Max Lengths of Routes-Nuvi750

I just for the heck of it played with that route on mapsouce and going the order that you showed it give a distance of 6358 miles, I am still trying to do things with mapsource and like to play with it,

Can you explain the use of mapsource? I assume it's an add on that you have to pay for? I have a Nuvi 760 and would like to use computer software to load routes into my GPS and then view POIs etc on the computer before I leave...with kids, this is VERY helpful. Does mapsource all me to do this? and if so, where do I get mapsource?

Thanks for the help.

MapSource is free from Garmin. If you have a registered Nuvi 760, and call Garmin and tell them you would like a copy of the maps loaded on your Nuvi they will send you the MapSource DVD. On the DVD besides the City Navigator North America NT Maps there is a PC based program called MapSource. This program has access to a copy of the maps loaded on your Nuvi760.

With the MapSource program you can create routes, waypoint, POIs on the computer which then can be loaded into your Nuvi. (The POIs Created with MapSource have to be load into your Nuvi using PoiLoader another free program from Garmin).

Also you can use MapSource to download The TripLog from the Nuvi and display it on the map in MapSource and also display it on GOOGLE EARTH from MapSource.
Another thing you can Maintain your waypoints and backup the ones on your Nuvi to your PC.
Routes built using MapSource and loaded into your Nuvi will be stored in MY DATA and you then can import then into the working ROUTES when ever you need them.

There is a lot of functionality with MapSource as you see.

Hopes this helps.

H Hannah
Nuvi and Ique3600

Is map source compatible with the 650? I am new to the gps. If I can set it up on the computer then down load it that would be great. What can i use.

chris 650

Yes it is, but you can't transfer routes to the 650, only waypoint (favorites)

Yes it is compatible with 650, but only for Waypoints and POIs.

If the 650 can use TourGuides, MapSource can make these as well.

The POIs and TourGuides made on MapSource are saved to the PC as GPX files and then you can use PoiLoader from Garmin(free) to load them into you 650.

H Hannah
Nuvi750 and Ique3600

Thanks for the info. I tell you what if it was not for the net and all the helpful people I would just be lost.

Chris
Nuvi650

I have terrible luck making a route on mapsource then sending it to my nuvi 750. Ever time I have done this it drops a number of via points. I drive a delivery truck and I load from 15 to 25 stops per route. I find that some points get lost in the upload process. Gets frustrating!

Since the stops are important, are you creating a Waypoint for each stop? I think that would prevent anything from getting dropped.

It's important to understand that other than the Zumo, all Garmin units recalculate the route from MapSource when you import it. So, if the exact route is important, then the thing to do is to be sure that there are enough Waypoints to force the route where you want/need it to go.

I usually enter the route in the 750 then up load to the laptop onto mapsource then down load back to the 750. I find the optimizing on the 750 about 80%, I usually need to tweak the route. Creating way points would take way to long (unless you know a quick way to do it).

Well, (to me anyway), creating the route on the GPS unit is almost ALWAYS more difficult (and time consuming) than doing it in MapSource.

You can very quickly create routes in MapSource and move them around to where you want. And by using the Waypoint tool (which I almost never use but would be appropriate here), you can just point and click to add points.

Waaaaaaay easier in MapSource than on the GPS unit.

And since the unit recalculates the route, I would think in this situation, Waypoints would be critical to the success of preserving the route.

Do you happen to remember where this is documented? I've just bought a Nüvi 760 and have been a bit underwhelmed with the Mapsource route planning experience so far - but hey, what's new - "my cup's always half empty "

I'm sure I read somewhere on Garmin's website, that it would honour the detail in the downloaded route (I can't find it again). Certainly, the route contains all the detail (in all those <rtept> entries. The Nüvi 760 takes an eternity parsing its way through them all...and then does it's own thing!

I've clearly got lots of other issues to sort out as well - the waypoints I'd inserted all got renamed by Mapsource and mashed into a form that British English Daniel struggled to pronounce. Some of them were only there to 'force the route' anyway and so I didn't want them announcing at all.

Isn't it great, that there's always something new to learn

I don't know that I've seen it documented especially not on Garmin's site. But Anders (apersson850) who frequents the Zumo Forum and has contact with the Garmin developers has repeated said that the Zumo is the only unit that doesn't change the route. All other units recalculate the route when it is imported. The Zumo supports a special via point called a shaping point. No other unit currently supports this. My thought is that that Waypoints in the route get preserved no matter what but via points don't necessarily.

I just used MapSource to add 5 miles out of my way on a simple straight line 3 mile route. I loaded it into my Nuvi750 and it remained the same as I routed it in MapSource, preserving all the added waypoints.

H Hannah
Nuvi750 Ique3600

I seem to have achieved the effect I was seeking, by using Mapsource's Route Avoidances
(Edit|Preferences|Routing|Advanced...)

though they're a bit cumbersome to set up.

I downloaded a route containing only a Start and an End point, but with lots of 'avoidances'. The Nüvi successfully navigated it in simulation mode.

Mapsource screenshot
http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/Mapsource_Route.JPG

Nüvi screenshot
http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/Nuvi_route.JPG

(Obviously neither Mapsource, nor the Nüvi would normally pick a route like that!)

Cool. Are you sure that's not a track file of you wandering back from the pub? : )

Just be aware that the avoidances themselves, unfortunately, won't transfer to the unit.

As if...

But I've just realised, this experiment contradicts what I said earlier (and what Apersson850 has been told)...the Nüvi 760 is honouring the data in the downloaded route. (It's the <rpt> statements (Ruperts ), not the <rtept>s, that contain all the detail)

It even showed the same wacky route over the Basemap - though it wouldn't have been able to follow it.

I wonder what went wrong, the first time I tried it?

Admittedly I only own a handheld so far - 76CSx - but it does routing just fine and has served me well for several years. I think I'm going to purchase a Nuvi 760 soon for the mp3 player and bluetooth. (I have to start commuting soon. Ugh....)

Having said that, I have always created my route in Map Source and then simply uploaded it to my unit. I find it easy to create waypoints in Map Source and then insert them into my route. I don't have to create them in the order I want to insert them. Once I have created my route using the particular waypoints I want to use I just send the route to the GPSr.

Reading the forums here I'm realizing that not all units can accept this input. (I'm amazed this isn't available for all units.) However, if your unit can accept input in this manner I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you give it a try. Personally, I'd hate to have to setup a route on the GPSr itself if I could do it on the computer instead. I guess that's one more reason for me to get the 760 since it seems to accept routes from Map Source.