Need Basecamp Tutorials

[88bmwjeff]

I've watched a few tutorials on Garmin's Basecamp on Youtube. I couldn't find anything on Garmin's site. I find this program to be the least intuitive program I've ever used. Can anyone recommend some good tutorials to watch? Help aids to download, etc.

Edit: I looked at the previous threads below and many are really old or the Youtube links are no longer valid.

 

[motormike]

I find this program to be the least intuitive program I've ever used.

You're not alone in thinking that. I've used Basecamp on and off for several years now, with more frustration that good results, most of the time. I've watched all the videos and read most of what's out there. There might be a hint or two in each one you can try and use to make your experience with basecamp a little better, but you'll need the patience of a saint. With practice, I've actually gotten the routing part of Basecamp down pretty well, not that it ever matters. The REAL problems start when you try and transfer the route into your Garmin GPS device. You work for hours and days on a carefully crafted route, and when the big day comes you hit GO on your Garmin, and the damn thing ignores all your planning, all your waypoints, and routes you however it damn well pleases. I can't decide if I should shoot my computer with a shotgun or smash my Garmin with a sledgehammer. A lot of people will tell you not to waste your time on Basecamp and just use your phone with one of the many motorcycle routing apps out there. Save the Garmin for when you just need to find the nearest gas station.

 

[gotfog]

https://www.newenglandriders.org/learn-basecamp/

 

[RadioFlyer]

You're not alone in thinking that. I've used Basecamp on and off for several years now, with more frustration that good results, most of the time. I've watched all the videos and read most of what's out there. There might be a hint or two in each one you can try and use to make your experience with basecamp a little better, but you'll need the patience of a saint. With practice, I've actually gotten the routing part of Basecamp down pretty well, not that it ever matters. The REAL problems start when you try and transfer the route into your Garmin GPS device. You work for hours and days on a carefully crafted route, and when the big day comes you hit GO on your Garmin, and the damn thing ignores all your planning, all your waypoints, and routes you however it damn well pleases. I can't decide if I should shoot my computer with a shotgun or smash my Garmin with a sledgehammer. A lot of people will tell you not to waste your time on Basecamp and just use your phone with one of the many motorcycle routing apps out there. Save the Garmin for when you just need to find the nearest gas station.

Go to Edit/Options/Device Transfer

Untick the boxes for
Strip shaping points
and
Always match the route to the map

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

[88bmwjeff]

https://www.newenglandriders.org/learn-basecamp/

Thanks.

 

[88bmwjeff]

Go to Edit/Options/Device Transfer

Untick the boxes for
Strip shaping points
and
Always match the route to the map

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tips. I must have already done this, since Basecamp is already set up that way.

 

[lkraus]

https://www.newenglandriders.org/learn-basecamp/ is a good way to familiarize yourself with Basecamp.
But, after about two years I still struggled to create reliable routes on my Zumo 590/595. They would work about half the time, another 30% would require some rerouting on the fly, the rest I'd either get out the paper map or just give up and tell the GPS to take me home. I felt like I was spending more time getting the GPS to do what I wanted than I was riding.

Then I found a guide created by John Heath. I consider it the manual that Garmin should have included with every GPS, because it explains how the GPS interprets the route created in Basecamp. The guide will be very helpful to anyone using the BMW Navigator V or VI as they use the same routing algorithms.

The guide can be viewed at [url]https://issuu.com/jfheath/docs/zumo_590_595_basecamp_v4[/URL]. Be sure to also check out the YouTube playlist at the link on page 29. These videos do a very good job of illustrating how Basecamp choices affect the GPS route.

Now, about 95% of my routes take me exactly where I want to go, on the roads that I want to use, and I understand what mistakes I made on the other 5%.


The newer Zumo XT does some things a bit differently, and John is still experimenting to understand those differences. He has published some of his findings here: [url]https://issuu.com/jfheath/docs/zumo_xt_-_discovered_information_-_6_dec_2021[/URL]. He updates the document from time to time as new details emerge and Garmin changes the firmware.

