Exporting trips from RVTW to GPS

[timjet]

This has been a request from RVTW uses to its developers for some time. Currently there is no easy way to do this. The best way is to export the trip to Garmins Base Camp and then download to your GPS.

But for what purpose? The route you created in RVTW may not be the same as the one shown on your GPS. If you take the time to create a route in RVTW and maybe even tweak it some by using the drag feature of RVTW you would expect it to be the route shown on your GPS. But that won't happen. I think most know that any GPS will create its own route between the downloaded origin and destination using the parameters and avoidances the user has put into their GPS.

So until Garmin adjusts their software to allow a GPX file to display exactly as downloaded, I see no reason to export a trip from any program into your GPS.

Am I missing something.

To my knowledge Google My Maps is the only program that will accept a GPX file and display it unaltered as long as you don't add a driving directions layer.

[mikeannetta]

I think it’s important to keep this thread open. The use of RVTRIPWIZARD and any GPS in my opinion go hand in hand. I use RVTripWizard to plan just about every phase of the trip, hours of driving, fuel stops, campground planning and reservations, POI.... as well as estimates cost of trip.

So after all the time putting the plan together, yes, you can print out the Trip summary or export it to your calendar where each morning or night before you can program you stops (fuel, POI, endpoint) into the GPS. This way, you will get the best routes based where you are going. I like doing the night before so I have a better idea of what to expect for incoming travel such as miles and hours driving. We also have a wifi hot spot alway on, and the DW tracks the days scheduled travel using RVTripWizard and with the new “ Weather Layers (BETA) built into she can see any issues before we are in the middle of it.

[traveldawg]

been covered before.... try the reference to the external conversion program.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f287/rvt...em-521184.html

[timjet]

This issue keeps getting raised: Why won't my GPS follow the route I created in RVTW or Base Camp if I'm lucky enough to even get the route in my GPS. It's why I started this thread.

I think it would be helpful for the forum moderators to place a sticky on this forum explaining this.

[SeeTheUSA2]

I agree with Tim.

In general, developers think less about import/export than they do about their own "island of automation." That makes it double difficult for us customers to move stuff around from app to app, even though the data formats are somewhat well specified.

For example, I had a process using my own app that would do the conversions to get from an XLSX file from RVTW to a GPX file. It would import waypoints (RVTW stops) and a route (no tracks or driving directions). That was all I wanted and It worked ok in most cases. [There's currently a bug that can write extra [NULL]s at the end of the GPX file; these can be edited in any text editor; i'll fix it asap.]

Now with the latest RV890 update, the waypoints still import, but the routes do not. Come to find out there's a bug in the RV890 import that can reject a route import (again, a route is an RV890 "Trip", not track) *IF* you have a propane tank. After a long chat with Garmin, I then removed the Propane tank, and was eventually able to import wayoints and routes.

[see https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...ne&tab=topics]

However, this is error prone and I know I'll forget to re-add the propane.

So, as many do in the end, I give up. All I need is the RVTW "Stops" to import to the RVTW as waypoints, and that still works. Routes connecting the waypoints was just frosting.

I think all 3 import paths will import waypoints from a well formed GPX file:
1) Garmin BaseCamp
2) A USB connection to a PC and a copy/paste into the Garmin GPX folder
3) Garmin drive on a phone/tablet


fwiw,
paul

[NVFlyAngler]

Originally Posted by timjet

To my knowledge Google My Maps is the only program that will accept a GPX file and display it unaltered as long as you don't add a driving directions layer.

I've not yet tested turn-by-turn navigation, but a GPX file exported from RVTW appears to import nicely into Gaia GPS.

I like Gaia GPS because 1) it uses the phone's GPS chip and doesn't require cellular connectivity for navigation purposes, and 2) its maps display on my truck's info screen via Apple CarPlay.

[gregoryd73]

Well, the point IS that the research capabilities and many, many other features in RVTW are more than useful when trip planning. You can plan the entire trip, whether you stay at various RV parks or not, and at least have an idea of how far you plan to travel each day, and can make quick adjustments as necessary.

The research-while-planning is incredibly useful in the way I like to travel, whether I use the POI's or not in the upload. Sure, you can do it on your GPS as well, but it's a bit more cumbersome and clunky as compared to RVTW. Anyway, this is good dialog folks and thanks for the tips ... I've got a few more things to try now. Ha!

[gregoryd73]

Totally agree, Mikeanetta. That's the way I use it too.

[timjet]

RVTW is an incredibly useful planning tool and I think at least some on this forum would say it's the best RV planning tool. For some of us we want it also to be a driving tool and even though it was not initially created for that purpose, the developers are trying to make it a driving GPS tool as well, and I think this is where we are seeing some problems, especially in the export feature.

