Uploading Tracks/routes?

[FasterDaddy]

I know, I know...another newbie who doesn't know what he's doing. I appreciate all help you can and will give. Here are my questions &/or dilemas:

 

1) What is the difference between a route and a track? Which is more beneficial for recreating a day's trip?

 

2) I saved a bike ride loop I took Saturday in my Magellan Meridian on the SD card, both as a route and a track. I couldn't open them directly from the SD card with EasyGPS nor GSAK. All I could do was upload them from the GPS directly into Mapsend TOPO, and then it was the entire day's track, not the section I specifically saved. The file names/suffixes when accessed by the SD card were "Donjo's.tra" and "Donjo's.rou". What format does the GPS itself utilize? What format does it save these files on the SD card as?

 

3) Which should I upload (routes or tracks) and then how can I utilize them to superimpose them on maps/images in programs such as USAPhotomaps??? I'm thinking it will be fairly simple once the program recognizes/opens the files?

 

Thanks,

 

FasterD

[+Airmapper]

I don't know if this will help, but you might want to move this to the GPS questions board. The people in there know a lot about GPS, software, and anything else you want to know about your GPS. Plus you might get quicker replies in there. Sorry I can't tell you how to move it there, a moderator may be able to do it.

Welcome to the Forums FasterD.

[+Sputnik 57]

You'll get a better answer from Magellan users, but in general, a track is a display of where you've been (think of it as dropping bread crumbs on the trail). Each track point marks the coordinates and time (and for some GPSrs, the speed and altitude). In most cases, you can tell the GPSr how frequently to mark your track. Some units hold up to 10,000 track points in their active log.

 

Routes are typically paths of where you are going. You can plot a route in advance and load it into your GPSr. They usually contain just the location of each turn in the path. If you walk for a mile in a straight line, and then turn, the track may show 50 points, but the route will show just the first and last point, with a straight path in between.

 

In some units, when you save a track, it strips the detailed info, and just keeps that track points it needs to draw a line of where you've been. The same is true if you save the track as a route.

 

Hope this helps.

[+Markwell]

Popping this over to the GPS Units and Software forum where you'll be more likely to get a detailed response.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

1) What is the difference between a route and a track? Which is more beneficial for recreating a day's trip?

 

<snip>

 

3) Which should I upload (routes or tracks) and then how can I utilize them to superimpose them on maps/images in programs such as USAPhotomaps??? I'm thinking it will be fairly simple  once the program recognizes/opens the files?

 

Faster Daddy's answers about the difference between routes and tracks are good ones.

 

In answer to which is more beneficial for recreating a day's trip, I'd say both can be helpful. If you preserve the route, you don't have to recreate it--you can use it to guide you again. The track from your previous outing, superimposed on a map that you can print, makes a great reference for in the field.

 

And yes, I'd encourage you to transfer them to USAPhotoMaps to visualize the trip and to maintain a record of it with your track. Unfortunately, unless USAPhotoMaps has changed, you cannot form a route from existing (named) waypoints. You can however do that in your GPS or with a companion program like EasyGPS.

 

Self-promoting, I know, but there are chapters on both EasyGPS and USAPhotoMaps in my book.

 

Rich Owings

www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com

www.GPStracklog.com

 

"We were desert mystics, my friends and I, poring over our maps as others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey

[+megamapper]

If I am travelling long distances ( > 1 day, trip is fully pre-planned ) then a route is not a bad way to go, since it can warn you when you need to make turns and such.

 

On my GPS, I can turn tracks into routes, but then you end up with a big pile of numerically named icons all over my GPSr's display creating clutter and annoyances. So I generally manually compose my routes which reduces the amount of clutter and makes a usable route. I do not travel very far, and hence the routing hasn't been overly useful to me.

 

For really very short trips, or trips where you may end up 'winging it', and you pretty much know the area, then routes can be a little bit of a pain in the $^#! On my GPS, it has a nutty huge capacity for storing tracks (it stores only points, no altitute or time, or speed) so I can actually create my own maps and store them in the GPS. At this time, most of my trips are generally very short ones where I know the area. As a result, I'm generally am using tracks.

 

I use more icons/events (they have differing names depending on the GPS brand) and very few waypoints. I like icons, because they use less screen space.

 

Kindest Regards,

---- Robb ----

[Major Catastrophe]

1) What is the difference between a route and a track?

A route is a path that you are supposed to follow to go from where you are, to where you want to be. The route is where you will be in the future.

 

A track is a series of waypoints that are automatically saved by your GPS receiver as you travel, and can be displayed on a map. The track shows where you have already been.

[FasterDaddy]

Thanks for the lesson on tracks vs. routes. Looks like I'll have to buy a bood to learn the answers to my questions on formats and uploading? I find it hard to believe there aren't online how-to's, manuals, instructions, etc.....

 

Great site with almost too much information. I've tried multiple searches and couldn't come up with the specifics I was looking for, and there were too many pages of results to 'browse' through.

 

Thanks again.....