Poll : Curious about the Zumo XT2 ? Read on....

[Oop North John]

Very new to using my XT2. I see the anacronym "RUT" used a couple of times in the above posts.
Could you please tell me what RUT stands for?
I'm thinking it might be "Request U-Turn".

Short answer - Repeated U-Turn - Problem the XT has with imported routes with more than one way / via / shaping point and you go off route.

[Sean OZ]

Short answer - Repeated U-Turn - Problem the XT has with imported routes with more than one way / via / shaping point and you go off route.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[jfheath]

More Maps.png (270.72 KiB) Viewed 2447 times

Thats right - mine came with Europe, N America (Mine is on the SD Card), Africa, Aus and NZ, Middle East, South America

Maps are not drawn to scale. No. Really.

I had a feeling that when I bought mine, it didn't feel brand new. I don't mean second hand - but perhaps out on display. Everything was there, the sticker was on the screen, but one of the bags inside looked a bit tattered. The contents ratteled around inside, but the Zumo itself looked brand new and I couldn't find any evidence of it having been used when I connected the USB cable to inspect the folders. I just had a feeling.....

So I am not sure whether this collection of maps comes with every Zumo XT2 or not. But they certainly came with mine, and I wasn't expecting it.



Eventually, I will collect these notes together and place them in sequence in a brand new thread.

[jfheath]

XT2 - Route Planner

Trip Planner has at long last been given a sensible name - the one that most of us have used for a long time.

It is now Route Planner.
And Waypoints are at long last called 'Waypoints' on the XT2 - not 'Saved' or 'Favourites'/

The Trip planner map on the Zumo XT, Zumo 590 and Zumo 595 were, in my opinion, mediocre at best and were for my large fingers, unusable.

The XT2 has improved on the route planner in many ways. The screen is larger - not by much, but it is noticeable. The map planner and the route list are now linked together - so you can start a route on the map, and modify it in the list to resequence points, add new points from the Michelin guide, from your list of Waypoints, Trendy places, campsite, national parks, trip advisor - and you can restrict your search to around a named location. And when you find somewere and you load your map again, it is quite surprise to see that the selected point is now drawn as part of the route. IT seemed so long ago since you started browsing around.

The first pair of screen shots show a new feature. Tap any segment of the route and it will show in white loutline that the segement has been selected. A segement is the part of the route between two Via Points. That segement canthen be allocated a different routing preference from the rest of the route. So it could be a motorway section or an off road section. All part of the same route. Basecamp is unable to cater for this type of route. But you cans till use Basecamp and then modify the route on the XT.

Route Planner Map.png (291.71 KiB) Viewed 2384 times

The screen shot below shows the route editing list. This is not a new feature. What is new is that you can access this direct from the map route planner, and when you finish, the changes will be reflected in the map. You can start a route by using the search button to add a start point and keep adding to it. You can also modify an existing route. So if I want to just use the List view (probably), I will create two points on the map, and then start editing with the Route List, then delete the two points that I started with. Avoid changing an existing Via to a Shaping point though. The XT2 still renames/relocates the point - even if it was first added as a Waypoint.

Route Planner List.png (45.16 KiB) Viewed 2384 times

Eventually, I will collect these notes together and place them in sequence in a brand new thread.

[Sean OZ]

Is there a reason that there is an option for a "Straight Line" Route (or segment)?
I can't ever imagine wanting to travel in a straight line, and most times (unless you're a bird) I doubt it would even be possible.

[jfheath]

Is there a reason that there is an option for a "Straight Line" Route (or segment)?
I can't ever imagine wanting to travel in a straight line, and most times (unless you're a bird) I doubt it would even be possible.

I guess that this is used by people plotting routes onto tracks and trails for off road riding when the maps have no navigable information. Programs like on the explore website allow you to quite easily build up straight lines which follow tracks and trails quite easily with short straight sections.

