Colorado-Series -> Track handling

[FGS-D187]

Hello,

 

I often use track navigation on my 60 CSx. Unfortunately there are some strict limitations:

1. It is impossible to load and navigate a track from the (mini) sd-card
   
2. When saving the actice track log to the unit (saved track), the saved track is cutted off and shortened to only 500 trackpoints. TIn addition the time stamp will be deleted.
   

Therefore, I would like to ask the Colorado owners, if the Colorado-Series still has this limitations too.

• It is possible to load and navigate tracks longer than 500 trackpoints directly from the sd-card?
  
• Is it possible to navigate to a specific track point within the track?
  
• How does tracback works on the Colorado units?
  
• Does the Colorado navigate each single trackpoint or is the "virtual tracback-route" still limited to 250 waypoints?
  
• Will the time stamp be deleted when saving a track log in the unit?
  

Some screenshots would be fine.

 

Thank you.

 

Stefan

[+apersson850]

I haven't tried all aspects of this yet, so I can't give you a full answer.

 

Saved tracks are just like the other tracks, just shorter (usually).

You tell the unit the start and end points, between which to save. The implementation of this lacks some parts to make it useful, but the principle is good.

 

I assume (haven't tried) that navigating a track is from one end to another, which would then imply that if you saved the track to a certain point, it will also bring you to that point.

 

The Colorado saves tracks in internal memory, not on the card. It will automatically archive your tracks, all of them, when you fill up the current log.

 

The most convenient way is to upload the track log and/or archives to Mapsource, cut off what you don't want, give what remains a proper name and color and download it to the Colorado again. With the current implementation of track management on the Colorado, this is by far the simplest.

If you need to save a certain activity on the Colorado itself, for some reason, then it's easier if you clear the current log before you begin.

 

I'll have to try following a track first, before I can give you any more detail.

[FGS-D187]

Anders,

 

thank you very much for this first summary.

 

Because of the very big internal memory, I hope that a saved track can be longer than 500 trackpoints and that the time stamp didn't get lost. The manual doesn't helps very much regarding the track issues, so unfortunately the user has to test this features by himself.

 

Stefan

[Grasscatcher]

Concerning "Tracks" on the Colorado......

 

Can someone with a Colorado compare how it handles Tracks as compared to how 60x/76x series units do?

 

On a 76x with unit set to "log tracks to card", if you clear the track log then the (current) breadcrumb trail (active log) is cleared, but any "saved tracks" remain. and a new (or 2nd or 3rd etc) GPX file for that date is started on the card.

 

The "saved" track file and the "card" track file are identical EXCEPT for the fact that "saved" tracks are limited to 500 trackpoints AND time stamp, elevation, speed data is removed. The "card" file or active log contains complete data and trackpoints (up to 10,000)

 

So, in essence, "datawise" you have the best of both worlds. You have the "saved" file ( one of up to 20) to use for any trackback function and the card "file" that contains complete data for more accurate "trail following" mapping.

 

So.......how does the Colorado handle track data?

 

According to the manual , you can view elevation profiles on "archived" tracks, so apparently the elevation data is included, What about timestamp and speed data? and are individual "archived" tracks limited to 500 TP's each?

 

How many Tracks can be archived/saved on the Colorado?

 

Thanks

[+g-o-cashers]

I played around with track handling today. I'm not the best person to compare to the 60x because I came from a 60cs. Here's what I've found.

 

- The current tracklog is available on the Colorado through Shortcuts->Where To?->Tracks.

- You can clear the current tracklog by selecting Current Track->Options->Clear

- The current tracklog is available in [drive]:\Garmin\GPX\Current\Current.gpx when you connect to the PC

- Your current position is available in [drive]:\Garmin\GPX\Current\Position.gpx (I'm assuming this is for tracking software like nRoute to make use of)

 

- At any time the Current track log can be archived by selecting Current Track->Options->Archive

- Archived Tracks get a name like YYYY-MM-DD <six digit ID> and are visible in the Where To?->Tracks list.

