Re: Which Units support MDR?

Dale DePriest wrote:

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I do not believe that via routing is called MDR by Garmin. Do you have a model or documentation that calls it that? My iQue 3600 and M5 have via routing but do not call it MDR.

Magellan called it MDR (in lower case letters, just a string of words) so maybe I got into the habit of referring to it as that when I was using Magellans.

The Garmin page for the StreetPilot 2610 says:

"The StreetPilot 2610 now includes a number of new and exclusive software features including:

Multiple Destinations — Do you want to find the most efficient route for deliveries or sales calls? Users can enter a series of destinations, and the StreetPilot 2610 will automatically sort them to provide an efficient route."

So Garmin has included route optimization in their description of multiple destination routing. Their use of the words multiple destination probably contributed to my use of the phrase too. My abbreviating it as MDR goes to my desire to not have to type it all out.

1. Is it just adding a via inside a current route? If so is it mandatory to go through the via point or just use it to guide the router?

Unless you pick one specific unit and talk about what that will do and how it does it, it can be either way. Let me pick my 76Cx for this case.

That is my point. No clear definition making a checkbox worthless.

You lost me, what checkbox?

MDR on the 76Cx is that I can put waypoints at a series of places, put those waypoints into a route (in MapSource or on the 76Cx) and it will lead me to those places in that order. And when I activate the route I can choose Follow Road (autorouting on road vectors) or Off Road (point to point) navigation.

The behavior of the GPS is not the same for Follow Road and Off Road routes.

Off road is mainly what you describe below and this has nothing to do with MDR which is specifically for autorouting I believe. This can get really confusing when you start mixing apples and oranges.

You're right. I did mix apples and oranges up a little. I generally always have waypoints in all the routes stored on my GPS. And I make the Follow Roads or Off Road choice when I activate them and I only use Follow roads for routes that are for traveling on roads.

When I have a route that is a string of waypoints placed for a road trip they are placed on road vectors and for the purpose of controlling the routing.

And I think part of the confusion for me may be in the way you or I think of the words. MapSource calls all the points in a route via points in the MapSource properties menu. Some of the via points will be map objects with a "Type" property like "Map Point" or "Map Line". But waypoints can also be used as via points in a route and, in that case, they have not a "Type" listed in the properties.

When I say I put waypoints in a route, I place waypoints and put them in a route.

For Follow Road routes, if the waypoint is via point (as was decided in my mind when I placed it) it directs me to the next waypoint after I pass by or through the waypoint.

Garmin tends to require the via point which can be a problem if you go offroute and would prefer the re-calc to just send you on to the destination.

And I think that is the reason I tend to almost always place waypoints and use those to build routes. Somewhere along the line, I figured out that I had better luck at getting the same routing on the GPS that I had in MapSource if the uploaded routes had waypoints (not via points).

2. If the via point actually called a destination. Does the product report it as a destination and describe ETA etc. to that point.

The only waypoint that gets called a destination is the final one. But I can have data boxes that show distance to the next waypoint and also distance to the destination. And I can have ETAs to those too.

You are describing the behavior of off road routes I believe since you talk about actual waypoints although if you view the route page (not the eta on the navigation page) then you can get the data on Garmin units.

If I have activated a route with waypoints as a Follow Road route it works as I described. I can use the data boxes on the Map, Highway, or Trip Computer pages to display Distance To Destination, Distance to Next, ETA At Destination, and ETA At Next.

Those are displayed in the Follow Road and Off Road modes. And the distance is the distance following the roads or point to point as appropriate.

On the Active Route page I can also see the distance and ETA for each leg. For the ETA I have the choice of ETA or Time to Go, I can see one of the other.

3. If it is a really a destination then the unit should announce it and then allow the user to stop.

No voice prompts on the 76Cx but the display tells me when I am at a waypoint and I can stop there. For days if I want. When I turn the GPS back on, choose Resume Navigation, and start moving, if directs me to the next waypoint. If I don't stop, it simply leads me too the next waypoint.

Your 2610 is more the autorouting unit rather than the 76Cx although the later does have some minimal autorouting navigation capability.

We can agree to disagree on that. I can't think of a navigation related feature on the 2610 that is missing from the 76Cx other than the voice prompts. I think the 76Cx has a full autorouting capability, and it some ways it is arguably a more capable navigation unit than is the 2610.

The 2610 has a faster and easier to use user interface, it speaks, has a larger display, and is a better choice for use in the car for all of those reasons. But the 2610 comes up short on track memory (2,000 points instead of 10,000) and in its ability to store track data. Tracks have to downloaded from the 2610 daily (if you want to preserve trip data) whereas the 76Cx can store track data as long as their is free space on the memory card.

The logic for when you have actually attained or passed a waypoint is obscure and not explained. It looks like it is when the waypoint has passed behind a line that is perpendicular to my projected course. But I not certain.

For off road routes it is described in my manual for Garmin. For on road the rules are a bit different so this is another apples and oranges thing in that you need to be specific.

When I have a route activated in the Follow Road mode, and the waypoints are placed on road vectors, I stay on the road in my lane and when I have passed by the waypoint it advances to the next waypoint. I think the logic for passing a waypoint in follow Road is is similar to that used for Off Road. Which manual is that in? I'd like to read that.

