MRA & TomTom devices

Stan Gobien

Hello everyone,

I'm currently using a TomTom Go 600 device on my road trips abroad.
I have been using MRA Gold for a couple of years to plan my routes and I'm very pleased with the functions.

Currently I plan my routes and put points for the stops I plan to make, and sometimes put points to make sure the GPS will choose a specific scenic route. When my routes are finished I save them in ITN format and put them on a MicroSD card.
When I put the MicroSD card in the TomTom devices it will pop-up with a import routes button. This works perfectly for me.

In the past I have experimented with using TomTom MyDrive to sync routes, but this requires GPX files. In my experience (now a couple of years ago) when loading a GPX route in TomTom it would treat this as a track, and not a route. It would constantly push me to drive the track exactly as when planned.
But real life situations are not always the same and sometimes you must take a different road because of circumstances. When testing this in the past the TomTom device would persist on trying to get me back to the original track instead of rerouting to a better way.

My TomTom Go device is getting a bit old and the battery is dead, so I'm considering purchasing a new one (TomTom Superior). But the new ones do not have a MicroSD card slot anymore.

So does anyone have any guidance on how to get a MRA route on my TomTom device, and how to make sure it doesn't follow a track, but calculates a route on the device?

Thanks for your advice!

PS: I know the TomTom rider can/could copy ITN files over the USB. But I'm not aware of that any of the car models can.

Bouke Ent

@Stan-Gobien maybe it is a option to use your phone and look at MRA mobile.

Stan Gobien

@Bouke-Ent
Thanks for thinking about alternatives.
When traveling abroad (USA mostly) I don't have access to 4G/5G mobile internet.
Plus, I don't want to pay extra for the navigation functions.

I'm quite happy with the TomTom devices and the navigation they provide. That's why I'm looking for anyone that has experience with this.

Nick Carthew

@Stan-Gobien If the TomTom Go Superior has a USB connection you might be able to upload ITN files to it’s internal memory, if not then you’re stuck with GPX files via TomTom MyDrive (plan.tomtom).

EMW-motorridders

@Stan-Gobien Use a Carpeiter V4b or V4c.
You do not need 4G/5G and from times to times to a Hotspot Or Wifi. And Use MRA-APP, it runs on Android very well.
Big screen ... fast ...
https://carpe-iter.com/carpe-iter-pad/

Ralph Janssen

I have used TomTom (and Garmin) and put my ITN on them with USB. With my TomTom 6000 (Car unit as well) I also used Mydrive besides the USB.
If the Superior has USB I assume you can use that to place ITN files on it.

I understand you hesitant but before spending €300 on the TomTom I highly recommend looking in the MRA navigation. Specially for your travel abroad.

I used TomTom and Garmin for a long time but there are some benefits of using MRA navigation. Specially if you plan your travels in details as I do.
In TomTom and Garmin you cannot see any details of landmarks you place, vistapoint you want to see and that kind of stuff where in MRA you can see that.
No internet is not a problem anymore because you can use you can use it offline as well.

Your on the MRA forum, so its obvious most people recommend using MRA navigation in combination with MRA planning.
But as a long time TomTom and Garmin user i suggest you looking into MRA navigation.

Stan Gobien

@Ralph-Janssen
Thanks for the suggestion.
I will think about the MRA suggestion in detail. Will have to think about some kind of mount option to take with me on my trips so I can position the SmartPhone in the rentalcar.

How is MRA navigation with realtime traffic and route guidance dynamically changing according to traffic? TomTom is really good at that, beter than Waze i.m.o.

When I connect my GO 600 to the computer with the USB cable, I can not put anything on the internal memory, I can only update the maps and stuff using the Go connect program. I thought only the Rider series could do that?

RetiredWingMan

@Stan-Gobien MRA will look at traffic data when starting a route but after that traffic data is ignored. It does not provide any dynamic routing around blockages or traffic issues.

Ralph Janssen

@Stan-Gobien
There are different mounting option. You can look into Quadlock, the also have some car mounts.
And you can use them on your motorcycle as well off course.

I don't use real time traffic. Atleast on my road trips on motor or by car.
When I go from A to B I normally use Google maps or TomTom AmiGo (TomTom nav app)

For transfer the route to TomTom or Garmin I used the "export" function in the planner.

Stan Gobien

@Ralph-Janssen
As far as I know, the export function only works for TomTom Rider devices. Not for regular TomTom devices. Unless this has changed with newer TomTom devices, but nobody seems to know?

For regular TomTom devices you have to sync to mydrive and from there to the device, but that's a track not a route.
This instruction video seems to say you could choose between route and track, but I don't see where you could choose. It's not the best video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK5zPIH7Pjo

There also is a support page, but again the instructions are mixed for Rider devices and regular TomTom devices.
https://ondersteuning.myrouteapp.com/nl/support/solutions/articles/12000077925-myroute-app-tomtom

Rainer Treichel

Hallo,
bereits seit vielen Jahren nutze ich 2 Funktionen:

die connector-App
speichern unter 'TomTom-Mydrive'

![mydrive.png]
Dabei muss ich für mein altes Rider-Gerät ITN wählen.
Das Navi wird via USB-Kabel verbunden.

Der Account bei TomTom ist kostenlos.
Ich nutze es z.B., um meine Route auf Baustellen zu prüfen.
Der direkte Link ist neu und heisst plan.tomtom.com.
Die Übertragung funktioniert vom MRA Routenplaner aber immer noch.
Der übertragne Track wird dann zum Bearbeiten geöffnet, danach ist es eine Route, die mit vielen neuen Tomtoms online aktualisiert werden kann.

So hat man für unterwegs auch ein Backup.
Auf langen und weiten Fahrten in der Fremde kann ich aufs alte TomTom umsteigen, wenn Hitze, Wasser, Räuber, Dummheit mein Smartphone unbrauchbar machen.

Schau es dir mal an …
Viele Grüße von RainerT