etrex 10 - a couple of issues

[crazyhazy]

I have recently bought an etrex 10, I will be using it for hiking mainly, and as I am happy using a map and compass didnt see the need in spending any more. There are a couple of things that I'm unsure of though, the first being Routes, example = I plan a circular route where I start from home and end up back home, I add a few waypoints and the last one to get me back where I started is obviously home, then I go to 'Where to' then Routes then my chosen route then 'Go' if I then go to the compass screen to follow the bearing, it tells me that my next waypoint is 'Home' and my Destination is 'Home' - not the first waypoint in my route like you think it would! To rectify this I have to select 'Active route' then highlight my first waypoint and then 'Go' even then, until I have reached my first waypoint the Data field 'next point' is blank! Is this normal?

Secondly if I import a route from Ordnance survey's Getamap the route appears on my unit but if I select 'Active route' the waypoints are all just blank! No grid references or anything to go aff at all - just guess work as to which waypoint is what!
_________________
Graham

Tomtom One
App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS:190943
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.5011
United Kingdom and Replublic of Ireland v885.4058

[sussamb]

Don't use Getamap so can't help there, Garmin's Basecamp imports the route into my Etrex 20 without problems.

As for routes, this will happen if you're closer to your end point than your start point when you hit Go ... logical really as you might want that in some circumstances. Best if you don't have a fully circular route, pick the end point a few hundred yards away from the 'end' and make sure you're nearer the start point when you hit Go

I've had my Etrex 20 for a few months now and am very happy with it

[crazyhazy]

Ok, tried that and it works, sort of! There are still issues though, I set out a route of 3 simple waypoints, the first 490 metres, the second 600 metres and finally the third 1.75km away - in that order. After selecting Go it starts pointing me to the second chosen waypoint first, not the first and nearest! Why? Surely if this is normal then it makes a mockery of planning a route, it would be far more reliable if you manually selected a waypoint, reached that one and then repeated until you reach your chosen destination?

I Have also just discovered that no matter what route I choose, it skips my first waypoint everytime!
_________________
Graham

Tomtom One
App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS:190943
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.5011
United Kingdom and Replublic of Ireland v885.4058

[sussamb]

That's very strange, because that's not how my Etrex 20 works

Having selected a route and hit Go it takes me around the whole route in the order I've set provided I stay on or close to the route. If you stray off the route and end up nearer another waypoint further along the route then you are directed towards it, the Etrex clearly assuming (probably correctly) that you're wanting to cut out a portion of the route.

You can of course do what you suggest and simply navigate from waypoint to waypoint, but you shouldn't need to do that unless you want to.

I've also never experienced a situation where the first waypoint is not selected. What firmware version are you running?

Are you able to pm me some routes, and I'll run them on my Etrex to see if I can spot what's happening?

[crazyhazy]

Hi, well thats exactly what is does, I have just tried again using cities for example, I live roughly halfway between Stockport and Manchester airport, I selected 'Route planner' then 'create route', then 'select first point', then 'cities' then Manchester, Ashton-Under-Lyne then last but not least Whitefield in that order. Then 'Where to' then 'Routes' then 'Route 001' then 'Go' then the map screen appears showing the pointer at my location, there is no course visible leading from my location marker and I then on selecting the compass screen it tells me my next point is Ashton-Under-Lyne which is 13.8km away - completely skips the first waypoint 'Manchester'

I updated the firmware on Friday when I bought it to 2.50, and my Garmin device has the latest software available as per 'Web updater' 5 minutes ago
_________________
Graham

Tomtom One
App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS:190943
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.5011
United Kingdom and Replublic of Ireland v885.4058

[sussamb]

That may be something to do with the fact that the Etrex 10 only comes with a very basic Basemap, and I've never tried to navigate on road using it. However it should know about Manchester though

I'm a paramedic and on shift today, not back til late so tomorrow is the first chance I'll get to try and check this out for you. I'll report back when I can or PM you.

[sussamb]

Had a quick look at that on Bing maps, it's possible you're closer to Ashton than Manchester town centre, which is why your Etrex skips it?

Try Stockport instead and see what happens?

[crazyhazy]

Definately closer to Manchester than Ashton! Stockport is not on the basemap (there's a surprise) just before I select 'Go' it shows the route and Manchester as my start point! Not here at my location
_________________
Graham

Tomtom One
App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS:190943
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.5011
United Kingdom and Replublic of Ireland v885.4058

[sussamb]

One thing that won't happen is if you're not at the beginning of your route and hit Go then your Etrex, unlike the Garmin Nuvi satnavs, will not give you the option to 'navigate to start of route'. You have to either enter a waypoint at the beginning of the route, navigate to that and then load the route, or get yourself to the start

[crazyhazy]

So to clarify, if I am at my location - say point 'A' and the first waypoint on my route is 2 miles away point 'B' it wont guide me to 'B' I have to be at that waypoint because that is the start of my route?
_________________
Graham

Tomtom One
App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS:190943
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.5011
United Kingdom and Replublic of Ireland v885.4058

[sussamb]

Yep

[crazyhazy]

Which explains why I thought it was 'skipping' my first waypoint, it wasn't at all, it was just presuming I was already there! As for the blank waypoints when downloading routes from Getamap, this is still the case with the etrex 20, I am currently trying to get to grips with basecamp using the openstreetmap to plan a route. Good and bad experiences so far, it keeps altering the route I am planning half way through
It's probably just a setting, and I will try and sort it out myself before first searching and then posting
_________________
Graham

Tomtom One
App 8.010 (9369/080529) OS:190943
GPS v1.21, Boot 5.5011
United Kingdom and Replublic of Ireland v885.4058

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