Using Nav6 with an iPad, no Basecamp required

[Cap]

I use a route planning software called Scenic that Moshe Levy recommended.  I generate the routes in Scenic, and then I want to have them on my Nav6 for turn-by-turn guidance while I am riding.  Until recently, the process of moving the exported GPX files from an iPad to the Nav6 has been non-trivial.  However, the current version of iOS (15.4.1) makes this much easier.  Here is how I do it.  First make sure that your Nav6 battery is charged.

 

1. Buy an "OTG" cable.  My iPad has a USB-C connector, and the Nav6 uses a micro-USB connector.  An OTG cable has two male ends of the appropriate type.  I bought this one from Amazon for less than $10

2. Connect your iPad to your Nav6 using the cable, and then open the "Files" application on the iPad.  Your Nav6 will show up as an external storage device.  I have a micro-SD card in my Nav6.  It has a folder called "Garmin SD".  And under that folder is another called "Garmin" and under that is a folder called "GPX."  Put your GPX files in there.

3. Using the app of your choice, generate a route on your iPad, and then export it to the "GPX" folder on your Nav6.  The file will be a track on your Nav6 with a name derived from the meta data in the GPX file itself.

4. Disconnect the cable and boot up your Nav6

5. Go to Apps, and then Tracks.  Hit the 3-bar menu in the upper left, and select IMPORT.

6. Choose the correct file, and press the IMPORT button.

7. Scroll down and verify that your new track is available. Select it, and you will see a map trace of the route.  Choose the wrench icon in the upper left.

8. Select "Convert to Trip". Choose "Start to Finish" or the opposite. Give it a name. Select "Done."  Wait until finished converting.

9. Exit to the Apps screen, choose "Trip Planner."  Scroll to find your new trip, and start the trip.

 

As an aside, there is a web-based resource called GPX Studio that is free to use: https://gpx.studio/  You can import a GPX file from any source, and edit it visually, then export it, for example directly to your NAV6.  I like this web resource because it allows you to disassemble a GPX file into separate parts, and delete everything but the tracks.  By doing that, when your Nav6 converts it into a trip, the Nav6 will keep the desired routing without changing it to optimize around something like "fastest route." 

 

Hope this helps, Cap

 

 

[DaveCinNO]

Interesting, I'll give this a try.  Thanks for posting it.

[Cap]

I just returned from an 8-day moto trip for which I had created "trips" on my Nav6 using the method above.  And I discovered an unintended consequence of using tracks. 

 

Here's what I found: using this method, I created "trips" that were converted from "tracks."  The good news is that sharing these trips with a riding buddy results in exactly the same route.  The problem is that the trips created from tracks are composed of zillions of consecutive waypoints (or via-points) that are only a small distance from each other.  So, if you need to make a small change to your route, there is no graceful way to divert and then resume from the nearest point on your planned route.... or at least I couldn't find one.  Instead, you get directed back to your last missed waypoint.  Garmin has a tool to skip the next planned waypoint, and go to the one following.  But, if your trip is composed of zillions of waypoints, skipping only one does not help.  You can also resume a trip from your current location, but using this option you only get to choose the final destination -- so the route to the final destination will be decided by the GPS and not that track that you carefully created.

 

However, the basic method of moving files from an iPad to your Nav6 still works if you create your route with several, but not a zillion, waypoints.  This is what happens when you do not convert your route to a "track."  So, create a route using your route planning software of choice.  I use Scenic.  Then use the OTG cable to move the GPX file with waypoints to your Nav6. 

 

When you boot the Nav6, it will find a new trip and ask you if you want to save it.  Say yes, and then choose it from a list.  You may find two choices with the same name.  Choose the one having "vias" in the name.  Your Nav6 will create a route that takes you from your start to the destination while hitting each via-point along the way.  You can share this with a friend, but you might end up with different routing between via-points. 

 

In summary, it is easy to move files from an iPad to a BMW Navigator using a cable.  You can move routes-with-via-points or you can move tracks.  Tracks follow an exact path, and can be shared with other riders.  But tracks are brittle and inflexible.  Routes can also be shared with other riders, and they are more flexible.  But shared routes can lead to confusion between riding partners because there is no guarantee that the shared routes will take the same path between the via-points.  So, you can have discussions like, "My GPS says turn right here."  "Mine says go straight."

 

good luck, Cap

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Cap said:

I just returned from an 8-day moto trip for which I had created "trips" on my Nav6 using the method above.  And I discovered an unintended consequence of using tracks. 

 

Here's what I found: using this method, I created "trips" that were converted from "tracks."  The good news is that sharing these trips with a riding buddy results in exactly the same route.  The problem is that the trips created from tracks are composed of zillions of consecutive waypoints (or via-points) that are only a small distance from each other.  So, if you need to make a small change to your route, there is no graceful way to divert and then resume from the nearest point on your planned route.... or at least I couldn't find one.  Instead, you get directed back to your last missed waypoint.  Garmin has a tool to skip the next planned waypoint, and go to the one following.  But, if your trip is composed of zillions of waypoints, skipping only one does not help.  You can also resume a trip from your current location, but using this option you only get to choose the final destination -- so the route to the final destination will be decided by the GPS and not that track that you carefully created.

