"Lock on Roads" setting for GPSMap60CSX

November 2, 2006

I do not understand what the "lock on roads" setting does under the map setup. When I use the routing feature, I can tell it to navigate on the roads or off road. Is this the same thing? If not, what is the difference, and what would the best setting be. I have read about it in the manual, but I do not understand. Thanks in advance for the info.

Robert

November 2, 2006

The lock on roads feature on Garmins is just that. It keeps your icon on the road instead of traveling 5 to 20 meters to the side of the road. Where the road goes is where your icon will too.

November 2, 2006

Thanks for the information, but I am not sure that I understand. I believe that I currently have the lock on roads enabled. If I go off the road, my icon on the map screen does not show me on the road. Can you please straighten me out? Thanks again for your patience.

November 2, 2006

For me, when I go geocaching, and I get near the cache, I have to select off road. Lock on road is used when we are driving on the road, highway, so it shows up as a straight line when you turn on your track log. It is a smooth straight line....but if it is not select. If there is no road and we select lock on road, it seems to be standing still and stry to find itself

6.4k · November 2, 2006

The last post is wrong, the others correct.

All "lock on roads" does is to keep the icon on the map page on the nearest road. It will leave the road once you are a reasonable distance away.

November 2, 2006

The last post is wrong, the others correct.

All "lock on roads" does is to keep the icon on the map page on the nearest road. It will leave the road once you are a reasonable distance away.

Red90 is correct. “Lock on Road” is necessary due to both GPSr and map inaccuracies. USGS maps, for example, are accurate to 40 feet (about 12 meters) 95% of the time. GPS maps may be off by as much as 90 feet (I’ve heard). My 60CSx consistently puts me 50-70 feet off along one stretch of road I drive to work, when “Lock on Road” is turned off. Turned on, it always indicates I’m on the road. It “snaps to the road” in other words, despite the position the GPSr “thinks” I’m at and wherever the map "thinks" the road is.

Edited November 2, 2006 by Twinstars

November 2, 2006

Thanks for the help. That makes a lot more sense. My icon kept leaving the road although I had the lock on roads enabled. Thanks again for the information.

Robert

November 2, 2006

Now that you know what it does, drive it a little crazy: with it 'locked on to roads' find an intersection-like a highway cloverleaf that's been restructured and where the map is incorrect. Make a few quick lane changes and take an off-ramp or intersection fly-over that didn't previously exist. Roads under development in a new housebuilding zone also work. Darn thing will jump from road to road to road and still not know where it is. Zooming in on the tracks overlaid on the 'roads' makes you question your sobriety. Amusing but harmless.

Thanks for the help. That makes a lot more sense. My icon kept leaving the road although I had the lock on roads enabled. Thanks again for the information.

Robert

November 3, 2006

Sorry to keep bringing this up, but just when I thought I had this, maybe I don't. I currently have lock on roads set to on. On my way to work this morning, I was looking at the map page (and the traffic), and where the Interstate made a curve (on the map), my tracks went straight through the curve to meet the road on the other side. Should the lock on roads setting, have kept the tracks and icon on the Interstate? Also, I only have the basemap that came with the unit and no other maps. I did not know if that affected the map page. Thanks again for helping me out!!

November 3, 2006

Also, would tracks show up as exactly on the road too (i.e., if looking at your tracks later in MapSource or equivalent)? Or are the tracking data points recorded exactly as calculated, whether or not they happen to line up on a road?

I assume the latter.

Edited November 3, 2006 by HokieBird

6.4k · November 3, 2006

Stored tracks will show up in the measured location.

November 3, 2006

Having "Lock On Road" set to ON will also screw you up while looking for a Geocache that is close to a road, so make sure to turn it off while Caching.

It would be nice if it automatically turned itself off when you choose to route "Off Road". When routing off road, there is no reason to keep the "Lock On Road" feature turned on, all it is is a hinderance.

November 3, 2006

Having "Lock On Road" set to ON will also screw you up while looking for a Geocache that is close to a road, so make sure to turn it off while Caching.

It would be nice if it automatically turned itself off when you choose to route "Off Road". When routing off road, there is no reason to keep the "Lock On Road" feature turned on, all it is is a hinderance.

I don't understand why Lock on Road should affect finding a geocache if you are using the compass and bearing screen and Off Road routing. As I understand it, the GPS doesn't change your location to match the road on the map, it just displays your position as being on the road on the map. The bearing pointer still points to the waypoint from your current location, correct?

