Bogus Milage ?

 

Hi, I'm brand-new at owning a GPS.

Having made a recent trip to Wyoming from Washington-St., and upon returning from Wyo., and THEN obtaining my first GPS (Nuvi-660) I looked at such a "trip" to there, from here, on my new Nuvi... just to familiarize myself w/ the unit. The Nuvi told me that a trip from Everett, Wa. to Laramie, Wy. would be (I don't remember exact milages right now, but...) somewhere around 920-miles, or so. However, before making this trip (and consequently, before coming back and getting my new Nuvi...) Mapquest online told me this trip would be more like something around 1,220-miles. This is a bit of a difference, like a discrep' of only around 300-miles!!!!!

The odometer on my vehicle basically agreed w/ Mapquest.com! I tracked the actuall milage during my trip.

Has anyone else seen discrepancies like this?

Jim Caulfield

--
~Jim~ Nuvi-660, & Nuvi-680

.

On your GPS unit, did you actually select "Go!" and see what the mileage for the CALCULATED route was.

Or did you simply pull up the Washington state location and view the mileage in the menu list?

The mileage in the menu list is a straight line, as the crow flies distance.

It does NOT represent the routed distance because at that point the unit has not yet taken into account your routing preferences and avoidances. To do so at that point would take a lot of processor power and thus a lot of time.

When I calculated a route on my Zumo from Everett, WA to Laramie, WY, I came up with 1212 miles.

When I set my location as Everett and pulled up Laramie on the list, I got 936.7 miles.

Bogus Milage

I looked at what milage was there at the time I was trying the new GPS, and after reading your post, looked for such a menue item as "Milage", but alas... I did not see it there.

How can I find this in my new Garmin-660? Is there a 'flow-chart' to finding this... because how to find it was not obvious to me.

Also, I should ask how to 'enter a starting-point' [when it's not where you are physically at] as well, because I've wanted to do that... and did not redily see how.

Jimcaulfield

--
~Jim~ Nuvi-660, & Nuvi-680

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There's no "mileage" menu. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

Presumably, you selected Laramie from some menu list, correct. Perhaps you searched for that city or some location in that city. On that screen, the mileages shown are a straight line. No ROUTE CALCULATION has been performed.

In order to change your location, you need to turn the GPS receiver function off. On the nuvi 660 is this done by closing the antenna. Then when you search for a location select "Map" or "View on Map", you will get a "Set Loc." button. This sets that location as your current location.

The routed mileage won't be shown unit you calculate a route (ie select "Go!") between two points.

Bogus Milage

Ok, I think I'm getting it, with your help, thanks.

It wants to give me the 'Crow-flight' at first.

jimcaulfield

--
~Jim~ Nuvi-660, & Nuvi-680

Simulation is fun

jimcaulfield wrote:

Also, I should ask how to 'enter a starting-point' [when it's not where you are physically at] as well, because I've wanted to do that... and did not redily see how.
Jimcaulfield

GPS off
Where To
Near (pick another city for start point)
Browse Map
Set Location (to wherever the little arrow is)
Back/Back/Where To
Pick your destination
Go
It will then simulate your route between start and destination.

gps miles

have owned several gps from garmin i have found out from garmin the gps was origanally made for flying so when u pull up a city it will give you the airnautical miles to that location once you select the run or go option it then lays it on the ground or (roads) then re computes your milage wich is much different then flying

gps milage

i have also noticed that if my preferences are set in different modes it will give different miles due to the different courses it will take you to get there from the preferences u set

Route/Vehicle

rotlins wrote:

i have also noticed that if my preferences are set in different modes it will give different miles due to the different courses it will take you to get there from the preferences u set

That's what I was thinking. If you touch the wrench on the main menu, then go to navigation, you will see route preference and vehicle. Both of those choices have quite a bit to do with the distance.

Also

trigon wrote:
rotlins wrote:

i have also noticed that if my preferences are set in different modes it will give different miles due to the different courses it will take you to get there from the preferences u set

That's what I was thinking. If you touch the wrench on the main menu, then go to navigation, you will see route preference and vehicle. Both of those choices have quite a bit to do with the distance.

How you set your avoidances can have big effect on the mileage you see. I've read here that setting it to avoid toll roads can be a disaster in some parts of the east coast.

--
Rick - Nüvi 260 - eTrex Summit HC

Bogus Milage ?

I see that this is not as simple/easy as I expected. Thank all of you for giving guidance! Steadily and with your help, I'm getting a handle on this, and once I understand it... it's not too bad to get along with.

~Jim~

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~Jim~ Nuvi-660, & Nuvi-680

Jim, This issue of "as the

Jim,

This issue of "as the crow flies" mileage versus calculated route mileage threw me as well. All it takes is a little time and practice. Once you get the hang of it you'll be helping other folks with their questions.

--
Garmin nüvi 765T, nüvi 350