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Nuvi 55LMT Can I record my route?
abrogard
0 Points
I want to go for a drive without knowing which route I'm going to take and have the garmin record the route I end up taking for me. Can it do that? I can't find a way on it.
Found an old thread on this site that said no gps could do that.
But more than 10 years ago I had a garmin gps back when they were as big as a brick (more or less) and it was all about plotting 'way points'.
You set off after recording your start and then reach a place you want to record and press the button to record that location as a 'way point'. You keep doing that.
At the end you can print out the whole thing. I used to map fence lines that way and routes through bush.
Surely the facility exists today? Or very quickly could/should?
Found an old thread on this site that said no gps could do that.
But more than 10 years ago I had a garmin gps back when they were as big as a brick (more or less) and it was all about plotting 'way points'.
You set off after recording your start and then reach a place you want to record and press the button to record that location as a 'way point'. You keep doing that.
At the end you can print out the whole thing. I used to map fence lines that way and routes through bush.
Surely the facility exists today? Or very quickly could/should?
Comments
Your 55 will record the route you drive, Go to Settings, Device and ensure Travel History is checked. This will switch on the trip log that records where you've been. Note though there is a limit to the amount of storage allocated for this and once it's full your device will start to overwrite the trip log, deleting the oldest points as it adds new ones.
You should then be able to view both in BaseCamp and copy the data you need. You'll also be able to view the waypoints and trip log on your device.
p.s. storage. I can't increase available storage? I note it has a micro DS slot. I've never used it.
The procedure that @sussamb describes really isn't what you say you want to do though. And what he describes is something that you could have done on a Garmin GPS 20 years ago so it's nothing new. This is what we call a "track" and not a "route".
Yes, it's also something you've been able to do for a while, he wanted to know if it was still possible, and it is.
take Main street for two miles and turn right on Highway 1
drive 5 miles and turn left on Jones road
etc
There is no way to "record" that kind of thing, and I recall old threads where we said this. You can record a track, which is just a line on the map that shows where you drove. You could always do that. But it isn't a list of manuevers that you need to make to reach a destination. It's just a line on the map.
Well you're both right. I want/wanted both things, I guess. I assumed that if you had one you had the other.
I didn't know the difference between a route and a track.
Given this software you mention - 'Basecamp' - I guess I can have the both. Excellent. I'm downloading it now.
20,000 waypoints - sorry, 'trackpoints', is way beyond anything I'll ever need if they're recorded manually by me pushing 'save'. And that's it?
Even if the machine were doing it automatically by saving the location every 100metres I'd still be able to cover a 2000 km journey. Fantastic.
I wonder why Garmin doesn't implement this as a normal feature? It was there on the old Garmin GPS 15 years ago or whenever it was. Not a spoken route like today, no. But you recorded your waypoints and saved the route and then when you chose to retrace it the machine gave directions from waypoint to waypoint.
Kinda very basic to the whole 'travelling' thing isn't it? Who goes travelling without making new tracks and then wanting to retrace their steps some time?
You know considering the problems Garmin is currently having with their web site - support site - I'd think they've got big problems with their computer programmer staff. And perhaps that's been there a long time and is reflected in the progs in their devices.
Note it's 10,000 not 20,000 waypoints that's in the trip log, and this is not what you save when you record manually. The limit for those (called favourites or saved places) on most automotive devices is 1000. The trip log is automatically saved by your device.
As for it being a normal feature, it never was as far as I recall but then I didn't get into Garmins until the 13xx/14xx series, others here go back further and can advise.
I only know my nuvi really so perhaps I shouldn't say anything, I might be totally wrong, but I'm assuming seeing no one has jumped up and said something like what rubbish go out and get one of these... and see what can be done, is being done...
I was about to start rambling on about your (my) gps could be also this and that and the other - making it almost like a small computer or a cellphone when I suddenly realised that going the other way the cellphone is now, has now, a gps incorporated in it. Right?
I know my wife's iphone has and she uses it all the time.
So maybe that's it. The dedicated gps is dead and manufacturers like Garmin have abandoned them and collapsing websites like Garmin's and lack of bells and whistles is indication of it.
What a shame.
You know, they're so big there's tons of room to shoehorn processing power and memory into them - easier to do with them than shoehorning into tiny phones, which they're doing very well everywhere...
The auto gps could even be monitoring your auto for you... it could be connected to gopros watching your rear and blind back quarter....
I'd say they're not trying.
What do you think?
