XT2: Section 4 - Foolproof Routing
4.05 - TripManager
What is Trip Manager ?
Trip Manager is a Windows based program developed by FrankB of this forum as an alternative way of sending routes, tracks and waypoints to the Zumos XT1 and XT2.
You still connect your XT1/XT2 to your PC with a USB cable, but TripManager then takes care of creating the necessary route files in the Zumo. It is a smooth and easy to follow operation which by-passes the normal import process. In doing so it avoids all of the little quirks that the Zumo's internal import process seems to create.
You still connect your XT1/XT2 to your PC with a USB cable, but TripManager then takes care of creating the necessary route files in the Zumo. It is a smooth and easy to follow operation which by-passes the normal import process. In doing so it avoids all of the little quirks that the Zumo's internal import process seems to create.
This page is not a set of instructions. The intention is to provide a snapshot of some of TM's basic features. It is capable of so much more, but that requires a manual. Fortunately smfollen has written one.
The program and manual can both be obtained free of charge from the link at the bottom of this page.
The program and manual can both be obtained free of charge from the link at the bottom of this page.
Overview of the Trip Manager Screen
The screen shot is a reduced, poor quality image to show the basic layout. I'll describe how each section is used in the sections below.
Step 1 - Select your GPX File(s)
The top right pane shows the folder structure and the files in the selected folder. This is where I have kept my various tour files for the past ten years. The very right hand pane shows a few gpx files associated with my 2021 Scotland Tour.
The first step of course is to connect the Zumo to the computer - as usual. Trip Manager recognises the device and this is shown in the top left hand pane - which I will mention later.
I click on the gpx file(s) that I want - 2021 Scotland Tour from BC - and click the Send To Button at the top.
The first step of course is to connect the Zumo to the computer - as usual. Trip Manager recognises the device and this is shown in the top left hand pane - which I will mention later.
I click on the gpx file(s) that I want - 2021 Scotland Tour from BC - and click the Send To Button at the top.
It's nice to have everythin in one screen.
Top Right Pane of Trip Manager
Step 2a : Choose your Transfer Options
This is where you can select a whole host of options, way beyond the scope of this introduction. But it remembers what you selected last time, so click OK.
I want it to create the Trip File in the Zumo and also want my tracks, and the waypoints that are in the gpx file, to be transferred to the Zumo. Those options are selected on in this window.
I want it to create the Trip File in the Zumo and also want my tracks, and the waypoints that are in the gpx file, to be transferred to the Zumo. Those options are selected on in this window.
This pop-up window can also allow you to create a track from the route if you haven't already created one. It can create genuine Garmin Waypoints from your Via and Shaping points - which appear in the Waypoint list on the XT2 and in the 'Favourites' or 'Saved' lists in the XT1. Well worth experimenting.
"Send to" - PopUp Window
Steb 2b: Set your Track / Route Colour
...or just accept the defaults.
Select the items, choose the colour. Particularly useful for tracks. Tracks never change no matter what happens on the road.
Select the items, choose the colour. Particularly useful for tracks. Tracks never change no matter what happens on the road.
You can rely on the track to be plotted on exactly the roads that you planned. So it is useful to make the track visible and have it displayed under the route. If the route changes - you can look at the map and see what it is up to. Based on that you can decide whether to stick with your original (track) or follow the altered route.
I like to have a black track under my route. It becomes very obvious if the two go off in different directions. Red or Blue also work well.
I like to have a black track under my route. It becomes very obvious if the two go off in different directions. Red or Blue also work well.
Track Colour Pop-Up
Step 3: Done. View the Results
This screen shows confirmation that the trip file has been created: The trip files at the top echo the route names from in the gpx file.
The numbered trip files below (eg 1128206488.trp) have been created by the Zumo from routes that have been imported using the traditional method.
The numbered trip files below (eg 1128206488.trp) have been created by the Zumo from routes that have been imported using the traditional method.
Once you have the appropriate trip file, when you click on it, a preview of the route information that it contains is shown on the map in the bottom right of the TripManager Window.
Don't try to make any sense of those long numbered trip file names. They are 'Universally Unique Identifiers' which are generated randomly.
This process undertaken by TripManager happens so quickly that really I wonder why the Zumo makes so much fuss about importing routes !
Don't try to make any sense of those long numbered trip file names. They are 'Universally Unique Identifiers' which are generated randomly.
This process undertaken by TripManager happens so quickly that really I wonder why the Zumo makes so much fuss about importing routes !
Top Left - The Trip Folder on the Zumo
Step 4: Check Your Route
Click on a trip file in the Trip folder, and the route is shown instantly on the map. It shows route points - colour coded via and shaping points. Other options for display are available from a pull-out menu on the right hand side.
The map can be panned, zoomed in and out, and the precise location of route points can be verified at street level.
It is common to see the route as straight lines. The Zumo needs to calculate the actual route first. But that is useful - it makes it easy to compare the Zumo's calculation with your track - something that is not easy to do on the tiny Zumo screen.
At some point the Zumo will calculate the route anyway, so it doesn't matter that it calculates it when first loaded. Slight deviations, traffic, roadworks, skip etc will all require the Zumo to find a new route. It is better for you to view what roads it takes now, rather than find out that it has suddenly changed mid route. Trip Manager makes viewing the route and track together very easy.
Oh - and you can find out which routes those unique numbers relate to !
It is common to see the route as straight lines. The Zumo needs to calculate the actual route first. But that is useful - it makes it easy to compare the Zumo's calculation with your track - something that is not easy to do on the tiny Zumo screen.
At some point the Zumo will calculate the route anyway, so it doesn't matter that it calculates it when first loaded. Slight deviations, traffic, roadworks, skip etc will all require the Zumo to find a new route. It is better for you to view what roads it takes now, rather than find out that it has suddenly changed mid route. Trip Manager makes viewing the route and track together very easy.
Oh - and you can find out which routes those unique numbers relate to !
Bottom Right Pane - Preview of the Selected Route / Track
Links
This page is intended as a quick taster so that you know what TripManager looks like and so that you can get an idea about how it can be used.
But there is so much more that it can do and for that you need a manual.
Documents and Program are still being developed. The most recent links are provided below.
But there is so much more that it can do and for that you need a manual.
Documents and Program are still being developed. The most recent links are provided below.
When installing Trip Manager, you may have issues due to your Antivirus Programs.
It will succeed eventually, but it works so much more smoothly if you disable your antivirus software for a couple of minutes.
If in doubt, download it, install it, then use your antivirus software to scan the program before running it.
It will succeed eventually, but it works so much more smoothly if you disable your antivirus software for a couple of minutes.
If in doubt, download it, install it, then use your antivirus software to scan the program before running it.
4.05 - TripManager
The information on these pages has been acquired from personal experience of using and testing the behaviour of Basecamp and my Zumos XT and XT2. I have no links with Garmin except that I raise issues about my Zumos' behaviours from time to time. These pages are presented for interest only rather than instructions. The contents of these pages must not be shared, copied, transmitted, redistributed or re-published in any form without my permission. (C) JHeath 2025.