Routing Waypoint Frustration

[night falcon]

My 395lm wont find Waypoints on Routes. It will redirect you back to them if you go past one and ignore the planned route until you hit the waypoint...which is mostly physically impossible without a theodolite! It seems you have to be EXACTLY on target or you are toast!

From what I've read in this forum this is not a new problem. If you have a route with lots of waypoints you are basically screwed....it might find one but it aint gonna get the next one! I've even ridden my bike several times over the waypoint location indicated on the route and still got the dreaded 'off route" recalculating notice.

Is there a fix for this or should I put it in the waste disposer ?

Cheers
Night Falcon

[sussamb]

I'm surprised but don't have your model. Have you tried converting most to shaping points, as they can more easily be bypassed if you miss them. I only ever use a waypoint if its essential I need to hit it exactly, for example a fuel or food stop.

[night falcon]

Will give it a try but the problem happens if you depart from the route then Trip planner will redirect you to the only waypoint on the mao (the last shaping point) via it's own route. Basecamp is supposed to work with waypoints!

[Stu]

Have you made sure they are placed directly on roads if not then it won't pick them up properly

[night falcon]

I'm assuming that maybe part of the problem however, I have been EXTREMELY careful to place them as accurately as possible on the right spots - as far as Basecamps accuracy will permit on my W10 laptop -

What gripes me is if Waypoints are so bad for route navigation why the #$%&^@ dose Basecamp and Garmin use them or at least make that clear!

[Stu]

Waypoints are somewhere you stop and shaping points somewhere you pass through

Thats how I interpret them anyway

[night falcon]

Whether passing through or stopping makes no difference, a waypoint is useless unless the GPS picks it up. It's not doing that. I've ridden right over the indicated spot in the middle of a paddock and it still wont find it. Everything about your planned route fails at that point.

Google maps leaves Garmin for dead on almost every level. I'd use my phone if the screen tech enabled you to read them in direct sunlight. When it does...Garmin will be out in the cold I'm pickin.

Sorry for my bad attitude - I'm just pissed at the cost of this unit and the fact it doesn't perform its basic function!

[Stu]

Yeah I see your point about waypoints!

I have to say I have never had a problem on my 590 not tried the XT properly yet!

But that's only if placed on a road if they are slightly off then it has been a problem

[sussamb]

Look at it another way though. If you wanted to go there and your device decided you'd got close enough and skipped it you'd be pissed off too. In my experience a waypoint has to be pretty badly off route to cause an issue.

[night falcon]

Yeah I get the idea behind a waypoint in a route. My problem with this 395 is it doesn't find them. They are not wildly off the selected route but The fact Basecamp only allows you to zoom in for an approximate placing seems to be a problem. Given that is the case you would think (well I do) that if you got within say 10-20m of it, it would acknowledge that. It doesn't. And there is nothing in Basecamp literature that I've found that alerts you to that fact- they leave it to trial and error...mostly error.

Frankly, that is not good enough from a company that has been around as long as Garmin. They sell these devices to relative GPS novices with very poor instructions and they are not intuitive. Why does basecamp have a waypoint icon for planning routes and not a 'shaping' icon given the difficulty the gps has finding waypoints!

I even set up a test route placing waypoints by typing in street intersections - i.e Basecamp placed the waypoint not me- and it still couldn't find them!