Converting route to track

francis newman

I'm a newbie and learning as I go along though have created quite a few routes - or are they tracks? to my tom tom as gpx. I don't really understand the difference

I have been supplied a KML file which I have converted online to a gpx but on trying to import to TomTom it says it is a route file and it needs a track file. Can I convert that in MyRoute and if not where else.

All help gratefully received

Herko ter Horst

@francis-newman the way I think about the difference is like this:

a route is a list of waypoints from which the actual way to go can/must be calculated, by combining it with a map, settings and a navigation algorithm
a track is either the results of the calculation mentioned above (a route-track in MRA) or the result of someone recording their GPS data on a drive/ride (a track-log in MRA)

The main advantage of a route is that it contains identifiable waypoints that can be shown and announced by a navigation device/app when driving the route. Another advantage is that it can easily be manipulated by adding/removing or moving waypoints, which makes it suitable for editing. The main disadvantage is that the route can vary based on the map, settings and algorithm used by each specific device or app and can therefore be different for different users, which can be an issue if you're trying to drive a route with a group.

The main advantage of a track is that it's fixed and can't easily be changed, so it should be mostly the same between users/devices/apps. De main disadvantage is that it contains no waypoints, so there won't be any announcements of those.

Different file formats can contain either just the route, just the track or both.

And to answer your other question: yes, you should be able to import your route-only file into MRA. In fact, MRA supports KML files too, so you can just import that directly. You can then either save it in a format TomTom understands (I always use the 'GPX 1.1 (route, track, POI)' option), save directly to TomTom MyDrive from MRA or use the MRA connector to save it directly to you TomTom device.

Gerard Wullink

@francis-newman @Herko-ter-Horst
A track is a collection of GPS-points which describe the way you want to go. This gpx can hold hundreds of points. You can drive from point 1 to point 2 etc as you go. Just follow the direction of the shown line.
This is called "riding a track", there are no identications like "After 300m go right" nor streetnames.
Ideal for off-road trips, or where you have no map information. Or you just want to keep it simple.

A route is the result of combining a track with a map (which has roads!) and a calculation how to come from point 1 to point 2 etc using a road on the map. The calculation which road to follow is done by the MRA routeplanner or your GPS.

Keep in mind:

Routecalculation setup determines how the route between point 1 and point 2 is calculated: the fastest, shortest, adventurist, curviest or most beautiful route are clearly different.
The calculation-settings must be identical for al users in your riding group to make sure everyone follows the same route.
If your riders group uses different brands of naviagation, I would advise to use MRA to create routes en not let the different GPS-devives do the calculation on a track.
The closer each different point of the track is to the next, the less chance there is different calculations (which are brand-dependent: Garmin, TomTom etc) deliver different routes on the map (which are also brand-dependent: HERE, OSM, TomTom, ...). Fact: There are simpy less options between two concecutive points if they are closer together!
Goods Practice: make sure there is a gps-point after each turn.

Herko ter Horst

@Gerard-Wullink said in Converting route to track:

This is called "riding a track", there are no identications like "After 300m go right" nor streetnames.

This depends on your navigation system/app. You can use both in the MyRoute-app: "follow the line" is available for free, spoken instructions requires a Navigation subscription. This does include spoken instructions for tracks.

Gerard Wullink

@Herko-ter-Horst: I indeed use the gold subscription, so did not know that difference in behaviour. Thanks for that.
Still: Giving driving instructions would not only require a subscription, but would also need a map. Without that there is no posibility to give instructions like "In 300m turn right".
Follow the line in an Off-road situation (definition: no roads or trails on the map) cannot contain instructions since there is no next turn avaliable in the map to base that instruction on. Maybe some GPS devices are capable to base it on a certain change in direction and will tell you "Head north for next 500m" or something like that, but thats not MRA.

Herko ter Horst

@Gerard-Wullink I think a discussion about offroad use is confusing for the TS. The question was about MRA and TomTom, neither of which support offroad navigation.

The MRA-app and TomTom do, however, support (spoken and visual) navigation instructions when using a track (the MRA-app only when you have a Navigation subscription).