Wild goose chase

[jfheath]

Send a route that goes wonky - I'll see if I can add any pointers.

I have the USA maps for the XT2 so I should be able to view your routes from those.

[Green-ee]

This is in Mexico, a route I planned late last year on MRA. Wheels on the ground it took me about 75% of the way to the #3 way point and then went screwy - sending me into little towns and corkscrewing around them, left, right, into dead ends, gravel pits, and passages that clearly were more for burros than wheeled vehicles. I found my way only by ignoring the prompts on the Zumo XT and looking for likely routes.
Yesterday, however it performed flawlessly on a trip to Oaxaca and back again.
https://www.myrouteapp.com/download/dow ... origin/web

Thanks!

[rbentnail]

This is in Mexico, a route I planned late last year on MRA. Wheels on the ground it took me about 75% of the way to the #3 way point and then went screwy - sending me into little towns and corkscrewing around them, left, right, into dead ends, gravel pits, and passages that clearly were more for burros than wheeled vehicles. I found my way only by ignoring the prompts on the Zumo XT and looking for likely routes.
Yesterday, however it performed flawlessly on a trip to Oaxaca and back again.
https://www.myrouteapp.com/download/dow ... origin/web

Thanks!

I logged in to myrouteapp but it says I'm "not permitted to view this item."

[Green-ee]

sorry, try this.... https://www.myrouteapp.com/download/dow ... origin/web

[rbentnail]

I see your route now. 1st thing I see, not enough route defining points especially through the towns & villages. The XT has a strange way of routing through these, I've never really figured it out but it will very often send you through some awful places unless you add points to define exactly how you want to go, and even then it can be difficult for the XT to accept and follow it.

[jfheath]

Hi Popo

Thanks for posting the route. Through the towns the Satnav will find what it considers to be the 'faster route'. Your route doesn't specify that, but your route doesn't specify anything, so the XT defaults to faster. That's OK.

You selected v1.0 gpx from MyRoute App. That sends only the route points in the correct order and the track. The XT has to calculate the route for itself. That is also OK. BUT even if you had included shaping points, MRA's GPX v1.0 does not distinguish between via and shaping points. You will need to used v1.1 or v1.2 - I'll post a link that explains the difference.

But looking at the map some of your points are not plotted on the road. The Zumos will recognise all of your route points as Via Points. This means that you MUST pass through them - or be close enough for the Zumo to believe that you are approaching them. If it doesn't recognise that the point is ahead, it's job is to get you to visit it. Trun round, go back.

I cannot tell for every point what the satnav will do.

Hand 1. Is in the hotel. It may recognise that you have passed through the start point - but if it doesn't then for the rest of the trip it will be trying to get you to go back to it. I always put my start point some way up the road on a road that I know that I will be riding along.

Hand 1.png (70.92 KiB) Viewed 172 times

Hand 2. The route point is plotted in between two roads - not on either of them. The Zumo will probably not see this point when approaching - it will probably ask you to navigate off road. Only when you have done that, will it recognise that there is a point there.

Hand2.png (53.21 KiB) Viewed 172 times

Video link of a similar situation. https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P203

Hand 3. Is plotted on a roundabout. If you followed the track, the Zumo will probably see it - there is a large tarmacced area off the roundabout. But if you followed the plotted route, you would have to turn off the roundabout. I'm not sure whether the zumo would recognise that you have visited this or not. Probably not, because it will be asking you to turn off the roundabout, and you will carry on round.

I tend to put my route points on the road leading away from junctions, roundabouts, towns. That way if there are road closures in town, I can go wherever the signs take me and the satnav will still navigate me to the next route point.

Hand 3.png (43.36 KiB) Viewed 172 times

For the majority of the ride, the plotted route follows the road that you want. There are not many alternatives. Through the town - the satnav does its own thing. Try to follow the track, and put a route point on the road that you want to be riding when you get away from the town. If you want to go along particular road in the town then use a few shaping points. In a route like this I would probably use Via Points to mark the road that I want to be on when I have escaped from the built up area.

