Garmin eTrex Touch 25: Help with turn by turn navigation

defever

Good evening fellow cyclists,

I realise this is quite a specific question. I went on to Garmin forum, but I couldn't find a way to create a post to ask. I hope fellow cyclists with the same device in question can point me to the right direction to my question.

After few years of not being used, I realised that I had Garmin eTrex Touch 25 (ver. 3.70) device and I thought maybe I can use it to map a new road cycle route and use it as a sat-nav style "turn by turn" navigation when I go riding. I definitely know that the device is capable of doing this, as it is advertised for such function, and has TopoActive Europe maps in colour.

I have a Mac (MacBookPro late 2011, macOS High Sierra ver. 10.13.4), I registered to Garmin, I downloaded Garmin Express (ver. 6.5.1.0) and I used Garmin Connect via Firefox (64bit, 60.0.2) to create a course. I then "sent" the course from Garmin Connect to eTrex 25 via Garmin Express, synced and the course can be loaded on the device from "track". All going well.

I went for a test ride yesterday. Loaded the "track", initially gave me the outline of the course, then press start to begin. The starting point was actually set to the first junction out of my cul-de-sac (and so is the end point, as the course is set up as "loop"). The course is coloured in "magenta" line. I went over the starting point and I can see the trace of light blue line to indicate my ride so far ("breadcrumb", I believe).

But there's no turn by turn notification. The course is coloured in magenta line and I'm was on it the whole time. It didn't give me any navigational information, turn arrow display or beep to indicate turn ahead. I looked everywhere online, but I just can't find the solution to it.

What I came across in my search were: BaseCamp, waypoint, point limit, route vs track, GPX file and cue file, etc. I'm new to GPS device and these terms were very confusing and became overwhelming very quickly. I just assumed that having a Garmin GPS device with a pre-loaded map and using its web-based mapping programme (Garmin Connect), I'd be away and exploring new routes...

Can anyone shed light on how I can get turn-by-turn navigation on eTrex Touch 25, please?

Many thanks and happy cycling!

timothyw

Try creating the route using Komoot or RideWithGps - when exported these should have turn notifications.

wongataa

I think for the eTrex (if I am reading the manual correctly) you create a route on the device (you can probably do this in Basecamp as well with the same method) by selecting a series of waypoints/points on the map and the device will then create a route going via these waypoints according to the routing settings for the selected activity profile.

You can load a track in Basecamp and convert it to a route (You will need a suitable map in Basecamp. If the eTrex is plugged in when using Basecamp you should be able to use the map on the eTrex) and you might be able to transfer that route to the device. I don't have an eTrex so I'm not sure.

It won't be quite like an Edge unit where you can put a track on the device and use that to route around. With outdoor handheld devices you can display tracks like you have found but they don't tend to navigate you round them.

Basecamp is Garmin's software for computers where you can manage/create routes/waypoints/tracks and copy them on/off Garmin GPS units.

A waypoint is a named geographic location.

A track is a series of points at certain intervals (distance or time) that a GPS device will record of where it has been. It is a breadcrumb trail. You can create these on a computer as well.

A route is a series of waypoints with no tracks between them. GPS devices use these to navigate you between them in the order they are listed. If there are no routeable maps you will be directed in straight lines between them. If there are suitable maps you will be directed via roads/paths.

Point limit: GPS devices only have a certain amount of memory and when recording a track it will eventually fill that memory. The number of points it can record before reaching the memory limit is the point limit.

Cue points are special points in a track that make the device pop up a message on the screen when you reach that location. You can use them to state turn directions or anything else. You can use them for navigation with Edge devices but you have to generate TCX files to use them. They can't be added to GPX files. Sites like Ride with GPS will create them.

A GPX file is a track log file. It is a series of locations. You can open them in a text editor and see the data if you want to. A TCX file is similar but it can contain more data such as cue points, HR data, speed data, cadence data, power data.

defever

Fantastic, thanks very much both for the advice! Amazing people.

Thanks TimothyW; Never heard of Komoot or Ride With GPS websites, seems like I'm entering a whole new world of GPS technology. I tried Ride With GPS, mapped out a short route to test, but then it seems that exporting a route with waypoints is a paid membership privilege. It also had an option of ".fit" format for Garmin device (I'm not sure if eTrex Touch 25 is "latest" enough to accept that format), but again, that's a paid membership privilege. I want to see if I can get turn-by-turn navigation on eTrex without paying more. But that seemed promising!