I experimented with this when I first got the XT - as it was being promoted as the tool for off road routing.

app.php/ZXT-P71a

Later, they added courses to the app version. Courses plot the route along (navigable) paths and tracks - but they never implemented it on the website. I believe that the Tread app will do something similar - but although I can see the tread app, I haven't enabled it on my Zumo XT2 as yet, and the app itself doesn't have many features at present.

But the issue was, that riders could plot a route to the start of the off-road section, but then another 'Direct' route needed to be loaded to start the off road section. The Zumo (I believe) would not switch from one to the other.

I think that this facility will allow that. But I don't go off roading, so I have no practical on-bike experience of this. Others that have used it will know much more than me.

I showed the diagram with normal navigation and direct navigation so that the distinction was clear in the screen shot. In fact you can choose any of Faster, Shorter, Direct, Adventurous 1, 2, 3 and 4 for any segment of a route on the XT2s Trip planner. As soon as you pass a Via Point, the routing preferences can be different for that segment. The point that I was trying to show was that each segment can have different routing preferences assigned to it.


Here's another screen shot, that I did not include before with that same segment set to Adventurous level 4. The black line is the track of my original (faster) route. The grey line on top of the black in the last segment is one of the alternative routes that it has caculated. (Faster, Shorter and adventurous 1, 2 and 3 all calculated the same route as shown by my black line - there are not many alternative routes around there.).

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[LQQK_OUT]

Just picked up a Zumo XT2. Still have my 595. Three questions:

1. I'm a Basecamp user. I use the "Edit Via Point" feature within Basecamp and set departure times or layover times for some of my waypoints. Why doesn't the Zumo XT2 recognize these times? Do I need to do something different or has this capability been dropped form the XT2?

JFH: This disappeared in the XT, and are not there in the XT2. There was evidence in the XT that the date and time were recognised when sorting. I have not tested whether the data is retained and maintained in the XT2 . I doubt it. The XT2 offeres other sorting facilities in its list.

2. I'm confused about the Tread app and what people are actually referring to in regards to the Tread app. I installed the Tread app on my smartphone. I did not install the Explore app. When people refer to the Tread app, are they actually referring to Tread + Explore?

JFH: Explore was four things. A feature of the XT, a route planning app for android/iOS, a web based route planning app, and a database where routes, tracks, waypoints, courses and collections could be stored and accessed by the other items. Communication between the XT and the explore database was done from a mobile phone using the Garmin Drive App and Bluetooth.

The XT2 also has access to the Explore database. It uses the Tread app on a mobile phone instead of Drive. The Tread app also provides some route planning features in a similar way to the Explore App - although I have yet to check this out. There is no web based app for route planning. You can connect your XT2 to the explore database , but you do not have to if you want to continue using Basecamp.


3. If I want to transfer a route from a smartphone to my Zumo XT2, can I do that wireless with the Tread app? That's Tread app WITHOUT Explore.
Is there any way to transfer a route from a smartphone to a Zumo XT2 without using Explore?

JFH: Ok - I have just tried this out. The XT2 works in a smilair way to the XT - but it uses the Tread App on your phone, and it invloves fewer steps. Get and gpc file to your phone so that you can click on it. You need to have the Tread App installed on your phone. It dodn't have to be running. I email a gpx file to my phone. Once on your phone, just click on it. Your phone (I am using an Android) says 'Open With' and lists a number of possibilities - one of which is Tread. Select that.
Tread opens up and shows a list of collections into which the data can be imported, along with an option to create a new one. Or you can select 'Unorganised'.
I suggest creating a new one - or choosing one that you have already created especially - it helps to keep things together so you are not searching through long lists.


Screen shot of the Tread App on the Android about to import the data in the gpx file:

Phone Tread Transfer GPX file.jpg (90.6 KiB) Viewed 2027 times

[LQQK_OUT]

More questions:

1. Zumo 595 under the Navigation menu has an option for Toll Roads, always ask, avoid, allow. Does the Zumo XT2 also have this option? Seems like a useful feature.


