Route problem created on Base Camp importing into my Zumo XT

[izabelleferland]

Thank you rbentnail - again great info!

[jfheath]

Some good information on here. But I have a few corrections and additions to the comments made above.

1. Don't change a Via point to a shaping point on the ZUmo itself. It will likely move the point and rename it. Do it on Basecamp as described.

2. The route that you create on Basecamp should transfer and follow exactly the same route when it arrives on the XT. If it doesn't, then it has recalculated. Different maps; and the
edit->option->device transfer settings are two likely culprits. But so are a few other things, when starting the route.

3. Using profile names othe than the standard motorcycle, car and direct will result in the Zumo using the Motorcycle settings. Motorcycle Curvy is not the same as motorcycle. The Zumo will ignore those settings if it should recalculate.

4. Likewise, using any route preferences other than Faster Time or Shorter Distance in Basecamp will cause the Zumo XT to default to using Faster time if it recalculates.

5. None of the avoidance settings in Basecamp are transferred to the XT.

6. Pinning the route down with a lot of shaping and via points will prevent the satnav from behaving like a satnav in its attempts to get you to your destination. Use just enough route points and give it a bit of freedom. Otherwise you might just as well buy a paper map and draw the route with a felt pen.

7. If you prefer to pin the route down, consider making a track from your route in Basecamp. Send the track to the Zumo XT and load it in from the track menu. Then click Go. There are no navigation instructions, shaping points or via points. But it will never recalculate. It does however tell you if you have gone off track, how far to the closest point you are, and it draws a dotted stright line to direct you back to the track.

[izabelleferland]

Good morning jfheath

Great additional info! I made a few adjusment after reading carefully all the posts here.
1) Including my transfer parameters in BC, that says : '' always syn the route to the map of my device .... '' is now deselected in my settings.
2) My cards (North America 2022.20) are the same BC and Zumo.
3) I made sure the vehicles are the same (which was not the case) I had in BC auto and Zumo was on a motorcycle.

Now you mentioned that :

2. The route that you create on Basecamp should transfer and follow exactly the same route when it arrives on the XT. If it doesn't, then it has recalculated. Different maps and the edit, option, device transfer settings are two likely culprits. But so are a few other things, when starting the route.

So here are some attached photos of what happens during my transfer. Sorry for the French in the pictures, but I'm sure you will understand.
My Zumo recalculation And this ''may'' be my issue. But how do I make sure it doesn't recalculate ?

[jfheath]

I'll get back to you on this shortly.

Some calculation always pops up on the screen. It may say 35% 81% and then it will be done. It doesn't take long - 2 to 5 seconds on the routes that I have just tried. This is not an issue - it is importing the route and saving it somewher where it can find it. It is also pulling out key information from the route - like the waypoints for example, or the category names - all of which are embedded in the temp.gpx file that contains the routes that were transferred.

If it is calculating the entire route, you can expect it to take 30 seconds or more per route. You will know. It is very noticeably longer than normal.


----
regarding the car/bike - that is not an problem as such, because as soon as the motorcycle route is loaded, the satnav is switched to the vehicle that is named in the route. So if it is a motorcycle route, it will switch to motorcycle. So that is good.

What may cause the problem is that when you set your navigation preferences on the Zumo, you may have set them for the car, not for the motorcycle.
So you may think that you have no avoidances set (which I recommend), but you set them when it was in car mode. Switch to motorcycle mode, and they will probably be set to something different.

If you switch the route properties when it is loaded. Eg car to bike; faster to shorter - that will cause the entire route to be recalculated.

When you load a route that was created for motorcycle and was set to fastest time - those two pieces of information stay with the route, no matter how the Zumo is set. But if the satnav has to recalculate then:

It will use all of the avoidance settings in the Zumo that are set for motorcycle.
It will use the navigation preference that is set in the route (eg faster time).

If it doesn't like the vehicle or navigation preferences that are set in the route, it defaults to using moorcycel and faster time - respectively.

Note also that if you are switching the Zumo from car to bike, then you may think that the Zumo switches to car mode when it is in the car cradle, and to bike mode when it is in the bike cradle. It doesn't. I'll explain that if anyone needs it. But just be aware that when you set the preferences - make sure that the correct icon is showing at the top of the home page. Otherwise, should the route need to be recalculated, it may end up using the wrong settings.

Something similar applies to the 590 and 595, but all three devices have some subtle differences.
In particular, the XT doesn not like receiving routes that are set to have curvy roads. It defaults to using faster time and will recaclualte the route.

Me - I use Motorcycle, faster time, and no avoidances set either in Basecamp or in the Zumo. I use a minimum number of shaping /via points to keep the route on the roads that I want. I can do a 300 mile trip with start/finish 3 more Via Points for near coffee stops, and maybe 3 shaping points in between. SOmetimes more are needed. Sometimes less. I use faster time becasue it is easier to predict where the Zumo will route.

[izabelleferland]

Hi jfheath.

Thanks again for additional info. As you can see in my pictures I have auto set on my XT and for my route as well. I was told a few years ago that it was preferable that way. Before my XT, I had a Zumo 396 and never had the issue I'm living now with my XT. This week I did a lot of reading and I've adjusted some little details. I added a lot of shaping points to my trip. I was told and also read here that it should help.

Yiou mentionned:
Note also that if you are switching the Zumo from car to bike, then you may think that the Zumo switches to car mode when it is in the car cradle, and to bike mode when it is in the bike cradle. It doesn't. I'll explain that if anyone needs it.

I would be curious to learn more.

