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GPS - Travel Prep

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Imagine you are headed out to new territory with your fancy hand-held GPS. So, what do you check before you are on-site and expecting a map to appear. Not even daring to hope the track you lovingly created on your notebook is us-able.

??? I have no idea. :shiftyeyes_anim:

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Good morning Bags,

I'll write a little about how it worked for me on this last trip.

I had purchased a new GPS78 before the ride. I already had 2 GPS 76 garmins but since they were limited to 500 points and 20 tracks per

I still needed more space for tracks.

On top of that I had no idea how I was going to fit all the States coverage maps into those 76's and still have them be routeable.

Here's what I did.

I mailed GPSKevin and explained what I was trying to do.

He responed with something that I'm still not completely sure I understand.

First he had me finish making my route. I didn't have to worry about the amount of points or where I created them. Google, BaseCamp,

GPSXchange, where ever was fine.

Once finished I zipped them to him.

In the end he made a Map of my route overlaid onto a routeabout map of the U.S. and loaded it to a SD Card.

I inserted the SD into the new 78 and when you turn it on there's your route. The entire thing is shown.

The only thing I did before leaving was to quickly learn the GPS functions and to setup the screens the way I wanted.

I also did spot checks on the track. Example: I'd zoom into a certain area ans verify the route was were it was supposed to be.

Kevin also loaded gas stations locations and motels along the routes I was headed. They were listed as waypoints.

Jumping into this new system I never had a single issue with any of it.

Make sure your map is routeable. Do spot checks on your route prior to leaving to make sure everthing jives with what you thought

you planned. Try creating and loading a short track around your hood then try following it. Make intentional wrong turns to learn what the GPS does to try and correct. Fancy models have all sorts of options for you to choose from has to how it will "assist" you.

This little demo ride will help you figure the one that works best for you.

I know you're not new to a GPS but the above system is what I used on that last run and it worked perfectly.

I never looked at one paper map the entire way nor did I carry any. Anytime I needed something I just searched it on the GPS. (something else you may want to practice)

I did bring one backup GPS with a spare loaded SD card in case I broke the main but never had to use it.

49 days out in the dirt and never lost once, all by using a system I had not used prior to departing.

Hope some of this helps.

Enjoy.

Sickness

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In addition to a compass and paper map, a microSD card with 100k and Routable 24k Topo mapping for the geographic area is one way to get started. With the card installed you don't need to use the mapping tool in Mapsource / Basecamp to round up and download to the hand-held. Once you have area maps down-loaded or installed on the card, turn on the unit, go to map page, toggle to the geographic area of the trip and Zooom-in verifying road and topographic data. It would be tough to turn your GPS on in, say Colorado, and see White Noise where you want mapping. ( see paper map ).

OK, maps verified now Waypoints and Tracks. If you are lucky, you have one or more good trail buddies that have created Tracks and Waypoints for the Adventure. They emailed them to you and you opened them in Mapsource / Basecamp. Toggle around, zoom in and out familiarizing yourself with information. That way when you see the small screen on the trail, it rings true. Otherwise, it will be just data. Good luck! Next, I go to my handheld and Delete the existing Waypoints that I don't need to confuse me out on the trail when searching for relevant stuff. Now we are ready to download Waypoints and Tracks to handheld. This goes quick unless mapping is included which can take 10 minutes. There we are all hopeful expecting everything to be Peachy on the hand held. Just to be relaxed about the whole deal I bring up the map page again and jog over to New Mexico or wherever, zoom etc. Mmmm, the maps are there, the topography and roads are there, Waypoints as well. But no Tracks!! :ohno02: What have I done? Then the light comes on and I head over the Track Manager page to look over my individual tracks. Oh yes, forgot to check the "show on map" tab. Check than back to map and magically the tracks appears in all it's red, blue, green whatever color I chose back in track management.

The last thing I do before packing for the trip is turn off overlapping tracks on the first day on the trail. That way I won't make a wrong turn when arriving at the intersection of two tracks. Day two, turn on and off tracks as well. OK, that is all the thinking I can do now. I will remember practice moving around maps in the comfort of my living room so they are familiar on the trail.

Corrections?? :cowboy:

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Routeabout mapping? The Android App is walking only. I guess I will direct all by mapping to Kevin. He is a wealth of knowledge and very giving of his time.

