Making A Route In Mapsource

[Trumper]

Howdy

 

Here's a screenshot of my first attempt to make a route with Mapsource for my upcoming trip with the Garmin Quest.

 

 

I originally made the route as just SF to Okla City. Then I thought I'd go in and add the waypoints for the side-trips I wanted to take. So that screenshot shows me leaving I-40 at Topock, going on old Route 66 through Oatman, then rejoining I-40 at Kingman.

 

But when I do a "recalculate route," it does indeed take my new route, but it leaves the old route via I-40 there. Why? What's gonna happen when I get there in the car? Will it start assuming I'm off-route and trying to get me back to I-40?

 

I saved, quit, then re-opened the route thinking maybe the "recalculate" feature didn't "erase" the old route or something. Nope, it's still there.

 

So the question is: How should I do side-trip routes like this so that it draws the route the way I want to go and it *erases* the part where the original route (I-40) used to be? Almost all of my side-trips are little loops like this off of I-40 at some point then re-joining I-40 later.

 

Thanks for any advice....

 

Oh, and should the list of waypoints be *alphabetical* over in the left column? That's pretty useless really--it should be in order not jumbled according to the alphabet!

[+Latitude 26]

Don't pay attention to the sort order in the waypoints list.

 

Click on the Routes tab, double click (open) the route.This will show the route properties. You will see the list of points in your route. This is where the sort order matters. You have to put the points in the route list in the order you want them - click on a point, then you will see the yellow UP & Down arrows on the left side of the list window. Click UP to move the point UP the list, or DOWN to move the point down the list. Once they're sorted in order in the route properties list, then click the recalculate button...

 

See if this works.

 

"JB"

[Trumper]

Howdy.

 

Yep, I already did that. It's a minor pain because when I "add waypoints" to the route, it adds them alphabetically, not in the order I added them. So I have to add a group at a time, then go to properties, then move them around to the correct order.

 

But when I clicked the recalculate button, it still draws a map like the one above; it leaves the loop I don't want (I-40) there even though it does draw the new route.

 

Maybe I should be making these side-trips "Via" points instead of "Waypoints" ???

[+Olar]

Trumper what you can check for is if one of your via waypoints is on the wrong side of a multi-lane, divided highway. I've done that myself a few times and you end up getting some very creative routes.

You can usually confirm the placement by zooming right in on the waypoint(s) so that you can distinguish between the northbound and southbound lanes.

 

Good Luck, Olar

[+Hemlock]

It's a minor pain because when I "add waypoints" to the route, it adds them alphabetically, not in the order I added them.

When looking at the "Route Properties" window, click on one of the waypoints in the list. Then when you "Insert Waypoint" it will be added right above the waypoint you clicked on. In other words. insert them exactly where you want, instead of at the end which requires moving them after.

 

Also I think one of your problems is that you are adding too many points to your route and not letting MapSource do the work for you. For instance, instead of a route from SF-->Topock Exit-->Old 66 Byway Turnout-->Sitgreaves Pass-->Okla City just do SF-->Sitgreaves Pass-->Okla City for example. MapSource (and your GPS) will know to turn off at Topock Exit.

 

From your screenshot, which shows that there is only (1) route, its obvious that there is a loop of some sort in your route. Double check the order of waypoints in your route. Make sure nothing is before SF and nothing is after Okla City.

[Trumper]

Quote Hemlock: Also I think one of your problems is that you are adding too many points to your route and not letting MapSource do the work for you. For instance, instead of a route from SF-->Topock Exit-->Old 66 Byway Turnout-->Sitgreaves Pass-->Okla City just do SF-->Sitgreaves Pass-->Okla City for example. MapSource (and your GPS) will know to turn off at Topock Exit.

 

Ah, good point. I could have done that in this case. There are other side-trips though where I'll still have a problem. E.g., If I take a side-trip to the painted desert, meteor crater, or an old section that winds out to a deserted building then back to the same exit where I left I-40, I wonder what it will do.

 

Instead of adding side-trips one at a time (and all the waypoints on that side-trip), I'll just add one. Then when the route is right, I'll go back and add the additional waypoints I want for the "attractions" on those side-trips.

 

I'll try the "add above" trick when inserting waypoints too.

 

This is new to me and it seems to be like most software applications: a pain in the *ss to setup, but great to use after you've done all the prep work....

 

Thanks.

[+Jeeping Family]

How much data do you really need? The trip from SF to OKC is not all that exciting, what few major tourist traps there are on both sides of the road are well documented with signage.

 

Oh, and are ou gonna get some Caching in out here with all of us in OKC?