JFH: Yes - but with only two options - Allow / Avoid


2, Zumo 595 has Garmin Adventurous Routing. Three sliders are used to set your preferences for Curves, Hills, and Avoid Major Highways. What does the Garmin Adventurous Routing slider's (4) positions on the Zumo XT2 actually doing or refer to?

JFH: The XT2 is different. On the XT2 map, you can select a segment of the route (a segment bounded by two via points and includes and shaping point in between). The screen highlights it and you can set a slider position to one of four positions to see which alternative route you prefer. The XT also has a single 4-position slider and I tried to work out how the each position affected the route produced, without success. On the XT2, each segment of the route can be set to a different slider position, and can also be set to faster, slower, straight line. You can also set the XT2 to find routes including: any of Popular Paths (moto), Michelin Scenic Roads, Hills and Curves.

There is some reference to this in my post above - 8 June 2024 12:24 - two screen shots of the XT2 map, side by side.



3. On the Zumo 595, I always thought the Compass app, and the Service History app were useful. They seem to be missing on the XT2.


JFH: Service history has gone. So has the compass app - but you can still display the current direction on the trip data display at the side of the screen. 8 point compass heading N S EW NE SE NW SW

[edit]
Is this what you are after ? It is part of the track recorder app.

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[jfheath]

Moving Route Point when changing Via to Shaping.

This is a problem that has persisted since around the time of the Zumo 595. It was reported, and I was informed that it was a known issue and that they were looking into it. Sept/Oct 2021.

In order to use the route editor in list view, it seems that you have to create a simple route created using the map first. Then you can edit it and andd new points eg from your Waypoint store (used to be called Favourites or Saved). Waypoints are automatically set as Via Points. It is possible to change them from Via to shaping in the app (and back again). This is done simply by tapping the point to be changed. But if changing to a shaping point, the point will be renamed, and it will be moved. Sometimes by not very much, but in the example below, it moves it to the start of the dual carriagway that I was hoping to avoid !

Image sequence. Click the image to see the full size version.

1. Route with Orange flag Via Point. 2. List view of the same route.

Moving ShPt Original.png (258.76 KiB) Viewed 2021 times

3. List View of route after changing the Via to a shaping point. 4. The resulting route.

Moving ShPt Changed.png (264.23 KiB) Viewed 2021 times

[jfheath]

Using the Tread App without Synchronising to the Explore Database

The Phone uses the Garmin Drive App in order to communicate with the XT.
The phone uses the Garmin Tread App in order to communicate with the XT2.

Communications with the XT2 involves three separate components (+phone calls)


0. Phone Calls. Incoming calls display a message at the side of the screen with buttons to accept / ignore. Accept is automatic after a couple of seconds. The caller's name is displayed. This feature operates without the Tread App.

1. Smart Notifications:

These events triggered by your phone and include alerts, email, incidents, messages, reminders, social media, other. These categories can be turned on or off using the tread app. If on, the event gets passed to the XT which will display an appropriate alert on the screen. IN the case of messages and texts, the text is displayed at the right hand side of the map

2. Emergency Assistance. In the event of a harsh stop, Tread can notify up to three phone numbers of a possible incident, reporting your position.

3. Garmin Explore. The Tread App communicates with the Explore database. Plan a route on Tread, the route, waypoints and tracks are stored in the Explore database. Periodically, your XT can synchronise with the Explore database (using your phones Data or Wifi connection) so that it has the up to date routes, tracks and waypoints.

These three items are all optional. You do not have to set them up.

When Installing the tread app you have to

a) Sign into your Garmin account.
b) Connect to your phone
c) Install the tread app
d) Connect the tread app to your XT2
e) Scan the QR code from the XT2 screen using your phone

Although the prompts seem to be designed to get you to connect to the explore database, you do not have to if all you want is to have your phone connected - to access things like traffic, weather, emails, texts etc

The screenshots blow show some of the screens which you can access to choose which items to set up. Once set up, you cannot disconenct them without uninstalling the app, and resetting the Zumo. These are not instructions - just screenshots to point out that it is possible.

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