 

[88bmwjeff]

https://www.newenglandriders.org/learn-basecamp/

Page six of the Part 1 Guide for PC has some settings for Basecamp that has solved one of my biggest frustrations with Basecamp in that it wouldn't create a route the way I wanted it to. It now works much better. There were also some settings for the Garmin GPS unit as well--although I've been out riding yet with the settings. I still have a bunch more to learn, but with the proper settings, I'm a few steps closer.

 

[61996]

I'm fairly proficient with BaseCamp and would be happy to do a Zoom call with you.

LMK

Joe

 

[88bmwjeff]

I'm fairly proficient with BaseCamp and would be happy to do a Zoom call with you.

LMK

Joe

Thanks. I'm working through the guides indicated above and so far so good. If I have any problems, I'll send you a PM.

 

[rhbike]

Another reason why the Garmin GPS will ignore all your carefully crafted routing is how you answer the question when start the route on the GPS. You are prompted for which waypoint you want to join into (start) the route. The exact wording of the question is as unintuitive as the rest of Garmin's products, so it can lead one to incorrectly select the end waypoint, at which point the GPS will choose its own route to the end of your planned ride completely ignoring your routing. You want to select the first waypoint, or the one you want join in at - not the last. This has messed me up a few times.

Other things I've learned is to make sure Basecamp and the GPS have the same map versions downloaded, and also make sure both are set to the same preferences (such as curvy).

 

[motormike]

I've tried em all. I'll select one, and of course the GPS routes me however it wants. So I just cancel the route and start over with another starting point. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. That's what is so frustrating about the Garmin GPS/Basecamp interface. You simply won't know until you hit the "GO" button on the GPS if it's going to look anything like the route you built on Basecamp. I just finished a 7000 mile ride to the northwest coast and back. I spent days planning each days route on basecamp and moving it into my Nav VI. But I knew from past experience not to trust it, so I also had an old IPhone 6plus with the same routes loaded on it. About 50%
of the time, I could use the GPS until I'd come upon an interstate which it would always want to route me on. Then I'd just cancel the route and revert to my Iphone routing. Navigation was my single largest frustration on the three week trip.

 

[motormike]

I'm just starting to read John Heath's guide. It's pretty good. I particularly like his suggestion of putting your start point a bit down the road from your actual start point. Just today I used Basecamp to plot what should have been a simple, 90 mile route. This time, I decided to let Basecamp figure the route for me, since I knew where the destination was, and didn't particularly care what roads Basecamp used to get me there. I only had one routing requirement along the entire 90 mile route. I wanted to exit off the interstate one exit sooner than the route Basecamp plotted for me. So I added a "Via point" (Waypoint to me) on the road just past that exit to force Basecamp to take me off the interstate a few miles sooner than it would have. (Using "fastest time" preference which both Basecamp and my Garmin are set to) Of course, this one simple change was too much and ended up screwing up the route! I hit "GO" and everything was fine as I rode along until I came to that "Via Point." Apparently, I'd "missed" and placed it off the road by just a hair, and my Garmin was bound and determined to make me ride right over it, so when I road past it, the milage on the GPS started to INCREASE as I rode further away from the missed waypoint! Arrrrrrrg! I canceled the route, reloaded it, and then selected the NEXT point, which was my destination, and the GPS once again routed me correctly the rest of the way. What a PITA!

 

[lkraus]

I'm just starting to read John Heath's guide. It's pretty good. I particularly like his suggestion of putting your start point a bit down the road from your actual start point. Just today I used Basecamp to plot what should have been a simple, 90 mile route. This time, I decided to let Basecamp figure the route for me, since I knew where the destination was, and didn't particularly care what roads Basecamp used to get me there. I only had one routing requirement along the entire 90 mile route. I wanted to exit off the interstate one exit sooner than the route Basecamp plotted for me. So I added a "Via point" (Waypoint to me) on the road just past that exit to force Basecamp to take me off the interstate a few miles sooner than it would have. (Using "fastest time" preference which both Basecamp and my Garmin are set to) Of course, this one simple change was too much and ended up screwing up the route! I hit "GO" and everything was fine as I rode along until I came to that "Via Point." Apparently, I'd "missed" and placed it off the road by just a hair, and my Garmin was bound and determined to make me ride right over it, so when I road past it, the milage on the GPS started to INCREASE as I rode further away from the missed waypoint! Arrrrrrrg! I canceled the route, reloaded it, and then selected the NEXT point, which was my destination, and the GPS once again routed me correctly the rest of the way. What a PITA!

