New Zumo XT, Basecamp, Express and copying maps

JonnyBravo

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I have taken the plunge, gone back to a dedicated satnave with a new Zumo XT

Installed the demon that is basecamp onto my pc, ran express (version 6.2) but now I am at a complete loss as to how to get the maps from the zumo onto the PC in basecamp

Watching youtube videos but none of the options mentioned seem to exist in Express anymore for copying across the maps ?
I know I did this years ago with my old zumo 220

Anyone help?
What am I doing wrong

:confused:
 
Sorry to give you the bad news. The Zumo XT is a great GPS but …..the option to download the mapping updates to Basecamp on your computer does not exist anymore. Still works with the 595 etc but not with the XT.
 
I guess this dropping of the ability to load the maps onto the home computer and onto the device makes sense on several levels.

A. It saves a possible misfit between the maps held on the device and those on the home computer.

B. It exploits the XT’s unique ability to update maps wirelessly. Bods had been demanding better wireless connectivity, apparently. They also demand music, phones, weather updates, traffic, how often they activated the turn indicators, texts on the move, WhatsAp and their VIN number, not forgetting windy roads and the ability to control a video camera, all at the touch of a button, all from their GPS device.

C. It saves time, as only one update is required, that of the device. To some degree or another, the time saved is then lost whilst the XT owner waits for the maps on the device to be dragged across to the home computer.

D. Many owners do not create their own bespoke routes, therefore the need to have maps on a home computer at all can be ruled out.

E. It panders to those Garmin owners who refuse to use BaseCamp at all.

What though is lost is the ability to just turn on the home computer, to get to work plotting a route or routes (or just looking at a third party route or track you’ve received) without having to faff around each time, connecting the device and waiting whilst maps are dragged across.
 
It also seems that Garmin wants to migrate the users to using Explore (web app) and moves like these can be the first (very messy) steps into discontinuing Basecamp.

I wouldn't mind if it worked properly. But it doesn't, so I do.
 
I guess this dropping of the ability to load the maps onto the home computer and onto the device makes sense on several levels.

A. It saves a possible misfit between the maps held on the device and those on the home computer.

B. It exploits the XT’s unique ability to update maps wirelessly. Bods had been demanding better wireless connectivity, apparently. They also demand music, phones, weather updates, traffic, how often they activated the turn indicators, texts on the move, WhatsAp and their VIN number, not forgetting windy roads and the ability to control a video camera, all at the touch of a button, all from their GPS device.

C. It saves time, as only one update is required, that of the device. To some degree or another, the time saved is then lost whilst the XT owner waits for the maps on the device to be dragged across to the home computer.

D. Many owners do not create their own bespoke routes, therefore the need to have maps on a home computer at all can be ruled out.

E. It panders to those Garmin owners who refuse to use BaseCamp at all.

What though is lost is the ability to just turn on the home computer, to get to work plotting a route or routes (or just looking at a third party route or track you’ve received) without having to faff around each time, connecting the device and waiting whilst maps are dragged across.

this with bells on !
 
Garmin Express is currently on version 7.5.0 for Windows (no idea for MacOS) so it would be worth updating it. Do you still have the Zumo 220? If so it almost certainly uses the same CN NTU maps as the XT so if you update it then you can get the maps to the computer as before. Failing that can you borrow something relatively recent and download maps for it? The maps will be keyed to a different device but that shouldn't matter. I have to agree with Wapping that it's a PITA to have to connect a device just to play with a route. Fortunately I'm not rich enough to replace a perfectly functional Zumo 350 with a trinket that does things I don't need (music, phone, Instagram feed or whatever's currently fashionable) even if, as seems likely, the XT is a better navigation device so I'll be able to carry on as normal for the forseeable future. I can also see the value of used 590/595 devices staying high.
 
Yes, common solution I see people adopting is using another device to download the maps.

To add to what Wapping wrote above, apart from having to faff about with cables and all (that wouldn't be a massive issue) on more recent versions of MacOS using maps on a tethered device is extremely slow even when using USB3, and doesn't seem to work properly.
I posted a couple of videos on another thread in here. I also voiced my concern on the Garmin Support forums (I tried to be as polite as possible but at the time of posting I was livid), no response.

https://forums.garmin.com/apps-soft...from-zumo-xt-unusable-what-is-garmin-response

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BoJxAH45AeM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

We're not talking a ton of money, but still, 4/500 quid are gone into a device that – at present – doesn't work.
I'm awaiting to receive my replacement unit (got replaced for some unrelated issue: it would "loop" on and off at startup) to test again and see if I can find a solution. But patience is wearing thin.

Funnily enough: Basecamp with my old GPSmap 60csx seems to be still working fine, despite all the limitations of the old device.
 
Do you need Basecamp? Aren't there plenty of web based tools like www.Kurviger.de or https://maps.harley-davidson.com/map/create that will view or create a GPX file?

I haven't used Basecamp for some time with my Zumo 390. I tend to do a lot of route planning, especially once actually on holiday, using a 10" Android tablet. Knock up the route in google maps and then stick some waypoints into the device, carefully selecting the exit road from a junction to ensure no detours in the opposite direction. once you have this technique mastered it takes a few minutes to add a daytrip into the Zumo.
 