I leave my GPS on Lock on Roads all the time and never noticed a problem. Then again, I don't do many road side micros, either.

November 3, 2006

Having "Lock On Road" set to ON will also screw you up while looking for a Geocache that is close to a road, so make sure to turn it off while Caching.

It would be nice if it automatically turned itself off when you choose to route "Off Road". When routing off road, there is no reason to keep the "Lock On Road" feature turned on, all it is is a hinderance.

I don't understand why Lock on Road should affect finding a geocache if you are using the compass and bearing screen and Off Road routing. As I understand it, the GPS doesn't change your location to match the road on the map, it just displays your position as being on the road on the map. The bearing pointer still points to the waypoint from your current location, correct?

I leave my GPS on Lock on Roads all the time and never noticed a problem. Then again, I don't do many road side micros, either.

I noticed a problem while caching yesterday and remembered someone mentioning to turn "Lock On Road" off when caching close to the road. I turned it off and the problem went away.

I guess the problem is because it's thinking you are on the road, when you are actually 50 foot (or whatever) off of it.

There's a discussion in this thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=146139&hl=

see EraSeek's post in that thread.

November 4, 2006

I currently have my track log set to on(my unit is recording the tracks). Could this be the reason that I am not seeing the "snap back" of the lock on road feature and I am seeing where I am actually(the measured) going?

3.5k · November 4, 2006

Having "Lock On Road" set to ON will also screw you up while looking for a Geocache that is close to a road, so make sure to turn it off while Caching.

It would be nice if it automatically turned itself off when you choose to route "Off Road". When routing off road, there is no reason to keep the "Lock On Road" feature turned on, all it is is a hinderance.

I don't understand why Lock on Road should affect finding a geocache if you are using the compass and bearing screen and Off Road routing. As I understand it, the GPS doesn't change your location to match the road on the map, it just displays your position as being on the road on the map. The bearing pointer still points to the waypoint from your current location, correct?

I leave my GPS on Lock on Roads all the time and never noticed a problem. Then again, I don't do many road side micros, either.

I have had this happen to me several times on my old Map76. If it stays locked on road while you are walking away from the car it will provide the correct lat and long but the unit still thinks you are at the car and on your goto screen the distance to the cache will remain way off as you appoach. As to the pointer, I don't recall right now what it does. I have had it happen placeing a cache as well. It actually got a good fix, but when checking the fix by viewing the closest waypoints, while standing at the wp the unit told me I was about 50' away because it thought I was standing over on the nearest road. All this can confuse a person until they figure out what is going on. With my new unit, a 60cx, there is less reason to use lock on road, but I am still playing with it. I think it has done the same thing to me once so far. Funny though, sometimes it does this and sometimes not. Not sure what factors are involved. I wonder if it has something to do with how major of a road it is. Perhaps bigger roads have a larger distance factor. Once when driving on a smaller road next to the freeway the mapping grabbed my position away and put me on the freeway. :mad:

November 4, 2006

Can explorists do lock on roads?

2k · November 4, 2006

Lock on roads only works while you are one the map page. Once you change to off road and the compass screen it no longer will effect your GPS. So you can't use that as an excuse for not finding the cache. I know cause I tried and no-one would believe me. :mad:

November 4, 2006

Night Stalker, the other day when I was having a problem, it was both on the map page and the compass page (I have a Cx without the built in electronic compass). As soon as I switched LOCK ON ROADS off, it worked the way it should have in both screens.

November 4, 2006

Night Stalker, the other day when I was having a problem, it was both on the map page and the compass page (I have a Cx without the built in electronic compass). As soon as I switched LOCK ON ROADS off, it worked the way it should have in both screens.

Great to know, I will keep this in mind for future.

These units get more and more sophisticated and more complicated to use. I agree with your comment that a great upgrade for the future would be to automatically disable Lock on Road when navigating Off Road.

Now I have to remember to turn my auto-nav maps off (and back on again when I get back in the car) and Lock on Road off and on.

I think I will try it for awhile with the Lock On Roads off all the time and see if there is any change in auto-nav or display.

Thanks for sharing.

November 4, 2006

I had it off for a short time, I turned it back on because the blue circle was annoying me (I'm very particular sometimes :laughing:

Why do you turn your auto-nav maps off? Is that because you switch to topo maps when off the road?

