Author Topic: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590  (Read 5447 times)

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Offline TomL

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Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« on: May 05, 2017, 11:51:43 pm »
I've had the 590 for a while now and manage to get by without too many problems.

One thing that always mystified me was that on a long trip I would sometimes lose the audio instructions and the upcoming top of the screen instructions would freeze.

I now realise that the frozen instruction at the top of the screen is to a waypoint that I didn't actually visit. For instance if the waypoint was not accurately placed on the route and I went past without going to it then the instruction would remain at the top of the screen and upcoming route instructions audio and written would cease.

This is where the penny dropped for me today....

This is when the skip function has to be triggered. The skip function tells the sat nav that I want to pass that point without visiting it. In other words I want to skip it. I might even have to skip more than one point if I have not visited various points.

Skip the points that you have not visited and suddenly the sat nav starts making sense and telling you where to go again.

How cool is that? But of course you all knew that, didn't you?
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Offline raesewell

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2017, 10:59:44 am »
It's all about getting to know all of the little intricacies of the device.
My friend Paul from the Duffers trip was having trouble with his Tomtom 400 and of course it wasn't the Tomtom it was just Pauls lack of knowledge of the unit. The latest GPS units whether it be Garmin or Tomtom take a while to get used to because they are more complex than the older units.

One tip for you Tom, when ever I plan a route, once I have it all planned out I zoom right in and make sure the waypoints are exactly where you want them and not sending you up a side road only to make an immediate U turn. I'm sure you can guess how I know that  ;)
« Last Edit: August 31, 2017, 02:07:49 pm by raesewell »

Offline Phmode

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2017, 04:38:04 pm »
The other 'stupid' feature of a sat nag is that if you get a waypoint on a m/way or dual on the 'wrong' side of the road, it really does think you want to go all the way past on the correct route, then off at the next exit, round the roundabout and all the way back to the bit you've just been past, then off at the next exit and back along the side you've already been down just so you you can visit the waypoint.

How stupid is that?

Who would ever want to do that anyway?

As usual, don't ask how I know.

Brian (and don't even bother to ask whether I blindly followed it; you think I'm stoopid or something  ::) )

Offline Phmode

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2017, 04:41:28 pm »


This is where the penny dropped for me today....

This is when the skip function has to be triggered. The skip function tells the sat nav that I want to pass that point without visiting it. In other words I want to skip it. I might even have to skip more than one point if I have not visited various points.

Skip the points that you have not visited and suddenly the sat nav starts making sense and telling you where to go again.

How cool is that? But of course you all knew that, didn't you?

It's funny! My old Streetpilot brick used to nag on if you missed a waypoint. My Zumo 660 doesn't. It just ignores it unless it is on the wrong side of a m/way or dual.

I don't think the 660 has a skip function.....unless someone knows better  8)

Offline TomL

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2017, 11:22:55 pm »
The other 'stupid' feature of a sat nag is that if you get a waypoint on a m/way or dual on the 'wrong' side of the road, it really does think you want to go all the way past on the correct route, then off at the next exit, round the roundabout and all the way back to the bit you've just been past, then off at the next exit and back along the side you've already been down just so you you can visit the waypoint.

How stupid is that?

Who would ever want to do that anyway?

As usual, don't ask how I know.

Brian (and don't even bother to ask whether I blindly followed it; you think I'm stoopid or something  ::) )
Yes I found that one when I was plotting a route from Dover back to Hertfordshire. I had the waypoint north of the Dartford tunnel on the clockwise carriageway instead of the anticlockwise carriageway. What a strange route was calculated until I discovered what I had done.
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Offline raesewell

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2017, 07:53:58 am »
That's why I do the zooming right in thing, to avoid things like that. It takes a bit longer to plan the route but it pays dividends in the long run.

Offline Phmode

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2017, 03:07:11 pm »
Whilst I agree, one would think that the 'logic' would perhaps query if you really do want to do the same stretch of motorway in both directions once and then once more for the original direction. There will be times when someone wants to, but it will be a real rarity.

Offline sudolea

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2018, 10:09:03 am »
...
This is when the skip function has to be triggered. The skip function tells the sat nav that I want to pass that point without visiting it. In other words I want to skip it. I might even have to skip more than one point if I have not visited various points.

Skip the points that you have not visited and suddenly the sat nav starts making sense and telling you where to go again.
...

I know it's an older topic, but I think my input can still be of interest anyway...

When skipping a (hard) waypoint, the 595 (I think the 590 does the exact same thing) will send you to the next (hard) waypoint on your route. But there's a big ... "BUT".

IF you are on your original route when skipping a (hard) waypoint, there won't be any problem whatsoever : your original route won't change. BUT if you skip a waypoint while NOT being on the original route (e.g. after having left the original route for a tank stop), the unit will navigate you to the next route's hard waypoint ... using the unit's route calculation settings of that moment... That means : NOT making any effort to send you on the original route FIRST. So you better make sure you are on your original route FIRST !

Maybe stupid to make the suggestion, but there's a very good (ahum) ... Dutch ... site learning how to work around all these stupidities : mrgps.nl   May save you a hard time fighting your sat nav unit's behaviour ...