 

However, the basic method of moving files from an iPad to your Nav6 still works if you create your route with several, but not a zillion, waypoints.  This is what happens when you do not convert your route to a "track."  So, create a route using your route planning software of choice.  I use Scenic.  Then use the OTG cable to move the GPX file with waypoints to your Nav6. 

 

When you boot the Nav6, it will find a new trip and ask you if you want to save it.  Say yes, and then choose it from a list.  You may find two choices with the same name.  Choose the one having "vias" in the name.  Your Nav6 will create a route that takes you from your start to the destination while hitting each via-point along the way.  You can share this with a friend, but you might end up with different routing between via-points. 

 

In summary, it is easy to move files from an iPad to a BMW Navigator using a cable.  You can move routes-with-via-points or you can move tracks.  Tracks follow an exact path, and can be shared with other riders.  But tracks are brittle and inflexible.  Routes can also be shared with other riders, and they are more flexible.  But shared routes can lead to confusion between riding partners because there is no guarantee that the shared routes will take the same path between the via-points.  So, you can have discussions like, "My GPS says turn right here."  "Mine says go straight."

 

good luck, Cap

Afternoon Cap 

 

If you use BaseCamp to change a track into a route you can chose to filter it (right click on route) then select filter then you can choose to filter by (less points) or choose to filter by the distance between points. 

 

If the track generally follows the roads then you can put a pretty good distance between points & BaseCamp will usually put the converted track-to-route on the closet roads.

 

Or, after converting a track to a route in BaseCpmp you can right click on the route then remove shaping points then recalculate the route, then go back & correct the places where the route doesn't match the underlying track.     

 

Personally I usually just change the track color to something light then use that as a guide to just use the routing tool to make a new (solid)  route over the track (THAT gives me the best most trouble free route without issues ALL the time). 

 

If all you have is the iOS to work with then I'm not sure how you can handle that part but if you can get access to a machine that can run BaseCamp then that is probably the best way to remove excess points without effecting the routing integrity.  

 

Is there any sort of point filtering options in the  Scenic program you are using?

[Cap]

Hey DR,

 

I have used Basecamp enough, on Windows and iOS, to know that I prefer to avoid it at all costs.  And that was why I started this thread — to help other Garmin users having the same low regard for Basecamp, and who have, or might consider, an iPad.  
 

I used to carry a Windows laptop with me on my motorcycle trips, with Basecamp loaded, so that I could plan routes at night in a motel room.  Later I switched to a MacBook Pro so that I could use the iOS version of Basecamp which I found marginally less annoying.  But I tired of carrying large, heavy laptops and their trail of power supply and peripherals.  So, I transitioned to carrying an iPad for all my computer-related stuff.  And the challenge has been, how do I use the iPad to create and edit routes, and then transfer them to my Nav6?
 

My latest trip provides a humorous anecdote of the comparison between Basecamp and Scenic.  My buddy Bill and I were in our motel room and planning our route for the following day.  Bill was using Basecamp on a MacBook to develop routes for his Zumo XT.  He was cursing and fussing for an hour and finally gave up.  He had the same problem over and over: he would painstakingly develop a sequence of via points into a route, save the file to his Zumo, and then examine the route.  And every time, the route would be out of sequence, or it would take some bizarre side trip.  I waited until he gave up, then created the route in Scenic in about 2 minutes, then sent it to my Navigator, and then transferred it to his Zumo via Bluetooth.  5 minutes tops.

 

 I appreciate that some folks, like yourself,  have mastered Basecamp.  But for those who don’t care for it, or simply don’t want to carry a laptop while riding, there is a viable alternative.  And, finally, yes the recommended best practice for developing and sharing routes seems to be to use plenty of via points, and to place them strategically so that the routing algorithm in your GPS will choose the path that you really want.  It takes a little practice, and some reverse engineering of the Garmin routing logic, but it becomes second nature.

 

cap

[dirtrider]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:55 PM, Cap said:

 

My latest trip provides a humorous anecdote of the comparison between Basecamp and Scenic.  My buddy Bill and I were in our motel room and planning our route for the following day.  Bill was using Basecamp on a MacBook to develop routes for his Zumo XT.  He was cursing and fussing for an hour and finally gave up.  He had the same problem over and over: he would painstakingly develop a sequence of via points into a route, save the file to his Zumo, and then examine the route.  And every time, the route would be out of sequence, or it would take some bizarre side trip.  I waited until he gave up, then created the route in Scenic in about 2 minutes, then sent it to my Navigator, and then transferred it to his Zumo via Bluetooth.  5 minutes tops.

 

Afternoon Cap

 

Next time you talk to your friend Bill we can possibly eliminate some of his frustration. 

