GPX Versions 1.1 vs 1.2 for Garmin Visually Explained

[Carl Lee]

@steve-jarrell, I agree with all that you wrote and that is what I have previously found to be correct. I either exported a 1.2 file via USB to my SD card or used 1.1 via Tread. Both worked although if you stopped the 1.2 route and re-started it, Tread would probably corrupt it.

I'm aware of how to remove Tread from the mix but I obviously seem to like a problem to solve. As of recently, 1.2 is now playing nicely with Tread so getting a route into my XT2 is a doddle. I know the route is correct because I run the track in red underneath it. The two do not separate and re-routing back is catered for (if you should so wish).

All I'm trying to say is that for those who are either having trouble with Tread or who have binned it but would like to use it, try it again with 1.2. I like the ability to plan with MRA and loading this route when away from home. The SD card option is too fiddly - I don't much fancy dropping it as it has lots of music on it too.

[Steve Jarrell]

@Carl-Lee That's very good to know. Thanks for the update!

I understand the "need to solve the puzzle" syndrome very well. I think it's an affliction that some of us have to live with!

And I agree with you completely that showing the track and the route simultaneously on the Garmin is the absolute best way to know for certain that it's taking you the way that you wanted to go. I learned the hard way to do that (many times) before 1.2 when I had to force it to follow my desired route with a LOT of shaping points.

[John S Parry]

@Steve-Jarrell I finally got around to playing with 1.2, and I'm impressed. Here is a screenshot of one of the most troublesome routes I've recently created, and it passed my 1.2 test perfectly:

It's a single very rural road that partially crosses the southernmost Sierra Nevada. It's a challenging road to route because it requires precisely positioned shaping points (using 1.1) to Import into a Garmin. I probably have more overall shaping points than needed, but 2 WPs in particular (23&24), as they are exactly placed, are absolutely necessary. It's a unique jog on the road that messes up recalculation on my Zumo otherwise.

Initially, it took a lot of iterative back-and-forth between MRA and my Zumo to finally solve the puzzle. I literally spend hours playing with different shaping point scenarios before solving the mystery. Now with 1.2, I can delete WPs 23&24 and the route recalculates on the Zumo correctly. I'm finally going to able to achieve "what you see on MRA is what you get in the Zomo".

1.2 is definitely going to make life easier for trickier situations like this.

[Steve Jarrell]

@John-S-Parry Yep, the concept behind 1.2 is brilliant.... include the track inside of the route information so that the Garmin has no choice but to follow it. I used to have to also include a LOT of shaping points to make my Garmin calculate its route match MRA's route, but no more!

Thanks for the information!!

[Simon James Hancock]

I have been reading up on all of your post and trying to lean as much as possible.
I created a route with all via points and when I set off it did not take me to via point 2 which is just a couple of hundred meters down the road from point 1, It kept trying to send me back to via point 1. Attached is a foto of the firts waypoints. Any help would be much appreciated. I saved the route as 1.2.

[Nick Carthew]

@Simon-James-Hancock It is always advisable to position the first waypoint 100+ metres from the actual start point, this ensures that the first point is registered as being passed. You were being directed back because the first point was missed.

[Simon James Hancock]

Thanks Nick for all of your help and work.
Even when I passed the second via point it was sending me back to the first.
Will it always try and send me back to the first via poin regardless on how far down the route i am?
I would like to upload my GPX file for further inspection but I am still not allowed.

[Nick Carthew]

@Simon-James-Hancock Yes, you’ll always be sent back to missed via points, via points are never automatically skipped you would need to manually skip a missed via point.

[Simon James Hancock]

How do I manually skip a missed via point.
In the situation I found myself was their anyway I could have carried on my route without having had to go back to the first via point?

[Steve Jarrell]

@Nick-Carthew Exactly. I think we all learn that the hard way!

[Steve Jarrell]

@Simon-James-Hancock Refer to this help page for this answer and many others...

"When navigating, you can skip a waypoint by clicking on the next waypoint (top right button - screen 4). When pressing briefly, you must confirm the choice; when pressed for a long time, it is skipped immediately;

You can also skip multiple waypoints by going to the list of waypoints (three dots at the bottom right - screen 4) and clicking on the waypoint where the navigation should go directly;
Just like when starting up, you can also hold down the waypoint/point on the route line during navigation on the map to navigate directly there."

[Simon James Hancock]

My route is saved as 1,2 and all od my points are via points.
I do not see the top right button.

[Steve Jarrell]

@Simon-James-Hancock I'm sorry.... I wasn't thinking. Those instructions are for the MRA app, not the Garmin. I need to pay closer attention!!

As @nick-carthew said, ideally you will avoid this situation by placing your starting location at least a couple of hundred yards/meters beyond where you actually want to start and that way you'll always past through your starting point. That will completely eliminate this issue in the future.

However, as a workaround you can try this.....

When you press "Go" to start a route in the Garmin, you're given three options as to where you want to start..... The beginning point, closest point (shaping point) or the destination. You had no doubt selected the beginning point and as far as I know there's no way to skip that once you've told the Garmin to go there

Since you don't have any shaping points in your route to select as your "closest" point, I THINK in this situation the only way to skip the beginning point if you had entered the route beyond it would be to stop the route in the Garmin, re-enter it and when asked where you want to start tell it the destination.

I'm not 100% sure that would work but I just created a test route of a couple of hundred miles from my house without any shaping points in MRA, saved the route in 1.2 format and imported it into my Garmin XT3 and told the Garmin to make the starting point the destination, and it followed my planned 1.2 route exactly as it was shown in MRA, so I'm fairly certain that will work.

I thought about suggesting turning off auto-recalculation, but since your starting point is a via point and you've told the Garmin that's where you want to start, I don't think that's going to work.

I'm sure there are others here with far more experience with MRA and Garmin than I have, so if there are other methods I'm sure they'll let us know and we'll all learn something new!