Do you pre- route or program your GPs for trips?

[Hedgehog]

And if you do, what device and software do you use?

I really like doing this, and it has saved my bacon a lot, but sometimes the tracks have been changed from what the map provider has on it's system.. But for me it is sort of part of the trip, and standing like a meerkat looking for the trail has happened many a time..

I would think most use T4A, and Garmin?

Is there anything else out there in RSA?

The Aussies have such a choice, but we dont?

[iandvl]

I do not pre-route. I only plot waypoints and points of interest. I find it works the best. I do generate routes from the waypoints in BaseCamp to give me a broad idea of actual distances and travelling times, but I never navigate via routes.

I will have waypoints plotted for the entire route with a naming convention of "WP01 - Name", "WP02 - Other Name" etc. And navigate from waypoint to waypoint on the GPS. The numbers are so that I can sort them correctly, and also know what the next way point is.

Waypoints are major navigation points (towns etc) or at tricky intersections (especially on poorly marked dirt roads).

Points of interest I mark with a different naming convention (they are also numbered numerically though), and I'll print out an index card so I know what POIs are close to waypoints.

Hardware: Gamin eTrex20 with Tracks 4 Africa.

[Hedgehog]

I do not pre-route. I only plot waypoints and points of interest. I find it works the best. I do generate routes from the waypoints in BaseCamp to give me a broad idea of actual distances and travelling times, but I never navigate via routes.

I will have waypoints plotted for the entire route with a naming convention of "WP01 - Name", "WP02 - Other Name" etc. And navigate from waypoint to waypoint on the GPS. The numbers are so that I can sort them correctly, and also know what the next way point is.

Waypoints are major navigation points (towns etc) or at tricky intersections (especially on poorly marked dirt roads).

Points of interest I mark with a different naming convention (they are also numbered numerically though), and I'll print out an index card so I know what POIs are close to waypoints.

Hardware: Gamin eTrex20 with Tracks 4 Africa.

Interesting, so after each waypoint is reached you "search" the next one?
That way you can use the route or road given in real time.


Wont this sometimes cause it to "route" the guidance to follow a route contrary to what you actually planned?

[MarcoP]

I do something similar
Before the trip i plan the route on Basecamp and set a few major waypoints.(Towns/river crossings/camps etc)
On the trip i only plan ahead in detail for that days traveling.(Garmin & T4A)
But i always have 2 devices doing routing (GPS & Tablet) so i can cross reference the route. If they differ then i will use my phone to double check.

[iandvl]

Interesting, so after each waypoint is reached you "search" the next one?
That way you can use the route or road given in real time.


Wont this sometimes cause it to "route" the guidance to follow a route contrary to what you actually planned?

Andrew - yes. When I arrive at Waypoint 1, I navigate to way point 2. This allows me to get an "exact" idea of when I will arrive at specific key stops.

Strangely enough, as to your second question: This has given me more control over my routes. In cases where the GPS may decide to route me on a specific road, I merely add more waypoints to ensure that it sticks to my intended route. It means I can force the GPS to do my bidding...

For example: my version of T4A has an error where it is impossible to route from Oranjemund to Aussenkehr on the C13. Its probably just the version of the maps, or it is one of those intentional bugs to pick up copyright things. Whatever the case is, the route is simply not "routable" on the GPS or on BaseCamp, and the GPS gets confused around Rosh Pinah. Navigating via Routes would see one heading back across the Orange at sendelingsdrift, and continuing to Aussenkehr via Vioolsdrif. Using way points instead of routes means that the tiny little bit where the GPS is confused (ie: where the C13 splits from the D276 just before Sendelingsdrif) is easily sorted out.

[iandvl]

I do something similar
Before the trip i plan the route on Basecamp and set a few major waypoints.(Towns/river crossings/camps etc)
On the trip i only plan ahead in detail for that days traveling.(Garmin & T4A)
But i always have 2 devices doing routing (GPS & Tablet) so i can cross reference the route. If they differ then i will use my phone to double check.

Sorry - yes. I do this also. I will download the maps on my phone prior to any trips (there is not data reception in all areas of the Richtersveld etc) and use that to double check things when I am totally confused. I also carry paper maps. This has saved my bacon in the past.

On a solo trip back from Namibia, my GPS was man-handled by Nam customs at Sendelingsdrif and decided to get totally confused somewhere in the Richtersveld. No cellular reception meant that, despite me having downloaded the maps prior to the trip, my phone also decided to get confused. Having no idea where I was, I hauled out the maps and relied on the tried and tested method of dead reckoning, available landmarks and time vs distance estimates. I got home again, so I guess that worked...

In normal cases, when everything works as planned, the GPS is my major navigation device - I'll only use my phone if totally necessary. And my paper maps are my broader outline type references for when I want to get an idea of where I still need to get to when I stop for coffee somewhere.

