How to import a .gpx file into a Garmin 765T to create a custom route

[NONREV]

Hello all, this is my first post here to the forum... Been reading a while and i hope to be able to contribute as well as learn.

Here is my issue:

I'm a motorcycle rider.. great hobby...
I found this website : http://www.openroadjourney.com/

It offers off-road routes that other riders have plotted (per se) and you can view them in a google maps applet..
There is link that offers a download of the route to a .gpx file...

Next issue...
I can download the file... got 4 of them that I can't wait to ride... my issue is that I have a Garmin 765T that I use when I ride... I'm having issues getting these routes into my Garmin 765T in a format that I can use. So, I have these 'custom routes' with the GPS way-points... I just can't get them in into the Garmin for me to chose from to follow.

The work around that I've found is taking down the GPS coordinates of a select few (or larger number) of way points and putting them in, one by one, into a custom route that I create... but there is a part of me that thinks that this is the LONG and WRONG way...

I've used RouteConverter to open the .gpx files and actually SEE the way-points...

What I want to do or ask are the following:
- if you understand what I'm trying to do, is there an easy/easier way than what I've been doing?
- the Garmin has a limit of 100 or 150 way-points... some of the routes that I get from OpenRoadJourney.com have way-point lists of 400+... some even in the thousands... How do I pare such a list down to something reasonable that the Garmin can use? For instance, how do I pick every 5th or every 10'th way-point... is that possible?

Hopefully I've been clear with my issue and someone can help point me in the right direction...

Thanks!

[routeconverter]

I'm a motorcycle rider.. great hobby...

Yes!

I can download the file... got 4 of them that I can't wait to ride... my issue is that I have a Garmin 765T that I use when I ride... I'm having issues getting these routes into my Garmin 765T in a format that I can use. So, I have these 'custom routes' with the GPS way-points... I just can't get them in into the Garmin for me to chose from to follow.

I don't know the Garmin 765T but it seems to be at least an upper middle class device. That means it should offer access to a memory card or it's internal filesystem via USB I guess to load and store routes.

The work around that I've found is taking down the GPS coordinates of a select few (or larger number) of way points and putting them in, one by one, into a custom route that I create... but there is a part of me that thinks that this is the LONG and WRONG way...

That's tedious and error prone and definitely not the right way.

What I want to do or ask are the following:
- if you understand what I'm trying to do, is there an easy/easier way than what I've been doing?

Yes, try to create a route on the device and then get access to it's file system to retrieve it. The format of that route and it's location is most probably what you need for custom routes.

- the Garmin has a limit of 100 or 150 way-points... some of the routes that I get from OpenRoadJourney.com have way-point lists of 400+... some even in the thousands... How do I pare such a list down to something reasonable that the Garmin can use? For instance, how do I pick every 5th or every 10'th way-point... is that possible?

There are several algorithms for this in the 'Plan/Transform Track into Route' dialog. Starting from simple pick every 5th waypoint to the Douglas-Peucker Algorithm.

Hopefully I've been clear with my issue and someone can help point me in the right direction...

I hope understood my idea despite of my solid half knowledge of your GPS device? If not, how can I help you?

[NONREV]

I don't know the Garmin 765T but it seems to be at least an upper middle class device. That means it should offer access to a memory card or it's internal filesystem via USB I guess to load and store routes.

Yes, it does offer USB access to the internal memory and there is a SDHC Card slot as well...

Yes, try to create a route on the device and then get access to it's file system to retrieve it. The format of that route and it's location is most probably what you need for custom routes.

I think I can do this... let me get into it later today and see what I find out.

There are several algorithms for this in the 'Plan/Transform Track into Route' dialog. Starting from simple pick every 5th waypoint to the Douglas-Peucker Algorithm.

Dang, I KNEW I should have paid attention in school....

I hope understood my idea despite of my solid half knowledge of your GPS device? If not, how can I help you?

I will try to get into the file system... for starters.

I was able to remove every other waypoint...
I also was able to pare the number of waypoints down to 100 from a 457 waypoint list....
I think there is a way to (from a route or track) make a list of waypoints that are (hypothetically) say 1 mile (1.6 km) apart... that'd REALLY help if I could figure out how to do that using Route Converter...

I'm gonna keep messing with it...

We're off to a great start...

Would it help if I sent you the .gpx file??

[routeconverter]

I think there is a way to (from a route or track) make a list of waypoints that are (hypothetically) say 1 mile (1.6 km) apart... that'd REALLY help if I could figure out how to do that using Route Converter...

Try this:

• go to the Plan tab
  
• click on 'Transform Track into Route'
  
• 'Select all duplicate positions within a distance of XXX meters of their predecessor' is the option you need
  
• type 1600 into the text field
  
• click on 'Select'
  
• RouteConverter tells you, how many positions are affected and selects them
  
• click on 'Delete selected positions' to delete them
  

Not that difficult, isn't it?

Would it help if I sent you the .gpx file??

Not yet.

[NONREV]

OK... I'm tracking... (which is good when we're talking about using a GPS unit...)

Now that I have a list of about 400+ waypoints down to a list of say 100, eliminating redundant WP's (waypoints) that are too close to their predacessor and what have you... I essentially have a list of POSITION 1 to POSITION 100 waypoints... when plotted on a map make a nice back roads motorcycle ride... My GARMIN 765T will tell me how to get to the starting point and where to turn and everything (through my Scala G4 headset in my helmet) ... if I can only get this list of way points INTO the Garmin...

As I said... the work around that I've come up with is -
I can actually get the list of POSITIONS into the Garmin...
To create the route, I have to actually select "create a custom route", then Select the start point as Position 1, then add the next point as Position 2 and then the next point as position 3 and so on
the only saving grace is that all of the positions (1-100) appear in the FAVORITES category of the GPS unit... I somehow have placed them in that directory or database... and as the custom route is created, little dots appear on the map... I can actually SEE positions 1-100 ON THE GPS Map. and I can select Position 5... and then Position 10... and then position 14... and so on, because the only way to go from Position 5 to Position 10 would be to go through positions 6,7,8,& 9... therefore I don't have to enter all 100 waypoints in the custom route. (Make sense?)

(here comes a moment of revlation...) I'm not sure there is a question here that you can answer related to Route Converter... It (Route Converter) is the actual application that helped me pare the list of waypoints down from 400+ to 100... it has done it's job ... so I guess your role is done... I know how to use the application to do that...

What I'm left with is a list of waypoints that I don't know how to get into my GPS unit in a way that will help me avoid the line by line, position by position entry to create a route that I can follow...

This isn't a Route Converter issue, it's a user interface issue with my GPS...

A light bulb just went off and I now realize that this is the wrong place to ask my kind of question....

I apologize...

Learing is like that sometimes...