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10-K
06-28-2012, 06:26
So there are all these great GPX files available.

Problem is they almost always have more than 500 trackpoints per .gpx which is the limit for a Garmin GPS.

This is such a serious and ridiculous limitation that it boggles the mind.

Is there a GPS maker who doesn't suffer from this insanity and will allow tracks with MORE than 500 trackpoints.

It's such a bummer..

QiWiz
06-28-2012, 10:01
Did not know of this limitation. I believe Delorme units are not limited in this way. I don't think Gaia GPS on my iPhone is either.

WingedMonkey
06-28-2012, 10:34
I don't know squat about GPS.....but, I was just reading the other day of a hiker on the Arizona Trail , and this is what she did:


I did download the GPS waypoints and tracks and have downloaded them to my Garmin Etrex Vista GPS. I got around the 500 waypoint limit by turning the waypoints into "points of interest"--which can be unlimited on my GPS. I believe it just strips the fancy icons from the points, making it easier to store. I used the POI Loader free software available from the Garmin website.

http://postholer.com/journal/viewJournal.php?sid=d3b43c640a9d893ebbb9f8f69443fb c4&entry_id=28048

kayak karl
06-28-2012, 10:42
i have the Oregon 300 and this track has 4869 tracks for this trip http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=754858 . i just did this and had NO chip in memory.

kayak karl
06-28-2012, 10:43
this one http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192556433 sorry

kayak karl
06-28-2012, 10:48
this one http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192556433 sorry and just for giggles look at the elevation on a 26.5 mile hike in south jersey. that 196' climb was a killer LOL

leaftye
06-28-2012, 13:39
So there are all these great GPX files available.

Problem is they almost always have more than 500 trackpoints per .gpx which is the limit for a Garmin GPS.

This is such a serious and ridiculous limitation that it boggles the mind.

Is there a GPS maker who doesn't suffer from this insanity and will allow tracks with MORE than 500 trackpoints.

It's such a bummer..
You're mixing up waypoints and trackpoints. A Garmin gps can handle up to 10,000 trackpoints, which makes for a fairly accurate track for a section of trail.

Waypoint limitation? I don't know. I hate the way Garmin displays its list of waypoints anyway. They display on the map just fine, but if I display the text list of waypoints, I'll never find the one I'm looking for unless I only have a few or it's one of the very first.

So if each gpx file is for a section, you can have 10,000 points to define your track, and maybe 500 waypoints. That's plenty.

kayak karl
06-28-2012, 14:02
You're mixing up waypoints and trackpoints. A Garmin gps can handle up to 10,000 trackpoints, which makes for a fairly accurate track for a section of trail.

Waypoint limitation? I don't know. I hate the way Garmin displays its list of waypoints anyway. They display on the map just fine, but if I display the text list of waypoints, I'll never find the one I'm looking for unless I only have a few or it's one of the very first.

So if each gpx file is for a section, you can have 10,000 points to define your track, and maybe 500 waypoints. That's plenty.

your right. mine will handle 1000 waypoints, unlimited tracks. i store info on different chips and put in the one for the area im going to. maybe storing waypoints on a chip will help.
when im out kayaking/fishing and at a spot i want to remember i will turn GPS on. when it finds me i turn off. i edit the track on computer to make waypoints.

KK

SassyWindsor
06-28-2012, 14:35
I recently got a eTrex 20 which is a huge improvement over my old Vista. These newer units will work off Russian Glonass to give the unit 24 more satellites to lock on, and navigation is almost instant. Can handle 32gb MicroSD card. Turn by Turn, 20+ hours battery life, 2000 waypoints, 10,000 track-points, 200 saved tracks, 200 saved routes. I use my old Mapsource in conjunction with the newer BaseCamp for data handling. You can also convert tracks to routes using the BaseCamp SW.

10-K
06-28-2012, 16:10
No... You have a 500 track point limit on gpx files you transfer to the gps, you can transfer 20 of them,,,, for a 10k max...

Google ' garmin 500 track point limit' to see what I mean.

10-K
06-28-2012, 16:12
Written from the AT at iron mt gap during a break btw.... :)

Hiking and on wb... Has to be a sun of some kind.

JaxHiker
06-28-2012, 16:50
You're mixing up waypoints and trackpoints. A Garmin gps can handle up to 10,000 trackpoints, which makes for a fairly accurate track for a section of trail.

Waypoint limitation? I don't know. I hate the way Garmin displays its list of waypoints anyway. They display on the map just fine, but if I display the text list of waypoints, I'll never find the one I'm looking for unless I only have a few or it's one of the very first.