I'm still debating whether I should get topo maps or not.

2k · November 5, 2006

I have never had an issue with having lock on roads turned on while geocaching. When I get close to a cache I always change my gps from follow road to off road. Maybe this automatically disable the lock on road option.

November 5, 2006

I have never had an issue with having lock on roads turned on while geocaching. When I get close to a cache I always change my gps from follow road to off road. Maybe this automatically disable the lock on road option.

No, it doesn't turn it off, altho it would be nice if it did.

From what I've seen myself and what others have said, the only time having "Lock On Road" turned on will hurt is when close to the road. As soon as you get far enough away from the road it gives up and stops putting you on the road automatically. At that point everything works fine. EraSeek's last post in this thread goes into better detail.

Edited November 5, 2006 by VoltageHz

November 5, 2006

I had it off for a short time, I turned it back on because the blue circle was annoying me (I'm very particular sometimes

Why do you turn your auto-nav maps off? Is that because you switch to topo maps when off the road?

I'm still debating whether I should get topo maps or not.

Yes, I switch to topos when off road.

It took me five years to buy the topos. If I just geocached, I would not bother getting them, at least not in the east where I live. I do a lot of hiking and other activities with my GPS that made it attractive to get the Topos. They are nice to have even with their limited detail and errors. It still amazes me that you can get all this information in the palm of your hand.

For the unit to display the topos, you have to hide the auto-nav maps (CS in my case). In order to auto-route you have to show the auto-nav maps again. It just makes sense for the unit to do this automatically based on the nvaigation route you select, or at least ask you which map set you want to use if you choose off road.

I also have TopoFusion on my laptop which lets me plot tracks and waypoints over detailed topo and arial maps. A very cool feature is the ability to average a number of tracks to make an "averaged" track. A great feature if you want to map trails, as averaging a number of tracks should result in a more accurate track than a single pass. $40 for the full unlock. A very nice program for planning and analysis. Of course you can't down load these maps to your garmin unless you create your own maps - there are numerous threads on the forum that tell you how to do this, although I have never tried. Something to play around with on stormy days this winter.

Of course there is a lot more personal challenge using your GPS in conjunction with a paper map and compass. That is still my overall preference.

2.3k · November 5, 2006

I don't understand why Lock on Road should affect finding a geocache if you are using the compass and bearing screen and Off Road routing. As I understand it, the GPS doesn't change your location to match the road on the map, it just displays your position as being on the road on the map. The bearing pointer still points to the waypoint from your current location, correct?

Oh yes, it certainly will change the location it's using as well. It will figure out where you are, then check if you are moving fast enough in the direction of a nearby road, and lock you to that road, as if the position had been measured to be there. Which implies that even if you go 10 meters off the road, it will still act as if you are standing on the road. Your distance to an off-road waypoint will not change.

Eventually, it will find that you are too far from the road, so that it's no longer likely that you actually still are there. Then, in a jump, it will release the lock on the road and suddenly show your position where you really are.

After that, it takes that you move along a road, in a speed high enough for it to be likely that you are in some kind of vechicle, for the lock to engage once again.

Edited November 5, 2006 by apersson850

November 5, 2006

So it's settled!

Now all we have to do is get Garmin to turn the "Lock On Road" feature off automatically when the route setting is on "Off Road", unless someone knows of a reason not to? I just can't see any reason to keep "Lock On Road" turned on when you are routing "Off Road".

Also, it would be nice if there were a quick menu, something you could hit to bring up a menu of features that you might want to get to quickly, such as routing on or off road, lock on road, turning off maps like DogFleazJR discussed in his last post, etc.

1.1k · November 5, 2006

Can someone please explain why anyone in their right mind would intentionally make a setting on their GPSr where it would show them to be in an incorrect position where it KNOWS that they ARE NOT ?????(Lock on Road)Then question why their GPSr "Doesn't seem to be working right". DUH !!!

Understand that "Lock on Road" and "Follow road" are not the same.

Use Follow Road when you want to navigate to a location using roads/streets.

Use Off Road to identify a straight line navigation bearing.

Leave "Lock on Road" turned OFF. PERIOD ! If you turn it on, what you are doing is saying that you do NOT want your GPSr to tell you where you actually are, but you just want it to make a pretty picture! ....and then you can complain about your GPSr not being accurate, when it is doing exactly what you told it to do!