Do you need Basecamp?

It was ok when it worked.
I want a central repository for all my routes/tracks/waypoints ad Basecamp is (should) be that.
On longer routes it is sometimes nice to be able to differentiate shaping/waypoints if you have to switch between routes according to time/weather other variables, etc.

Also, the entire point of using Basecamp is to be sure that you are working on the proper Garmin and OpenStreet maps (I use both) that you also install on the device.
For the prices of the Garmin ecosystem, I'd expect this stuff to actually work. And – to be fair to them – up to last year it worked pretty well.
 
Thanks I will have a go with Kurviger and see how that works -
that's what I have been using for some time now in conjunction with Scenic on my iphones for navigation
Should be able to save it as a gpx and squirt it straight to the XT through the garmin drive app.
 
It was ok when it worked.
I want a central repository for all my routes/tracks/waypoints ad Basecamp is (should) be that.
On longer routes it is sometimes nice to be able to differentiate shaping/waypoints if you have to switch between routes according to time/weather other variables, etc.

Also, the entire point of using Basecamp is to be sure that you are working on the proper Garmin and OpenStreet maps (I use both) that you also install on the device.
For the prices of the Garmin ecosystem, I'd expect this stuff to actually work. And – to be fair to them – up to last year it worked pretty well.

I guess you are in a minority and there just aren't enough people with a Windows computer or Mac downloading Basecamp to make it viable to keep updating it for newer devices and operating systems. The vast majority of people only have a phone for all of their IT needs and use this as a satnav. Hence BMW going down the app route for their LCD equipped bikes and cars.

Have you looked at the Garmin Drive app JB has mentioned as a repository for routes?
 
I guess you are in a minority and there just aren't enough people with a Windows computer or Mac downloading Basecamp to make it viable to keep updating it for newer devices and operating systems.

You are right. But keep in mind they market this as an "adventure" device. You'd expect a bit more than what people who use mobile phones would expect. Or, from Garmin perspective, you'd expect the users to be a bit more "involved".
I'd happily switch (and will do at some point) to a Montana, so to have one single device for multiple uses/bikes, but it lacks some nice features for road riding or tourism riding that the XT has. I could live without them, but the lack of postcode search is too much (for "general use" – I wouldn't care otherwise).


Have you looked at the Garmin Drive app JB has mentioned as a repository for routes?


Garmin Drive is not a repository for routes.

As I wrote above, it seems Garmin will be migrating people towards Garmin Explore.
Given the small size (in bytes) for routes/tracks and other GPS data than maps, it makes sense to use the cloud.
Today I keep my Basecamp data synced up through 2 different Macs via Dropbox, but there are a few things to look out for.

Explore is still pretty basic. No way it can still be a valid alternative to anything IMHO. Yet.
Another interesting thing is that Explore doesn't pair with the XT, but does pair with most other Garmin devices.
There is a way to sync the data via wifi though.

Still, not a super clean user flow.
 
Have a look at MyRouteApp - it's pretty good and will sync all of your routes across multiple platforms - so also acts as a single repository.

Once you have created your route, just export the .gpx file and use Garmin Drive to wirelessly send it to the XP.

The Harley route planner app is also pretty good. Super easy to just set your start and end points and then drag the route to create via points. Again - just export and send to the XT via Drive.
 
Apparently Garmin are looking at this. There is a work around, to get the maps on the PC, if anyone is interested I'll post it up.
 
Once you have created your route, just export the .gpx file and use Garmin Drive to wirelessly send it to the XP.

Thank you for all the suggestion guys.
A fair amount of the "planning" I do is also off-road. I use some specific maps for that, and the ability to switch to that specific cartography while planning is one of the things that keeps me (happily to be fair - when things work) tied to desktop software.

There is a work around, to get the maps on the PC

Creating the disk image you mean?
 
Thank you for all the suggestion guys.
A fair amount of the "planning" I do is also off-road. I use some specific maps for that, and the ability to switch to that specific cartography while planning is one of the things that keeps me (happily to be fair - when things work) tied to desktop software.





Creating the disk image you mean?

No, to install in Basecamp
 
I am so pleased I haven’t bought an XT, simply because it won’t fit onto my 1600.

Yes, there are other (numerous) alternative pieces of software and app’s that will create and / or plot routes. Some will require an internet connection, which can be flakey. On the other side of the same coin, some of the software and app’s come with their own idiosyncrasies and, as is the case with MyRoute just recently, their own problems.

The underlying truth is maybe that the phone companies (whether that be Apple or their android rivals) have effectively smashed the dedicated GPS device market, with punters buying into their version of a ‘connected’ world. Don’t get me wrong, I like my Apple phone, its integration with my other Apple devices and Mac, I also like its camera and the way it does become a mobile office. What I don’t like is using it as navigation device. Should I just want to use it like some shonky Uber driver uses Waze, then it would be fine. Similarly, if I wanted to follow MyRoute or Kurviger’s or Google map’s generated routes, that would be fine, too. Similarly, I have no pressing desire to be ‘connected’ to anything (except the seat of my pants and the road) whilst hooning from A to B. So, long live the dedicated GPS unit, hopefully stripped of all the ‘must have’ bells and whistles.
 


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