Would like to create my own route

[StephenF]

This is my first post here, and I'm hoping to find some insight I haven't been able to find elsewhere.

I love driving and I love maps, so it would seem that a PND would be great for me. But I'm having problems finding one that will do what I consider to be the most important navigating task: Allowing me to easily create my own route or modify the automatically generated route.

While the pure point A to point B routing is fine if you have no clue where you're going, that's not the reason I really want a PND. I like to plan driving loops through the mountains of Western North Carolina where the destination isn't the point and being able to put together my own route is important. The routes can get complicated and the rural roads out here are easy to miss, so having a PND would be extremely handy.

Also, when we go on vacations, I don't just want to put in the final destination and leave it at that. I like to make the trip to the destination part of the vacation. So, again, being able to make my own route would be nice.

I'm envisioning a device that lets me plan out a route on the computer and then transfer it over to the device. I love the ability to drag your route to whatever road you want in Google Maps.

Does a device like this exist?

I know a few devices let you put in vias or "multi-destinations," but that requires a know via address. Not to mention it would be a pain to enter in a bunch of vias that way.

Thanks for any input,
-Stephen

[Tim]

[Zozzie]

I've been researching this same idea. It's exactly what I want a GPS for. We do cruises down backroads with no particular destination, and certainly no address, in mind. Tim and others have helped and maybe you can find some of my posts on the issue.

I haven't bought a GPS yet (I don't really need one until the spring and our cruising Vette come out of storage) but I'm seriously considering a TomTom XL-S.

Also look into the downloadable "TYRE" program which allows you to plot routes in Google Maps and then transfer to a TomTom. Here it is -

http://www.janboersma.nl/gett/index.php

[Gbenz]

Stephen,

What Tim said and;

We've been using a Garmin Quest1 since they came out & it's a great little workhorse for the money 3-400 range.

We somestimes do the very things your saying in n ga, nc, va & elsewhere. We can't seem to get to our mtn cabin in Murphy often enough.

You can make your routes with the Quest like Tim says without Mapsource but the small screen does test your patients sometimes. Mapsource came with the unit & is really the way togo the night before when you want to get it right for the next day travel. Just download the routes easily to the unit & your well prepared.

I've been looking for a bigger screen type of unit to upgrade & there is so much to consider any more. But if you just stay with this site you can find it whatever it is abt the gps systems.

I believe now we may go with the Nuvi 650 & hope our Quest Mapsource will mate with it. Don't need the bells & such just do as much gps stuff as it can near what our Quest does.

Gben

[StephenF]

Thanks for quick and helpful replies.

Tim, that's nice that Garmin has been giving out free copies of Mapquest to Nuvi owners. I'll have to consider that.

Zozzie, I just found out about the Google Maps to TomTom itinerary tools. That could be exactly what I've been looking for. Here's a link to a site that has the tool better integrated with Google Maps and even uses Tele Atlas data instead of Navteq so it matches the TomTom:
http://www.gravoplex.com/tomtom/google_driving_directions_to_tomtom_itn.html

Thanks again,
-Stephen

[Tim]

StephenF - Two quick thoughts. Not everyone who has asked for the MapSource software has received it. A few people (so far very few) have been told no.

Google Earth does uses Tele Atlas maps. (You might have realized that but I wasn't sure if it was clear.)

[tomj03]

Tyre can be used for both Google Earth & Google Maps.
Here is another one for TomTom using Google maps.

[StephenF]

Thanks Tim, I knew Google Earth uses Tele Atlas. But since Google Maps uses Navteq (at least for my neck of the woods), I thought some of the Google Maps to TomTom routes might have a problem. That's why I like the one I linked above.

Tomjo3, I didn't realize Tyre could be used with Google Earth too, but can you modify a route in GE? I can't figure out how.

-Stephen

[StephenF]

Oops, I should have used Tyre before I jumped to conclusions on what it can and can't do. I see that it integrates Google Maps into its own interface using Tele Atlas. Too bad you lose the ability to drag the route around.

I apparently also jumped to conclusions on what data source the Google Maps link I posted earlier. It uses the same data source as the normal Google Maps. It just defaulted to an area that uses Tele Atlas data and I assumed it used it everywhere.

Sorry,
-Stephen

[tomj03]

That's a little problem with Tyre, the routes are not draggable.
Use this if you like.

[Crawdad]

So if I understand correctly, you can plan a route...say a 300 mile trip...on your computer...put in "via" points...and then upload it back to the Tom Tom?

Will the One 3rd edition allow this? Are the via points unlimited so you can take the exact route you want to take? Yes, I'm totally new to this. Thanks for any help.

