Workarounds for CoPilot's problems.

PONDEROUS · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:05 am Post subject:

I thought I should give the details of the previous route to which I referred in my most recent post, above. They are as follows:

ROUTING TYPE: Shortest
START POINT: Station Lane, Scraptoft, Leicester (52deg 38’ 31.5” N; 1deg 2’ 42.1” W)
END POINT: Mill Road, Rearsby, Leicestershire (52deg 43’ 26.7” N; 1deg 2’ 23.0” W)
CP 5 MILEAGE WITHOUT WAYPOINTS: 10.3 miles

1st waypoint: on Queniborough Road, South East of Syston/ North East of Thurmaston (52deg 41’ 13.6”; 1deg 3’ 30.4” W). CP 5 mileage: 8 miles, still through built-up areas.

2nd waypoint: on unnamed road, immediately North of Hamilton (52deg 39’ 39.3”; 1deg 2’ 54.7” W). CP 5 mileage 12.6 miles. Route includes about turn.

3rd waypoint: on Hamilton Lane, North of Scraptoft (52deg 39’ 3.1”; 1deg 2’ 54.0” W). CP 5 mileage 7.8 miles. Route even more strange.

4th waypoint: on Hamilton Lane further towards Scraptoft (52deg 38’ 49”; 1deg 2’ 54.5” W). CP 5 mileage 18.4 miles. Even more ridiculous route.

5th waypoint: on Scraptoft Rise, Scraptoft (52deg 38’ 40.1”; 1deg 2’ 49.3” W). CP 5 mileage 16.4 miles. Abandonment of any further attempt to produce route.

Notes:

1. Previous waypoints were not removed; i.e. a total of 5 waypoints existed by the time waypoint 5 was inserted.

2. Results on PC and PPC versions were identical.

PONDEROUS · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:33 am Post subject:

It seems that I spoke too soon. Further experimentation shows that whether Optimize Stops acts as a workaround depends on where the waypoints are on the route. It does not work with Waypoint 1 only on my example route. Onthe other hand, a single waypoint at Waypoint 2 on my example route will work without Optimize Stops.

Thus, it's a case of back to square 1. CP 5 will occasionally produce a reasonable route if you are lucky, or are able to sit and fiddle around for as long as it takes to find Waypoints that work.

Skippy · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:08 pm Post subject:

PONDEROUS · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject:

Thanks Skippy, but I'd be grateful if you, and others, could try it on CP 5 and feed back the results. Perhaps you could also try some other rural routes to confirm that this is not a one-off.

What I would like to do, for the sake of everyone concerned, is to try to curtail the recurring argument that because someone has found the occasional route that seems OK, then it can be taken as disproving the existence of any problem with CP 5's routing.

As Darren rightly suggests, all that seems to have been achieved so far is confusion as to the nature of the problems with CP 5. On the other hand, Darren incorrectly suggests, that the existence of these problems is a matter of opinion, and it seems this is the basis on which he defends the retention of the original review in it original form. These faults are matters OF FACT (unlike the question of whether we should just put up with them), and until that is established, this argument is likely to be interminable.

PONDEROUS · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry to increase the volume of postings, but I incorrectly asked Skippy and others to try out some rural routes. I don't know why, as the problem is not exclusively rural.

For example, I could not get CP 5 to take me away from the ring roads around Middlesbrough the other day. However many waypoints I inserted, it took me all the way round the ring round from the South to the North of the town then all the way back South through the centre to reach an address that was only a street or two away from the Southernmost junction on the ringroad.

I apologise for this, but I suppose I am striving too hard to try to make concessions to those who defend CP 5.

Bazzer · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:25 pm Post subject:

Just tried the Scraptoft to Rearsby routing on my TomTom3 and it routes via Barkby in 6.7 miles.

Happily, having got a refund on my CP5 after using it for 4 months (utter garbage) I can sit back with a smug grin and enjoy proceedings on the CoPilot forum. Laughing

Oh what fun

Baz
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Skippy · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 4:43 pm Post subject:

rich_gt · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 10

I have tried the Rearsby to Scraptoft route on my CP5 & like most others got the distance as 9.9 miles for both shortest & fastest.

I then added 1 waypoint on an un-named road north of Scraptoft & the new route shows 6.6 miles going via Barkby.

I think the key to making waypoints work is the correct placement

BMWBiker · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:15 pm Post subject:

rich_gt · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 10

I agree with you BMWBiker. CP should be able to work the shortest route out without having to rely on waypoints. I was just pointing out that some people were having to use upto 5 waypoints when I managed to get the route with 1.

I too have had very few problems when using CP on routes I don't know & would trust it rather than trying to rely on my poor sense of direction & map reading skills. It has always managed to get me to where ever i'm going and corrected me when i've missed a turning. I know its not perfect, before I get flamed but, it beats sitting in a layby trying to find where you are when your completly lost. And yes this is my first attempt at using GPS so I can't compare it to other GPS software such as tomtom etc.

Skippy · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:16 pm Post subject:

Skippy · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:17 pm Post subject:

Skippy · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:41 pm Post subject:

BMWBiker · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:50 pm Post subject:

rich_gt · Occasional Visitor Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 10

I'm not going to comment any further on my thoughts about CP5 as whatever I say someone will disagree Sad

Has anyone tried the latest patch on the USA site 5.0.1.61 i think it is & has this made any change on CP's ability ( or inability) to determine the true shortest route?

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