Route vs. tracks?

[Guest prospector]

What is the difference between Routes and Tracks on a GPS? (ie. eTrex Vista) Can anyone help me out?

[Guest bob_renner]

Basically a route is where you want to go and a track is where you've been.

 

The route is a collection of waypoints you preprogram. Typically the gps will allow a small number (about 30) of waypoints per route and allow from 1 to maybe 10 routes. This depends upon make and model.

 

The track is generated by the gps receiver based upon where you've been and may contain several hundred to 2000 points.

 

Garmin gps units will do a "trackback" where it converts the track log to a route of waypoints to approximate a return route. Other makes may have a similar feature with a similar name.

 

Bob

[Guest Moun10Bike]

A track is, for the most part, a record of motion of the GPS unit as it travels (although you can also upload a track of your creation to the GPS). Think of it as a high-tech breadcrumb trail. You can use tracks to see where you've been, or draw out a trail in a mapping program on your computer and upload it to view on your GPS screen out in the woods. It is essentially a line of linked waypoints (i.e. individual points of latitude and longitude) strung together, but these waypoints do not appear in your waypoint list as such.

 

A route is a series of linked waypoints used for navigation. Unlike in a track, the route waypoints DO show up in your waypoint list, and deleting the route does not delete the waypoints. When you activate a route, the GPS takes your current position and computes the distance to the second point in the route (not the first point for reasons which I will not explain here). When you reach that second point, it switches to the third waypoint in the route, and so on. The route then allows the GPS to effectively direct you along a non-linear path. Sailors use routes to navigate challenging straits with a lot of obstacles, pilots use them to navigate along flight paths, and I like to use them when driving or biking to get a more accurate distance to my final destination than would be provided by a straight "go to" on the GPS.

 

Hope that helps.