For minor deviations from the intended route - just follow the track. As long as you don't have loads of Via Points, then it will correct itself if you just miss a shaping point.


Route misbehaviour can often be put down to misplaced route points. And my first concern would by that your route has enough of these (and they are Via Points) to be causing you problems. At this stage I wouldn't be looking any further than this as the main issue. Minor deviations are not a big problem if you have the track plotted.

Shaping points that are slightly misplaced are quite forgiving. They will navigate you twoards them if you miss a turning, but if you get back onto the magenta line after it has visited the shaping point, it will not mind and will continue to navigate you ahead.

Via Points are serious. If you plot a Via Point the satnav will take you to visit it. (As shown in the link above). If it has already announced that you are approaching the Via point, then it regards it as having been visited. But if you are approaching the turning to get to a Via Point ? No. That point has not yet been visited - and whether you are on the magenta route or not, the satnav will want to turn you round to go back to it.

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A complication. If the XT recalculates your route (eg by pressing Skip, or maybe as a result of traffic), then everything up above goes through the window. The XT will calculate a different type of route at its behaviour makes very little sense when you are on the road. If the XT is misbehaving, stop at the side of the road, Stop the route and restart it. Select the next via point as the next destination if there is one not very far ahead. Or select closest entry point - but check the preview map carefully. The closest entry point may be behind you, or it may be 'just over there' and pick up the homeward leg of a day trip.


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Via / Shaping Points

Use Vias (Hands) for key points. Places that you want to stop at. Places / Roads that you want to be on after passing through a town. They must be placed accurately - Zoom all the way in. For the start point, never put it where you will get on your bike. Place it up the road. The Zumo will navigate you to it.

Shaping Points

Use these as you need in order to get the route to follow the line that you want to take and to keep the XT from going onto fasster roads. You don't need a lot. Often a couple of points 1/3 and 2/3 along a quieter road will prevent the Zumo from taking a nearby faster road.

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My Route App - GPX Export.

Briefly

V1.0 Gpx contains no route information -juts the route points, and these are all set as Vias by the Zumo when it receives the route.
V1.1 Gpx contains all of the route points (Vias and Shaping). The Zumo has to calculate the route itself.
V1.2 Gpx contains a plot of the route as it was created in MRA. It also contains Via Points, but no shaping points. This means that the Zumo receives exactly what you plotted - BUT if the Zumo recalculates the route for any reason, it has no shaping points to work with. Only the Via Points. If you use this, you must turn off automatic recalcluation and prevent it from receiving traffic information. It is important to have the track loaded as well, so that you can see if the route has been recalculated.

More infor on the v 1.1 and 1.2 file formats from MyRouteApp. https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P72c

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P72c

[danham]

In addition to the excellent advice above, know that when you plot a route on a map other than the exact same one and version that is on your XT, the likelihood of vias or shaping points being off the actual road increases. A thorough turn-by-turn preview on your XT can help spot these.

-dan

[Green-ee]

Hi Popo
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P72c

Thank you very much for this detailed explanation!

[jfheath]

Hi @Green-ee

I owe you an apology: I said "Hi Popo" in my previous post. You probably realised that here is someone not firing on all 4 cylinders. Others may think I was just being rude.

That is not the case. (Well - maybe the bit about not firing on all 4 cylinders). I'd just spent ages looking at your route that was called Popo1.
Normally when I look at other people's routes, I rename the route to be the name of the person that sent it. It makes it easier to find later, if I need to. Except I didn't do that this time. So when I came to add the greeting at the top - Popo1 was the name that was in my head.

Sorry about that.

[Green-ee]

Please... no apology needed. I didn't think a thing of the file name and my screen name being interchanged. do greatly appreciate the time you spent reviewing my route and your suggestions for better results in the future.