GPS Route Planning

[ducboy]

I will be in charge of coordinating drives for my local Lotus club this year, and I am looking for a solution that will make this easy and safe. In the past, I've done the Google maps thing with printouts, and find myself referencing the directions when I need to have both hands on the wheel.

What I would like to do is buy a portable GPS to aid in the actual navigation. Trouble is, I also need the ability to print the routes for the other participants, and I would like to continue to do the planning on my PC which will likely be much better.

I've done a little bit of research on the Garmin Nuvi 700 line of devices, and I've even read that you can use Mapquest to develop routes and "send" them to the device. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there a better, more efficient combination of software and device that would meet all of my needs?

TIA!

[glb]

contact ezmoney and carbuff here, ez has the new Garmin

[kestrel74]

OR: you can talk to members of the other car clubs and borrow their routes !

[andykeck]

Originally Posted by ducboy

I've done a little bit of research on the Garmin Nuvi 700 line of devices, and I've even read that you can use Mapquest to develop routes and "send" them to the device. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there a better, more efficient combination of software and device that would meet all of my needs?

TIA!

I have a Garmin 750 and use the Garmin (for some reason it was called "Bobcat" on the Mac for a while, may have a different name now) software to create my routes. Prints a nice route guide too.

ETA: I may have had to call them for the disc as they don't automatically include it in the box for no good reason.

[ducboy]

Originally Posted by kestrel74

OR: you can talk to members of the other car clubs and borrow their routes !

[ducboy]

Originally Posted by andykeck

I have a Garmin 750 and use the Garmin (for some reason it was called "Bobcat" on the Mac for a while, may have a different name now) software to create my routes. Prints a nice route guide too.

ETA: I may have had to call them for the disc as they don't automatically include it in the box for no good reason.

This is exactly what I needed! Garmin doesn't do a good job of marketing this. I even downloaded the Owner's Manual and nadda...

Thanks!

[kestrel74]

Originally Posted by ducboy

Talk to a local ( insert sports car name here ) owner and find out where they drive !

[andykeck]

Originally Posted by ducboy

This is exactly what I needed! Garmin doesn't do a good job of marketing this. I even downloaded the Owner's Manual and nadda...

Thanks!

What you're looking for is Garmin Mapsource. Here's where it gets a little strange. Mapsource itself is free and downloadable, I think. What costs is the DVD of the maps. They stopped putting that DVD in the package once the units had enough memory that they could hold the entire map in memory all the time. SO what I had to do was call Garmin and have them send me the DVD. Which they did, for free.

[ezmoney]

Originally Posted by ducboy

I will be in charge of coordinating drives for my local Lotus club this year, and I am looking for a solution that will make this easy and safe. In the past, I've done the Google maps thing with printouts, and find myself referencing the directions when I need to have both hands on the wheel.

What I would like to do is buy a portable GPS to aid in the actual navigation. Trouble is, I also need the ability to print the routes for the other participants, and I would like to continue to do the planning on my PC which will likely be much better.

I've done a little bit of research on the Garmin Nuvi 700 line of devices, and I've even read that you can use Mapquest to develop routes and "send" them to the device. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there a better, more efficient combination of software and device that would meet all of my needs?

TIA!

The Garmin 700 and 800 series have routing capabilities, each can hold ten routes. Once you program the route into the Nuvi it takes you waypoint to waypoint without having to do it manually. Your best bet is getting the MapSource program from Garmin. You can do the routing on your PC or MAC and download the routes to the GPS. The directions that you can print from the MapSource program are point to point and are extremely good. If more members had the MapSource program you could email the routes to them. The file format that the program produces is GDB and is only supported by Garmin's program. One nice feature that you can use (if you install Google Earth on your computer [it's a free program]) is the ability to see your route on the satellite images.
I use MapSource and a Garmin Nuvi 760 to do the routing for the Cayman Club in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. I will be doing some routing for LT in the same areas.
If you have any questions post them here or PM me and I will answer them if I can

[ezmoney]

Originally Posted by andykeck

What you're looking for is Garmin Mapsource. Here's where it gets a little strange. Mapsource itself is free and downloadable, I think. What costs is the DVD of the maps. They stopped putting that DVD in the package once the units had enough memory that they could hold the entire map in memory all the time. SO what I had to do was call Garmin and have them send me the DVD. Which they did, for free.

MapSource is a $15 program from Garmin. It is on a DVD called City Navigator NT. Once you download this into your computer you can get updates free from the Garmin web site.

