Route Planner: Import Recorded Rides Easily

If you’ve got a Garmin Edge 605 or 705 and you’ve just gone for a ride, if you remembered to press “start” on your GPS at the beginning, your Edge will have recorded your route.  You can find the files in the Garmin/History folder on your device when you connect it to your computer.  Annoyingly, though, they’re saved in TCX format, which is a Garmin specific format.  These files were difficult to import into the route planner: you needed to go through all kinds of hoops to convert it to a GPX of the right type so you could import it and see your ride on your computer.  Now, however, with the latest release of the Route Planner, you can import TCX files natively.  Just select File / Import from the menu!

New Marengo GPS Route Planner – Out Now!

After too long a gestation period, the new version of the Marengo GPS Route Planner is out.  This web-based application allows cyclists (amongst other outdoors types) to plot a route on a map and then upload it to their GPS unit to enable it to guide them.

New features include direct upload from the application to a Garmin device (Windows / Mac only I’m afraid, owing to Garmin’s requirements), a full “undo” system, auto-routing between points, elevation details and charting and more.

The new version is right where the old one used to be: www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/

Route Planner 2.0 !

I’m pleased to announce the release of the new version of the Marengo GPS Route Planner.

It’s full of great new features, including:

  • Save and load routes to/from the central route database
  • Easy sharing of your route(s) with anyone
  • Import and export GPX files without copying and pasting
  • Geocoding (location searching) including most UK place names
  • Mouse wheel zoom in/out
  • A dedicated “zoom” window
  • Smart new 2.0 look
  • Better browser compatibility – tested on Firefox, Opera, Safari, IE6 and IE7.
  • No advertisements taking valuable map space

This version is kind of commercial: there’s a minimal PayPal donation required per annum for the ability to save routes on the Marengo servers. The first 30 days are free and without commitment. This gives you a chance to make sure that you think the new version is worth donating to!

You can get your login here: http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map2/subscribe.php

If you want to continue using the free version, it’s not a problem – it’s not going away.

I’m announcing this release here first as a kind of limited beta – I’d appreciate feedback on any comments or problems you may have with this release.

Latest Development Release

The latest “beta beta” can be found at http://www.marengo-ltd.com/map/development.html

The new features are fairly minor: there are options (under Tools) to change your units (miles/Kms) preference, and to quickly go “home”. The “Help” box now contains a link to the GPL, and there’s a nice “Paypal donate” button unobtrusively placed in the top righthand side of the screen (I can’t believe, considering the interest this has sparked, that no-one’s bought me a beer yet…)

Opera Browser

For the two of you out there who use Opera, I just gave it a cursory test :)

It seems to work fine, the only weird thing is that the Google Maps markers seem to appear a little to the right and down of where you think you are clicking. Once you realise this is happening it’s fairly easy to account for this when you click. Also, of course, as you can drag markers, you can always drop them roughly and then drag them to the exact position (this seems to work fine).

Getting it Working on a Mac

As a victim of the iPod “Halo Effect” (see previous post regarding Nano), I just had to go out and buy a shiny, jangly new Macbook. Ostensibly, of course, so I could test the Route Planner on Safari and figure out how it all works on a Mac. While there’s no way you are going to pry my Linux machine away from me, I am very pleased with the Apple.

So, how do you get it working with your Garmin Edge (or other) and the Route Planner? Continue reading “Getting it Working on a Mac”