GPS help - is there a GPS that'll handle a gpx file with more than 500 trackpoints

[10-K]

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]

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]

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/viewJou...entry_id=28048

[kayak karl]

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]

this one http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192556433 sorry

[kayak karl]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[kayak karl]

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]

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 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]

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

[10-K]

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...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]

they must of worked it out with the Oregon model. sorry for the confusion.

[10-K]

I see DeLorme GPS's don't have this limitation.

But they only have software for Windows.

[fredmugs]

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]

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.