What you will find is that most, if not all, maps are not perfect and that your GPSr is more correct. Surely you don't really want to "Dummy it down" to match the maps.

November 5, 2006

Can someone please explain why anyone in their right mind would intentionally make a setting on their GPSr where it would show them to be in an incorrect position where it KNOWS that they ARE NOT ?????(Lock on Road)Then question why their GPSr "Doesn't seem to be working right". DUH !!!

Understand that "Lock on Road" and "Follow road" are not the same.

Use Follow Road when you want to navigate to a location using roads/streets.

Use Off Road to identify a straight line navigation bearing.

Leave "Lock on Road" turned OFF. PERIOD ! If you turn it on, what you are doing is saying that you do NOT want your GPSr to tell you where you actually are, but you just want it to make a pretty picture!

The point is that your GPS doesn't know exactly where you are. Sometimes it thinks you are 200 feet from where you really are (ever drive in a city?). "Lock On Road" is sometimes the only thing that will keep you on 7th Ave since the GPS knows that you didn't all of a sudden fly over to 5th Ave (where the GPS is now calculating your position to be, since you have bad reception.

What you will find is that most, if not all, maps are not perfect and that your GPSr is more correct. Surely you don't really want to "Dummy it down" to match the maps.

I don't feel that it's "Dummy it down", I feel that it's doing exactly as it should. I want my car to be positioned on the road I am currently driving on. Sometimes, if Lock On Road is not set, the GPS will either show me on a different road or in the middle of no where. This is either because I have bad reception or because the maps are not perfect. Either way, I have always had better luck with Lock On Road turned on. The only time I have had a problem is when I was off road, which is a given.

....and then you can complain about your GPSr not being accurate, when it is doing exactly what you told it to do!

One of our consumer level handheld GPS units will NEVER be accurate, it will always be off a little, whether it's from bad maps, bad reception, or just the limit to what can be developed for the price we are willing to pay. Features such as Lock On Road are there to help close the gap, and it does a great job while traveling on the road.

1.1k · November 5, 2006

In other words , even when you know you are in a bad reception area (your GPSr will show you), or if the maps of an area are bad, or when you know that you haven't changed streets (read the street signs) or jumped two blocks over (200 ft=2 blocks (5th to 7th??)) you would rather see a pretty picture ?

I believe I can rest my case.....

November 5, 2006

In other words , even when you know you are in a bad reception area (your GPSr will show you), or if the maps of an area are bad, or when you know that you haven't changed streets (read the street signs) or jumped two blocks over (200 ft=2 blocks (5th to 7th??)) you would rather see a pretty picture ?

I believe I can rest my case.....

Wow, awfully nasty, huh?

I am not looking for a pretty picture, I am looking for my GPS to route me as accurately as possible.

What I see on the street sign doesn't matter unless I had a way to transfer that information immediately to my GPS without taking my eyes off the traffic or hands off the wheel for more than a second or two. Since that is impossible, I need the GPS to be smart enough to keep my position on 5th street and continue to route me from there since there is no way I could have flown over to 7th street (where the GPS currently thinks I am because of the poor reception).

When the unit is guiding me thru a route, I apparently don't know where I am going. I need to unit to be accurate and give good directions. If all of a sudden the unit thinks I am on 5th street )while I am actually on 7th) and gives me directions from there, that outcome will not be good, not by any stretch of the imagination. Lock On Road takes care of problems such as that, it helps get me to my destination.

Instead of "giving up' and acting like you "won" with snide remarks like "I believe I can rest my case" and acting like us lowly amatures just want to see "pretty pictures", please explain how you would deal with this, explain a better way than Garmin's Lock On Road feature. Explain how it would be considered desirable to have your unit tell you that you are currently on the wrong street, and route you from that wrong street (while you are apparently lost- or at least not sure where you are going, since you are using a GPS unit).

Edited November 5, 2006 by VoltageHz

3.5k · November 5, 2006

I agree. Coming on a little strong. Anyway, there are reasons for lock on roads. One has to do with how different units use it. On my old Map76 if you had it on, and only if you had it on, the header at the top of the screen would tell you what the next upcoming street was. With my 60cx, you have the 'guidence text' function that turns that off and on. Unfortunately, if you are routing, the guidence text quites doing that. It just states the destination.

