Navigation with a Garmin 500 - can it do waypoints?

craker
craker Posts: 1,739
edited July 2014 in Workshop
I used to navigate with a handheld etrex. You could enter up to 50 waypoints and it showed you an arrow to the next one, I found this an excellent way of navigating long rides.

I did a big ride last night (commuted home via Gloucester instead of going over the Severn Bridge) and I made up a route to follow which consisted of a number of map points - however the Garmin had no idea how to follow it and I was bombarded with off-route messages and there was no indication where the route was.

Can my Garmin follow waypoints?

If not, how do I create a route to follow? It seems OK at following a previously cycled route (which shows up as a breadcrumb trail) but it's not practical to create a route this accurate.

Thanks

Comments

  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    craker wrote:
    If not, how do I create a route to follow? It seems OK at following a previously cycled route (which shows up as a breadcrumb trail) but it's not practical to create a route this accurate.

    Why not? That's how you do it. Log on to your chosen route planning website, plot route, download to GPS, follow breadcrumb trail.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    Rolf F wrote:
    Why not? That's how you do it. Log on to your chosen route planning website, plot route, download to GPS, follow breadcrumb trail.

    map1.jpg

    Plot a route at this level of accuracy for 80 miles? All I really care about is having an arrow point me in the general direction of Cinderford and letting me find my way there.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    Yep, takes seconds: http://connect.garmin.com/course/7450801

    If you use something like ridewithgps or bikehike then you can add waypoints which make an arrow pop up at junctions but garmin connect cant do this.
  • craker
    craker Posts: 1,739
    (has a quick play with RideWithGps)

    ... ah, that _is_ clever :-)

    Shall plot a big long route and see if my Garmin lets me follow it.
  • bus_ter
    bus_ter Posts: 337
    Garmin connect have recently overhauled their route planning for the lower end Garmins. Now you'll find that elevation profiles work (long standing issue finally fixed by Garmin!) and they also have some basic route direction instructions included in courses rather than one long trail. The 500 is capable of doing even more. There are lots of symbols and prompts that can be configured to show up when following a course. For example you can set it to alert you to the start and finish of segments and give direction arrows at junctions and roundabouts. You'll need to use a third part site for the more advanced stuff.
  • gloomyandy
    gloomyandy Posts: 520
    Do you know how to control any of that for connect? Last time I used it, it added a bunch of useless waypoints for places to eat and hotels, which I did not want and did not really include any useful turn information.
  • pippi_langsamer-2
    pippi_langsamer-2 Posts: 1,470
    I'd be wary of planning a l o n g route on the 500.

    Aren't they renowned for having a bit of a wobble if too many waypoints are programmed in?

    I've got a 500 and use Memory Map for planning, then convert the file using something like GPSies. I haven't tried following a long route yet though.

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