Legend Navigation Options

[Androcles]

I've been using a Legend Cx for a couple of years now, mainly for logging purposes (DIYs and Strava) but also sometime for navigation.  I think I've tried out all the different approaches to navigation and they all seem to have their pros and cons, as you might expect, but no one single method seems to be giving me what I need.

1) Autorouting with sparse routepoints - This is great at giving Distance to Next and interpreting where "Next" is a useful point like a junction but it is prone to the vagaries of whichever map is being used and the routing algorithm on the unit which can be different to that on the PC even when using the same map.  As a result I have had some interesting moments and the uncomfortable feeling of handing decision making over to the unit. 

2) Autorouting with dumb track overlay - This was becoming my method of choice as it combines the cues of the autoroute method with the security of having the actual desired track on the screen.  Problem is that the distances can still be miscalculated and the small map screen with an OSM map can get pretty busy for someone like me with sub-optimal close vision - and the map is required for autorouting of course.

3) Track following with many points - This shows on the unit exactly the planned track but with so many points that the Distance to Next is almost useless as the "Next" point is rarely more than a couple of hundred metres up the road and can't tell where the next actual turn is.

4) Track following with reduced points - A point at each junction with intermediate points placed so that the plotted track does not deviate too far from the road seems to work well, but there's still no knowing when the "Next" point is going to be a junction or a shaping point.

5) Track with minimum points - With points only at junctions then the Distance to Next will be definitely be to a junction but this gives a distance as the crow flies.  As I don't travel by crow the Distance to Next (and Destination) will be wrong and (outside Milton Keynes) the deviation from track may well be quite significant (am I really off track or not?)

I suppose that in an ideal world I would like to have method 3 (or 4) and be able to have the Distance to Next show the distance along the track to something like a user waypoint or otherwise selected "special" point of the track which would correspond to a junction where an actual turn is to be made. 

Am I asking for too much?

[Kim]

I use method 1) or 2) according the level of arsedness.

For 'distance to next' I use the trip odometer and mental arithmetic; it's only the controls that this is important for.

[jhob]

I use method 2. Which mostly works well, except for when it doesn't!  No matter how experienced I get at creating routes that should be foolproof, they never are

In an ideal world I would like to be able to load a track and then have the GPS work out the route, giving appropriate TBT directions.

I'd also like to have a feature where it would just show me the distance to the next TBT direction and not the distance to the route points I've set up, which are only there to force the route a certain way.  Effectively I want it to ignore these when giving distance to next instructions.  But there are some route points, such as controls, where I DO want it to notify me that they are coming up.

I just want a moon on a stick really.

[Ningishzidda]

You are in the predicament I was five years ago.
Solution. Keep the Garmin ( Edge 605 ) for logging and bought a TomTom Urban Rider for Nav.
Problem solved.

[frankly frankie]

... the small map screen with an OSM map can get pretty busy for someone like me with sub-optimal close vision - and the map is required for autorouting of course.

I sometimes wonder what sort of zoom levels other riders use - or even if perchance they have the zoom set to 'Auto'.
When cycling in the UK I usually stick on a zoom of 80m, maybe 120m, no wider than that**.  Possibly in rural France, where instruction might be as much as 20km apart, I would use a wider zoom - but otherwise not.  At 80m map clutter is unlikely to be a problem.

** On an older Etrex like the Legend.  Zoom figures on other Garmin models don't tally precisely, they are about 1 step out of kilter, so that 80m on one model = 120m on another.

[jhob]

120 or 200 (I think that the next step up from 120?) For me with my legend hcx

[Kim]

120 or 200 on my Vista HCx.  80 in dense urban areas.

Since the new eTrex removed the turn popups, I have to use 'Auto' to get a reasonable magnification at junctions.  I tend to keep it at 200.

[jhob]

Since the new eTrex removed the turn popups, I have to use 'Auto' to get a reasonable magnification at junctions.  I tend to keep it at 200.

One flaw I found with the turn popups is that they don't show any overlaid track so once it's popped up you lose the ability to see if you are being sent on a route you had not intended to go along.

I still use the turn popups, I just have to remember to check that the route matches the overlay in advance of the popup appearing, or kill the popup so that I can check.

[Feanor]

Yes, that's the same on the Edge 800.

When it goes into 'junction zoom' mode, the track overlay is not displayed.