- Archived Tracks are saved in [drive]:\Garmin\GPX with a filename like YYYY-MM-DD <six digit id>.gpx

- The six digit id looks like a timestamp (or it probably should be).

 

The process of Archiving partial tracks is very broken right now. When you archive a track you are shown the current tracklog with "Begin" and "End" push pins. The Colo prompts you to save these locations. By default they seem to be at the start and end of the track log, so for saving the entire track it is pretty easy. However changing Begin and End has several flaws:

 

- You can't zoom the map when selecting Begin and End

- You need to press left and right on the rock'n roller to move Begin and End (but it isn't at all clear that is what you are supposed to do from the instructions given).

- The map doesn't redraw as you move Begin and End

- You can't see the pin move when you move begin and end, the map page just scrolls around

- You can't swap begin and end (which is important if you want to do something like a trackback)

 

Navigation on Tracks has some flaws too. Once you are on the Where To?->Track list you can select one of the Current or Archived tracks. The track is highlighted and shown on the map in pink (like the goto line). The destination is the End of the track, distance to destination seems to be the distance along the track to the End, but there doesn't seem to be any other guidance help.

 

There doesn't seem to be any Trackback function where the track is reversed and intermediate waypoints are laid down.

 

No ability to change color or thickness of any track, including current which for me is too narrow.

 

The good news? Archived tracks seem to have all of the data that the current track has: elevation, timestamps and there doesn't seem to be any reduction in the number of points.

 

There's still something I haven't figured out.

 

There's a file called [drive]:\Garmin\GPX\Archived\Saved.gpx , it has some tracklog data in it but I can't figure out exactly how it got there and how it is related to the Archived and Current track.

 

Hope that helps. I'll be adding this to the FAQ

 

GO$Rs

[+apersson850]

What you may not have seen yet is the automatic track log archiving. It only comes into effect when your current log is almost full.

 

I don't know every single detail here, but it's supposed to be similar, if not identical, to what's available on the Zumo, so let me describe that to begin with.

 

The active track can hold max 10000 points.

When the active track reaches 9800 points, the oldest activity in the log is removed from the active log. An activity on the motorcycle unit, as the Zumo is, is probably defined differently than on the Colorado, but let's assume that it here is what you'll see as one track segment, if you open the track log in Mapsource.

 

The removed track log is appended to an archive file in \Garmin\GPX\Archive. The first file created is 1.gpx.

 

Now, once the active log went over 9800 points, to trigger an archiving process, it will be repeated until enough activities have been removed from the active log to bring it down to less than 8000 points. All removed logs are appended to the 1.gpx file, which now hold at least 1800 points from the oldest logs in the track log.

 

The next time the active log reaches 9800 points, this process is repeated.

 

When the 1.gpx file reaches a size of about 1 MB, which is equivalent to about 10000 points, a new file will be created. Anyone who can guess the name will not get any prize.

 

This arciving process is then repeated over and over again, until the space on the internal drive goes below a certain threshold, or 20 individual archive files (1.gpx - 20.gpx) have been created. Archiving is then suspended, until the user removes one or more of the archive files. I recommend removing 1.gpx - 19.gpx in this case, as then the GPS can still append that last logs to the last file, if there is any more room in that one.

If all 20 files have been removed, the GPS will create the file 21.gpx the next time, thus preventing the risk that a new file gets the same name as an old one, and thus overwrite it, if you save them all on your computer.

[+g-o-cashers]

What you may not have seen yet is the automatic track log archiving. It only comes into effect when your current log is almost full.

 

I don't know every single detail here, but it's supposed to be similar, if not identical, to what's available on the Zumo, so let me describe that to begin with.

 

The active track can hold max 10000 points.