Maps can be off, gps can be inaccurate at times. Lock on roads does its best to help in your navagating. Everything has its limitations. As long as you have a good understanding of the limitations any tool is more usefull.

For example, a map is not a clear representation of reality, nor do you want it to be. Understanding its limits makes it a usefull tool.

November 6, 2006

I agree. Coming on a little strong. Anyway, there are reasons for lock on roads. One has to do with how different units use it. On my old Map76 if you had it on, and only if you had it on, the header at the top of the screen would tell you what the next upcoming street was. With my 60cx, you have the 'guidence text' function that turns that off and on. Unfortunately, if you are routing, the guidence text quites doing that. It just states the destination.

Maps can be off, gps can be inaccurate at times. Lock on roads does its best to help in your navagating. Everything has its limitations. As long as you have a good understanding of the limitations any tool is more usefull.

For example, a map is not a clear representation of reality, nor do you want it to be. Understanding its limits makes it a usefull tool.

Thanks for the info, I have learned a lot about how to get the most out of both of my GPSs from the many excellent posters here.

I think I've got it now: Lock on Roads On to better auto-nav, Lock on Roads Off when routing off road but near other roads. Once you're a bit down the trail it doesn't matter anymore.

My experience has been like that of Night Stalker - I have always left it on and never noticed a problem. I will likely keep it that way, but know that if I'm getting wierd results from the unit, I know what to check first.

November 6, 2006

I think Grasscatcher's point is a fair one.

I would rather see the GPSr locating me where its best estimate is rather than showing me on a road that I might not be on. In the case of road layout alterations, lock on roads in this situation could in itself be quite dangerous. I'd rather proceed with caution under a poor positional accuracy than be led to believe I was somewhere that I wasn't!

November 6, 2006

I think Grasscatcher's point is a fair one.

I have to disagree. Grasscatcher's point, as he so clearly stated it multiple times, is that the only purpose for the Lock On Road feature is to make a "pretty picture".

In reality, he ignored the fact that the Lock On Road feature does help in the navigational process.

I'd rather proceed with caution under a poor positional accuracy than be led to believe I was somewhere that I wasn't!

The thing I don't understand is that "poor position accuracy" will led you to believe you "were somewhere that you weren't" the same way. It's 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The only difference is that the Lock On Road option will use logic, it will understand that you didn't fly from 5th street to 7th street in .04 seconds.

Bad accuracy or bad maps don't use logic, they will take you from the north lane of a divided highway to the south lane of another highway 400 foot away and 300 foot lower in elevation.

It's a gamble either way, you can place your bet blind or try to put some thought into it first.

It's your choice, no one is pushing you either way, especially not us kiddies who only use Lock On Road for the pretty pictures

Edited November 6, 2006 by VoltageHz

November 6, 2006

Simply put, "lock on road" must be off if you are using your GPSr to collect tracks. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. Tracks collected with "lock on road" enabled are totally useless to the mappers.

November 6, 2006

One more quick point is that (in my case at least) the GPS came already with lock on road on..... so poor newbies like me cant figure out (untill you read this post!) why our arrows are stuck on the road while we are in the woods

6.4k · November 6, 2006

Simply put, "lock on road" must be off if you are using your GPSr to collect tracks. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. Tracks collected with "lock on road" enabled are totally useless to the mappers.

Sorry, wrong there.

The track logs save actual recorded position. "Lock on Road" only affects map display, not track logging.

November 6, 2006

The track logs save actual recorded position. "Lock on Road" only affects map display, not track logging.

Well, not sure if that is the case. The marker or cursor tends to skew towards a track that is already on the map and stayed there until one has branched into a totally new and unmarked territory on the map. My understanding is that the position of the cursor depicts the coordinate position on the map and thus the track logging and reliability of the tracks collected. So if the setting is set to on, the tracks collected are worthless.

As a habit, mine is set to off 247 whether I am collecting tracks or not.

November 6, 2006

The track logs save actual recorded position. "Lock on Road" only affects map display, not track logging.

Well, not sure if that is the case. The marker or cursor tends to skew towards a track that is already on the map and stayed there until one has branched into a totally new and unmarked territory on the map. My understanding is that the position of the cursor depicts the coordinate position on the map and thus the track logging and reliability of the tracks collected. So if the setting is set to on, the tracks collected are worthless.

As a habit, mine is set to off 247 whether I am collecting tracks or not.