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I'm going to spend some time today trying to get my Montana and 60csx loaded and working. I'm batting about .500 on having my GPS's working on rides. I am due for a good experience this time, so maybe I should spend a little extra time to insure it works.

CiD

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The tracks I have developed are mostly 100-200 mile loops in deep Nevada bush, places I've never been.

My tip is to follow your tracks in mapping software (Google Earth, etc), comparing what you see in the aerial imagery to what your tracks are doing. Then use different aerial image providers (Google vs Bing) to compare your tracks against again. Often times this will reveal any imagery interpretation flaw which can be major show stoppers in the field. Example: once I traced a track a down a hill from one aerial image provider to find out it was really off a cliff when looking at another image provider with different lighting and shadowing. This approach has saved me much grief. However, my tastes in track development are to find hard ways. Major dirt road routes are usually more straight forward to trace out. This kind of double checking maybe tedious for tracks that are 500+ miles.

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Plus I always plot up some nice detailed paper maps for full route context at a decent scale, and for analog back up.

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Sneeker,

That rotation around the east mountain will be a good deal more fun! The only downside is that you may be tempted to "stop in" for lunch before the hard work begins.

:cowboy:

i-D8CwJsW-L.jpg

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Gals and Guys, here is a call for editorial assistance.

In BaseCamp and Mapsource looking at track map I would like to print out the List of Tracks, showing mileage, track color etc. for reference on the trail. You know it is helpful to Enable and Disable tracks as you go for clarity. Well no matter how I try I cannot get the track detail to print. Swap map and data screens to the main area, but it always prompts a map print! Anyone figure this out??

Thanks, B

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For sure, the reversed route around Silver Peak will iron out some hardways that were too hard taken uphill vs downhill.

Ha! I think the hard work starts repairing those blown out washouts you guys fixed up on the 1st part of that ride last time, which our group greatly benefited from later. I know that area got blasted again by some biblical t-storms again this year.

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Gals and Guys, here is a call for editorial assistance.

In BaseCamp and Mapsource looking at track map I would like to print out the List of Tracks, showing mileage, track color etc. for reference on the trail. You know it is helpful to Enable and Disable tracks as you go for clarity. Well no matter how I try I cannot get the track detail to print. Swap map and data screens to the main area, but it always prompts a map print! Anyone figure this out??

Thanks, B

Well, I don't know the right way to do it, but one of the easiest way is to use a screen print function, or snipping tool in windows, and then save that to a word document. Now when you print the word doc, it will show everything you captured in your screen print...

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As The Oracle mentioned I think the only way to do it is bring up the track listing in Mapsource (I don't think Basescamp displays the track details). If you are running Win 7 there is a snipping tool in the program list. Activate that and use it to grab a screen shot of just the list. Save as JPG or print to PDF if you have that option on your pc.

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Dropped a Print Screen into Word doc and printed. But,,,crappy quality and hared to read because of small font.

Hard to believe there is not a command on the map page. I will post a request on the Garmin Help page. There is a swap function that puts the track details on the main screen but only the map prints.

The goal is to have a reference list on the trail. When tracks overlap wrong turns can result. When you turn off tracks, you are faced with a list of track titles to show on the handheld screen. You can't just scroll around and highlight like on the notebook. I am resorting to memorizing 24 track titles we will be using on the next trip.

Dave

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Dave this is what I do I make a list of the tracks for each day. Then when you water is warming up for your coffe. I uncheck yesterdays and check todays . I do this on note paper and stick it in my wallet.

Also look at your paper map that you have copied and high lighted the route.

That said I still get confuzed.

Anouther way would be to use the trace tool and trace over your tracks and save it for each day . then you will only have 5 tracks

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Gals and Guys, here is a call for editorial assistance.

In BaseCamp and Mapsource looking at track map I would like to print out the List of Tracks, showing mileage, track color etc. for reference on the trail. You know it is helpful to Enable and Disable tracks as you go for clarity. Well no matter how I try I cannot get the track detail to print. Swap map and data screens to the main area, but it always prompts a map print! Anyone figure this out??

Thanks, B

Well, I don't know the right way to do it, but one of the easiest way is to use a screen print function, or snipping tool in windows, and then save that to a word document. Now when you print the word doc, it will show everything you captured in your screen print...

:smile_anim:

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