Check out the "Zoom trick" that John has on the top of page 27. It's a quick, easy way to check the placement of each point without a lot of manual zooming and panning around the map.

I also use the "Track trick" from the same page. If I cause the route to be recalculated, I can ignore the magenta line and instructions and just follow the track, which is never recalculated.

 

[motormike]

About finished reading John Heaths Garmin/Basecamp guide. While I think it is the best and most complete guide out there, it certainly confirms the fact that the Basecamp/Garmin GPS interface is utterly and insanely complex. There are hundreds of ways to get it all wrong (and not know it until you hit that "GO" button) and only a very few ways to get it right. Is it any wonder EVERYBODY else I ride with simply uses their phones and Google Maps or some variation thereof?

 

[RadioFlyer]

I'm just starting to read John Heath's guide. It's pretty good. I particularly like his suggestion of putting your start point a bit down the road from your actual start point. Just today I used Basecamp to plot what should have been a simple, 90 mile route. This time, I decided to let Basecamp figure the route for me, since I knew where the destination was, and didn't particularly care what roads Basecamp used to get me there. I only had one routing requirement along the entire 90 mile route. I wanted to exit off the interstate one exit sooner than the route Basecamp plotted for me. So I added a "Via point" (Waypoint to me) on the road just past that exit to force Basecamp to take me off the interstate a few miles sooner than it would have. (Using "fastest time" preference which both Basecamp and my Garmin are set to) Of course, this one simple change was too much and ended up screwing up the route! I hit "GO" and everything was fine as I rode along until I came to that "Via Point." Apparently, I'd "missed" and placed it off the road by just a hair, and my Garmin was bound and determined to make me ride right over it, so when I road past it, the milage on the GPS started to INCREASE as I rode further away from the missed waypoint! Arrrrrrrg! I canceled the route, reloaded it, and then selected the NEXT point, which was my destination, and the GPS once again routed me correctly the rest of the way. What a PITA!

In the route editing page right click on each waypoint that you have inserted just to shape the route and click on "Don't Alert on Arrival". This converts the waypoint to a shaping point. You don't have to hit shaping points so your Garmin won't insist on going back when you ride past it. This is a good general practice as you never know when you might encounter a detour that will also mess you up otherwise.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[lkraus]

In the route editing page right click on each waypoint that you have inserted just to shape the route and click on "Don't Alert on Arrival". This converts the waypoint to a shaping point. You don't have to hit shaping points so your Garmin won't insist on going back when you ride past it. This is a good general practice as you never know when you might encounter a detour that will also mess you up otherwise.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

Kind of related:

When you are dragging a route to preferred roads, dropping it in an intersection creates a shaping (non-alerting) point, dropping it along a road creates a via (alerting) point.

I use a minimum of via points to reduce music interruptions. I can always change shaping points to via points on the GPS if necessary.

 

[lkraus]

About finished reading John Heaths Garmin/Basecamp guide. While I think it is the best and most complete guide out there, it certainly confirms the fact that the Basecamp/Garmin GPS interface is utterly and insanely complex. There are hundreds of ways to get it all wrong (and not know it until you hit that "GO" button) and only a very few ways to get it right. Is it any wonder EVERYBODY else I ride with simply uses their phones and Google Maps or some variation thereof?

I think the biggest problem with Basecamp and Garmin devices is the lack of documentation. They never explain how all the features and choices are supposed to work together, leaving it up to us to figure it out by trial and (lots of) error.