Community Forums

wrvond · 03-05-2022, 02:11 PM

I have made the trip between my home and Goshen, IN many, many times pulling a variety of campers. I'm about to head to Cold Water, MI in the next week and thought this would be a great time to get to know this new (to me) tool.
Right away TW and I had a disagreement. I take 35N to Dayton, OH and then jump on I75N - so far so good, TW and I are in complete agreement. However, I like to take exit 110 (Wapakoneta) to 33 then 127 to Van Wert, OH and get on 30 West into Indiana. However, TW wants me to stay on I75N up to Lima, OH and get on 30 there and on over past Van Wert and into Indiana. So, thinking I could bend TW to my will, I enabled Drag Route (I think that's what it's called) and dragged the route from Lima over to St. Marys, OH. TW complied nicely but the distance of the trip almost doubled! I zoomed in and followed the route to see what was amiss. I soon discovered that TW had me travelling from Van Wert, OH to Fort Wayne, IN, back to Van Wert, then back to Fort Wayne. Finally continuing on to Michigan.
I tried nine times to get rid of this added loop with no success.

It really shouldn't be this hard...

Mike8253 · 03-05-2022, 06:40 PM

Hard to say what's going on without being able to see your map/route, but sometimes when dragging, you need to be careful exactly where you drop the drag "point". Make sure you drop the drag right on the road you want to take, and sometimes if it's a divided highway, you need to be sure you drop on the side (direction) of the highway you want to be driving on. Also, if you have any avoidances selected, that might have influence on how you can drag.

Question: What's the order of your stops? Does the drag maintain that order, or disrupt it? It would really be helpful if you could attach a screenshot of what you are seeing.

Xmcdog · 03-05-2022, 06:45 PM

Aaaah, TW?

Mike8253 · 03-05-2022, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xmcdog

Aaaah, TW?

RV Trip Wizard

wrvond · 03-05-2022, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike8253

Hard to say what's going on without being able to see your map/route, but sometimes when dragging, you need to be careful exactly where you drop the drag "point". Make sure you drop the drag right on the road you want to take, and sometimes if it's a divided highway, you need to be sure you drop on the side (direction) of the highway you want to be driving on. Also, if you have any avoidances selected, that might have influence on how you can drag.

Question: What's the order of your stops? Does the drag maintain that order, or disrupt it? It would really be helpful if you could attach a screenshot of what you are seeing.

Well, you caused me to take another look at the trip and I found the problem, though not really the cause.
Unfortunately I fixed it (accidentally) before I took a screen shot. The problem was a fuel stop waypoint in Waterloo, Indiana. The planner showed the route to the station then returning to the highway but going South instead of continuing North. Under that stop on the left hand window was a tiny little icon (I don't remember what it looked like) that wasn't present under the first fuel stop. It had a trash can next to it, so I deleted it, expecting the entire stop to go away, but it didn't. It stayed put and the route corrected itself. I have no idea why this happened since I selected the second fuel stop exactly the same way I selected the first one.
Thanks for your ideas and for the prompt to take another look!

Mike8253 · 03-05-2022, 09:29 PM

So, just a few comments about when you drag to create a route of your choosing:
1) When you drag, TW places a "Waypoint" notation with a sequence # (in your case Waypoint #1) in the Trip Section of the screen in between the two Stops immediately prior and after that Waypoint. In your case, in between the two BP gas stops.
2) If you want to zoom in more to that drag point on your map, click on that Waypoint notation in the Trip Section, and TW will zoom in to that drag point, with that point centered on the screen.
3) The little symbol to the right of that Waypoint notification is a little Trash Can icon. Click on that icon if you decide you want to remove that Waypoint (drag point) from your route/map.

Finally, you cannot change the placement of the Waypoint notifications in the Trip Section, as you can Stops. A Waypoint will move, though, with the Stop immediately before it if you move (re-sequence) that Stop. However, if you do any re-sequencing of the order of multiple Stops in your Trip, and you have a Waypoint in the midst of those affected Stops, sometimes Waypoints will not re-sequence properly and will associate with a different Stop. If that occurs, then you can have instances of doubling back because the Stop/Waypoint associations have changed. Did you add or move a Stop after you dragged your route?

I hope this is useful for you. The more you use RVTW, the more you will like it, and become more proficient with it. Safe travels.

wrvond · 03-05-2022, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike8253

So, just a few comments about when you drag to create a route of your choosing:
1) When you drag, TW places a "Waypoint" notation with a sequence # (in your case Waypoint #1) in the Trip Section of the screen in between the two Stops immediately prior and after that Waypoint. In your case, in between the two BP gas stops.
2) If you want to zoom in more to that drag point on your map, click on that Waypoint notation in the Trip Section, and TW will zoom in to that drag point, with that point centered on the screen.
3) The little symbol to the right of that Waypoint notification is a little Trash Can icon. Click on that icon if you decide you want to remove that Waypoint (drag point) from your route/map.