[MarcoP]

What i find very useful and i like to do, is to have my tablet on satellite view while i follow on my GPS.
This shows me all of the small routes not on T4A and i can see where the small routes head and where they come out again on my main route. (IE West coast)
And of course the paper maps are never to far away either.

[Searcher]

I only use autorouting when on well establish “roads”
Off road I would make a track and follow that, much less chance of errors or following wrong directions. Here I use Mapsource and Google Earth.
If I do not pre-make a track or route, I just follow T4A roads and paths on my GPS.

I also have a tablet and use “BackCountry Navigator XE and Pro”, “Gaia GPS” and “Osmond”.
What I like about BCN and Gaia GPS is that they allow you to download and save Satellite and Topo maps, which I save on a large SD card. Depending on the areas downloaded these files are many Gigabytes in size. These Apps also allow you to navigate and make tracks and routes on the fly and offline.
For example, I have downloaded the whole of Namibia, Botswana and SA in high resolution Satellite and Topo maps. These are saved to the SD card and are available offline no matter where I am.
I love being in the middle of nowhere and then being able to zoom in via Satellite Imagery and plan routes and explore from there, make trips extra exciting for me.

Then I also use the T4A Guide, not routable, but shows you on the map where you
are and has a wealth of information.

[Hedgehog]

What i find very useful and i like to do, is to have my tablet on satellite view while i follow on my GPS.
This shows me all of the small routes not on T4A and i can see where the small routes head and where they come out again on my main route. (IE West coast)
And of course the paper maps are never to far away either.

What tablet do you use?
Do you use google maps?
How do you mount it?


Sorry for all the questions..

[Hedgehog]

I only use autorouting when on well establish “roads”
Off road I would make a track and follow that, much less chance of errors or following wrong directions. Here I use Mapsource and Google Earth.
If I do not pre-make a track or route, I just follow T4A roads and paths on my GPS.

I also have a tablet and use “BackCountry Navigator XE and Pro”, “Gaia GPS” and “Osmond”.
What I like about BCN and Gaia GPS is that they allow you to download and save Satellite and Topo maps, which I save on a large SD card. Depending on the areas downloaded these files are many Gigabytes in size. These Apps also allow you to navigate and make tracks and routes on the fly and offline.
For example, I have downloaded the whole of Namibia, Botswana and SA in high resolution Satellite and Topo maps. These are saved to the SD card and are available offline no matter where I am.
I love being in the middle of nowhere and then being able to zoom in via Satellite Imagery and plan routes and explore from there, make trips extra exciting for me.

Then I also use the T4A Guide, not routable, but shows you on the map where you
are and has a wealth of information.

Those maps will need a very good GPS able tablet. What one are you using?

[MarcoP]

What tablet do you use?
Do you use google maps?
How do you mount it?


Sorry for all the questions..

NO problem
I use an 8" Samsung tablet (the 10" is to big and bulky) mounted on a DIY bracket made from Connect-It and a cheap tablet holder that is mounted to left of my gear leaver, bolted to the seat bolt. ( will send a pic shortly)
Yes i use Google Maps

[Searcher]

Those maps will need a very good GPS able tablet. What one are you using?

I actually went for a very basic tablet, namely the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 LTE and a 128 GB SD card.
All my maps download so far are about 100 GB or so.

[MarcoP]

[Searcher]

I actually went for a very basic tablet, namely the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 LTE and a 128 GB SD card.
All my maps download so far are about 100 GB or so.

BTW, all of the above is also on my Samsung Galaxy S7. It has exactly the same functionality as the bigger Samsung Tab, just a smaller screen.

[Daniek]

This is how I do my routing.

In general I will have a rough idea of where I want to travel to and I will create a list where I will have waypoints of these. I will then create a route in Basecamp between these points to see the route that Basecamp will create between the points. As part of the planning process, this will also give us an idea of the areas we will be passing through and SWAMBO will start to research places of interest to visit. These will then be added to our route. It is usually a big discussion to convince her that to go from say Centurion to Cape Town via Cairo, is not "along the way". But this has lead to some very nice places we have visited.

From the above, I will have a general idea of the distance/time required for the whole trip. When the route has bee "finalised" I will start to break it up into daily segments. Finalised is deliberately placed in inverted commas, as the planned route changes along the way many times. This breaking up into daily segements also allow us to start searching for accommodation options. Once this is finalised, each daily segment is adjusted accordingly. Here I will use a naming convention using the date for naming the routes, i.e. "03-15 fdasasasdad", for the first day and then "03-16 ghjyuj" for the next day, etc. The format being "mm-dd". By adding a leading zero to single digit months wil ensure that 03 goes before 11, for instance. In this way the sort order is correct and also I will know, by the date what route to select for each day.....sometimes it does take a while to remember the date, but then the description after the date also helps (HaHaHa).

To minimise the difference in routes between Basecamp and the GPS, I create a fair number of manual via points along the route to ensure that the GPS follows my planned route. The way I do this is also described in the video from my link above.

Thanks.