Is basecamp still a thing?

[chrismckay]

I havent used my XT in a long time.

Can someone remind me of the programme that is used on a PC to enable route planning.

Is it still base camp or has this been replaced?

Chris....

[JohnnyRidesAlone]

Yes Basecamp still going, not usesable with XT2 I understand and still querky as hel, but then most programs are. Some love it some hate it.

[chrismckay]

Does Garmin offer an alternative programme?

[chrismckay]

Yes Basecamp still going, not usesable with XT2 I understand and still querky as hel, but then most programs are. Some love it some hate it.

Does Garmin offer an alternative programme?

[biglew55]

Yes Basecamp still going, not usesable with XT2 I understand and still querky as hel, but then most programs are. Some love it some hate it.

I use my XT2 with basecamp all the time. The warning is meaningless.

[Peobody]

Does Garmin offer an alternative programme?

Garmin pushes an app called Explore with the XT. It is designed for phones and tablets although there is also a web based version. My sense is that there are more folks on this forum who prefer a PC based program like Basecamp but it is a personal preference. I'm sure more folks will be contributing their thoughts so stay tuned...

[smfollen]

Garmin's current alternative to Basecamp is the Tread app for phone or tablet. There is no computer version so it is limited to smaller screens. You can find lots of info on Tread in this forum.

I still use Basecamp. As @biglew55 said, it works fine with the XT2 despite the warning.

If you really want to learn Basecamp, see this post https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=9356#p9356
and EZ Moto Tim's tutorials here
Basecamp's interface is a bit different than most so there is a learning curve, but it remains a very powerful and useful tool.

[danham]

There is only one program that uses the same map that is on your XT - Basecamp. That’s not to say other programs won’t work, but with many of them it is advisable to double check the route in Basecamp before transferring to your zumo. That leads me to prefer sticking with BC from the get-go, but it’s not the only way to do it.

-dan

[jfheath]

Basecamp is still an excellent tool - very powerful and it works with the XT2 - but the XT2 has introduced many more features that Basecamp cannot possibly know about.

Explore was introduced with the XT and introduced the notion of synchronising routes built on a website directly with the Zumo. However - it creates tracks rather than routes - as far as the Zumo is concerned. Waypoints (Ie saved locations) can be synched and can be plotted on the XT map - but they do not form part of any route. They are just there on the screen. Explore routes give turn by turn directions but they do not offer point to point navigations. In the process of working with tracks based routes, The XT introduced a whole new problem for point to point navigation - one where the XT insists on taking you back the way you have travelled if you deviate from a route. Characterised by repeated U turn requests (RUT behaviour).

The XT2 completes the story. Explore as a route planning program is ditched - but the explore database and the synchronisation with the XT2 is very much improved. Tread is now the App of choice for route planning - although there is not a Computer based version, only Ipad or phone app. This is very much more usable and allows you to create waypoints (saved locations) and then use them to build a route, and then modify that route with shaping points and/or a variety of routing options. So Popular (Moto) roads, Michelin Scenic Roads, Bookmarked Great Rides, 4 levels of adventurous routing are all tools to plan the ride that you want. And all of this routing information is passed to the XT2 when you synchronise. All routes created in this way are also regarded as 'saved' and do not display the RUT behaviour described earlier.

The XT2 also integrates collections fully - a collection is a group of waypoints, tracks and routes that you might want to keep together eg for one day; for one holiday; for one country. Entirely up to you. You decide on the names of the collections. You decide what goes into them. Any item can belong to any number of collections. Why ? It makes it easy to find the things that you are looking for - and,
more significantly, you can turn on and off the visibility of all of the items within a collection.

I gave it a test while I was away recently. I used my ipad purely to create a route home using Tread. It took a little getting used to, but it was easy to create the waypoints. Simple to create the route from the waypoints. Easy to select a segment of track and add shaping points to it. And (at long last on a web based mapping program - an undo button !!!).

Finally for this little essay - Tread makes it possible to set the routing preference for each segment (between two Via Points) - so you can set the first 'get me there quickly' segment to use faster roads; the next segment to find the michelin scenic roads; another to use hills and curves....
This part and collections are both things that Basecamp cannot do and why it is regarded as not compatible. But BC still does what it always did and the XT2 still understands the results. You can still send your routes from BC to the XT2 and BC can still read the data on the XT2.

The XT2 still displays RUT behaviour for routes coming from outside - imported routes. That includes routes from Basecamp.
Route from Basecamp will ALWAYS be recalculated before they can be run. That is becasue the default transportation mode for the XT2 is zūmo Motorcycle - a name which Basecamp cannot reproduce. Traditionally, if the Zumos receive a transportation mode that it doesn't recognise - like Motorcycle - it recalculates. As you might imagine - I've tested this by editing the GPX file. Change Motorcycle to zūmo Motorcycle in the gpx file using a text editor and put that in the gpx folder - the route doesn't recalculate. But that might be a bad thing, I don't know.

Any Imported route may display RUT behaviour in the XT2 under certain circumstances. But there is a very handy fix for this - whether they intended it be or not after my 2.5 years of hassling Tech Support about it. They have included a Copy command. You don't have to load a route, just import it to the XT2. It synchs as it is with the Explore database. But once imported you can make a copy and it recreates the route faithfully before it has had chance to recalculate it. The copied version is now no longer flagged as imported. It is flagged as saved - and it will not display the RUT behaviour.

I am not a fan of using the ipad for creating routes. They are not very friendly tools to use. They very rarely have an undo button and often you have to plot your points in the correct sequence. Most treat via point, shaping points and Waypoint differently.

Not so with the Tread App. You select the segment that you want to work with. At any point you can come back and edit it. You can accept or reject the changes - temporarily. And you can save the final result. And the same features are available on the XT2 screen as they are in the app. I am a hardened Basecamp user. Nothing so far has come close to what I want. But Tread really is a game changer.

Except for one thing. I like the facility to create a track from the route that I have made. A track stays put. Nothing can alter it. I like to display the track on the screen as well as the route - so that I can tell if the route ahs recalcualted, and if it has I still know which way the route was plotted - I can follow the track. But the Tread app cannot make a track of the route ! There is no way that I can get my route into any program without that program altering it.

Except .... all of the Zumos routes are stored in Current.gpx. You can get hold of that by connecting a USB cable.
BAsecamp will take any plotted route and load it in Unchanged. It uses the ghost points to plot the route.
So Having made a tool to do away with the need for Basecamp, I discover that I need Basecamp in order to make a track of my route.

Garmin seem to have discovered the gun/foot interface.

But really - the XT2 with a Tread-built route or with a copied external route behaves extremely well. I can live with that.
I've lodged a request for the track creation tool. I doubt it will go anywhere.

[Les]

Mapsource for me all day long..

BaseCamp comes up with ridiculous routes regardless of settings, also no ability to right click and view roads on Google Satellite view.

Been using it on all three of our Garmin units for years, Zumo 660, Garmin Camper, and my wife's little car one.