Also, the re-draw time can be too poor.
I've had it try to go into 'junction zoom' mode and go blank, and it's taken so long to think about it that I'm already halfway through the junction before it re-draws the screen.
And that's useless.

[fuaran]

You can also adjust the settings for "Map detail", which affects what appears at each zoom level.

Also depends on just what maps you are using, some have more details than others. Or you could make your own, simplified maps from OSM if you wanted.

[Feanor]

I'm using Garmin City Navigator maps at default detail settings.

Perhaps OSM in a University Town where every garden shed and outhouse is outlined would be worse.

[frankly frankie]

I find the 'Map detail' setting doesn't work so well with OSM as it does with Garmin's own maps.  Whatever the tagging is, to mark each map feature as 'less important', 'more important', 'most important' etc - seems to be cranked up to the max in OSM for nearly everything.
Still, there are also these settings to play with, for those lucky enough to have a still-functioning older Etrex -
     
In the first, lower figures make less clutter, in the second, one of the text options is 'none'.

[L CC]

I follow a track at 200m (120m in urban areas) and have a non-auto route overlaid if I think I might want distance to next.
When I plan my route in RWGPS I load both the route and track to the etrex. I have never used autorouting because computers might appear clever, but they are only as good as the instructions you give them, and I didn't write the routing algorithms, so I'm possibly cleverer. It means when I'm sent offroad unexpectedly I know it's really my fault.

[Androcles]

I find the 'Map detail' setting doesn't work so well with OSM as it does with Garmin's own maps.  Whatever the tagging is, to mark each map feature as 'less important', 'more important', 'most important' etc - seems to be cranked up to the max in OSM for nearly everything.
Still, there are also these settings to play with, for those lucky enough to have a still-functioning older Etrex -
     
In the first, lower figures make less clutter, in the second, one of the text options is 'none'.

I have noticed that the Declutter option sometimes does no more than add the word "declutter" to the map

[jhob]

I find the 'Map detail' setting doesn't work so well with OSM as it does with Garmin's own maps.  Whatever the tagging is, to mark each map feature as 'less important', 'more important', 'most important' etc - seems to be cranked up to the max in OSM for nearly everything.
Still, there are also these settings to play with, for those lucky enough to have a still-functioning older Etrex -
     
In the first, lower figures make less clutter, in the second, one of the text options is 'none'.

I have noticed that the Declutter option sometimes does no more than add the word "declutter" to the map

Haha! I too have found similar with osm  maps.

[Androcles]

I use method 1) or 2) according the level of arsedness.

For 'distance to next' I use the trip odometer and mental arithmetic; it's only the controls that this is important for.

For audax I use one track per leg, so the control is the Destination.

[Androcles]

... the small map screen with an OSM map can get pretty busy for someone like me with sub-optimal close vision - and the map is required for autorouting of course.

I sometimes wonder what sort of zoom levels other riders use - or even if perchance they have the zoom set to 'Auto'.
When cycling in the UK I usually stick on a zoom of 80m, maybe 120m, no wider than that**.  Possibly in rural France, where instruction might be as much as 20km apart, I would use a wider zoom - but otherwise not.  At 80m map clutter is unlikely to be a problem.

** On an older Etrex like the Legend.  Zoom figures on other Garmin models don't tally precisely, they are about 1 step out of kilter, so that 80m on one model = 120m on another.

It's not just the amount of information on the screen - I usually use 200m zoom - it's the colours.  It would be really good to have a greyscale map, are any available do we know?

[frankly frankie]

You can do that by making a TYP file and a bit of hacking around - it's not a pleasant process - the way I have done it involves changing the Registry on my Win PC and that's not nice.  For example I have the contour lines showing a dull green colour rather than the default dark brown, this is done with a TYP file.   See for example:
http://pinns.co.uk/osm/ostyp.html

[Ningishzidda]

I use ‘Auto’ in ‘2D’ mode most. “Map view” IIRC, I sometimes switch to ‘3D’ mode so the road layout ahead looks spookily like what I can see with my eyes. “Tracking 3rd person rear” in the vid game world I believe, cus I have the graphic of the back of a blue motorcycle pointing up the road in the place where TT thinks I am.

I’ve had this thing for five years and I don’t yet know if the graphic leans in the corners. 
When I go out on my Specialized, I change the graphic to a red motorcycle.