So if each gpx file is for a section, you can have 10,000 points to define your track, and maybe 500 waypoints. That's plenty.
As 10-K said, this ain't quite right. More times than I can count I've had to simplify tracks I've downloaded because they have too many trackpoints, not waypoints.

The Garmin's support 10K for recording, not loading back to the device. :mad:

kayak karl
06-28-2012, 17:00
i just exported this file to my GPS http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192556433 (had deleted it before).
all 4800 tracks showed up in one .gpx file.
Which Garmin do you have??

leaftye
06-28-2012, 17:16
No... You have a 500 track point limit on gpx files you transfer to the gps, you can transfer 20 of them,,,, for a 10k max...

Google ' garmin 500 track point limit' to see what I mean.

No. If that was true, there's no way I'd have all the tracks for the PCT on my Garmin Oregon 550. Just the tracks that Halfmile made for the PCT (http://www.pctmap.net/download/p/trackdl.html) are in 40 files, broken up by section and sometimes into smaller parts to stay within the 10,000 point limit. I've verified that they work on the ground for the first 8 sections, which is actually 14 files. I keep all of them in my gps. The only thing I sometimes remove are the waypoints.

So you can definitely have at least 8 files with 10,000 track points each. Even if that was the true limit, which it isn't, it isn't a big deal to swap files or memory cards.

I saw one Garmin thread that seems to indicate that the limit you're talking about is when you store the files in the memory of the actual gps unit. That might be true. I'm pretty sure I store all my files on my memory card, and that works fine.

Don't you also have a Garmin Oregon?

JaxHiker
06-28-2012, 20:44
Well don't this just beat all? I can't find my GPS (Garmin 60CSx) after last month's hike. :-/

10-K
06-29-2012, 08:01
I have an eTrex Vista Hcx.

See here:

http://www.aukadia.net/gps/lwg_10.htm

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=6362

http://tomchoma.blogspot.com/2009/05/information-track-points-and-500-point.html

https://sites.google.com/site/wikilocdownloading/

One problem is that many GPS units (Garmin I know of) allow only 500 track points to be loaded per segment (my 60cx for example). This is a major problem because the 500 track point limit causes large hikes to be truncated. If you download a hike with say 2000 track points and then try to load that to your GPS, you will only windup with the first 500 track points of the 2000 (thus you will only get the first 25% of the original hike). One way to get around this is to break the 2000 track points into 4 groups of 500 (called track segments).

kayak karl
06-29-2012, 09:17
they must of worked it out with the Oregon model. sorry for the confusion.:confused:

10-K
06-29-2012, 11:51
I see DeLorme GPS's don't have this limitation.

But they only have software for Windows.

fredmugs
06-29-2012, 13:28
I have a Magellan eXplorist 710 and here are my specs:

The eXplorist GPS receiver can store up to 2000 waypoints; 200 tracks, each containing up to 10,000 track points; and 200 routes, each containing up to 500 waypoints. Alternatively, you can export waypoints, tracks, and routes to a microSD card to expand storage limits.

JaxHiker
06-29-2012, 13:54
I don't think it's so much an issue with storing. It's an issue with transferring. When you're recording a track you won't see the problem. However, when you download it and try to load it again at a later date that's when you'll hit the wall. It doesn't make sense that you can't copy something back that came off the device but that's been my experience.

10-K
06-29-2012, 14:01
I don't think it's so much an issue with storing. It's an issue with transferring. When you're recording a track you won't see the problem. However, when you download it and try to load it again at a later date that's when you'll hit the wall. It doesn't make sense that you can't copy something back that came off the device but that's been my experience.

Yep... It's a well known and poorly understood limitation, at least with quite a few Garmins.

And yes, there are kludgy ways to work around it but they all involve GPS gymnastics, usually take more than on program/application to make it work, and you're still probably going to lose something or get something screwed up in the process.

JaxHiker
06-29-2012, 14:04
Agreed. I've taken to using ExpertGPS to slice and dice my tracks. Unfortunately it can be quite time-consuming.

leaftye
06-29-2012, 15:10
Are you transferring the gpx files with Garmin software or with your operating system's file manager?

JaxHiker
06-29-2012, 15:25
I haven’t used Mapsource since 2008. Now I either use EasyGPS or EXPERTGPS. I'm pretty sure it was an issue then as well. It's a device issue not a software issue.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

10-K
06-29-2012, 16:01
If anyone uses a Mac I found an app that will chunk up a big gpx into segments and limit them to a max of 500 track points.

