Thanks to you both. I am getting closer.
Can how get routes with the correct amount of way points plotted.
I still can not see the plotted routes on the sd card via the etrex. (drag and Drop from pc) Do I have to place them in a folder?
Good so far...
Routes - lets be sure we are using the terms that Garmin use in their manuals.
A ROUTE is a collection of points which you plan to traverse over and can navigate from point to point along the Route, a TRACK is a recording of where you have been.
Routes are not stored on the SD card, they are inside the Garmin's internal memory. Different devices support a different number of routes, but I'd guess your device supports between 10 and 20.
If plotted in MapSource, a route can be uploaded to the device.
If stored in the device it can be downloaded to the PC.
(Also numerous other software packages can upload/download route data from the device, I've just been playing with the new OS "GetAMap" service, which offers the whole of the UK on OS 1:50,000 and 1:25,000, basic service is free !).
Tracks are stored in two potential places on the Garmin, depending on settings and capabilities of the device.
The default Tracks are stored in the internal memory. There is an "active track log" and then you have the option in the Garmin to save these as named logs. Like Routes, you can only store a small number of Tracks in the internal memory. Again upload/download via Mapsource or other applications.
The optional place for high resolution Tracks is as GPX files on the SD card. This stores a lot of data, but you need to enable the setting in the Garmin's user interface for Tracks to record to the SD card. Then, if you have set the option in Tracks to "record " (its an on/off radio button on my Vista Cx), the track will also be recorded to the SD card. These GPX files can be downloaded from the SD card, either by converting the Garmin device to work in "mass storage mode", or by removing the card and using a card-reader.
I mostly use the GPX files for logs of where I have been, I have some other software (command line Exif editing scripts) which can match the date/time on my digital camera pictures to the GPX tracks, this can then generate a set of files for viewing in Google Earth showing a track of where I have been with all the photograph positions shown along the track.
You can also upload/download Waypoints via MapSource (and easily change the icons used for the Waypoints).
One additional trick is to use the Garmin POI Loader software (another different download) to create PointsOfInterest files. These are just "spots" or single points which appear on the Garmin display, but I find they are more useful than Waypoints; you cannot accidentally delete or modify a POI from within the Garmin device, and are not using up your limited set of (say) 250 Waypoints.
Final bit of advice; if you have bought Garmin maps on SD cards, don't use those for experiments. Instead get a cheap micro SD card and use that for experimentation just incase you make a mistake and wipe off the data you paid a lot of money for !
In many cases, you can download public domain maps pre-formatted for Garmin direct to the SD card, and then just pop the SD back into the Garmin device; have a search around the OpenStreetMap project for various options including the UK Road Map with Cycle Routes highlighted.
- Nigel
