This evening, I planned (or rather attempted to plan) a simple route from Gloucester to Taunton directly on the Nav 6 using the trip planner app. I added a starting point, 11 waypoints and a finishing point. I click 'next' and get "Cannot calculate the route".....
....If the device allows a user to enter something, it should be capable of computing what's been entered or it should show a warning such as too many waypoints. Surely a £650 satnav should be capable of handling 11 waypoints? Or at least warning the user if not.
This evening I set about doing the same thing, all from within the Trip Planner app in my Nav VI. Obviously I couldn't select the same 11 intermediate points between A (Gloucester) and B (Taunton) as I have no idea where you chose to put them. This is how it went:
1. One single route, A (Gloucester) to B (Taunton) - No intermediate points - Motorcycle mode - latest edition Garmin maps - fastest time - no avoidances other than U-turns and unmade roads - 77 miles in 1 hour 12 minutes - Basically M5 past Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Bridgewater, exit the M5 at junction 25 onto the A358 / A38 to Taunton. Much as you would expect it to be, created very quickly within the device using the Trip Planner app.
2. I then added in 13 intermediate points (via points, to stick with Garmin's lingo, see below) between A and B at random. As they were plucked at random on the map their order was a bit skewwhiffy but the device put all 13 in. In doing so the route length grew to 188 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes. This growth in time and distance is not surprising.
3. The route displays perfectly on the device.
4. As the 13 viapoints were added randomly, I asked the device to re-order them in 'Optimsed order'. This it did, reducing the distance from 188 miles in 4 hours 7 minutes to 141 miles in 3 hours 55 minutes. On the face of it at least, this estimation does not look too unreasonable. Again, the route displayed perferectly. All the recalculations were very fast.
5. Zooming in, I can see no illogical jumps where the magenta line jumps off the main road onto a side road for no inexplicable reason
6. In short, the device works and works properly, taking me from A (Gloucester) to B (Taunton) via 13 viapoints of my choosing.
What does this tell me:
A. That the Nav VI device is fully capable of plotting, displaying and running quite complex routes from within itself. I did nothing extraordinary, nor am I any kind of IT wizard, trust me on that at least. I am though reasonably confident when it comes to Garmin navigation devices. Yes they can sometimes throw me - as it did with the auto-skip waypoint function - but I can get through it without getting too cross.
B. That there was no '11 and no more' limitation as to intermediate viapoints. I stopped at 13 only because I chose to end at 13. A quick look in the owner's manual tells me that 13 is well within the device's internal capabilities:
Trip Planner
A trip can consist of up to 29 via points and one final destination. Up to 125 shaping points can be included between each via point.
About Via Points
Via points are intermediate destinations within a trip. An orange flag indicates a via point on the map. A trip can contain up to 29 via points and one final destination. While navigating a trip, the device announces your arrival at each via point.
About Shaping Points
Shaping points are intermediate points between destinations or via points that can be used to shape the direction of your route. A blue dot indicates a shaping point on the map. You can have up to 125 shaping points between each destination or via point. While navigating, the device does not announce your arrival at each shaping point.
C. It works, just as I thought it would and should.
D. The limitation on announced intermediate viapoints is not 11 it's 29. It's limited to 125 for simple shaping points.
E. That something is fundamentally wrong either with Hubcap's device OR with the way he is using it. If it's the latter I am happy to guess, as follows:
i. That when choosing an intermediate viapoint in order to force A to B route along roads that he wants to take, he is maybe sometimes clicking on the wrong carriageway, the wrong exit on a roundabout or on a side road. It is very easy to do. This would result in bizarre distances and route creation, that's for sure
ii. When adding intermediate viapoints to a route in order to hit a specific point, the device by default adds the point into the list at the end. In other words, a route A (start) to B (end) with an announced intermediate viapoint C, would become:
A > B > C, C becoming the new end point
Not A > C > B
This would again lead to bizarre routing and / or a probably much increased overall distance.
When creating a route within the device itself, the owner can drag the intermediate viapoints up and down the list at will (which will keep B in its correct place at the end) and / or use of the 'Otimisation' option (as employed in my little exercise) which would maybe help to sort this problem out, too.
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That's two Nav VI problems I have failed to replicate, the other being The Witcher's bizarre leap off a main road. To be honest I wish that I could recreate them easily from within my Nav VI , as doing so might stop me having to guess as to what is going wrong for the two bods.
Over to you, Hubcap, or anyone else with something useful to contribute....