Author Topic: VR/ Outdoor Active  (Read 3106 times)

jimbob

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VR/ Outdoor Active
« on: 11:29:36, 17/03/21 »
This morning I had another go at using Outdoor Active.
I need to write and ask them for help but don't know the vocabulary to use.

In VR If following a route I can see the plotted line quite plainly with little "plotting dots" as I had requested when creating or editing the route. I thought the dots were called Way points.
 When walking I can work out on the map where I want to go to and press on the dot closest to there and I get its distance from the route start. If I press the one nearest where I actually am I also get the distance from the start. Subtracting one from the other gives me a rough idea of the distance I've yet to go. 
I downloaded  my routes to OA from VR, so I could yse them in OA
On following a route this morning using OA those dots were just not visible at all. The route is there, my current position is there,  but I have no way of working out target distances etc.

As stated earlier I thought the dots were called waypoints but it seems that they aren't.

So if you understood my missive can anyone tell me what those dots are actually called.
I want to contact their help desk to see if they even have this capability.
Or have you used OA enough to work out how to do what I'm wanting.

Too little, too late, too bad......

sussamb

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #1 on: 15:33:31, 17/03/21 »
In VR they are either Waypoints or POIs depending on how they're created. I would have thought they should be similar in OA, unless of course you were viewing a track and not a route?
Where there's a will ...

jimbob

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #2 on: 18:19:14, 17/03/21 »
Hi Sussamb, I thought they were way points as well. I created a route in VR and ported it across to OA. The line on the map is exactly correct, as far as I can see, but there is not a single "way point"  to be seen anywhere when following the route, I can see where I am on the route no problem at all. But those dots are missing. In VR they each have their own identifying number. I am quite a sad old guy and if I spot something interesting I often just jot that number down so I can later have a look into it or to more closely identify a photo. The points have many uses to me, but they are totally absent in OA, even though it is exactly the same route.

Unless if course they are there and as usual I'm not doing the correct thing to get to see them.

I am going to whizz off a missive to O A tomorrow, to ask how to see the points which I will call waypoints/poi.
Too little, too late, too bad......

Slowcoach

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #3 on: 18:46:33, 17/03/21 »
Could this be the difference between a track and a route? Mostly routes show the waypoints on a unit and a track just shows the line to follow minus waypoints.
It's all uphill from here.

richardh1905

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #4 on: 19:12:25, 17/03/21 »
Hi Sussamb, I thought they were way points as well. I created a route in VR and ported it across to OA.


I wonder whether the waypoints are lost in the exporting process?
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

richardh1905

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #5 on: 19:22:09, 17/03/21 »
I've just had a look at one of my VR routes on OA, and when I edit the route, I do have access to the points used to create it.


But it has also inserted some arbitrary waypoints, A-E, and when I tried to edit these, it added two more waypoints that were not even on my route, and also added some different paths, not even connected to these new waypoints! And when I try to delete point B, I lost the whole route.


They will have to make some BIG improvements or I'll not be using it, simple as that. Terrible UI as it is.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

maxmarengo

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #6 on: 19:36:31, 17/03/21 »
I've been doing a bit of experimentation with OA: it does have waypoints and you can allocate an "Icon" to a waypoint, a name and a description. The "gotcha" is that none of these are visible when you are navigating. You can fiddle around and see some of this information in another screen, but then you have to start the navigation all over again.
OA seems to be based around an OpenStreetMap routeing algorithm. When you are creating or editing a route it can try to auto route you between points (if you have certain settings). When you are navigating it will provide voice instructions like a SatNav. I recommend that you try this in a safe area rather than in the wild.

maxmarengo

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #7 on: 19:39:15, 17/03/21 »
As a long term ViewRanger user, I would be interested in views on what the best alternative is currently.

sussamb

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #8 on: 19:51:03, 17/03/21 »
Could this be the difference between a track and a route? Mostly routes show the waypoints on a unit and a track just shows the line to follow minus waypoints.


My though as well, see my post  O0
Where there's a will ...

sussamb

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #9 on: 19:55:18, 17/03/21 »
As a long term ViewRanger user, I would be interested in views on what the best alternative is currently.


Haven't found one, except for my Garmin GPS that I use in preference to VR, which mainly is used as a backup if my GPS fails. Only happened twice and that was my fault, I'd loaded a route with more than 250 points which is the maximum a Garmin will display so when I got to the end I wasn't where i wanted to be  ;D
Where there's a will ...

jimbob

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #10 on: 20:15:21, 17/03/21 »
I created the route in VR,  ported it to OA where it shows up as a Route.

I was navigating said route, no way points to be seen at all.

I did what Maxmarengo did and can now see the way points.
To me this is a next to useless solution to my problem.

 I won't bother writing to OA. Why, oh why aren't they using VRs far, far,  superior software.
 I will be removing the OA app from my devices. I will use VR until I find something even a technogonniel like me can use easily.

Sussamb, I feel a pain in the wallet area is a coming on. It looks like a more modern Garmin for me. I have a Garmin Venture,
my thinking is that the Etrex 20 and 30 are not that far removed understanding wise, do you know if that is correct,  or would I be needing to forget everything and start afresh?

« Last Edit: 21:34:14, 17/03/21 by jimbob »
Too little, too late, too bad......

sussamb

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #11 on: 22:40:01, 17/03/21 »
I switched from an Etrex Legend to an Etrex 20, very easy to move across. The biggest issue to get to grips with is the fact you can set up 'pages' and toggle between them as needed. Also you can have numerous profiles, very handy if like me you have numerous maps loaded.
Where there's a will ...

jimbob

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #12 on: 08:13:09, 18/03/21 »
Thanks Sussamb, Well, will be saving up for one of them then.
 O0
Is it a sign of aging that things that really work  seem to change so fast, boots, jackets, now GPS systems, and rarely for the benefit of the user/buyer. I was eating an "original" kit kat yesterday wondering if the trades description act could be getting breached as the biscuit was about half the size of the originals I remember.

Too little, too late, too bad......

richardh1905

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #13 on: 09:04:15, 18/03/21 »
One thing that will always be reliable and consistent is a map, which will always be the mainstay of my navigation on the hill.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

jimbob

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Re: VR/ Outdoor Active
« Reply #14 on: 09:37:36, 18/03/21 »
Hi Richard, I always carry and know how to use paper maps and compass. But after a few years of using a GPS  I prefer devices over paper for many reasons.
I don't find paper maps easy to use when the weather turns against me, they never tell me me when I'm straying off course, they don't buddy with my family to let them know where I am, and quite frankly they are not fit for purpose unless you buy the weatherproof ones and even then it only takes a slight breeze to make them difficult to handle, unless of course you have them nicely folded into a map case, Which can be awkward when you need to navigate over the fold on a rainy day in Ingram valley.
So yes I love my maps spread on a table to plan walks.
 Out in the field I prefer GPS, which like boots is my personal choice heavily influenced by experience and use.

Too little, too late, too bad......

 

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