Garmin GPS - Any way to turn off or avoid those bad Forest Service routes?

Author

Any way to turn off or avoid those bad Forest Service routes?

B. Peg

2005-07-27, 5:48 pm

Got stuck on some nasty rutted Forest Service dirt road that my Garmin
steered me onto. After traveling many miles down a very windy paved road
(passed the turn-off as it was so small and well hidden), all of a sudden a
fork appeared and it was a dirt road in both directions - and not a good one
at that. Had to turn around and go back and drive further until it
recalculated another route after bottoming out a few times.

Any way to keep something like that from happening again? Seems there is
something that tells the unit what is a good or better route but I haven't
figured it out yet. Seems that setting also works on the Interstates and
Highways as it will re-route onto what I think is the less quicker of the
two routes, or better road.

Sometimes it does do odd things like run off the Interstate and do a few
twists and turns in the city and then goes back on the Interstate. Very odd
routing at times.

The "Show Turns" feature is another one that seems like a waste of time on a
really long 400-600 mile route. Can't stand to sit there and watch the
pointer play it out for that length of time. Ugh!

B~

Seagull

2005-07-27, 5:48 pm

B. Peg <bent_peg@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> Any way to keep something like that from happening again? Seems there is
> something that tells the unit what is a good or better route but I haven't
> figured it out yet. Seems that setting also works on the Interstates and
> Highways as it will re-route onto what I think is the less quicker of the
> two routes, or better road.

First, it would help to know which GPS you are using since some of them
support road avoidances. Though those do have to be programmed in manually.

In general, however, you are at the mercy of the maps. If the map says
there's a road there, then the GPS may route you on it. Rural areas are
where you'll find the most inaccuracies. Sometimes, when traveling to a
very rural area, you just need to know which roads exist and which do not
and the GPS's value is limited to following a pre-programmed route or
just telling you where you are.

The maps also indicate "classifications" of roads, and the routing
algorithm will tend to favor larger roads (highways, etc.) over smaller
ones (city streets) particularly in a "faster time" routing situation.

In short, the technology isn't perfect.

Cheers,
-+JLS

--
\ carpe cavy!
seagull @ aracnet.com \
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

kilmister

2005-08-03, 5:48 pm

my dad will not use the auto routeing until he gets to a neighbourhood and
wants to find a particular address. like you said the gps will pick not so
best routes when doing a long trip.

"B. Peg" <bent_peg@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:4QLFe.38925$5N3.38021@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Got stuck on some nasty rutted Forest Service dirt road that my Garmin
> steered me onto. After traveling many miles down a very windy paved road
> (passed the turn-off as it was so small and well hidden), all of a sudden
a
> fork appeared and it was a dirt road in both directions - and not a good
one
> at that. Had to turn around and go back and drive further until it
> recalculated another route after bottoming out a few times.
>
> Any way to keep something like that from happening again? Seems there is
> something that tells the unit what is a good or better route but I haven't
> figured it out yet. Seems that setting also works on the Interstates and
> Highways as it will re-route onto what I think is the less quicker of the
> two routes, or better road.
>
> Sometimes it does do odd things like run off the Interstate and do a few
> twists and turns in the city and then goes back on the Interstate. Very
odd
> routing at times.
>
> The "Show Turns" feature is another one that seems like a waste of time on
a
> really long 400-600 mile route. Can't stand to sit there and watch the
> pointer play it out for that length of time. Ugh!
>
> B~
>
>

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