Working With Base-Camp for Garmin

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Oldschool

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Garmin Base Camp Help For PC Users:

I will preface this by saying that I am a self-taught “expert” in Base-camp and still learning the ins and outs of the program. I have spent many hours using it, both “building” tracks and editing tracks saved from my Garmin GPS (Montana). I will attempt to help new users of the program with both written and pictorial notes, one step at a time. In order to get the full value from the Base-camp program you will need another map, other than the included “Global” map that downloads as part of the program. These can be purchased on DVD or downloaded to your computer directly from Garmin. Other Map programs like “Open Street Maps” are compatible with Base-camp, and some like(O.S.M.) are free to download on-line. I myself have several available to me, including O.S.M. and City Navigator North America 2012 from Garmin.

As pointed out by another user, the "Tool-Bar" does not in default mode look like mine (shown) which I customized to my liking. To do this ,just right click anywhere on the tool bar and select (and organize) what features / tools that you wish to have visible.



What Tools do:



Choosing a Map from the menu in the Tool Bar:

If you have loaded an aftermarket map, other than “Global Maps” which comes free as part of the Base-camp download, you can choose to view a choice from the drop-down menu in Base-Camp. It is as easy as (left) clicking the mouse on the arrow on the right end of the map button in the tool-bar on the top of the map window.

Then choose the map from the drop-down menu by clicking on it.





On that same tool bar at the far left is a “detail” drop-down menu. Using the same process, open the menu with the arrow and choose your level (from lowest to highest) by clicking on it. You can change the level at any time while using your Base-Camp program.





Zoom Level:

Detail in the Map Window of Base-camp changes in 2 ways; Using the “detail” tab as described above or by “Zoom Level”. Zooming in can be achieved by either rolling the scroll wheel on your mouse while the cursor is over the map window, or by using the Magnifying glass symbol on the “tool-Bar”. Click on it then click on the map as many times as needed to achieve the level you require. You can also click and drag with the magnifying glass over the area you want to see. It will then zoom in and only show that area.

Zoom Level is important since many trails (and other details) will not show up if you are not zoomed in far enough. Try zooming in and out to see what I am talking about. If you are building a track (which we will talk about in another post) you will find it less accurate if you “build” it while zoomed out at all from maximum magnification. You can modify the track afterward to increase its accuracy if you have made it while zoomed out.

Remember one important thing: Anything you do in Base-camp will take time & patience to learn & create. Accepting this will make your GPS experience so much more enjoyable and will turn your GPS from a simple electronic “map” into a useful tool of exploration.
 
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Building A Track in Basecamp

Building a Track:

To “build” a track from scratch you must first sort out your Map issues. Once that is done I recommend zooming in as far as practical with the detail setting on “highest”.

Start by creating a file folder in your menu on the top far left by; “right” clicking on the “My collection” folder, then “left” clicking on the “new folder” at the bottom of the drop box menu that appears.



Name your new folder and return to the map section of the screen. In the “tool-bar” at the top of the map screen look for the symbol that looks like 2 shoes. Click on it then move the cursor to where you want your track to begin. As soon as you click on that spot a pop-up window will ask you where you want the track to be saved? Click on the “new file option and give the section (sub-folder) a name. Then click “okay”.



The box will disappear and you can continue clicking “track points” along the route (path) you are creating.





When you get to the edge of the map an “Arrow”(instead of the pencil icon) will appear, to move the map in that direction. You can use this to “scroll” the map in the desired direction, or you can move the cursor over to the blue arrow in the top left corner of the map screen. When the cursor is over that arrow a “compass” will appear and you can click on the inner circle(4 blue direction arrows) in the direction you want the map to scroll.



Once it (the map) is in the correct position, return to the track and continue clicking track points. Do not worry if you make a mistake, as you can “move” or “erase” points later.

Base-camp will assign a “track name” to any new track (example Track 030) and you can rename this at any time by: moving the cursor over the track name in the window to the bottom left of the map window and “right” clicking on it. You will see a “rename” track in the pop-up window. Left click on that and type in what you want the track called.



Another method of renaming is to double click on the track name balloon. When this box comes up, edit in here.







You can also make changes to the track color here as well. Once done just close the window and carry on in Base-camp.

Garmin BaseCamp for PC: Organizing Data - YouTube
 
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Inspiration

By the way it was Brad that inspired me to make this "Help" thread and I welcome constructive input or questions from other members that know their way around Base-Camp.

The point of the thread is to help others that are just getting into the GPS world and want to learn how to turn their unit into a useful tool.

