gps routes
Does anyone know of a gps unit that allows you to lay out a route using highway numbers rather than cities?
Forum Discussion
- Ugh. How do you zoom into those gravel roads and FS roads with that new-fangled "paper map"?
- It's called Delorme Atlas and Gazeteer.
- I just turn onto any road I like. The girl in the GPS "recalculates".
1Milehigh wrote:
Thanks for all the replies, I used to have streets and trips and it would send me down dirt roads and inconvienient routes. I always fount it difficult to go the way I wanted instead of the programs way, same with garmin and Magellan.
Ok it is up to the user to review the settings in the software. There is a place to set preferences, such as no toll roads, ferries, etc and also dependent on whether you want the fastest, shortest or your preferred road. You also need to preview the route it takes you so that it is not going a weird way. Also realize not all POI are on all GPS units. Unless the user has a RV or Trucker gps, the user also needs to watch the road for signs saying bridge heights and be aware of his own RV height. Basically become familiar with your software & gps and realize that each one is going to be a bit different as are paper maps made by different printers. Also be aware that the online maps are also different and can create different routes for point A to B to C.- You can use geo-cordornates. Or you can use Streets and Trips. You right click on an interesection and it asks which road. Pick one and then "Set as Stop" under route. It will append the point, you then go to the proper (Routing pane) and put it where you want it in the list so you do not go
<-------> on the same road all day :). - If you have a Garmin you can download Basecamp. The software allows to create routes that you send to your GPS.
Basecamp Link - I use the Good Sam's RVND 7725 along with the online planning tool to define the route I want, not the GPS's route.
(This comes in handy, especially when a preferred routing is defined by a camp site and to avoid certain roads etc.)
To force a particular route, the trip has to be defined online at the Good Sam web site by inserting way-points between the two cities.
Defining way-points along the route will force the routing process. (It's a drag feature to change your route, similar to Yahoo maps et al.)
The trip routing can then be imported into the GPS unit.
Note: The waypoint(s) are defined as a "Stop" (checkered flag) along the way to the final destination. So if you have several imported waypoints, you will see several "Stops" before the final destination. 1Milehigh wrote:
I always fount it difficult to go the way I wanted instead of the programs way
A GPS is an advisory tool. It isn't the law. Personally, I usually turn off Auto-Recalculation so that if I choose to turn a different way - the GPS doesn't think I'm stupid.
A GPS or a mapping program like Streets & Trips works from waypoint to waypoint. If you use S&T or a GPS to set a route - it will route from point to point - not via roadway XXX.
Another big problem for routing via a specific highway - the original source data from the various states breaks what should be a continuous highway into many small segments.
As an example - US-82 across Texas from Arkansas to New Mexico has no interstate sections except for a few miles in Wichita Falls - I have to set 5 waypoints near Texarkana where US-82 parallels closely with I-30 to force the route off I-30. S&T then draws the rest of the route very well.
However when you look at the detail driving directions - the contiguous highway is actually broken down into dozens of small segments. The longest actual Hwy-82 segment is only 128 miles for the 567 mile route.
The source data, and the S&T program, and any GPS sees each segment as a separate highway - not a continuation of the same highway.
I once mapped US-2 from west coast to east coast - it took close to 250 waypoints to force the route.- Daboose - Which online planning tool do you use for your RVND 7725 ? Do you then download to the GPS ?