 

The number one thing I see with riders having issues when making a route in BaseCamp  then having the route go crazy when transferred to the GPS is they don't zoom in far enough when making the route. If not zoomed in far enough it is ever so easy to put a via or shaping point on the wrong side of divided hi-way or going the wrong way on a one-way road. If ALL the shaping points are not on the correct side of a divided hi-way or even a divided boulevard in a town then the GPS will recalculate it into junk  with very strange routing & crazy offshoots. 

 

I have also found a number of problems for riders using BaseCamp then having issues when transferring to the  GPS  if the mapping in BaseCamp is not the very same as the mapping in the GPS. All it takes is to have a road or one exit on the route different between BaseCamp map & the GPS map along the route.  The GPS can recalculate that into a strange looking unplanned  route (or worse). 

 

Finally, he needs to have the avoidances set about the same in BaseCamp as in his GPS, if he builds a route in BaseCamp over a road  (like for instance a gravel road) but has his GPS set to avoid gravel roads then you can only guess what the GPS will do to try to avoid that gravel road.   (personally I set NO avoidances in my GPS for this very reason, if I want to avoid something I avoid it when building the route not having the GPS decide). There are number of roads in my area that show paved on the Garmin map but for some reason my GPS sees them as  unpaved so with all avoidances turned off I just ride what I made then deal with it as I get to it.

 

As a for instance__ If you have avoid toll roads set in the GPS then try to ride through Michigan to the UP (across the Mackinaw bridge) some GPS devices will route you through Chicago & send you hundreds of miles out of your way just to avoid that one toll bridge. 

 

Sometimes issues can be found in BaseCamp BEFORE transferring to the GPS by simply hitting re-calculate in BaseCamp after the route is complete. If it stays the same & doesn't change then it is probably built somewhat correctly so if it still goes crazy when sent to the GPS the first thing to check for is avoidances set the same between GPS & BaseCamp. Then check for using the same version maps in each. 

 

There are more things but these are usually the main ones that I find we setting up a ride with a group. 

 

 

[Janky59]

Hi Cap, thanks for the through posts on the Scenic option. The possibility of using my iPad is intriguing. I’ll have to check my latest version on it as you mention and purchase the cord.

 I took a quick look at the Scenic app in the Apple store. Aside from the initial purchase of the app, is the recurring subscription fee necessary if all I want to do is create tracks and export them to my Zumo XT?

Regards.

[Cap]

2 hours ago, Janky59 said:

 

 I took a quick look at the Scenic app...

I am not an expert with Scenic.  They changed it up recently and it might not be the same deal that I got when I bought in to it.  I purchased lifetime maps for every state, so I can presumably download new maps whenever they need updating.  And that was fairly expensive for a mobile app -- I think I spent about $100 up front.  And I did that, never having paid more than about $3 for an app, with the idea that I would hopefully be riding for many more years, and that I would be using Garmin equipment, and that I despise Basecamp.  So, I look at Scenic as a lifetime replacement for Basecamp that has the additional advantage of running on a mobile device.

 

Scenic has many more capabilities than I use.  I use it for laying out a route, and saving it as a GPX file.  For that purpose, it is fantastic.  The cautions offered by DR in a previous post apply to Basecamp, but not to Scenic.  Specifically, Scenic facilitates choosing where to place your via-points such that, for example, you don't get those stupid loops in your route to force you to ride to a point that was inadvertently placed on the other side of a street.  I saw that $100 investment as a lifetime of insurance against Basecamp idiocy. 

 

Perhaps Garmin will someday update Basecamp to respond to the mountain of negative user feedback.  But even in that case, Basecamp is not available in a mobile version.  Garmin does have some mobile apps, but they don't work with the BMW Navigator series of GPSs.  So, if you want to use an iPad and create routes for your BMW Navigator, you need to find an alternative route planning app.  There are many, but Scenic is optimized for motorcycle riders, and works well for my purposes.

 

Cap

[Cap]

This is an update for those who use a Zumo XT.  I recently purchased a Zumo XT because several of my riding buddies have one.  When we tour together, we typically develop our routes in the motel each night, and share the routes to our GPSs.  My BMW Nav6 doesn't share easily with the more modern Zumo XT, and my friends and I all got tired of using the methods listed in the first post above.  When we all have Zumo XT's, we can share routes quickly and wirelessly using Bluetooth from unit to unit.

 

But the question still remains, "how to create a route on your iPad, and transfer it to your GPS?"  And on the Zumo XT, it is very easy.  Again, I used Scenic for the routes.  Then, I loaded Garmin Drive on my iPad.  This is a free app that allows your iPad or iPhone to connect wirelessly to your Zumo XT.  So, having created a route in Scenic, one can export that route as a GPX file directly to your Zumo XT.  The file is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth.  When the transfer is complete, the Zumo will notify you that new tracks and trips have been detected.  Using the Trip Planner app on the Zumo, you can find the new routes in the "Saved Trips" section.  Finally, you can load the trip and share it with other Zumos nearby using Bluetooth.  Nice.

 

One caution... we discovered that it helps to have all the sharing Zumos set to the same riding preferences and options.  Otherwise, a route specified using a series of via-points might result in a different recommended route for each member of your group.  Which leads to some interesting exchanges over your intercoms. 

 

Cap