I'm looking at saved tracks right now in Mapsource, when it's zoomed in I can clearly see that they don't match the road perfectly, sometimes they are in the other lane of a divided highway, simetimes they are 100 foot off of the road. Lock on Road was set to On when these tracks were taken.

1.2k · November 6, 2006

I have never had an issue with having lock on roads turned on while geocaching. When I get close to a cache I always change my gps from follow road to off road. Maybe this automatically disable the lock on road option.

It would be nice if the GPSr would change this mode automagically when one reaches the end of the on-road route while caching. And would go from battery saver to normal.

1.1k · November 6, 2006

"Maps can be off, gps can be inaccurate at times. Lock on roads does its best to help in your navagating. Everything has its limitations. As long as you have a good understanding of the limitations any tool is more usefull."

Sorry I "wound so many springs" or "came on a little strong" . IMO Era Seek really has the best comment (above).

GPSrs, along with ALL of their features, capabilities,and limitations are only Navigational Tools and should always be used IN CONJUNCTION WITH a giant dose of common sense and logic. That's what seems to be missing a lot of the time.

Never stop questioning what information your GPSr is telling you, or at least be aware that it can be the "truth" or it can be a "lie". In both cases, my "common sense & logic" or as Era Seek said " good understanding of the limitations", AND USE is the key to understanding your preference settings, on your unit, the way YOU use it.

November 6, 2006

Simply put, "lock on road" must be off if you are using your GPSr to collect tracks. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. Tracks collected with "lock on road" enabled are totally useless to the mappers.

Sorry, wrong there.

The track logs save actual recorded position. "Lock on Road" only affects map display, not track logging

I have been saving tracks to SD card on the 60CSX since June.

I have always had 'lock on road' activated.

As a result all my tracks have been automatically manipulated to lock on road [all track points fall on a road]!

Therefore, they are not a true reflection of my track.

As a result of this thread I removed 'lock on road' and travelled along a road in both directions.

Now, I have the track for viewing on MapSource and it shows a more accurate track of my movements, varying up to 15 feet from the road in both direction!

So now the track is now recording the actual GPS position, rather than the cursor/position arrow which was previously manipulated to 'lock on road'!

Thank you all, because tonight I learnt something new.

November 6, 2006

As a result of this thread I removed 'lock on road' and travelled along a road in both directions.

Now, I have the track for viewing on MapSource and it shows a more accurate track of my movements, varying up to 15 feet from the road in both direction!

So now the track is now recording the actual GPS position, rather than the cursor/position arrow which was previously manipulated to 'lock on road'!

Thank you all, because tonight I learnt something new.

I confirmed this at lunch time today as well. Had Lock on Road On the entire trip. Started out from the car and walked down a road for several hundred yards, then cut 90 deg down a foot path for a mile. Came back the exact same route using Track Back. Track back worked wonderfully until I got back to the road, where the GPS insisted I should be far off to the left and off the road. Indeed, once I uploaded the tracks to MapSource, the track on the way out from the car follows the mapped road exactly. The track on the way back to the car is 87 ft to the east of the road! GPS accuracy was consistently +/- 12 to 18 ft. Once I made the cut away from the road, the tracks in and out agree with each other to within the GPS accuracy.

So it is true, LOR affects the position reported by the GPS and the track log, not just the display of your position. (It's ok, Red90, we still love you) Once your bearing deviates from the road, the Lock On Road gives up fairly quickly and stays off until you again select a point to navigate to. (it didn't snap me back to the road on the return but logged my "true" position).

It is hard to believe one feature could cause so much confusion. In the spirit of better understanding the tool so that it can be used most effectively, however you choose to use it :rolleyes: I have summarized the trade-offs of the Lock On Road feature below:

For improved reliability while auto-navigating, LOR should be ON. Your tracks will be inaccurate to the extent that your maps are inaccurate, but this generally won't be an issue while auto-naving
For accurate track logs along or in close proximity to mapped roads, LOR should be OFF
When searching for a waypoint along or in close proximity to mapped roads, LOR should be OFF
The rest of the time it doesn't really matter. Select whichever option, ON or OFF, that makes you feel intellectually superior

Like Strumble, I have learned something new. Thanks.

6.4k · November 6, 2006

Well there you go, I'm wrong. I did a check today and you are right.

But, having "lock on road" on or off does not affect the autorouting as far as I can see. The auto-routing still thinks you are on the closest road. So, really I can not see any reason to leave the "lock on roads" turned on.