Here are some places to check out as well.

Firstly the Help tab on the Basecamp program itself. If All Else Fails, Read The Instructions!



Brings up this;



You can access all the help videos and printed help on most subjects.

OR

http://www8.garmin.com/learningcenter/training/basecamp/

http://www.998cc.org/forum/touring-traveling/16684-open-street-maps.html

http://gpstracklog.com/2012/02/garmin-basecamp-video-tutorials.html

Garmin BaseCamp for PC: Introduction - YouTube
 
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Another member pointed out the "Routing" vs what I have been explaining which is "Tracks".

I NEVER use routing while creating a "route", instead I create a "TRACK" which will not give you any turn by turn prompts if you are used to that. Tracks simply show the line (in whatever color you choose) on the GPS device. They won't tell you when you have inadvertently missed a turn or wandered off course, but the Base-camp to Garmin device interface never alters it either and I have used this method for many 10's of thousands of road and trail adventures with excellent success.

You can create a "track" and then convert it to a route by right clicking on the track (in the left "track window").

Routes can also be converted to "Tracks" which I have done with success. This will be covered later.

Using tracks is simpler because you do not have to play with any settings like"avoid toll roads" or the like. Once created it will not alter during transfers back and forth from Base-camp to your device, which routing sometimes will.

Garmin BaseCamp for PC: Tracks - YouTube
 
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Erasing Tracks

Erasing a Track Point or points:

If you have gone the wrong way while building your track you can easily erase points. Move the cursor to the eraser icon in the tool bar and left click it.





Then scroll to the point on the track that you wish to remove. A red “X” will appear over the point your cursor is over, left click the “X” and the point is gone. You can also click and drag over numerous points and they will all be erased as you lift your finger off the right mouse button (after they first have Red “X”s appear over them). Very often the furthest point will still remain, leaving a straight line between them. Just click the mouse over each remaining incorrect point and they will be erased.
 
Moving Track points

Moving A Track Point:

As mentioned before, depending on zoom level that the track was initially built on, you may have to “move” track points afterward, once you zoom right in to check your work. It is as easy as clicking on the “Move track point” on the “tool–bar”. Then place the cursor over the point to be moved and “click-and-drag” it to the correct position.





This will feel like pains-taking work, and it is, but the end result will be a better adventure, ensuring that you cover the correct trails on your adventure / trip.

More to come.
 
Inserting extra Track points

Inserting a Track point:

Sometimes you create a track then zoom in and find that it is not as accurate as you would like, so you want to move track points onto roads. Sometimes you need to insert more points between existing points to follow curves, or be in the correct lanes for divided highways, etc.

This is another easy process when you know how. The “insert points” icon in the tool-bar (once clicked) allows you to place more points between existing track points. Just click at the desired spot on the track and repeat as needed. When you are done click on the “move track point” icon to move the next point and repeat the whole process as needed until the track is as accurate as you wish.







Remember not to go too crazy, as some GPS units have size limits to how much information they can handle. Newer units like the Montana have large limits, which I have yet to exceed.
 
Thank you Lee! You are very generous and patient. I was getting so frustrated with my new device I was beginning to question why I even bought it.

You for helping me realize I still needed to buy the North America Road maps. My device only came with the topographical ones and they do not update roads on the TOPO.

Because of the lack of proper road map data I could not even find roads to create a route. Heck, even my own address that has existed for 11 years was not available. Now that I have the North America road map set I am actually able to do what I wanted to do.

Now I need to start playing with the tracks I recorded over the weekend and build my own route from them.
 
Wow, thanks Lee.

I got my TT Rider last Wednesday. We've been traveling so I've nnot had a chance to play with it yet. I suspect the concepts you've outlined will carry over.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
I have found that the toolbar icons for detail and map selection are not visible by default after installing basecamp.

To get them to show up just right click in an open area of that toolbar and a complete list of available toolbar menus will be displayed. Select Detail Level and Map Tools from that drop down list. You can then arrange them anywhere on that tool bar you want.
 
I'm really happy with Basecamp for making trip planning easy. The learning curve is a little steep at first but after you understand how it works, making custom routes for the GPS to follow is dead easy. The only issue I've had is a route too long for my GPS to follow on in full. I have started breaking the routes up a little (part 1, part 2, etc) to compensate for the low amount of memory in my Zumo 220
 
Mattsplat said:
I still prefer Mapsource!
Click to expand...

Change is always tough. I look at a new program as a challenge, and a learning opportunity.

