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Alex · February 16th, 2009, 12:02 AM

A route is a collection of a few track points that imply a connection between them. A route might have 5 waypoints in it, and the route basically says you'll go to 1 first, then auto-route using the loaded maps to get you to 2, then to 3, then to 4, etc. For on-road routing, in many cases a route makes sense.

A track is also a collection of of waypoints, but that's really all it is. There is no implied connection between them. There are typically many, many more waypoints in a track. Think of a track like an electronic breadcrumb of the ride. I have my GPS's set to save a trackpoint every 30 seconds, for example. After the ride, I can load the track up to a PC and I have a record of exactly where I went.

If you're looking to download somebody else's ride from an online site so you can do the same ride, many times they are saved in track format, rather than routes. (all off-road type rides are track format, but that doesn't necessarily apply here). There are some conversion programs to switch things back and forth between routes and tracks, but that doesn't mean that a GPS that can only do routes isn't missing something. Often it is limited to as few as 25 - 50 waypoints in a route, while a track may have many more. And if the track is filtered down to the right number of waypoints so it can be loaded, it's possible that the auto-routing on the unit will take you on a different way than was intended by the track.

And you're exactly right, it's that tracklog feature that allows for geocoding pictures afterwards. Both routes and tracks have their place, and there are good reasons to use both, depending on the current task you're trying to do with the GPS. I wouldn't want to go without either.

February 16th, 2009, 12:02 AM	#44
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	A route is a collection of a few track points that imply a connection between them. A route might have 5 waypoints in it, and the route basically says you'll go to 1 first, then auto-route using the loaded maps to get you to 2, then to 3, then to 4, etc. For on-road routing, in many cases a route makes sense. A track is also a collection of of waypoints, but that's really all it is. There is no implied connection between them. There are typically many, many more waypoints in a track. Think of a track like an electronic breadcrumb of the ride. I have my GPS's set to save a trackpoint every 30 seconds, for example. After the ride, I can load the track up to a PC and I have a record of exactly where I went. If you're looking to download somebody else's ride from an online site so you can do the same ride, many times they are saved in track format, rather than routes. (all off-road type rides are track format, but that doesn't necessarily apply here). There are some conversion programs to switch things back and forth between routes and tracks, but that doesn't mean that a GPS that can only do routes isn't missing something. Often it is limited to as few as 25 - 50 waypoints in a route, while a track may have many more. And if the track is filtered down to the right number of waypoints so it can be loaded, it's possible that the auto-routing on the unit will take you on a different way than was intended by the track. And you're exactly right, it's that tracklog feature that allows for geocoding pictures afterwards. Both routes and tracks have their place, and there are good reasons to use both, depending on the current task you're trying to do with the GPS. I wouldn't want to go without either. __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)