BMW Nav VI

Dismounting the GPS while it is powered is no different from unplugging the USB charging cord from the back while the GPS is on. But don't get concerned about doing that, because that is almost exactly what all of us do every time we remove the GPS from it's BMW mount anyway. When you turn the ignition off and the screen goes black the GPS is still on.

Most folks think that when the GPS is mounted and you turn off your ignition and watch the GPS screen say "Ignition off. Stay on?" that pressing the "Off" icon turns your GPS off. It does not. The GPS is still on just in Garmin's "Sleep Mode". Taking it out of, or placing in, the mount while on is no different from turning on the ignition with the GPS mounted which is done numerous times per day when I'm riding and stop for gas/lunch/etc.

The BMW Navigator GPS (VI, V, for certain) will automatically turn itself on when power is applied to the unit but does not power off when power is removed. It merely goes into sleep mode if the external power is stopped and uses the internal battery. I remove my GPS from the bike during winter storage and shut it off so it doesn't drain it's internal battery (the bike does not power the GPS mount when the ignition is off).

You can also initiate a sleep mode your self by pressing the on/off button on the back of the GPS and releasing it within a second or so. The GPS is not off, simply in battery conservation (sleep) mode and doesn't go through it's startup process when it is re-powered from an external source or when you repress the on/off button for a second or less to turn on the screen.

If you read the BMW Navigator manual they caution about a number of things, but I've not seen anywhere that they suggest the unit should be off when being mounted or unmounted. They do say that it should not be mounted when attaching a battery charger, but that is mostly a caution agains older systems. Much like the old "turn all your cell phones off before take-off".

Thanks Alan.

One of my big problems was in basecamp I selected "don't alert on arrival" on shaping points, so if I got off route it would take me straight to my distination as it could not see my shaping points. All I wanted to hear was where to turn I didn't think I needed to hear the address of my shaping point. I was wrong.
Bob

bobw said:

One of my big problems was in basecamp I selected "don't alert on arrival" on shaping points, so if I got off route it would take me straight to my distination as it could not see my shaping points. All I wanted to hear was where to turn I didn't think I needed to hear the address of my shaping point. I was wrong.
Bob

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I didn't realize that shaping points were ignored when route is recalculated. Is this true?

littlebriar said:

I didn't realize that shaping points were ignored when route is recalculated. Is this true?

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I've been under the understanding when you delete the alert it only removes the audio announcement not the point in which the route will travel. What's up?

Jay

I might be wrong but it sure don't look like it. When I start a route with the shaping points set to not notify they are not listed in the gps? I've been off route and it recalculated me direct to the finish point.

bobw said:

I might be wrong but it sure don't look like it. When I start a route with the shaping points set to not notify they are not listed in the gps? I've been off route and it recalculated me direct to the finish point.

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Please tell us how you edited the alert for each shaping point.

Jay

Double click on the route in basecamp which takes you to properties and then right click on the shaping point and select Don't alert on arrival.

My experience with my zümo 590 is that if I simply go off-route, it still tries to direct me to the next shaping point. If I tell it to skip a point, it recalculates to the next (announced) via point, and then resumes using any (un-announced) shaping points. As mentioned, this means that if you only have start and end points, with many shaping points in the middle, recalculations will route you directly to the finish. If you've planned a loop, it can become very short!

I've read some posts at advrider.com suggesting that Garmin may change this behavior for the Nav VI and skip to the next shaping point, instead of the next via point, but I'm not sure how much of that is fact and how much is wishful thinking.

bobw said:

Double click on the route in basecamp which takes you to properties and then right click on the shaping point and select Don't alert on arrival.

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Yep that's correct, how does the route look in basecamp?

It looks the same in basecamp. I'm using the Nav 6 so that might be the problem. I went over my routes and changed them back to notify.

bobw said:

It looks the same in basecamp. I'm using the Nav 6 so that might be the problem. I went over my routes and changed them back to notify.

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Have you recalculated before sending the route to the Nav 6? To recalculated click the button at the bottom of the dialog box you changed the alert status in. My clubs tourmister uses don't alert often in routes, his routes work fine in my Nav V. I just edited a route in basecamp, recalculated, sent it to my Nav V, it worked.

Good luck,
Jay

I sent up a route and then selected do not alert on arrival and then when I selected to run it in my Nav 6 I only had two choices to start from, the beginning and end.

bobw said:

I sent up a route and then selected do not alert on arrival and then when I selected to run it in my Nav 6 I only had two choices to start from, the beginning and end.

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If the route looks good in Basecamp be sure to recalculate before sending to Nav 6? If no workie I'd call Garmin, it works fine on my Nav V

Jay

Using Nav VI with silent shaping points.

bobw said:

I sent up a route and then selected do not alert on arrival and then when I selected to run it in my Nav 6 I only had two choices to start from, the beginning and end.

