Trackpoint limits on Legend HCx and Edge 705

[patricktaylor]

I'm aware that my Legend HCx can store only 500 trackpoints on an uploaded Track. Someone I know says there's no such limit on his Edge 705. Is this right - no trackpoint limit on the Edge, for uploaded .gpx tracks?

[Hot Flatus]

I think there isn't a limit but it may be for course points( whatever they are).

Either way the problem I ran into was the low waypoint limit on the 705. It stopped me using memory-map to plot routes but I found a superb way round it but plotting routes on bikehike.co.uk and then downloading them as gpxx files rather than gpx. This overcomes the waypoint limit and you end up with a satnav effect with a scrolling map with turns flashed up at a proximity of your choice.

[Jord]

I think I heard that the limit on the 705 is in the region of 10000 - fair to say I've never found a limit. The limit is also very high on the Oregon and Dakota models.

The 705 will do full turn by turn directions on a track as well.

[patricktaylor]

10,000 seems high for a planned track. I don't mean a recorded tracklog but a track that is pre-planned and uploaded to the unit as a course to follow.

[frankly frankie]

You can upload a single track of up to 10,000 to any Garmin (including Etrex) by naming it
ACTIVE LOG
and then follow it like any other track.  Of course, as you travel it will start to get overwritten by the recorded track, but that doesn't matter because the overwritten bit will be behind you ... to be safe limit the upload to say 9500 points, that gives about 30km of overlap.

[plum]

10,000 seems high for a planned track. I don't mean a recorded tracklog but a track that is pre-planned and uploaded to the unit as a course to follow.

That's a route, and the limit for routepoints on the hcx is 250 - but you can have several routes stored. [Just looked at the manual and it says 50 routes of 250 points each] 250 is plenty for say 100 miles. Nothing stopping you from converting your route to a track of up to 10000 points and using that to navigate, but I don't know if you can have more than one track stored. Apparently the 10000 point limit is when using the internal memory, if you save to an sd card then you can just keep on a-going until it fills up. Never travelled that far though to find out.

It's different if you want the unit to plot the route rather than follow the points, I think the limit there is 50, but whenever I've tried that the thing runs out of memory before calculating the full route anyway.

[nashd]

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that on my Edge 305 I was able to import a full Bikely track, and that had thousands of track points.  I think I used a utility to convert the exported Bikely file to a Garmin course file (with very little or no down-sampling), then using Garmin’s Training Centre software I downloaded the Course file to the unit.  On the ride I was able to follow the on-screen course, and still record a complete track log for the ride – at least, until the battery ran out!

[patricktaylor]

Thanks. I am referring to tracks, not routes, and specifically on the Edge 705 - the maximum number of trackpoints it will take as a planned .gpx track.

[Jord]

On a 705 a track saved as a GPX file can be up to 10000 track points - check the Garmin forum. It can also be 10000 in the Oregon. I've owned both.

NO problem saving a 300K as a track on the 705 but it takes an age to autorote that is all. If you just wish to follow it on the map there is a show on map option.

I also had problems with the auto route on a track (on the 705) just stopping around a 100 miles into a ride and have since broken tracks down to 100K sections if I want autorouting. If i do not need autorouting there is no problem with leaving it whole.

[Jord]

Owe yes - waypoints. Don't bother with a 705 it is totally useless at following a route!

[patricktaylor]

That clears it up, thanks. 10,000 trackpoints.

[Hot Flatus]

Owe yes - waypoints. Don't bother with a 705 it is totally useless at following a route!

 I use mine every weekend on 200k routes. It works perfectly

[Jord]

I use mine every weekend on 200k routes. It works perfectly

How do you load the routes? I could never get the 705 to work with routes that's all. It would work well with a saved track and give lovely turn by turn directions but as soon as I saved it as a route the unit had problems.

[Hot Flatus]

Use gpxx files instead of gpx. They are specifically for the 705. The easiest mapping site IMO is bikehike.co.uk. Well worth 20 minutes of your time to read the instructions and acquaint yourself with it. After you have plotted the route on the course creator page, hit the download button but select gpxx as the file type.

Easy as.

If you intend to upload the route back to bikehike for editing then make sure you save as a gpx as well as you can't edit the gpxx ones easily after saving ( but you can edit a gpx then save it again as a gpxx)

[Jord]

I have used bikehike for ages - agree great site. Do you download it as a Gpxx route or course? 

[Hot Flatus]

Gpxx route. The gpxx thing overcomes the waypoint limit issues.

[Jord]

Gpxx route. The gpxx thing overcomes the waypoint limit issues.

When you think you know something....

[Hot Flatus]

I think you'll be pleased with how well it works. My preference on the 705 is to have the map set to scroll down the screen as I ride the route with turn notifications at about 300m