Importing route to Zumo/BMW Navigator

[jack777]

Hi all

Newbie Jack here. When I import a route/track (I'm still not clear what each does) into my Zumo/Navigator, it appears in the Tracks folder as a series of waypoints rather than a continuous track. How do I get around this? I've attached an image of what it looks like on the screen. Thanks

[sussamb]

Select the destination you want to go to first then hit start. You'll be directed there then it will follow the route

[jack777]

Thanks - I think I've tried this in the past and it seems to route me straight there rather than the plotted route, but I'll try again.

While I'm here can anyone explain in words of one syllable the difference between a track and a route???

[jack777]

Tried it again and it just routes me via the shortest route and doesn't follow the programmed one.

[sussamb]

I'm not clear from your post exactly what's happening. Do you mean to the end point or to the point you've selected? If the latter that's what it will do, it will take you to that point on a route determined by the settings on your device, but from that point on will follow the route.

[jfheath]

Hi

Hope this helps with terminology.

Routes

A route is a collection of points which the satnav will join up by calculating a course along roads that match your preferences, taking you to one point after another. If the route has been prepared on Basecamp, the roads selected will have been calculated already. If it has come from elsewhere, then the likelihood is that it is just a series of points, and the satnav will calculate the route.

On the Zumo, the route points can be set to alert as you approach and on arrival (Via Points). Or not (Shaping Points). They behave slightly differently, but the satnav will always take you from one to the next in the order you have given, using your preferences (eg faster time, avoid motorways, etc).

You get the routes into the Zumo by transferring them.
You load the routes into the Zumo's list of available routes by Importing them. If the route has to be recalculated, this can take some time.
You navigate a route by using the Trip Planner App, select the route that has already been imported and then saying 'Go'.

So the screen that you are seeing in the first post is what you get when you have already transferred a route, then imported it and then chosen to make it active by saying 'Go'.

What happens then, is that the Zumo displays a list of key points on the route. These key points are the start point and the end point and any Via Points in the route, but it will not show any of the shaping points.

Your screen is showing points a, b and c. a) Walcha Motel2 is your start point. I know this because the arrow on the side of the screen is grey, not black - so there aren't any points above it.
b 14338 Oxley Hwy is your next Via Point (you may have shaping points in between a and b, I cannot tell, but I suspect not since you have used letters of the alphabet to sequence them.
c Bagnoo - this probably not the end point, because the arrow at the left side seems to indicate that there are more points after it.

So - Select Next Destination - is a stupid prompt. It catches out nearly everyone that I know to have used this. What it is saying is - OK - you have started the route. I don't know if you want to start riding from the start point, or if this is a shared route, and you are meeting a group of friends (say) at c Bagnoo. So you have a choice, but whatever point you choose I will get you to that point however I want, and start navigating your route from there.

Whatever you choose the satnav will take you to that point in the best way that it can (using your preferences) - eg faster time, avoiding motorways. It will not take any notice of the route that it has loaded between the start at a Walcha Motel and c Bagnoo.

So if b Oxley Hwy is a point that you have put in to force the route to take a big loop to enjoy some spectacular scenery on brilliant road, and you have selected c Bagnoo, tough. You probably wont be riding those roads.

Most people plan a day route, and at the start of the route, they want to start at the beginning. The Zumo throws a curved ball at you - because often, the start point has scrolled off the top, and it shows the second point, tempting you to choose that as your next destination.
That would be OK - but if you have shaping points in between a and b then selecting b will miss out all of those points.

The most common mistake is for people to have a route with a start and an end and a load of shaping points in between. Thats not the mistake - that is perfectly OK. But the Zumo then offers only two points to select from as the next destination. The start. And the End. Logic says that you are already at the start, so my next destination is the end. So you choose that and the satnav takes you there (eg faster, avoiding motorways) missing out all of the shaping points in between. Ie it ignores your entire route - becasue that is what you have saked it to do ! It should say at the top of that screen 'where shall I jump into this route' or something like that.

Sometimes having the hotel as the start is not a good idea - 'cos that is not exactly where your bike is. In fact you never intend to pass through the point on the map that Zumo thinks is the hotel. So if you choose the hotel as the start and you never go through that point, the Zumo will forever try to take you back to it.

When plotting a route, my advice is to have a Via point on the road that you want to be on after leaving the hotel / town. It might be a few miles up the road. Typically I set that point as my start. But it could be my second point. The thing is - when the Zumo says Select Next Destination - you choose that point that is just up the road, not the hotel. The satnav will find its own way there, and allow you to deviate to go and get petrol, avoid the road works etc, constantly changing the route in order to reach the road that you want to be on. As soon as you get there, it navigates the rest of the route as you had planned it.

Typically for a route, I will have a few Via Points (4 or 5 maybe) and the rest are shaping points.

If you send me a PM with your email address, I'll send you a bit of reading that explains stuff lke this for the 590 and the 595, with illustrated examples.

Tracks

These are not navigable. By that I mean that the satnav will not give instructions to keep you on the track you have drawn. They are just lines drawn on the map. But you can use them to see where you intended to go, just like you can with a paper map. The advantage of this on the satnav is that the screen always shows the bike in its current position, and keeps the map witht he bike at its centre. That light blue trail that you leave behind on the zumo screen and shows where you have been - is a track. They can be very handy becasue the satnav does not recalculate a track. It stays there like a highlight line on a paper map. A track can be superimposed onto the satnav screen - on top of the map, but under the route - so if for whatever reason the satnav deviates from the route you plotted, you will be able to see both on the screen.

The Zumo keep logs (if you have the feature turned on) which allows you to see where you have been, what day, time elevation and how fast you were going. I download mine every few months and keep them. Very handy when we come across interesting roads and cafes and want to remember where they are.