Dustin said:
I'm really happy with Basecamp for making trip planning easy. The learning curve is a little steep at first but after you understand how it works, making custom routes for the GPS to follow is dead easy. The only issue I've had is a route too long for my GPS to follow on in full. I have started breaking the routes up a little (part 1, part 2, etc) to compensate for the low amount of memory in my Zumo 220
Click to expand...

It is and that is why I decided to make this thread, to make it easier for others, having a reference.

Next Up will be:

Joining Tracks

Inverting (reversing tracks)

Splitting Tracks
 
Joining tracks

Sometimes you have two tracks in Base-camp that you want to combine. I have accidentally stopped a track that I was making and had to start a new one just past it to continue a run. This is not a problem and you can join as many tracks as you want. Base-camp can sometimes get confused by this and will draw a straight line from the last point back to the first point on the first track. If it does this DON"T PANIC, just hit "cancel" and try inverting all the tracks before trying to join them again. You can (once joined) invert the new track back to the correct direction. I have found this usually works when the glitch happens.

To Join 2 or more tracks;

In the left lower window, Left click each track (while holding down the "Ctrl" key) until they are all highlighted. Do this in the order that the tracks should be joined (this is important).



Then RIGHT click on the last highlighted track to open the pop-up window.

left click on "Advanced" to open the next pop-up window and click on "join tracks".

A Window will pop-up in the map window listing the joined tracks. Make sure the tracks look correctly joined and if so click "OK" to close that window and join the tracks.



The program will assign a new name to the track.



Right click on the "track name" in the left window and choose "rename track" or double click the "track balloon" in the map window to open the track information screen and edit it there.



Your done!

 
Inverting Tracks

Invert (Reverse) a track;

You can reverse the direction of a track any time you want. I have used tracks from other people but wanted to do it in the opposite direction, or have used pieces of other tracks to fill in a trip, but needed them reversed. This is very Easy!

Choose the rack that you want to reverse (Invert) in the lower left window.



RIGHT click it to open the pop-up window, then left click on "Advanced"

In the next pop-up window click on "invert track".



You are done!
 
Divide A Track

Sometimes after you have made a complete route you want to divide the tracks into daily sections. Sometimes you want to remove a section to use in another trip. Either way you need to know how to do this. It is one of the easier functions in Base-camp.

Using the icon that looks like a scissors cutting a ribbon, click on the icon.



then move the cursor over the track, it will look like a small arrow with a scissors beside it.



When you are over the correct spot, left click. The track is split.

You can then rename, delete, copy, or move that section by right clicking on the new track section in the lower left window.



Experiment and enjoy your new found knowledge and POWER! :sinister:
 
Happy To Help

Hail said:
Hope you don't mind but I shared your tutorial on Two Wheeled Texans site giving you credit as Lycan1 from ADVR.
Click to expand...

No problem. It was done to help others (like yourself) enjoy their GPS units. I have covered most of the basic functions and If anyone needs to do something specific, they can post a question and I'll try to answer it.

For instance did you know that you can check your tracks on Google Earth right from Base-Camp, if you have Google Earth installed?



It looks like this when you click on where the arrow was pointing.

 
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So here is my first attempt at a track. This is a common route I run north of where I live through Sam Houston National Forest.

Questions:
  • Is there an easy way to make a route from the existing track? ...and vice versa?
  • If someone sends me a route is there an easy way to extract the track?

Edit: It will not let me upload the GPX file. I am going to email Dennis to see if we can add GPX files to the allowed attachments list.
 
Hail said:
So here is my first attempt at a track. This is a common route I run north of where I live through Sam Houston National Forest.

Questions:
  • Is there an easy way to make a route from the existing track? ...and vice versa?
  • If someone sends me a route is there an easy way to extract the track?

Edit: It will not let me upload the GPX file. I am going to email Dennis to see if we can add GPX files to the allowed attachments list.
Click to expand...

Ok so I just took screenshots of what I created. In creating this I used almost every feature you had shown above.

  • Move Point - To align to road in finer detail
  • Insert point - To follow curves in finer detail
  • Erase Point - To clean up points at the end of a split tracks
  • Copy Track - To create a copy of my first track out
  • Invert Track - To reverse the route in the copy
  • Split Track - To split the return route where it does not match the ride out.
  • Combine Tracks - To combine new track segments added in to my return route in to one single return route.

I am not sure I needed to but I left the ride out and the return ride as two separate tracks. I also added labeled flag markers with the cross street names at every turn on the track.

I struggled through some of it but by the time I was done I was feeling pretty proficient.
 
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