[meridien]

I have a Garmin 2610 and have recently purchased v8 maps and a 2gb cf card so I can have all US maps loaded at the same time.

How do you manage maps, routes, and waypoints? The nice thing about loading the entire US maps is that I don't need to download them again until v9 comes out. DLing routes is very fast, as is ULing routes, but DLing the maps takes about 90 minutes.

In mapsource, I selected all the maps (it would have been nice to have a "select all" option), and saved the file as "Entire_US". I created a waypoint named "Home" and a few others for relative's homes and for places I want to visit. Do you normally DL waypoints to the gps, or do you just use them to create routes with mapsource and DL the routes?

I have a file of waypoints for Honda dealers that just might come in handy. How would you suggest handling those waypoints?

Just looking to hear suggestions from those with more experience than I.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tallsilver]

Waypoints & maps

I suppose each person does what they like best. I load all my waypoints into the 2610 so they'll be available if I'm out on the road and need one of them.

If I'm just going from point a to point b, I usually let the gps do the routing and take off! If I'm planning a trip and want to go a specific route or detour for sight seeing, I usually plan the route on the computer and download the route to the gps. So far this has worked ok for me.

Have fun with it!!

 

[Neil-In-Tucson]

I have literally thousands of waypoints stored on my PC. I have them stored in categories, such as "Residences", "Four Corners Area", "West Coast", "OR, ID, NV", "Alaska", "Parkways", etc. In all I have 27 categories of Waypoints stored on my PC.

I can quickly call up any category and lay out a route on the PC, then transfer it to the GPS. If the route is across the country, then I just blend several or all categories and lay out the route.

Speaking of routes, for a long trip, I lay out a general route and then tweak it at the end of each day. Sometimes I will also lay out auxiliary routes to be taken if I feel like it.

As I am riding a route, I will create Waypoints of things that I come across that I might want to see on a later trip and then add them to my Waypoint database.

 

[meridien]

I have literally thousands of waypoints stored on my PC. I have them stored in categories, such as "Residences", "Four Corners Area", "West Coast", "OR, ID, NV", "Alaska", "Parkways", etc. In all I have 27 categories of Waypoints stored on my PC.

Is there a problem DL-ing waypoints from the pc to the gps? I'm specifically asking because I created one called "Home" in mapsource. I know the "Home" waypoint on the gps is a special waypoint. Does DL-ing another waypoint also named "Home" cause a problem with the gps-entered one?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Neil-In-Tucson]

I have literally thousands of waypoints stored on my PC. I have them stored in categories, such as "Residences", "Four Corners Area", "West Coast", "OR, ID, NV", "Alaska", "Parkways", etc. In all I have 27 categories of Waypoints stored on my PC.

Is there a problem DL-ing waypoints from the pc to the gps? I'm specifically asking because I created one called "Home" in mapsource. I know the "Home" waypoint on the gps is a special waypoint. Does DL-ing another waypoint also named "Home" cause a problem with the gps-entered one?

Thanks in advance.

You can DL waypoints to the GPS from the PC. Any waypoint named "HOME" when downloaded to the GPS will overwrite the "HOME" waypoint already on the GPS.

No big deal though. Lots of guys name their present location, say, at a motel, as HOME and then just name their location "HOME" when they finally arrive home. They do this so that all they have to do to get back to their motel or campground after wandering around is to press "GO HOME" on the GPS.

 

[Woody]

Meridian, just a suggestion. As Garmin issues updates for V8 you will want to download them to your computer and then you will want to reload your maps.

There is a select all tool. Zoom out to 1500 miles, select the "map select tool" take your mouse curser to a corner outside the map, hold down the left button and while holding down make a box around the entire map. You should find that they all change color and have all been selected.

 

[meridien]

Meridian, just a suggestion. As Garmin issues updates for V8 you will want to download them to your computer and then you will want to reload your maps.

There is a select all tool. Zoom out to 1500 miles, select the "map select tool" take your mouse curser to a corner outside the map, hold down the left button and while holding down make a box around the entire map. You should find that they all change color and have all been selected.

I didn't realize there were interim updates issued to City Navigator v8 maps. I thought you purchased an updated set (v9, v10, etc.) if you wanted to do so.

Your select all method worked perfectly. I wish I had known about that, it definitely saves some time and clicking. Thanks for the tip.

 

[xxxrider]

Neil-In-Seattle, have you ever thought about writing a GPS Tutorial Manual for those of us who are lacking in GPS knowledge??? What I have seen so far from the manual and the tutorial lacks alot because there is not much detail and alot that I have learned is by trial and error or by getting a tip here and there such as I just got in this thread.

 

[Guest]

Seeing that many of us have a GPS on our Goldwings and have created many nice routes, it would be nice to share them with others. Would there be some place that we all could upload our Garmin files (xxxx.GDB) and then be able to take that route if you are in that part of the country.

 

[Neil-In-Tucson]

Neil-In-Seattle, have you ever thought about writing a GPS Tutorial Manual for those of us who are lacking in GPS knowledge??? What I have seen so far from the manual and the tutorial lacks alot because there is not much detail and alot that I have learned is by trial and error or by getting a tip here and there such as I just got in this thread.

Thanks for the compliment, but that would be pretty hard to do, seeing as there are so many GPS models out there and each one has it's own limited or extensive set of bells and whistles.

Maybe I could write a small piece on how I use my GPS's with regards to trip/route planning, way-pointing, track-plotting and such. The only problem being is that most GPS's can't do everything that I demand of a GPS.

Probably what is needed is a list of things that are possible to do with a GPS, so that newbies can make intelligent decisions on their next GPS purchase. Jon Sargent has done something similar to that several times and the rest of us have chimed in with our particular needs. Maybe we could talk Jon into devoting a portion of his website to list GPS associated operations and considerations.

I'm probably one of the few people that have been recording trip track plots since about '96 and have an extensive library of every major ride I've been on. This comes in handy when deciding which routes to take on the next big adventure. My last ride of 8,000 miles was laid out so as to avoid most of the roads that I've been on before - wanted to see new territory. I did this by dropping all of my previous track plots on one map and then routing around them as much as possible.

 

[xxxrider]

I'm so new at this GPS stuff that I just plotted or created my FIRST ROUTE yesterday and I drank a bottle of wine to celebrate. I think I successfully transferred it to my Garmin 2730 but I am not sure.

 

[Titanium06]

On this site there is 3 GPS Experts that review the models and if you scroll down to your Unit they will cover the operation and you will learn all the tricks and goodies that you don't pick up in the manual.
http://gpsinformation.net/
If you really want to learn continue to read on there other topics then you will understand not just how but why!

 

[xxxrider]

Thanks Titanium06, I printed that off and I will read it and probably discover alot of good stuff, some stuff I read is things that I didn't know about so it will probably be very informative. Thanks a bunch and have a great weekend!!!

 

[meridien]

Seeing that many of us have a GPS on our Goldwings and have created many nice routes, it would be nice to share them with others. Would there be some place that we all could upload our Garmin files (xxxx.GDB) and then be able to take that route if you are in that part of the country.

I'm willing to host the files on my site. If we can provide some information like:

state
starting point
ending point (if it's not a loop)
length of ride (miles and time)
scenic index 1-10 (subjective)
best time of year
fun index 1-10 (subjective)
things to look out for (cops, blind turns, rough railroad crossings, etc.)

I could then set up a search function.

Let me know if there's enough interest.