When the active track reaches 9800 points, the oldest activity in the log is removed from the active log. An activity on the motorcycle unit, as the Zumo is, is probably defined differently than on the Colorado, but let's assume that it here is what you'll see as one track segment, if you open the track log in Mapsource.

 

The removed track log is appended to an archive file in \Garmin\GPX\Archive. The first file created is 1.gpx.

 

Now, once the active log went over 9800 points, to trigger an archiving process, it will be repeated until enough activities have been removed from the active log to bring it down to less than 8000 points. All removed logs are appended to the 1.gpx file, which now hold at least 1800 points from the oldest logs in the track log.

 

The next time the active log reaches 9800 points, this process is repeated.

 

When the 1.gpx file reaches a size of about 1 MB, which is equivalent to about 10000 points, a new file will be created. Anyone who can guess the name will not get any prize.

 

This arciving process is then repeated over and over again, until the space on the internal drive goes below a certain threshold, or 20 individual archive files (1.gpx - 20.gpx) have been created. Archiving is then suspended, until the user removes one or more of the archive files. I recommend removing 1.gpx - 19.gpx in this case, as then the GPS can still append that last logs to the last file, if there is any more room in that one.

If all 20 files have been removed, the GPS will create the file 21.gpx the next time, thus preventing the risk that a new file gets the same name as an old one, and thus overwrite it, if you save them all on your computer.

 

Thanks Anders, I've added a Tracks section to the FAQ which I think covers this (I found your original post last night). I'll be letting my Colorado fill up to see what the actual behavior is in the next week or so.

 

GO$Rs

[+apersson850]

I read your addition to the FAQ.

Note that the archive files aren't deleted automatically. Archiving stops if the archive folder is full.

[Grasscatcher]

I read your addition to the FAQ.

Note that the archive files aren't deleted automatically. Archiving stops if the archive folder is full.

 

Anders,

"Archiving stops if the archive folder is full".....you're still talking about "Auto Archiving" aren't you?

Isn't "Auto A" only going to happen if you never "Clear the Current Track log" ?( and let the trackpoints accumulate up to the 9800+ before AA is "triggered?)

 

Am I assuming correctly that one could theoretically have 20 archived tracks (1.GPX thru20.GPX) , each with up to 10,000 TPs. Some could be manually archived (short to medium length) tracks and others created thru Auto Archiving ???

 

What triggers the "Archive Folder being Full"..... 20 individual Tracks?, 10,000TPs? , or Memory availability ?

 

Thanks

Edited January 27, 2008 by Grasscatcher

[+apersson850]

Yes, it's auto archiving that stops if 20 files are created, or it runs out of memory.

But that's not the same thing as explicitly archived tracks. That's something the user does, when he so desires.

You can still save your own 20 tracks, even if archiving has stopped due to too many files. Perhaps not if it stopped due to low memory, as it's the same memory we are talking about.

 

Auto archives will only be created if you let the current log remain, without deleteing it. That's how I do, as they are saved anyway.

 

Hence no, your assumption is wrong. The automatic archive is separate from the saved tracks. It's a bit confusing they refer to that as "archiving" as well, but I think they do? I use the Swedish translation, but there it says Archive, not Save tracks.

 

Automatic archive full is a state you get when there are 20 files, each 1 MB, or total memory available goes below some limit, which I don't remember. 10 MB or something in that range.

It seems likely that manually saved tracks are limited by the same circumstances.

For each file in the automatic archive, the limit is when it exceeds about 1 MB. But if the next track to save is very long, it may be that the current file is closed a bit short of 1 MB, as it would be too long if the next track is appended to it. Then it opens the next sequential track archive file instead.

 

Now once again I want to stress that I'm describing what happens with the Zumo 550, which was the first Garmin GPS with this archive function. I'm not aware of any major differences on the Colorado, and there is no reason for any either, as the Zumo works very well in this regard, but there could be differences I haven't seen as of yet.

Edited January 28, 2008 by apersson850