Zumo XT and Basecamp - Everything That You Need to Know

[Peobody]

Like @jfheath , I also use the XT for road navigation with Drive connected. I agree with his feelings about Explore. It doesn't bring anything to the table that I need or want. FWIW, I use Basecamp for route creation.

[rbentnail]

Like @jfheath , I also use the XT for road navigation with Drive connected. I agree with his feelings about Explore. It doesn't bring anything to the table that I need or want. FWIW, I use Basecamp for route creation.

Ditto all this. I've never bothered to even look at Explore.

[BashStreetKid]

Or do you mean P56 - this one ?

It's this one.

I'll take a look at your suggestion - but my thought is that Explore is an option. You don't have to set it up, and although Explore needs Garmin Drive, Garmin Drive does not need Explore to work. I find Explore to be irritating in a number of ways, and do not use it. Other people like it.

It's pretty early days for me, but the opening gambit of set-up appears to 'require' it?

The XT seems to hint that you have to set it up when you first turn on your XT. My notes hide it away as an option which can be set up later and which can be disconnected if you wish. Personally, I prefer not to have Explore set up, but in answering questions and in seeing if they have developed it further I often make the connection to Explore and then Disconnect it. I think I said somehwere that it offers me a solution to a problem that I don't have.

I nearly always have Drive connected. I rarely have Explore set up. It isn't necessary, but it is a tad more difficult to remove than it is to set up.

I am fairly comfortable using BaseCamp but it seems Garmin might be in the throes of replacing BC with the other options (given that they haven't upgraded it TTBOMK?), as they gradually phase-out the older devices; I might be wrong??

[Peobody]

Garmin definitely pushes Explore. Even their tech support folks encouraged the use of Explore whenever I have mentioned Basecamp. Explore isn't "required" though as demonstrated by those of us who aren't using it. Hopefully Basecamp will remain available for years to come and will function on future versions of Windows and Mac OSes.

[jfheath]

Yes - the XT does seem to suggest that you need to set up Explore. But it isn't necessary. It depends how you want to use your XT.

What I found was that the XT becomes more confusing with Explore set up - its another set of 'stuff' to learn about from the outset. But some people like it.

Its a neat solution, but not to any problem that I have - and when I first got the XT there were certain things that seemed to mis-behave after setting up Explore and which went away when I removed it. Over the lest 30 months I have been switching Explore on and off when I needed to find things out, and there have been many software updates. I haven't recently experienced the same issues that I had before. Whether that is due to software updates or me becomeing more used to it, I do not know. The Update list when new software is deployed via Express has never mentioned it.

But using Explore will create very different types of routes. You do not get any intermediate route points. No Via Points, no Shaping Points. Just a start and an end and a route or track. (In fact Explore doesn't send routes to the XT. It will only send tracks and waypoints). But Waypoints do not become a part of the route itself, like they do in Basecamp. They are just symbols on a map. So you cannot use things like the Trip data down the right hand side of the landscape XT screen to show you how far to the next stop, for example.

But it is worthwhile navigating a track that has been converted to a trip and getting used to what it does should you need to deviate from the plotted line. Providing you do not head of at 180 degrees, it works quite well - but its objective seems to be to get you back to the closest point of the original route ahead. If you opt to take a roughly 'parallel', which eventually meets the original - it will still prefer to take you back across the the original route rather than take you to the meeting point.

The explore apps have recently introduced 'Courses'. These are like tracks, except you can use a magnet icon to make them attach to the nearest road, footpath or trail - rather than making many points in order to follow a road. But as a road motorcyclist, you have to be careful with that - it will jump to the nearest footpath just as easily as it will attach itself to the nearest road. And this feature is not available on the website version of Explore. Only the smartphone / Ipad Apps.

If you decide that you want to use the Explore tools, then a lot of the 'Everything that you need to know' willbecome irrelevant. That is largely intended for Basecamp users, but I have documented the stuff that I have found out about Explore and RMA in their own sections.

Its laway worth while remembering that Garmin create many different device for different type of user. Some of these are aimed at off road cycling, walkers and runners, and they will communicate direct with the Explore 'cloud'. Explore's features may be of more use to them. Xt doesn't communicate directly with Explore. But the Garmin Drive App does, and this communicates with the XT - so the same solution exists in spite of the XT saying that it isn't compatible.

BAsecamp is an old program. But it is designed to work with the XT type of Zumos (the ones with the Trip Planner App), and it will continue to work with the XT in spite of the fact that the software hasn't been updated. I doubt that it ever will be, so the little quirks and bugs are likely to remain. But in my opinion, there is still nothing better. I have bought a lifetime mebership for MRA. Basecamp is free. I still use Basecamp !

[BashStreetKid]

Thanks both above for your inputs.
@Peobody body
@jfheath

The trees are becoming visible in the forest, now, for me.....

[BashStreetKid]

..... BaseCamp ......... (given that they haven't upgraded it TTBOMK?), as they gradually phase-out the older devices; I might be wrong??

Oh, hang on.
I've just received an update to v4.7.4 today

[jfheath]

Glad that you found an update.

Here's a link to the Basecamp update log. 4.7.4 was brought out in May 2021.

https://www8.garmin.com/support/downloa ... sp?id=4435

Its worth noting that the previous updates included fixes specifically for the Zumo XT. So although Garmin people who answer the phone may be pushing Explore as the tool to use (but would these be the same 'triage' people who use Garmin's own defined terms incorrectly ?), it is clear from the update list that Garmin have been recently addressing some issues with Basecamp specifically for the XT users.

Also - if I remember correctly, when Basecamp came out people were using Mapsource, and Basecamp was a pain in various parts of the anatomy. I hated it at the time. It seemed to be very buggy. That changed, and Garmin pushed Basecamp in place of Mapsource. Certainly it has the features which were introduced with the Zumo 590. Then they realised that the 660 would sometimes have problems with routes created on Basecamp. So now, Mapsource is still the progarm to use with the 660 (and probably the 550). I wouldn't take notice of what Garmin front desk support staff push. Use whichever software works for your device and for you.

[jfheath]

I've brought the Web pages, menu and contents page up to date with some recent pages that I have added to my DTP files.

See ChangeLog for details.

[jfheath]

The on-line issuu version of this document is available once more. I have had to split it into 2 parts to keep withing Issuu's recently imposed 50 page limit. The new links are in post#1 on the first page.

John
Ps - it is not downloadable.