There is a setting where I can get set the 76Cx's Route Leg Transition to a specific distance for Off Road routes. I have not experimented with that yet but I need to do that. I would like it to transition to the next waypoint in Off Road routes sooner than it is now.

For Follow Road routes I try to place waypoints on the vector of the road I want to drive on. If I place them in the southbound lane when I'm going to be northbound, it will take that as a literal requirement, take me to an off ramp, get me back in the southbound lane, and lead me to the waypoint. When I've passed through it, I'll be lead south to an offramp, back to the northbound lanes, and the journey will continue.

This is a problem with using a via or destination. This should be considered a bug in that it is clearly not what the user would ever want for selecting a point visually on the screen.

I've not found a way around having to place the waypoints in the proper lanes for the direction of travel. I have to do that for the 2610 too. After I get them placed right, if I reverse a route it moves the via points over to the other lanes for the reversed route. I can remember in the old days when I had to do that myself. I think the issue is that there are two vectors there and if you are zoomed out you may get either one or even miss them both. So I've always considered it my job to get waypoints placed right.

4. What happens, next. Does the unit attempt to return to the route or continue on to the destination?

Whether I stop or not, it will lead me to the next waypoint. If I did stop and stopped navigation or turned the GPS off, when I turned it back on and Resumed Navigation it will continue to the next waypoint. I have gotten to the point that another waypoint, further on down the route, was closer to the point where I chose to Resume Navigation and it then it will lead me there and maybe skip a waypoint in the process.

Again this is likely off road manual route navigation that you are describing. Not what MDR means or applies to.

Nope, what I describe there is exactly what happens with the 76Cx in the Follow Road mode.

On Follow Road routes it will recalculate the route (automatically if I want) soon after I get off of the road vector it has me following or if I go the wrong direction on it.

5. Can the destination be added on to the end or only in the middle.

The last waypoint is the destination. If I have a saved route, I can add waypoints and move waypoints up and down in order. The 76Cx does not have a route optimization feature so I get my waypoints in the order I list them in the route. I can optimize routes in MapSource before I upload them if I remember right.

On the 76Cx, I have to stop navigation to edit a route. When I resume navigation the route is recalculated from my present location. It is still working towards getting me to the last waypoint from where I am, going to the nearest waypoint first and passing through the rest of them.

Not an MDR issue and again you are generally talking about off road routes.

Except that if the waypoints are placed on road vectors and the route is activated in the Follow Road mode, that is exactly what happens.

6. If added on, does the unit compute the whole route initially or just to the intermediate point and wait until the arrival to calculate the next point?

The distances and ETAs for each leg and the entire route are listed on the Routing page. The numbers change on the fly (with some delay) as your speed changes.

This is easy to implement, by the way, since the destinations are merely placed in a stack to be popped off as you arrive, but you don't know the final eta.

If that is the ETA at the last waypoint, that is something I always have an estimate of.

7. Many folks want the unit itself to determine the optimum order of the destinations, or at least a reasonable order. You never want this if you are adding via point. A Real Estate person, for example, may want to input a bunch of houses and let the unit determine the order to visit them.

The 76Cx won't do that (as I mentioned above). I think my 2610 will though. I don't want a GPS that will not go to waypoints in the order I list them. Optimization is okay as long as I can decide when to use it, otherwise I do not want it.

The 2610 is classified as MDR with the newer firmware. the 76Cx is not.
The 2610 lets you reorder the destinations but I am not sure it optimizes them on its own. I haven't look at a 2610 recently.

The 76Cx does multiple destination routing the same way as and just as well as well as the 2610. I use the same routes on the 2610 and 76Cx. It will autoroute on the base maps roads too, right out of the box. If you wanted to go cross country using major roads, you would not need any detail maps until you started looking for motels and stuff.

It is my fetish to use waypoints, I can build routes on CN V8 in MapSource using the Route tool (not using waypoints for via points) and with CN V8 on the 76Cx the uploaded routes would just the same as the do on the 2610.

8. An aside capability is after the fact to be able to detour to a side destination. Such as when you decide to find a restaurant, or gas station while on a trip, and then you want to return to the original route (or route a new one).

The 76Cx is sort of intended to meet a number of needs and maybe even works best for someone that is well founded in using GPS receivers and in navigating. If I want to do a Find while I am navigating a route, I can do that.

Yes and if you choose to route to it you will lose your original route. This is because it is not MDR.

Is there a set of rules about MDR? Defined in a specification somewhere?

Can you not have multiple destination routing unless it is accompanied by route optimization?

If I Stop Navigation (on the original route) I can chose to GoTo the place I found.

From the "found" place, I think I can choose to Resume Navigation on the original route. I'm not certain if I can resume the original route after doing a Goto. But if I choose the route from the saved routes, I can activate it and it will lead me back to the route.

Saved routes is separate from MDR and is a work around as you have discoverd.

?? When I said "saved routes" I was referring to the routes uploaded from MapSource. Those routes are there so I use them.

Have you used an "x" series model in the Follow Roads mode?

9. Is multiple 2, or 5, or more?

More, up to 250.

Oops! I should have said "More, up to 50 for Follow Road routes and 250 for Off Road routes."

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Which Units support MDR?
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