[communicator]

send me your road book to examine it and see if there are any anomalies

communicator [at] wachter.fr

[jfheath]

Thanks again for additional info. As you can see in my pictures I have auto set on my XT and for my route as well. I was told a few years ago that it was preferable that way. Before my XT, I had a Zumo 396 and never had the issue I'm living now with my XT. This week I did a lot of reading and I've adjusted some little details. I added a lot of shaping points to my trip. I was told and also read here that it should help.

It is not such a big problem. I use Motorcycle for whatever vehicle I am in. It is just a name that is given for the settings that are stored in the Zumo. The Zumo will remember one group of settings for the Motorcycle and another group of settings for the Car.

So for car
En - I can have Shortest Distance set and Avoidances of U turns, Motorways and Ferries allowed
Fr - Method de calcul: Distance la plus courte and Contournements: Demi-tours, Autoroutes, Ferris = Autoriser

And for motorcycle

En - Fastest Time and U-turns, motorways and Ferris not allowed.
Fr - Method du calcul : Temps le plus court and Demi-tours, Autoroutes, Ferris = Eviter

The XT remembers the settings for both types of vehicle - car and motorcycle.

Whoever told you that it is preferable to have them both set to Auto / Car was not correct - but it is not entirely wrong either. If Basecamp is set to Motorcycle and Zumo is set to Car then that will result in some problems that are difficult to understand. So keeping Basecamp and you Zumo both set to the same thing helps to remove that type of problem. So your friend's suggested solution will work, but it isn't quite the complete answer.

The reason for that is one part of the answer to your next question.

Yiou mentionned:
Note also that if you are switching the Zumo from car to bike, then you may think that the Zumo switches to car mode when it is in the car cradle, and to bike mode when it is in the bike cradle. It doesn't. I'll explain that if anyone needs it.

I would be curious to learn more.

When you transfer a trip or route from BAsecamp it sends two additional pieces of information

The vehicle type (eg motorcycle or car)
The routing preferences (eg faster time, shorter distance).

It sends nothing else other than the details of the trip - that is
The Start Point, The End Point, the Via Points and the Shaping Points
and a detailed point by point description of the route - that makes up the plotted magenta line - so the XT does not have to calculate it.

When the route is transferred to Zumo Internal storage, it copies any Waypoints (created in Basecamp with the Flag tool) to the Zumo list of Favourites or Stored Locations. (Enregistre), and it makes the route / Trip available for Import.

With the Zumo in your hand, it may be set to Car and Shortest Distance.
When you load your route (which was set by Basecamp to Motorcycle and Fastest Time), then your Zumo switches to using Motorcycle and Fastest Time. Your Garmin route will remain as it was in BAsecamp. But if it needs to recalculate. (If you press 'Skip'; if you ride away from the magenta route), then the Zumo will have to calculate a new route from where you are to the next route point.
In order to do that it uses its current settings. Those are - Fastest Time, and Motorcycle.

Basecamp didn't send it any information about the motorcycle, so the Zumo uses what you have programmed it to use.
From my example above that was - U-turns, motorways and Ferris not allowed.

Even if you had U turns, motorways and ferries allowed in basecamp - that information isn't passed to the Zumo. It uses whatever is in the XT settings for motorcycle.

Ok So Far ?? Becasue it gets a bit complicated now.

You may think that when you plug the XT into your car cradle it switches to Car mode ?
And when you plug the XT into the motorcycle cradle it switches to motorcycle mode ?

No it doesn't.

What it actually does is switches to the mode that was last set when it was last in the cradle. The XT gives a warning message if it is about to switch. And it doesn't switch it back when it has finished.

So - your XT is in the motorcycle cradle. When you put the XT into the motorcycle cradle, and turn on the ignition, it switches to motorcycle mode - a you expect that it should. You make sure that non of your avoidances are set before you load the route.

You load a route from Basecamp which was created using the Car profile. As soon as you load it, the Zumo switches to Car mode. It is now in the motorcycle cradle with the Zumo in Car mode. The route is set for Car and Shortest Distance. When you navigate the route, If the XT has to recalculate the route (eg you have taken a wrong turn) recalculates the route using the settings in the Zumo for the Car profile. Not the ones for the motorcycle profile that you have just programmed in.

The problem is that you have just programmed the avaoidances for the motorcycle. When you loaded the route (which is a route for the car, it uses the avoidances that are in the XT for the car, not the motorcycle).

OK ??

So you remove the XT and try all of that again. This time you get different results. Why ? Becasue this time, when you plught the XT into the motorcycle cradle, it does not switch to motorcycle. The last mode that it was in when the cradle was used was the car mode. So it switches to car mode instead.

OK ??

Ah - but. You are using the Zumo at your desk, and the screen keeps going dim. So you plug in the power supply with the USB socket. What is this ?? The XT switches itself to car mode.

It turns out that it doesn't recognise the cradle at all. It recognises where it is getting its power from. In the motorbike it comes fromt he two brass pins on the connector. In the car it comes from the USB cable.

Personally, I set everything to motorcycle and fastest time. Then the problem doesn't arise.

If the Zumo gets a route that doesn't have the car, motorcycle or direct profile - the Zumo uses Motorcycle.
If the ZUmo receives a route that is not set to fastest time or shortets distance, the Zumo uses Fastest time.

So there is absolutely no point in using the curvy road feature in Basecamp and expecting the Zumo to follow it. You can use the XT curvy road feature after the route has been loaded.

Footnote.

Anyone reading this who has a 590 and a 595 - similar issues apply to these two units as well, but the behaviour when loading a route is different.