The Nuvi was originally conceived as a simpler device that would appeal to non-technical users. Some people feel that Garmin "dumbed it down" too much. The first Nuvi was introduced in 2005 and they could not record track logs or use custom routes that you plan yourself. Those features were first introduced with the Nuvi 7xx series in 2008.
So I'm glad if we have cleared up some things for you, but I don't think we've done anything to address your original questions. Recording a track is something that you have been able to do for 10 years on the Nuvi, so this is nothing new. But there is no way to record a route. If you want a custom route that goes exactly the way you want, you will have to build it point by point which can be tedious and will not always yield the results you want when you actually drive it.
Talking about it all with my wife and she pointed out that modern cars and the next gen of them have or will have gps incorporated in them.
And they can communicate back with you 'smart home' and switch on your air con and whatnot.
So the technology is moving alright but perhaps it has bypassed the traditional gps manufacturers who were just too slow off the mark.
So for the future I just need to get myself a modern smartphone I guess. And forget the garmin.
I use Garmin's StreetPilot app on my iPhone, it's really just the same as a Nuvi EXCEPT Garmin decided to intentionally cripple it so as not to fully compete - they do not allow you to import or export anything from the app. I keep hoping that one day Garmin will "see the light" and start offering best of breed smartphone GPS apps. It would be extermely easy for them to do it, but they just don't have the will.
there's a thing about my wife's iphone gps v my car garmin. When she's online she has to pay for phone connection. Which we won't do. Paying for a complete bundle on the land line we're not going to pay more.
So that counts against the iphone route. Wouldn't apply to all people would it? I think many people have some kind of plan where they get virtually unlimited internet on their phones, so they can use the gps app all day.
The only difference between the StreetPilot app and the dedicated units is you cannot import/export data (such as waypoints, tracks and routes). And this is an artificial limitation they have imposed because they feel it would hurt sales of their dedicated devices if it were "too good".
Many new cars have an internal GPS even if they don't have a navigation system. It allows them to sell you connected serices for emergencies and works with an app that will show where your car is parked or to track your children. They also have an internal cellular radio to support this. I had this on my last car but just replaced it with a new car that doesn't have it. In theory, this is all a good idea but I never really used it before and it cost around $250/year. Then there are also security concerns with such a system because a bad guy could actually hack into your car.
I tried to make myself like Android Auto with Google navigation in my new Kia Optima, but it falls way short of my nuvi 3597 in many ways. So, I have installed the nuvi magnetic mount in my Kia and gone back to the 3597 with Smartphone Link.
I made a custom mount for my phone that sits right in the instrument cluster and prefer that vs looking over at the built-in screen. And I also prefer the StreetPilot App to Apple Maps. I actually use the Galileo app with maps that I make myself most of the time. :)
@abrogard , you may not be up on all the latest developments, but IMO you're right about Garmin. They are desparately trying to hold on to what is left of the dedicated auto GPS market. I wish they would get serious about apps, I'd be a buyer but not likely to buy any more of their dedicated units.
and nothing old updated either - thinking of this 'track' thing we've been talking about.
One of their major problems is they can't communicate with my nuvi until I plug it in to a computer.
So you'd think they'd seize that chance when it came up and shower all kinds of stuff on me.
Nope. Bare update.
All future ones should have wifi capability I'd think. At least.
I'm serious, I think their IT department is a shambles. Are you aware of what's been going on with their support web pages, web site? You can't sign up, you can't log in, all kinds of thing. They show a notice saying they're aware of it and are working on it.
Not a good sign, I think.
Often happens companies get taken over by the bean counters and the smartarse youngsters and the deeply duplicitous old hands, managing director types.
And they destroy companies between them. The bean counters cut off things that shouldn't be cut off and so on.. the smartarse youngsters try to make a name for themselves with new ways of doing things, new initiatives and half assed projects and the old sharks quietly plunder it while giving these other buggers their head in order to disguise their activities...
Part of the company life cycle. Might be happening to Garmin.
I think Garmin has waited too long to make meaningful improvements in their automotive PND platform and there is no way they can catch up to the smartphone capabilities. If they want to stay in the automotive navigation business, they need to focus their energy on apps. They had a great start with the Viago product and they should have kept improving it instead of discontinuing it. I would even be willing to pay a (reasonable) annual fee if Garmin would come up with a great Android Auto app including on-board maps, map updates, alerts, saved multipoint routes and import/export capabilities like they have on the nuvi.