Finally, you cannot change the placement of the Waypoint notifications in the Trip Section, as you can Stops. A Waypoint will move, though, with the Stop immediately before it if you move (re-sequence) that Stop. However, if you do any re-sequencing of the order of multiple Stops in your Trip, and you have a Waypoint in the midst of those affected Stops, sometimes Waypoints will not re-sequence properly and will associate with a different Stop. If that occurs, then you can have instances of doubling back because the Stop/Waypoint associations have changed. Did you add or move a Stop after you dragged your route?

I hope this is useful for you. The more you use RVTW, the more you will like it, and become more proficient with it. Safe travels.

Very helpful, indeed!
I'd like to say I added the waypoints before dragging the route, but I deleted the entire route and started over so many times I have no idea what I did or when I did it. Your explanation matches what I was seeing though, so I'm inclined to agree.
My bride is planning several trips around the country this year, so it looks like I'm going to be getting lots more practice!

Thanks again!

RVStitchy · 03-08-2022, 05:49 AM

It took me a little practice to get the hang of dragging routes. You have to be very specific where you grab the route and where you drop it - otherwise you get a lot of little loops.

If dragging the route through multiple roads I have found dragging in pieces or segments helps. I start with the first detour closest to my depart. If you get a couple of segments right and then make a mistake on the next one you should delete the waypoint in the route list to the left instead of trying to drag it back. Dragging back to the original route thinking you are starting over never works.

Souljourner · 03-08-2022, 08:32 AM

I really like TW for planning and as the “keeper of my preferred route” when navigating with an alternative GPS, since I’ve had the unfortunate experience of a GPS spontaneously deciding to reroute me, thinking it knows better than I do. That said, I, too, have used the “drag and drop” feature of TW to alter a route to my choosing.

Like the OP I have had the experience of not being precise when establishing way points, and as a result have gotten directions that take me in circles in an attempt to get me to a way point I have incorrectly identified.

I understand from previous posts the need to be precise when creating a waypoint, including making sure the waypoint is located on an interstate going in the right direction!

My question is - how to get that level of precision, since I’m discovering I’m off my intended mark as much as I’m on it?

TXiceman · 03-08-2022, 10:01 AM

The program picks the best route based on your parameters for height, width, tolls, etc. which you set in the program and as interpreted by the programmers. The program has no way to determine what anyone's preferred travel route is. The program has the ability for you to drag the route to one that you prefer and will identify any obstructions with the appropriate symbol.

A computer program is only as smart as the programmer.

Ken

Mike8253 · 03-08-2022, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souljourner

I really like TW for planning and as the “keeper of my preferred route” when navigating with an alternative GPS, since I’ve had the unfortunate experience of a GPS spontaneously deciding to reroute me, thinking it knows better than I do. That said, I, too, have used the “drag and drop” feature of TW to alter a route to my choosing.

Like the OP I have had the experience of not being precise when establishing way points, and as a result have gotten directions that take me in circles in an attempt to get me to a way point I have incorrectly identified.

I understand from previous posts the need to be precise when creating a waypoint, including making sure the waypoint is located on an interstate going in the right direction!

My question is - how to get that level of precision, since I’m discovering I’m off my intended mark as much as I’m on it?

What I do everytime I drag is, 1st, complete the drag to the road I want my route to take, and 2nd, immediately click on the new waypoint identifier in the Trip Section to zoom to the waypoint and move it so it's actually on the road. I almost never get it on the road on the first try.

Souljourner · 03-08-2022, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike8253

What I do everytime I drag is, 1st, complete the drag to the road I want my route to take, and 2nd, immediately click on the new waypoint identifier in the Trip Section to zoom to the waypoint and move it so it's actually on the road. I almost never get it on the road on the first try.

Ah! It never occurred to me to click on the waypoint in the list to confirm it’s actually where I thought it was. Got it! Thank you!

wrvond · 03-09-2022, 03:36 AM

Just a quick update to say that this app has proven so easy to use - after my initial hiccup - that I've begun creating trips for places we think we'd like to go in addition to actual planned trips.

Souljourner · 03-09-2022, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrvond

Just a quick update to say that this app has proven so easy to use - after my initial hiccup - that I've begun creating trips for places we think we'd like to go in addition to actual planned trips.

That’s wonderful! I agree - there’s a bit of a learning curve, but once you master the basics I find it’s an excellent place to start putting together a trip, do the research, and see how a route is taking shape - and then it becomes an excellent container to hold all of your trip details once they’ve been decided. I also love that I can easily look back at past trips I’ve taken and everything I need to know is in one place.

I don’t love the RV GPS that it feeds into, it that’s for another thread!