New user from Portugal

[Francisco Castro]

Hi to all MRA staff and users,

My name is Francisco, i'm from Oporto-Portugal and i ride a KTM 1290 Super Adventure S.

I own a Garmin XT (previously i've used the 595LM, etc) and i used to work with Basecamp for my trips.
Even i can create routes on Basecamp perfectly, not only it takes me quite some time and patience (at least the way i learned by myself to do; can be better ways) but also i think the interface is ridiculous; it seems that was made for Windows XP (Garmin...).

So, and since i'm planning a big and lonely trip next year (Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, [the main destination] Norway, then Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Luxembourg), i decided to give MRA a try.

Already started to create my trip but only 2 waypoints where i'm planning to stay in Spain and France. So, i still have a lot work to do

I don't know if i can do it here, but i have 2 questions:

1- Should i create routes separately for each day, for each 2 days,...?

2- There's something i should pay attention with MRA and Garmin (Zumo XT) or it just works?

My goal is to create a route with voice directions and to automatically recalculate if i go out of course.

You must be thinking: "This portuguese is a pain in the a..."

Thanks
Cheers

[Nick Carthew]

@francisco-castro Welcome to the group.
My advice would be to make individual daily routes for your trip. Enjoy your trip.

[Hans van de Ven MRA-Master]

@francisco-castro
Hi Francisco,

As @Nick-Carthew said, make 1 route for each day, put it in a map, for example: 2022 Big and Lonely Traip in Europe
Use the gpx 1.1 to transfer the routes to your XT via the connector, or save the routes as gpx 1.1 on your PC and you can transfer them to your XT in 1 go.
What I always do is the following:
In the route name I start with the month and day when I will drive this route, so if you leave May 1, 2022, the name of this route will be: 0501 Place name departure Place name end point.
I also select the date and time at the route name page (when creating a new route or in the route library, click on the 3 dots at the back of the line)
Use a shaping point approximately every 4 to 5 km and the places you want to visit, place a via point (Hand) there. Also adjust the name of the via point in, for example, Eetcafe ABC, Lunchstop, that this at every via point, the zumo XT pronounces it! Note a maximum of 28 via points per route.

[Francisco Castro]

@nick-carthew said in New user from Portugal:

@francisco-castro Welcome to the group.
My advice would be to make individual daily routes for your trip. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks

[Francisco Castro]

@hans-van-de-ven-mra-master said in New user from Portugal:

@francisco-castro
Hi Francisco,

As @Nick-Carthew said, make 1 route for each day, put it in a map, for example: 2022 Big and Lonely Traip in Europe
Use the gpx 1.1 to transfer the routes to your XT via the connector, or save the routes as gpx 1.1 on your PC and you can transfer them to your XT in 1 go.
What I always do is the following:
In the route name I start with the month and day when I will drive this route, so if you leave May 1, 2022, the name of this route will be: 0501 Place name departure Place name end point.
I also select the date and time at the route name page (when creating a new route or in the route library, click on the 3 dots at the back of the line)
Use a shaping point approximately every 4 to 5 km and the places you want to visit, place a via point (Hand) there. Also adjust the name of the via point in, for example, Eetcafe ABC, Lunchstop, that this at every via point, the zumo XT pronounces it! Note a maximum of 28 via points per route.

Precious tips

I'm thinking about take a tablet with me in case i want/need to change something to my route; easier than to do it on the smartphone since the screen is bigger, and way smaller and lighter than a pc. Is there any disadvantage to send the gpx by (for example) bluetooh to my phone and then to the Zumo, comparing to the connector option?

Last 2 questions, i swear

• When you say "Use a shaping point approximately every 4 to 5 km" is just to make the route to go through exactly the roads i want, right?

• Is there any settings on the Zumo XT that i should change when importing a custom route for the unit to not interfere?

Thanks

[Hans van de Ven MRA-Master]

@francisco-castro

Tablet is indeed more convenient than a telephone to adjust a route.
In an emergency, I also use the option via Garmin Drive, but only in an emergency.
I make all the routes, check them all up to 1 day before departure, then I put them on my XT, and drive away.
The shaping points are indeed only to form the route where you want to drive.
You can leave settings in the XT, but make sure before you drive that you have a connection with at least 3 satellites on your zumo and that you are on or almost on the route.

[Francisco Castro]

@hans-van-de-ven-mra-master Thanks, again!