1.1k · November 7, 2006

Now that the actual effects of "Lock on Road" are out of the closet and better understood, how about some of you conducting experiments with the compass "turned on" vs "turned off" and its effect on the accuracy of the bearing pointer (not course pointer) during a "go to".

Compass actually turned off , not just set to turn off below a certain speed, for a certain length of time.

I do believe there will be some more learning going on.....

Probably should be started in another thread.

Edited November 7, 2006 by Grasscatcher

November 7, 2006

........ So, really I can not see any reason to leave the "lock on roads" turned on.

Quite often I have a track that I want to keep and convert to a route.

I import it into MapSource OPEN it, and using the 'Route tool' I select various track points in sequence[perhaps 1 in 50] and Mapsource constructs the route as I move track point to track point!

I have then have a route from a track in minutes on Mapsource on the PC, to be transferred to the unit at any time.

To make this feasible I will have to leave the "lock on roads" turned on as track points off the road are of little use!

November 7, 2006

While this thread is of value to me, and I/we are learning, could I follow on to:-

MENU- MENU- Routes- Saved routes- MENU- 'Off Road Transition'- Enter- Route Leg Transition- [Auto/Manual/Distance]

I only found it as part of this thread and seems to follow on.

Can anyone explain the options in 'Route Leg Transition'??????????

2.3k · November 7, 2006

Yes, you've now understood how Lock on road works, and how it affects track logging.

It is indeed correct that when locked on the road, everything works as if you really were exactly on the road.

To me, it's obvious that lock on road is better when driving a car. In a complex intersection, there is no reason to have to deal with translating the shown position to the correct road, when it's shown between two. The GPS will normally do a very good job in interpreting that for you.

Strumble, the route transition thing you've found has to do with how a unit like the 60 CS handles off-road routes. In automatic mode, it will start showing the way to the next route waypoint when you've passed a line, that bisects the route line at the current waypoint.

In distance mode, it will start guiding you to the next point when you've passed within the given distance of the current point.

In manual mode, you have to select the next waypoint along the route yourself.

1.3k · November 8, 2006

I have never had an issue with having lock on roads turned on while geocaching. When I get close to a cache I always change my gps from follow road to off road. Maybe this automatically disable the lock on road option.

Well the GPSV used to do exactly that. Infact a patch was installed for that unit that when one selects to navigate "Off Road" the unit would not remain locked on the road even though the road lock is activated.

The 60csx does not behave in the same manner. If the road lock is on, and a cache is within about 20m of a road, the GPSr does not disengage and you're going to have a tough time finding the cache if you don't switch the road lock off. Now, I took this issue up in other threads, no-one seemed to care much, and also took this up with Garmin. After plenty of 'beating around the bush emails" Garmin eventually came up with the statement that all units that have this feature behave the same way and always have (as the 60csx). I then pointed them in the direction of their own website and the relevant patch for the GPSV which was to fix this exact problem. There only reply was to switch the road lock off and not to ever enable it... errrrr what the heck is the point of having it then????

I've walked with both units to caches, and the GPSV disengages when selecting off road regardless of how close the cache is to the road and the road lock is on. In my mind this is exactly how the unit should behave when selecting to navigate off road (by definition it means don't lock to a road). With the 60csx, I've walked over 300m away from the nearest road and the unit remained locked on the road if the cache was within +-20m of the road and the road lock is on.

Do I want the road lock on? While driving, yes. Routing somehow seems to perform better, and when there are parallel roads that are close to each other, auto routing gets confused if the road lock is off. And I also do not see why I should manually have to switch the road lock on and off manually to achieve this all the time. If I say I want to navigate off road then there should be no reason why the unit should remain locked on.

If they could fix this in the GPSV, I don't understand Garmin's reluctance to fix it in the 60csx.

Edited November 8, 2006 by GlobalRat

November 9, 2006

Strumble, the route transition thing you've found has to do with how a unit like the 60 CS handles off-road routes. In automatic mode, it will start showing the way to the next route waypoint when you've passed a line, that bisects the route line at the current waypoint.

In distance mode, it will start guiding you to the next point when you've passed within the given distance of the current point.

In manual mode, you have to select the next waypoint along the route yourself.

Thank you,

I'm still learning!

"Lock on Roads" setting for GPSMap60CSX

Recommended Posts

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment

Link to comment