select from are; Faster Time, Shorter Distance, and Off Road.

Faster Time: This option will route the user on the major streets, 4 lane highways and interstate highways. This is primarily used when routing while following roads. If using a custom created route, this option can sometimes create problems such as changing the custom route to follow a road or to follow certain types of roads. This happens when a road or a certain type of road is close to part of this route. The device will automatically recalculate the route to follow the road since this is the option it is set to.

Shorter Distance: This option will typically route the user on back roads and 2 lane highways. As mentioned in the Faster Time option above, this option too can cause problems for the same reasons when using a customized route.

Off Road: This option is the one which should be selected when navigating off road, on water or when using a custom created route. This option tells the GPS device to follow a path for the route which is not restricted to just roads. If the user is letting the device create a route using this option, the device will give a straight line route from the current position to the end point as the route. If using a customized route, the device will follow the route whether it is on a road, on the water or off the road.
Changing the routing preference:

Press Menu 2 times
Scroll to the Setup tab
Scroll to the Road Routing tab at the top of the page
Scroll to Route Preference and press Enter
Select Faster Time, Shorter Distance or Off Road and press Enter

I'd really appreciate it if any of you have used this on the XT/XT2 and to know if it works - if it does then it could solve a whole host of routing issues that I've experienced over the years.

[technoguppy]

I'll be posting on this same subject later but Garmin does some screwy things between the unit itself and the Tread app.

At this point, I don't know who the "master" is... That is to say, if I create a map in BaseCamp will it align to the unit directly? If I export the BaseCamp .GPX file to Tread THEN import (or sync) it to the unit, does it align or has it shifted either based on the unit's guidance (and I use the term loosely) or the Tread App's interpretation of the route?

Twice on my recent trip, the ZUMO XT2 took me and my wife off-road onto unpaved roads. We have the same avoidances, we have the same setup, same software updates, same maps, same everything. Alas, something between BaseCamp, Tread App, and the ZUMO XT2 gets mixed up and the result is that we are guided off our route into conditions that are not great for a Triumph Rocket 3 or a HD Heritage Classic.

I'm going to do another write-up because I don't want to hijack @Malarkey post for my own rant.

Trust nothing with this setup, verify, verify again, and be prepared to be disappointed when it happens.

[Malarkey]

OK so I've looked into this a bit more and the off road option is not for the XT2 - that's a different device altogether!

so I put into Garmin Support " Custom Route is Changed on Device and I get this answer

When a device is loaded with autorouting maps such as the City Navigator NT or select TOPO maps, a custom route loaded to the device may deviate from the intended course and follow the road instead. Because portable devices and current handheld devices have autorouting capabilities, they calculate routes in accordance to the map and Routing Activity selected.

If the custom route keeps changing to a route on a road on the map, Direct Routing will need to be selected for the Routing Activity instead of what is currently selected. Only in Direct Routing mode will a device ignore the roads and paths shown in an autorouting map and follow the custom created route.

Refer to your device's owner's manual for instructions on changing the Activity or Guidance Method.

So I've checked the manual and I cannot see anywhere that says how to change the device option to Direct Routing - anyone got any ideas on that one??

[technoguppy]

It's like they don't even try.

Maybe the 'B' Team is stuck working on ZUMOs while all the COOL engineers get to work on Golf Watches and Activity Trackers!

[Malarkey]

I agree, it's a real shame because they could be such good units if they just did what you pay for them to do.

We tour Europe twice a year leading a group of 15-20 people so it's really important to us for these to work and they just don't seem to have got it right since the 600 series, as you say maybe they are concentrating too hard on the new products rather than getting the primary product right, simply adding more features that we don't really need isnt the answer.

My fear is that the Android versions are catching up so quickly that they have decided to just bump along with what they have, re-branding old technology into a new case to cash in but not really putting any time, effort and money into actually listening to their customers and developing it.

If it's any consolation we also tried TomTom and that was just as bad if not worse so was dumped pretty quickly.

[technoguppy]

Give my other post a read if you'd like to hear more...

viewtopic.php?p=17426

[jfheath]

The XT does not recognise Off-Road from Basecamp as a valid activity profile ! When it receives a profile name that it doesn't recognise, then it uses Motorcycle.

Once the XT has received it, you can change the vehicle profile to Off Road.
You also have to ensure that you don't set it to avoid unpaved roads.
And if your map doesn't mark the roads as navigable, then the XT will always try to navigate back to roads.

I don't know the XT2, but it may be doing something similar.