Also, thanks to wongataa for explaining those terminology I found on my search. The paper manual is completely useless. And online manual is equally useless (go to menu, press this, then this, then follow on-screen instruction...). It's starting to make sense. I will get BaseCamp and see how I get on (but sounds complicated). I thought Garmin Connect can map out route (it was easy like using Google Map) and generate the appropriate file (".gpx", again it was easy to sync via Garmin Express) with the cue information for turn by turn navigation. Perhaps eTrex isn't pre-set or compatible with this function like the Edge series (which I believe is the cycling specific GPS device from Garmin) but there's a way around using BaseCamp.

Let's see how I get on with BaseCamp. Thanks very much both again.

Happy cycling!

timothyw

RidewithGPS is very keen to get you to sign up to their laughably expensive paid memberships but you can do what you need with the free version - on the right hand side look for the 'Export' section then export a TCX file - plug your garmin into your computer and copy it into the 'newfiles' folder.

defever

Some success!

I downloaded BaseCamp and had a play. I managed to create two test "routes" (1x 6miles to a pub, 1x 18miles that I recorded yesterday). The “courses” I previously created on GC are in fact “tracks” (i.e. simple traces on the map, nothing else). BaseCamp can then "create route from track" and adds the necessary “points” to allow turn-by-turn function which subsequently becomes a “route” .gpx file. These test routes are now showing up on eTrex Touch 25 as “route” instead of “track”.

The 6mile route loads up nicely and I can check via “active route” the turn-by-turn text and arrow displays. PERFECT, THIS IS WHAT I WANTED!! I’m hoping that it’ll function as expected when I actually ride through the route.

However, the 18mile route doesn't display turn-by-turn text. Under the “active route” menu, I can see the “stop points” and direction arrows, but they don’t appear as turn-by-turn navigation as it did on the 6miler route.

BaseCamp shows that for 18mile route there are 46x stop points and 118x directions (i.e. turn texts). The 6mile route has only 2x stop points and 16x directions. A link to Garmin page (File Limitations of eTrex Touch) mentions that “when utilising routes, only 50 points can be used for on road navigation.” eTrex Touch 25 can navigate turn-by-turn for any rides up to 50 “directions” but any more than that it won’t display. I guess this is why Garmin has dedicated “navigation” devices and “cycling” devices such as Edge series for more specific demands.

TimothyW, I don’t think eTrex Touch 25 is capable of reading TCX file and there isn’t “newfiles” in the device storage. So this device is probably too old to benefit from using Ride With GPS (or even GC to set up routes).

But it can display the whole route so I guess I can just use it as a simple route guide.

Alternatively, is there a possibility of changing a setting on BC to specify at which point of the ride I want the direction display to come on so that I can limit the “direction points” to less than 50 per route?

Thanks very much for all your help and happy cycling!

wongataa

defever wrote:

TimothyW, I don’t think eTrex Touch 25 is capable of reading TCX file and there isn’t “newfiles” in the device storage. So this device is probably too old to benefit from using Ride With GPS (or even GC to set up routes).

It won't be too old, just aimed at a very different market segment. The eTrex is aimed at people out hiking really.

defever wrote:

Alternatively, is there a possibility of changing a setting on BC to specify at which point of the ride I want the direction display to come on so that I can limit the “direction points” to less than 50 per route?

You will probably have to manually edit or create the routes to fit within this limitation.

defever

Thanks wongataa for clarifying. I suppose that’s why there are so many GPS devices targeted at different purposes.

I tested the 6 mile route and, sure enough, turn by turn navigation worked! It beeps 300ft prior to turns and gives me a white arrow indicating the direction. I even managed to “re-route” the way back on the device and gave me navigation. But it mapped a slightly different route via some footpath. Knowing the way back, I ignored the directions and it eventually managed to re-route back on the road.

I also had more experiment on BaseCamp mapping out a 20mile route which initially resulted in 118 direction points. I deleted intermediate “stop points” to reduce the number of directions and I managed to reduce it down to 46 direction points. Transferred to the device and checked the route, and the turn by turn indication works the whole way! However, some parts of the route on the device was not as I set up on BC so I might have to add some more stop points to anchor the route exactly how I want it.

All in all, I’ve learned so much about using a GPS device and how to create a route with turn by turn navigation. I can imagine spending a lot of time on BaseCamp trying to perfect a route, but it’s a handy tool to set up a device to keep me in general direction of a new route.

Thanks again both for your help, I couldn’t have done it without your suggestions!

Happy cycling!