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Good afternoon, Bob.
When you use a route that only has a Starting Point and Ending Point, with silent (unannounced) Shaping Points in between, you have to make sure you select the proper Starting Point to start your route.
Garmin started this with the Zumo 590/390 and Nav V units. After you select the route, and you hit GO, it gives you a choice of which Waypoint or ViaPoint you want to go too. On this screen it will only show Announced Points. If you select your End Point, which is most logical, as you are already at the Starting Point, the GPS will recalculate and take you it by either the Fastest or Shortest to that Point. It will bypass all the Shaping Points. While if you go to the Starting Point, it will follow the route the way you made it BaseCamp.
To Fix this you can either insert into your route a Announced Point right after the Starting Point or scroll up in the choices and select the Starting Point.

bobw said:

I sent up a route and then selected do not alert on arrival and then when I selected to run it in my Nav 6 I only had two choices to start from, the beginning and end.

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Using the current location as the "start" of a route confuses my zümo. When setting out on a route, it allows me to start at any via (announced) point, but the path to that point will be calculated by the GPS and it will ignore any shaping points prior to that via point. If the only choice is the end point, the entire pre-planned route will be skipped. This is the reason the first point I set in Basecamp is at a point at a few hundred yards away from my current location. I appreciate a quiet ride with a minimum of instructions, but setting everything to do-not-alert does not work. Keep several of the alerts to retain "re-entry" points if you go off-route.

I find I can stick to my intended plans more easily if I use both a route and a track. A route might be recalculated by the GPS, but a track never will. Create the route in Basecamp, right-click to "Create Track from Selected Route", and send both to the GPS. In the Track app, open the track and check the box to "Show on Map". Then load the route in the Trip Planner app, and both the track (black center stripe) and the route (magenta border) will be shown. If they diverge, the route has been recalculated for some reason and a decision can be made as to the preferred course of action. Usually, that means zooming out to find the track and heading in that direction.

EDIT: Bernie types and thinks faster than I, but I spent too much time on that to delete my post...

lkraus said:

Using the current location as the "start" of a route confuses my zümo. When setting out on a route, it allows me to start at any via (announced) point, but the path to that point will be calculated by the GPS and it will ignore any shaping points prior to that via point. If the only choice is the end point, the entire pre-planned route will be skipped. This is the reason the first point I set in Basecamp is at a point at a few hundred yards away from my current location. I appreciate a quiet ride with a minimum of instructions, but setting everything to do-not-alert does not work. Keep several of the alerts to retain "re-entry" points if you go off-route.

I find I can stick to my intended plans more easily if I use both a route and a track. A route might be recalculated by the GPS, but a track never will. Create the route in Basecamp, right-click to "Create Track from Selected Route", and send both to the GPS. In the Track app, open the track and check the box to "Show on Map". Then load the route in the Trip Planner app, and both the track (black center stripe) and the route (magenta border) will be shown. If they diverge, the route has been recalculated for some reason and a decision can be made as to the preferred course of action. Usually, that means zooming out to find the track and heading in that direction.

EDIT: Bernie types and thinks faster than I, but I spent too much time on that to delete my post...

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You explained it much better then I could.
But just to verify this, if you tell it to go to your First WayPoint/ViaPoint, it will not bypass any of the silent Shaping Points (White/Silver Pearls on the GPS Map). This works even if you have to circle your starting point. LOL Patience, it is after all a Garmin.

By having all the tracts silent it will still follow the route until I get off route and then it will send me directly to the destination. I decided to let the shaping points talk to me.

I will try putting in a route and a track and see how that works for me. That seems pretty good idea.

bobw said:

By having all the tracts silent it will still follow the route until I get off route and then it will send me directly to the destination. I decided to let the shaping points talk to me.

I will try putting in a route and a track and see how that works for me. That seems pretty good idea.

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Ok now I understand Bob's issue, I'm a little slow. It's stuff like this that makes me love my Zumo 550, not to mention I can see it in the sun. Bob how is the Nav 6 in the sun?

Jay

bobw said:

By having all the tracts silent it will still follow the route until I get off route and then it will send me directly to the destination. I decided to let the shaping points talk to me.

I will try putting in a route and a track and see how that works for me. That seems pretty good idea.

Click to expand...

Sorry Bob, you are having these problems, but my Nav VI does not do that. I run lots of routes, some very complicated with 100s of shaping points and over 400-500 mile in length. If I get off route, it will guide me back to the next silent shaping point and let me continue riding the original route. You may not have enough shaping points or positioned them to far apart or something in the preferences is causing this.
Did you get the latest software and firmware updates?
You may want to set the recalculating feature to Prompt, instead of automatic. This way if you only get of route a little, you can tell the GPS not to recalculate and find your way back to the route by using the map view for cross roads.