XT off route calculation?

[Champy]

Hi all.

I have just returned from an 11 day EU tour round the Italian Dolomites and Austrian Alps.
The majority of my fellow riders have the XT installed, whist I have the lowly (?) 395 LM - which has never let me down in any manner!

The leader of the tour planned the routes, and had given us the .gpx files for us for each day.

I tried to use the routes he had given us, but found out that if a turn was missed, or a mistake made, the XT did not automatically recalculate to get you back onto the route. It was explained to me that it is necessary to turn the automatic re-routing feature off, and if necessary, stop and either go back to the start of the route and re-plan, or head to a known future waypoint and hope that the XT catches up.

I find this almost ridiculous! One of the real advantages of Sat Nav systems is the off route calculation, meaning it is difficult to get lost and then spend hours trying to work out where you are and where you need to be!

This has really put me off purchasing the XT, unless anyone can let me know that the above is actually incorrect?

Many thanks from across the pond.

Ian

[jfheath]

Hi Champy and Welcome to the Forums.

What you describe is a known issue which I have reported with a great deal of evidence and to which they have failed to solve. The same issue has been proved to exist on the XT2 as well.

Truning off auto recalculation is a sticking plaster to a deep gash - it works for a while but it won't get you out of the problem.

It sounds as though you are experiencing the RUT issue -a term that I came up with to describe the fact that the XT seems to be stuck in a RUT - repeatedly asking you to go back to where you left the route. Something that it only manages to escape from if you get withing less than a mile of the original route up ahead. By the time you have turned off auto-recalc, it ahs already changed your route.

Putting the track on the screen is a very useful safeguard - it is plotted underneath the route so that when the two part company, you know where the original route was plotted.

The problem seems to be that in certain circumstances - particularly when the XT has recalculated the route at any time. It then changes the nature of the route - so that rather than heading for the next route point it heads for the closest point on the route up ahead.

The problem is that it has just calculate the new route and asked you to go back, and you have ignored it. So the route up ahead that it is aiming for, is immediately behind you !!

For some reason Garmin cannot see this as an important issue. They have known about it for nearly three years, and even reproduced the same behaviour on the XT2.

But there are a couple of Fixes.

I discovered that this behaviour NEVER happens on an identical route if it has been created using Trip Planner the XT screen. It only happens with routes that have been sent to the XT as GPX files. From anywhere - BAsecamp, MyRouteApp, Kurviger - whatever. If it hans't been created on the XT's trip planner it is regarded as imported.

So to make this XT behave like a proper satnav - like your 395 and my 590 and 595 - you have to make it believe that your route is a saved one.

One way is to load the route, say Go! and then back out and open trip planner - and save the active route. Give it a similar name - but instantly recogniseable. I put a '@' character in at the front. When you load up trip planner, you will see it listed under the 'Saved' heading. Load and run that. It will behave itself.

When you load the faulty route, you must remember to select the start point as the next destination - which is often above the top of the screen.

When you resave this route it adds a new point - where you are at the moment that you save it. If you are at home and the route startes in the Dolomites - that is a very long section to calculate. So this little trick is best done the night before when you are already in the Dolomites.

When you start the copied route, select the original start point - which will be below Closest Entry point.

The other method (And better, but it requires a PC) is to use @FrankB 's Trip Manager. This avoids the processing that the XT carries out when a route is imported and places it on the XT ready to run. It also sets it as saved.

I'll post this and add some links to all of the above info.

[jfheath]

Some useful links

Everything XT related.
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1464

Quick Reference Booklet to download
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3139

P100 - Zumo XT Behaviour Issue - RUT behaviour, what it is and one way to fix it.
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P100

P910 - Video demo of how to resave a route on the XT so that it remains RUT free
I forgot to finish this page properly - but the video works !!

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P910

@FrankB 's Trip Manager Page Link. Needs to be downloaded - PC version only.
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P100

[Champy]

Some useful links

Everything XT related.
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1464

Quick Reference Booklet to download
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3139

P100 - Zumo XT Behaviour Issue - RUT behaviour, what it is and one way to fix it.
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P100

P910 - Video demo of how to resave a route on the XT so that it remains RUT free
I forgot to finish this page properly - but the video works !!

https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P910

@FrankB 's Trip Manager Page Link. Needs to be downloaded - PC version only.
https://www.zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P100

Wow! So much fascinating information - thanks very much!
However, there seems to be much faffing about on the XT for my individual needs.
On that trip, I just entered the destination straight onto the 395, and as the avoidances are set to no M-ways, no car share lanes etc., I found that my route closely matched the downloaded the downloaded .gpx routes...
Me? I like simple and easy stuff, so I won't be going down the XT route...

[Mzokk]

I use a Zumo XT on my Africa Twin ATAS and can get it to do what I want thanks to jfheath and FrankB and others on this forum. However, I also use a Garmin Zumo 340lm and 390lm on an old R1150GS. In some ways I think the Zumo 3XX series of navigation units are the sweet spot of navigators. They take a memory card for maps and routes, use the latest NTU maps same as the XT/2, have bluetooth for headset connection and have a 3.5mm jack if you want to use an Autocom or wired headset, and have the older (better?) routing logic. Also if the settings are the same Basecamp is more or less wysiwyg with them.

The XT/2 does have a lovely screen though.

[jfheath]

I use a Zumo XT on my Africa Twin ATAS and can get it to do what I want thanks to jfheath and FrankB and others on this forum. However, I also use a Garmin Zumo 340lm and 390lm on an old R1150GS. In some ways I think the Zumo 3XX series of navigation units are the sweet spot of navigators. They take a memory card for maps and routes, use the latest NTU maps same as the XT/2, have bluetooth for headset connection and have a 3.5mm jack if you want to use an Autocom or wired headset, and have the older (better?) routing logic. Also if the settings are the same Basecamp is more or less wysiwyg with them.

The XT/2 does have a lovely screen though.

I second that sentiment. I still have the 590, 595, XT and XT2. As far as I am concerned the 590 is the best of them for reliable navigation as @Mzokk stated for his 340/390. I believe that the 590 /390 were stable mates - the 590 having a few extras for which many addition £££s were required. Issues like moving shaping points and renamed route points started to creep in with the 595 - features that Garmin must have felt was important enough to keep in the XT and XT2.

But I'm happy now that I can make the XT1 and XT2 behave as I would like - but each time it requires compromises that are not necessary with the 590.

But that screen.....

Put 590 software in an XT2 or 2 case with an XT1 or 2 screen and and XT2 battery and processor....

I wonder if 590 software can be loaded.......No - don't be silly John. 590 software cannot be loaded into a 595 - well it can, but parts of it don't work, and it crashes the unit, requiring a reboot. 595 software can be loaded into a 590 though - I ran that for a while, but preferred the 590.

[Peobody]

Hi @Champy, welcome to the forum!

[ZFtracker]

Welcome to the forum, @Champy.