How to create a Garmin GPS route from many waypoints?

[BobM]

I have downloaded a route for the Via Francigena (VF), but the GPX file is in the form of a very large number of waypoints. When imported into my Garmin GPS unit, it shows up as just a very large list of waypoints, and does not show as a route on the Garmin base map.

To create the VF route in the Garmin waypoint by waypoint would be a very timeconsuming exercise.

If I import the GPX file into Garmin BaseCamp software on my PC, it does show as a route on the base map in BaseCamp, but I can't then import the route into the Garmin.

There must be a way to autogenerate a route for the Garmin from a GPX file of waypoints.

GPS navigation is very new to me, so presumably there is something obvious I am missing.

Can anyone help?

Regards

Bob M

 

[newfydog]

Bob is right,, waypoints are not nearly as useful as a track. I have a nice track in various formats I linked up from an Italian website. Ivar and I are talking about a forum topic just for this sort of file sharing.

Since that is still in the planning phase, anyone who needs it can just send me your email in a PM and I'll send it it to you. Let me know if you have google earth and mapsource and are familiar with them.

Bob---did the file I sent come out as a a bunch of points on your unit? Or it won't go in at all? What unit did you get? Are you running basecamp because you have a Mac?

 

[BobM]

Ivar and I are talking about a forum topic just for this sort of file sharing.

Bob---did the file I sent come out as a a bunch of points on your unit? Or it won't go in at all? What unit did you get? Are you running basecamp because you have a Mac?

The forum for GPS is a great idea.

I copied Christa's GPX file to the Garmin Montana, and when I looked at the saved Tracks, it shows up as two routes (or tracks?): Canterbury - Besancon, and Besancon - Rome. I can follow them on the base map in the Montana (I have not bought a France map yet). That is all excellent.

But when I downloaded Paul Chinn's VF GPX file from his website into the Montana, it just showed up as thousands of waypoints. Paul confirmed in an email that his GPX file is a list of waypoints, not a track.

So presumably GPX files can be either tracks or waypoints. I am still in the foothills of my learning curve.

Anyway, I downloaded the free BaseCamp app for my PC (not Mac) in the hope it would be able to convert a list of waypoints into a route or track. No such luck.

At that point I was (still am) stumped.

After choking on the price, I bought the Garmin Montana for two reasons: (1) It has a camera that geotaggs photos. I don't have to take a separate camera, saving 300gm - the weight of the Montana & batteries; (2) the screen is larger than other Garmin unit screens.

Regards

Bob M

 

[Abbeydore]

I attended the local council meeting last month; one topic that came up was potholes in the tarmac, the chairman pointed out that he could pin-point accurately potholes (gps-ly) & would supply the plots to the council. Well a month later we have no-pot-holes

So could this help to locate bad spots for rubbish to be picked-up/delt with :!:
I appreciate this sounds pretty obvious but so do pot-holes in the tarmac.
A photo with a gps focuses the problem, & maybe just maybe disappears as quick as our poti-holes

What do others think?

 

[newfydog]

Sounds like you are doing things right. Christina supplies a full tracklog of her walk on the Italian website, while for the Lightfoot guide, Paul Chin posts individual waypoints which correspond to the instructions in the guidebook.