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Basecamp training
for Mapsource users
We already mentioned it before: Garmin is discontinuing Mapsource and transitioning to Basecamp.
What does that mean? To be honest, we don't know...
Note that you can keep using Mapsource, perhaps even for years to come...
So, no worries for people who are used to working with Mapsource, like yours truly.
But it can also mean that in a while you have to start using Basecamp.
So we will start making instruction video's for using Basecamp.
But before we can do that, we first need to make sure we ourselves can use it.
But I will need some practice before that's the case
This video will show you the most important things in Basecamp, especially for Mapsource users
So, if you do something in Mapsource, how does it work in Basecamp. Mostly things work a bit different.
But, as said, you can just keep using Mapsource, you don't need to start using Basecamp just yet.
This is different for new users of an outdoor GPS,like the Oregon or GPSMAP 62...
Here we advice to just start working with Basecamp right away.
It has some advantages then, like communicating with the GPS, getting data from and into the device...
...and you will mostly work with modern topo maps which have 3d data included in the maps...
...which Mapsource can't handle, but Basecamp can...
...and we think Garmin more often will include maps on an SD card...
...and you can only use maps on a preinstalled SD card from Basecamp (when the GPS is connected to the computer).
So, now we are going to see the features of Basecamp, in relation to how you do the same things in Mapsource.
Here they are, next to each other. Mapsource on the right and Basecamp on the left.
Globally, the programs look the same. So, no problem there right away.
But that's not the case. They are different in lots of ways. And, as a Mapsource user, I feel like a fool in Basecamp at first.
So, this demo may not go 100% right in the beginning, but all will go fine after some time. I hope.
So, first we start by creating a route and we do this on the normal roadmap, City Navigator Europe.
When I create a route I mostly use the same starting point, a house address...
..in this demo I will use our main shop in Notter as the starting point for the route.
I will start to create a waypoint in Mapsource as well as in Basecamp for the starting point of the route.
In Mapsource this is familiar, I press Search, fill in the house number, street name "Rijssensestraat"...
...which will come up with the correct street. I can enter a town name, but I know there are few streets named like this...
..so I can click on Search now and yes, I see two of them, one in Wierden and one in Nijverdal...
...the last one is near but the wrong one...
...I choose the one in Wierden and can click OK, but can also click Make Waypoint to create a waypoint.
Mapsource autonames it "Rijssensestraat 170", but I change it to "Waypoint Notter".
So, that is done! Now the same but in Basecamp.
Basecamp has a different Search engine...
...it even isn't on screen right after you start Basecamp.
...I don't know why, but it is quite irritating that you can't look up an address right away.
I find this a bug in Basecamp, but I might just not understand it.
I have it on screen now and can opt to search here for POI's, but also for an Address...
Near... I can use Centre of Map or Centre of Selection here...
..and will use Centre of Map, because I have no idea where the address is and just type Rijssensestraat.
I did this before and so the streetname will autocomplete.
Normally you need to enter it completely, I only need to hit Enter.
It now starts searching... but doesn't find anything...
Now this is interresting!
Okay, great start, the first thing I do in Basecamp fails right away...
So what do you do, you call the Waypoint helpdesk...
...but we *are* the helpdesk, so I do something else and I am actually going to use the Help feature.
I click on Help and on the index I choose Finding Places.
And there I go to help on Finding Addresses.
And there is the solution! May I remark that the Help of basecamp actually is pretty good, it helped me out quite a few times already.
It tells me to select Address on the Find ribbon...
...but besides searching near the centre of the map I can also search near a specific town.
So if I e.g. use near "Almelo " and typ in Rijssensestraat, it will actually find the address I was looking for.
So you need to know globally where the address is, but to be honest, you know that in most cases, right?
The advantage is, that when there are numerous towns that contain the address, you get tons of hits in Mapsource. In Basecamp you don't!
Near can be Center of Map or Center of selection...
You might think they are the same, but Center of selection has to do with the (now empty) things on the left.
I now close the Help and select the address
But I want to create a waypoint and that is as simple as right-clicking and selecting Create waypoint
Now all I need to do is change the auto-given name. Just click on the waypoint and you can change the name.
Now I can close the window and I have created my first watpoint in Basecamp!
Using the magnifying glass I can zoom in and out, I can even use the scroll wheel on my mouse, exactly like in Mapsource, that didn't change.
Okay, step 1 is finished, we created a waypoint.
Step 2 is creating a route and later we do step 3, changing a route and adding more viapoints to it.
Okay, first in Mapsource. Lets look at the routing preferences as a start...
At Preferences, Routing, here I can choose Car/Motorcycle
Avoidance settings, the Road Selection slider, which we leave halfway...
I can alter the driving speed, but that only alters the arrival time...
..and not the route calculation itself.
Now I click the route tool, start at Waypoint Notter and get a rubber band, I now zoom out...
We create a (random) route by clicking in the map
To get rid of the rubberband we press Escape
Now on to Basecamp...
In Basecamp the vehicle selection isn't in the preferences, but here, as a pulldon selection
You might think this is fine, but other than in Mapsource it also has a Motorcycle selection, which I choose
And I can choose Edit Activity Profiles, where I can change the actual vehicle inside the profile
So, the profile is something else than the vehicle selection, but it makes sense to name them after eachother
So what I did in Mapsource, I now do here: choose a vehicle
The settings I leave the same as in Mapsource.
Now remember: these settings are now saved in the active profile: Motorcycle
So if I want to switch from making motorcycle routes to hiking routes, I can just switch profile instead of changing all settings manually
This is quite nice, but we need to get used to this way of working
Now I want to create a route, but I have no Route tool. I do have the option to choose New here
I noticed I couldn't choose New after the first install, since Basecamp uses it's own database, you need to create a folder on the left first.
This actualy is an advantage, if you keep the ever growing collection nice and tidy
One of the things you do in Mapsource is always open a file containing your own address, Basecamp however will remember these waypoints.
I can divide waypoints into folders, etcetera. So this gives us new options.
We are going to create a route, so I choose New, Route.
I now get a pencil and when I click on the Waypoint Notter waypoint I get the normal rubberband.
I zoom out to create the route, but now I don't know how to return to the route...
Do I need to create a new route, no, it is already there, but how do I get my rubberband back?
I click on the Pencil+ symbol, click the waypoint and my rubberband is back.
I now create a route just like in Mapsource, but remember you may need to click the Pencil+ symbol to get the rubberband back after you lost it.
Now I want to get rid of the rubberband, will it work like in Mapsource by pressing Escape?
Well, no...
So, how do I gt rid of the rubberband?
...I don't know...
Oops... so you think to be a specialist on the subject...
...and now you can't get rid of the rubberband...
...if this is going to work, you'll see in part 2!