Working with a Long GPS Track

[Bandok]

For something like the Tour Divide (or even much shorter routes) I get that I have to break them up into shorter tracks with 500 track points or less for my Garmin Etrex 20. However, once I've done this I have a lot of tracks. Can I open all these tracks at once or will I need to ride to the end of track 1 then select track 2, etc.

Loading a new track every ~80 miles over 2800 miles seems ridiculous. There has to be a better way. Can I open all 34 tracks at once in an Etrex 20? Any tips, caveats, etc?

[Montana Miller]

I was having the same problem, and yep, there's a way better way. Turns your track into a map (so there's no need to do any splitting): http://www.javawa.nl/imgfromgpx_en.html.

It works great. The GPS runs faster without having to load all those tracks too

[bmike-vt]

The etrex 20 does not have a 500 track point limit.

Here:
https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B0b02f820-03db-11e0-e050-000000000000%7D

eTrex 20/30

2,000 GPX files
2,000 waypoints
5,000 geocaches
200 routes, 250 points per route
200 saved tracks
2,000 archive tracks
10,000 points per track
100 custom map tiles
250 BirdsEye Imagery files
Approximately 3,000 mapping segments

I've loaded up 200 mile routes with 4,000 points no problem. I think the entire TD route has less than that. For any route with roads and dirt roads the point count can drop depending on how straight the segments are.

[Bandok]

I've tried uploading a track with several different tools and they ALL hit the 500 track point limit. The only documented way to get more than 500 that I've found is to call your track "CURRENT TRACK" which gives you a few thousand points.

Base camp just truncated at 500. Expert GPS and others throw an error saying the limit is 500 per track.

if you have uploaded a track with more points can you share your steps?

[bmike-vt]

Are you making a track or a route?
Are you adding waypoints and other data to the track?
Is your etrex 20 up to date for firmware?

I build the track in TopoFusion or Ride with GPS or Basecamp.
I copy it to the garmin directly via Finder on my Mac.
Or I use Basecamp or TopoFusion to send it to the GPS.

[bmike-vt]

basecamp-track by mbeganyi, on Flickr

I've loaded tracks with 8,000 points as well.
I usually manually copy them to the GPX folder on the Garmin (mount it like an external drive).
But it should work just fine in Basecamp.

[Bandok]

I appreciate everyone's replies. I think I have figured out what is going on.

1. Expert GPS thinks the track point limit is 500
2. Uploading via Basecamp or manually copying the GPX did truncate as well. It would copy fine, but when using the "Go To" function to load the track it would only load part of the track. I assumed this was at the 500 track point mark, but it was actually well beyond that.
3. I was loading the Stage Coach 400 track which consists of 31,782 track points.

I simplified the track down to 2,152 points and manually uploaded it to my GPS and it works.

Now to figure out what the real limit is (Unless anyone knows the answer already)

[Montana Miller]

If it's a current Etrex, the track limit is 10,000 points. But seriously, you should try that little app I posted earlier. It'll save you a lot of trouble

[bmike-vt]

I appreciate everyone's replies. I think I have figured out what is going on.

1. Expert GPS thinks the track point limit is 500
2. Uploading via Basecamp or manually copying the GPX did truncate as well. It would copy fine, but when using the "Go To" function to load the track it would only load part of the track. I assumed this was at the 500 track point mark, but it was actually well beyond that.
3. I was loading the Stage Coach 400 track which consists of 31,782 track points.

I simplified the track down to 2,152 points and manually uploaded it to my GPS and it works.

Now to figure out what the real limit is (Unless anyone knows the answer already)

If you can run TopoFusion you can simplify and then split... its pretty slick.
You can chop that route in 2, and have it optimize the points.

[bigportions]

Troy, if for some reason you cant figure it out, loading shorter tracks on the fly is really easy and not as big of deal as you may think. If you only have to load one up every 100mi at worst, say every 8-10hr, its hardly noticeable.  If you are familiar with your GPS it should only take a few seconds to switch. I kind of like it and that's what I did on the divide and trans nor-cal. I pictured them as goals and looked forward to when I could load (unlock!) new section of trail. my 2c. see you in Idyllwild!

[Bandok]

Montana, I tried that app you mentioned. While it works well, the track was VERY hard to see on my GPS. The line was white while my base map has a beige background. I found an app that allows you to switch to a different config file, but nothing where I can build my own custom one.