[StephenF]

Crawdad, I think you can do exactly that. But I don't think you can have over 48 waypoints (I can't imagine having more than that anyway).

I'm not sure which TomTom units support this, but I think any that support itinerary planning will work. Maybe someone else can help out here.

I got so excited about the ability to plan a trip with Google Maps, I went ahead and ordered a TomTom Go 720. It should be in by the end of the week, so maybe I'll be able to answer more questions then.

-Stephen

[Tim]

The ONE 3rd Edition doesn't have Itinerary Planning out of the box.

[StephenF]

Someone sent me a private message asking some questions about how the TomTom 720 and Google Maps routing was working out. Because of the holidays, I wasn't able to reply right away and now it appears that the message was auto-deleted or something. So I'll type my reply here.

One concern he had was that you cannot save routes on Google Maps (GM). This is true. However, one work around I have found is to create a route like you want with GM and save the URL in the "Link to this page" link in either a bookmark or just a text file. Then, using that saved URL, you can get to the route you created. This is also the link you will need to convert the GM route to a TomTom itinerary at a site like: http://www.gravoplex.com/tomtom/google_driving_directions_to_tomtom_itn.html

Another issue I found was because GM uses Navteq data while TomTom uses Tele Atlas. Because the data is slightly different in some places, you have to be careful where you pin the GM map with a via or by dragging the route. If the Navteq and Tele Atlas road isn't in the exact same place and there is another side street that is actually closer to the via in the Tele Atlas data, TomTom will have a quick detour off the route to pick up the via before getting back on route.

This problem is easy to avoid by zooming in close enough to make sure your vias aren't near any other streets before you convert them to TomTom itineraries.

I got a chance to use a pretty complicated GM route on the TomTom for our recent holiday travels. We drive from Asheville, NC to Huntsville, AL to visit family several times a year. The "fastest" route has us going through Knoxville, TN and Chattanooga, TN. The "shortest" route avoids Knoxville, but not Chattanooga. Since Chattanooga traffic can easily add hour (and lots of stress) to the trip (especially on holiday weekends), we wanted to avoid both big cities.

So I came up with a route in GM that is 320 miles long with only 25 miles on interstates and it avoids Knoxville and Chattanooga. It involves a lot of turns on small roads in places I'm completely unfamiliar with. I must admit, I was skeptical of how well it would work so I brought an atlas and printed off a bunch of other maps to help in case something went awry with the TomTom route.

I'm happy to say the TomTom worked perfectly and we even made the trip using mostly back roads in about the same amount of time the other more common routes take. We arrived in Huntsville feeling much less stressed than normal and we found a great little drive thru called EG's Great Eats in Menlo, GA that had the best homemade butter pecan ice cream I've ever had. That was worth the new route by itself.

I hope whoever sent me the message sees this. Let me know if I forgot to address something.
-Stephen

[KLOIN]

I got the Garmin 760 this week and it holds 10 routes you can let it pick or you can customize with specific intersections/roads you want it to take and save the changes. To pick a specific road go to Where to, Brouse maps, zoom in for a close view, tap the road you want to use, select it, and then save it and go to your route, edit it, add the road from favorites, and then save the route.
Wow, sounds like a lot of troble but since you can save 10 routes it's worth the effort. I only save my unique routes and the orinary ones I let the Garmin route each time I need them.
Happy trails
OH, I wish it would let you reverse the route, but it doesn't so you can go and edit the route, reverse the maps POI's and resave under another name.

[Greg Tilkens]

[tomj03]

To use GE with TYRE, don't forget to tick the 'ROAD' option (bellow, left).
Reading the whole 'Help' guide in Tyre is recommended.

[Greg Tilkens]

[infama]

[Uncle Ben]

[quote=
SNIP
I've recently been thinking about PC software that likely has the same capability (create a route, save it, modify it, and download it to a GPS unit). I've used and old version of MS Streets & Trips that has all of that capability except the ability to download (at least I don't think it does...) SNIP
[/quote]

The new HP iPAQ 310 does just that via HP's IPAQ Navigate web site. Once you're happy with a particular route or routes, you can save them right on the GPS, under labels of your choice, and call them up when you need them. It's pretty cool.

Cheers!

[tomj03]

[KCOB]

I used the google maps method of creating my own route for my TomTom. Created the .itn and dropped it into the appropriate folder. When I load the route from my Itinerary in TomTom it gives me a completely different way to take. Is there a way to preserve the exact route I have mapped out in google maps?

KO

BTW, great forum, I've read a lot of informative posts!

[Tim]

It sounds like you haven't manually added enough intermediate points to your route. Figure out where the TomTom is going "astray" the most, go back to google maps, right click on that spot and add that spot as a destination in the route (even though Google is already routing through there).