Karl - can I send you a gpx so you can see if it'll upload 100% to your Oregon? My email address is tbradnc AT gmail.com.

mississippi_dan
07-01-2012, 11:49
For the Garmin gps units like the 76 or 60, large tracks can be converted to a map using cgpsmapper. The map can be uploaded with mapsource along with your other maps. This is what I do for my trail maps. This does take some computer work. I could probably do these for you this summer as it is why too hot in Missouri to do much hiking this summer. Send me a e-mail.

Dan

Wise Old Owl
07-01-2012, 11:59
10-K I have done this, spent huge amounts of time with GPX editing software and tried reducing long trails .... I hit a brick wall and had some successes... It's a waste of time. (winter months)

10-K
07-02-2012, 08:49
Received the following reply from Garmin:

Dear Mr. Bradford

Thank you for contacting Garmin International.

I will be happy to help you today.
The following can take tracks with over 500 points.
eTrex 20,30
GPSMap 62 series
Oregon 450, 450t, 550 550t
Montana series

Please, contact us with any further.

With Best Regards,Cord Br.
Product Support Specialist
2nd Shift Outdoor/Fitness Team
Garmin International
913-397-8200 (tel:913-397-8200)
800-800-1020 (tel:800-800-1020)
913-440-8280 (tel:913-440-8280) (fax) Att: Cord Br., Associate #5781
www.garmin.com (http://www.garmin.com/)

Wise Old Owl
07-02-2012, 08:52
So now you want to buy a 450T?

10-K
07-02-2012, 09:13
No... not yet. My followup question was how many trackpoints can be transferred to *these* units before the track is truncated. In a perfect world I'd like a unit that would handle at least 25k trackpoints.

JaxHiker
07-02-2012, 10:30
Now I have to upgrade my 60. :-(

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

10-K
07-05-2012, 16:07
Ok... got my 450T today and am happy to report the 500 trackpoint limit is indeed removed on this unit.

Silly me... I just have just got the 450 and saved some bucks. The difference is that the "T" unit comes with 100k topo maps... Fairly well useless for hiking. First thing I did was turn that off and put in my microSD card with 24k topos from my eTrex....

kayak karl
07-05-2012, 16:29
in case you didn't know there are maps on here that are very detailed. http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php
you can make your own also https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=205

10-K
07-05-2012, 16:31
I have GA/TN/NC/SC and now VT 24k topos from gpsfiledepot.com loaded on the Oregon.

BTW, if you haven't check out the "My Trails" map on gpsfiledepot. It's a transparent map that overlays pretty much every trail you can imagine on top of a topo map. I find it almost indispensible - and it keeps me from having to find gpx files for everything since the trails are most likely already there.

JaxHiker
07-07-2012, 03:38
Ok... got my 450T today and am happy to report the 500 trackpoint limit is indeed removed on this unit.
Cool. My concern with touchscreens is that in my (limited) experience they don't respond well at all if your fingers are damp/wet from rain. I was stuck in a downpour trying to figure out where I was on the trail and the screen kept jumping around because I couldn't dry my finger off enough.

Spokes
07-07-2012, 05:37
Ok... got my 450T today and am happy to report the 500 trackpoint limit is indeed removed on this unit.
....

Been following this thread with interest since I have the eTrex 20 (10K, didn't you already have one too?). I'm confused. When I go to the Garmin site and compare the Oregon 450T and the eTrex 20 they both have these same spec's:

Ability to add maps: yes
Accepts data cards: microSD™ card (not included)
Waypoints/favorites/locations: 2000
Routes: 200
Track log: 10,000 points, 200 saved tracks


Except- The Oregon 450T has 850 MB built in memory with 16 hours of battery life whereas the eTrex20 has 1.7 GB built in memory with 25 hours of battery life

Seems like you get much better bang for your buck with the eTrex 20. Of course it doesn't sport a touch screen which I hear conflicting satisfaction reports on.

clickchik
07-12-2012, 01:17
Cool. My concern with touchscreens is that in my (limited) experience they don't respond well at all if your fingers are damp/wet from rain. I was stuck in a downpour trying to figure out where I was on the trail and the screen kept jumping around because I couldn't dry my finger off enough.

My husband has the Oregon 450t that he uses for Geocaching and that hasn't been an issue.

Me, I just don't like the touchscreen on the gpsr, but love it on my iPhone, go figure. If I have to replace my gpsr I'll be going with a 62 series.

lilricky
07-21-2012, 14:30
Devices that Garmin left out on that is are the Dakota 10, and Dakota 20.