GPS users wanted a seamless way to see the same trips they created in RVTW and see them in their GPS's. However some users also wanted to see these downloaded RVTW trips in other software like Garmin's BaseCamp and Google My Maps. As a side note, Garmin's BaseCamp connects pretty easily with their GPS's. Routes created or imported into BaseCamp can display exactly as created in RVTW in their GPS with some tweaking. More on this in a moment.

So to this end the developers have changed the way RVTW exports its trips in the latest RVTW update. Trips in RVTW now export as routes whereas formally they exported as tracks. It was suppose to make exporting trips to a GPS easier. I can't speak to that but what this latest update did do was simply transfer the trip stops created in RVTW. So now a route downloaded from RVTW into either My Maps or BaseCamp shows as a point to point line from stop to stop.

An understanding of tracks vs routes will help the user understand why tracks are so important and may help explain why this new issue of incomplete routing in BaseCamp and My Maps is occurring.

A route is a way of navigating between stops usually defined by a user through avoidance's. So a route can be trip using interstates and other direct roads from a origin to a destination. Or a route can be circuitous from the same orgin to the same destination but may avoid interstates and other busy roads. So the user defines the route by entering avoidance's and other parameters into his GPS or navigation software. The GPS or software picks the roads to get to destination using the avoidances the user defined in the GPS or software.

A tract is usually defined by the user for example when a RVTW user uses the drag feature to create a route different than the suggested route. A track will consist of many points that exactly define the roads taken from origin to destination. Some software will allow the user to define the distance between track points. So for example if you set the track points to 1 mile, your completed track will have a turn-point every mile, even though you may not be turning. This will force any navigation software or GPS to follow those track points and if enough track points are created, a GPS will not alter from those track points even if the avoidance's set in the GPS conflict with the downloaded track points. The GPS will still try and use the avoidance's set by the user to navigate between track points, but if enough track points are created, the GPS will have no other way to get from track point to track point even if the avoidance's are set to different parameters.

So with the latest update to RVTW it appears RVTW simply transfers the origin and destination (stops) when you download a trip. When My Maps or BaseCamp displays these stops they show simply as point to point and do not align with any roads.

If someone has tried importing a RVTW trip into your Garmin GPS after this latest update, please post your results.

As mentioned earlier, a route created in or downloaded into BaseCamp can be tweaked to display exactly the same in your GPS. As discussed above if you create enough turn-points in BaseCamp your GPS will not deviate from your intended routing.

[gregoryd73]

Thanks, Tim, for a great overview. Regarding using RVTW to upload a GPX file to my brand new Garmin 890, yes. It was troublesome in that the imported "trip" appeared as individual stops in Trip Planner/Saved Trips/Imported Trips screen, and only a few of the stops were imported; no complete trip was uploaded.

Then, I found a post that suggested you must turn the "propane tank" information OFF on the RV Tools screens before the upload. I did this and, sure enough, all the stops came over ... still no complete and selectable trip, however.

At least with all the stops now present on the GPS, each can be selected as you travel forward, although they do not appear in the proper sequence. Or, you can start a new trip then add stops using the Add Location editor on the GPS to build the trip. A little clunky, but I suppose it's a workaround at this point.

[timjet]

Thanks for that Dennis. It sounds like the import/export feature of RVTW is still not working as intended. I've now found it easier to work within BaseCamp and download to my GPS from there.
If you don't mind, try creating a trip in RVTW and use the drag feature to modify the RVTW suggested routing. See if that is reflected in your GPS when you download it. Note: Be sure and turn the drag feature in RVTW off before attempting any download.

Let us know your results.



The propane issue having an issue with downloads has been around for some time. I talked to Garmin CS 3 years ago and they suggested turning it off when downloading. It seems they are not interested in fixing this bug.

[gregoryd73]

Garmin software engineers definitely have work to do on the "import" side of things, and maybe on the customer service side, too. I received an immediate response on the import problem from RVTW, but it took 3 days for Garmin to respond. Then, when Garmin did respond, the CSR knew nothing about the RV 890, finally admitting so, and confessed he was with the "outdoor" group not the "automotive" group. My query should have been forwarded long before the 6 hours I've spent on this issue so far.

Having said and read all of the above, I will say the Garmin RV 890 is a step above the Rand McNally RVND 7730 that I've used for the past 6 years. The 7730 has been a very useful tool (although sometimes frustrating) and will import trips flawlessly from RVTW and GoodSam Trip planners.

I'm looking forward to using the new GPS on the 2nd leg of our 10,000 mile loop across the USA, for the voice command and fast search functionality. Meanwhile, the workarounds I've developed with the assistance of all of the posts on this Forum will have to suffice. Cheers and thank you all,