[andykeck]

Originally Posted by ezmoney

MapSource is a $15 program from Garmin. It is on a DVD called City Navigator NT. Once you download this into your computer you can get updates free from the Garmin web site.

On the GPS forums, most people are finding that Garmin will send you the DVD free if you call customer service. The few that haven't had success just hang up and try again until they get a more agreeable CS rep.

ETA: ...and if you've bought a Garmin that has the editable route feature. Not all of them do.

[Spudboy]

You don't need MapSource anymore. You can install a plug-in that lets you use MapQuest or Google and then transfer the routes directly to the Garmin GPS.

[andykeck]

Originally Posted by Spudboy

You don't need MapSource anymore. You can install a plug-in that lets you use MapQuest or Google and then transfer the routes directly to the Garmin GPS.

At least as of a couple of weeks ago, Google will only send an address or a point of interest, not a route. Dunno about Mapquest.

[ducboy]

Originally Posted by kestrel74

Talk to a local ( insert sports car name here ) owner and find out where they drive !

Ah. Yeah, I know where most of the other clubs drive, and the routes aren't very interesting. I am borrowing some really cool ideas from my sport bike club though

[ducboy]

Originally Posted by Spudboy

You don't need MapSource anymore. You can install a plug-in that lets you use MapQuest or Google and then transfer the routes directly to the Garmin GPS.

I hear that you can do POI with Google, but no routes. I will look into that further. You probably need a plug-in or something. I see 'Send to GPS' option in MapQuest, but not sure if it isn't the same case. It would be really cool if we could just map out the routes via Google maps and export them...

I will go with the Garmin 700 series GPS then. If their 'additional' software comes Mac compatible, then BONUS, I won't have to use the work PC

[Simba]

If your goal is planning drive routes, you don't really need (and are often better off without) a GPS.

Just drive the route before the actual run with a navigator, and have them write down the trip mileage for each exit/turn on the way to the destination. Then print those directions on cards and have everyone zero their trip mileage before starting.

Much easier (and safer) to glance at "exit 12 at 48.2 miles" than try and parse google directions on the move.

[charliex]

not sure it'll help but ! you can map points in this, then export them to various formats

ZMaps: DigiPoint 3

[ezmoney]

Originally Posted by ducboy

I hear that you can do POI with Google, but no routes. I will look into that further. You probably need a plug-in or something. I see 'Send to GPS' option in MapQuest, but not sure if it isn't the same case. It would be really cool if we could just map out the routes via Google maps and export them...

I will go with the Garmin 700 series GPS then. If their 'additional' software comes Mac compatible, then BONUS, I won't have to use the work PC

I have the dvd in my hand and it is Mac compatible.

Originally Posted by Simba

If your goal is planning drive routes, you don't really need (and are often better off without) a GPS.

Just drive the route before the actual run with a navigator, and have them write down the trip mileage for each exit/turn on the way to the destination. Then print those directions on cards and have everyone zero their trip mileage before starting.

Much easier (and safer) to glance at "exit 12 at 48.2 miles" than try and parse google directions on the move.

The directions that are printable from MapSource are given in that format. We have some members in the Cayman Club that will only drive the routes with printed directions. There are some members that want to use a GPS and are not comfortable using printed directions. There are tricks to use a Garmin GPS model that does not have a routing capability with a minimum of manual operations while you're driving.

All of the routes that we do (Cayman Club) are scouted prior to having the whole group drive them. This way we know the road conditions, if there are road closures due to construction, and to make sure that it is the best route we can put together. We find assembly areas with enough safe parking, bathrooms, gasoline stations, a place to get a cup of coffee etc. If it a long drive we find a mid way point with parking, bathrooms etc. We also find a restaurant at the routes end for those who want to have lunch.

[ezmoney]

Here's an example of one of our routes in Google map. I can't post the route in the other formats because they are not supported by the LT web site.

from:41.60620, -74.29572 to:41.71781, -74.39489 to:41.73851, -74.37633 to:41.84969, -74.53283 to:41.92720, -74.23865 to:41.83646, -74.29636 to:41.78920, -74.26328 to:41.77493, -74.29871 to:41.76541, -74.29678 to:41.69644, -73.96733 to:41.69760, -73.9

[Spudboy]

Originally Posted by andykeck

At least as of a couple of weeks ago, Google will only send an address or a point of interest, not a route. Dunno about Mapquest.

Here's a

link

to a video which discusses how to send routes from Google. Yes, you need the Garmin plug-in. Yes, you must choose to send route, by default it sends POIs. And if your GPS doesn't support routes, it will just get POIs.