2 videos of his of special interest (you may be helped when using English undertitles) ...
- the difference between "hard" and "soft" waypoints (= waypoints with or without a voice warning) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQr3tC2uk0M
- what happens when leaving the route and how to navigate back to the route - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjkZfP2LxiU

In this context : the older Zümo660 handled this way better than the 590/595 !
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Offline TomL

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2018, 01:10:11 pm »
Well done. A good tip and very welcome.
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Offline Phmode

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2018, 05:50:53 pm »
Nice one! I applaud you 👏

Now, if only someone can find a way to make my 660 take me via the 'obvious' route rather than the 'fastest' or 'shortest' I will be happy.

As an example, if I ask it to take me from Gloucester ring road to Ledbury, it totally ignores the obvious and direct A417 via Maisemore and Staunton (major road, some speed limits in villages, lots of good overtakes and a very high average speed) and instead insists on taking me along the circuitous B4215 via Highnam, Highleadon, Newent and Dymock and then the B4216 to Ledbury (dodgy minor roads, few overtakes, just as many speed limits and at best an average speed road until Dymock and then a real loser till you get to Ledbury).

This is with it set to fastest route. On shortest route it uses the A417 but puts me down lots of impossible and impassable minor roads off the main route.

I do this journey ever few days so don't need it to tell me how to get home, this is just an example of its stubbornness and stupidity.

Just sayin'  >:(

Offline raesewell

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2018, 06:08:59 pm »
It has been some time since I owned a 660 Brian and cannot remember all of the route choices do you just have fastest or shortest?
My Tomtom 400 has more routing options than I need but are as follows:
Fastest route
Shortest route
Most eco-friendly route
Winding route (with three different levels of hilliness and winding)
Avoid motorways
Walking route
Bicycle route

I use the Avoid motorways more than anything else.

Offline TomL

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2018, 06:39:00 pm »
I don't think any satnav has local knowledge.

How many times does your satnav think that a tight corner on a main road is a junction?
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Offline sudolea

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2018, 06:43:10 pm »
...
Now, if only someone can find a way to make my 660 take me via the 'obvious' route rather than the 'fastest' or 'shortest' I will be happy.

As an example, ...

This is with it set to fastest route. On shortest route it uses the A417 but puts me down lots of impossible and impassable minor roads off the main route.

I do this journey ever few days so don't need it to tell me how to get home, this is just an example of its stubbornness and stupidity.

Just sayin'  >:(

Unfortunately, I can't check this anymore, as my old 660 is being used by my son these days (i.e., I don't have it handy). But indeed, it wouldn't be the first time that a GPS comes up with an unworkably stupid route if you let it calculate the route itself. Also, letting the unit calculate the route itself is, for me, a quite atypical use. My typical use is to say it which route I want to ride.
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Offline richtea

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #13 on: February 04, 2018, 09:17:10 pm »

This is with it set to fastest route. On shortest route it uses the A417 but puts me down lots of impossible and impassable minor roads off the main route.



Google has 'local' knowledge in terms of live traffic - as fed from the swarm of Waze app users.
As far as I can, tell the Waze crowd-sourced data is superior to traffic support on standard GPS (Garmin).

So were you to use Google, it would offer you the fastest route at that moment in time, and correct it on the fly, if need be.
Does that count as the 'obvious' route?

Or maybe it's just the 'avoid-Waze-users' route...

Offline Phmode

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Re: Something I discovered today about the Zumo 590
« Reply #14 on: February 05, 2018, 03:49:38 pm »
In no particular order (cos I can't read and write at the same time  ::) )...

The 660 has...

Route Preferances...
Faster time
Shorter distance
Off road

Avoidances...
U-turns
Motorways
Tollroads
Traffic
Ferries
Car share lanes
Unpaved roads
Seasonal closures
Custom (where you can specify an area or a road to avoid)

Usage mode...
Motorcycle
Automobile
Pedestrian
Scooter(?)
Off road

I have mine set to fastest route, motorcycle usage (which gives me a usable 'dashboard'), avoid unpaved roads (after a few 'excursions').

The reason I use the thing all the time (in either car or on bike) is because I can't remember ALL the speed camera locations in the country, not to navigate me.

The way I use it mostly is not navigating, but if I need to nip from Ledbury to Northampton in the car in the rush hour I want it to tell me about traffic (I have the traffic dongle) and auto-route me. I do NOT want to sit down for half an hour before I rush off and plan a 'route' across country.

So, heading from Ledbury to Swindon for the weekend it takes me straight down the 417 to the Gloucester ring road. Sheila's 590 by contrast, routes her A417 and then onto M50 & M5 to rejoin the 417 at Hucclecote. This is not traffic nor time of day dependent on either unit. Sheila's unit invariably puts her up the B wotsit to Newent coming the other way but she just ignores it and lets it recalculate.

Talking of Google maps, as a useful (if you are in the car) aside they have recently changed the way the traffic jam 'traffic light' system displays delays, or I have never noticed this feature before. It has always had the red and amber colouring to denote bad and tolerable delays but now, if you look closely, each colour has a series of scrolling darker red/amber blobs within the main colour stripe. This scrolling blob is actually the true'ish speed of individual vehicles within a queue although not one blob per vehicle. Obviously  ::)

This is a truly groundbreaking feature as within a red zone the traffic could be anything from gridlocked and stationary to trickling slowly along.

Amazeabubles...