Compass not disabled, when active routing with lock on road is enabled

[ConiKost]

I am not sure, if this is a bug or just works by design. I noticed, when Compass heading is enabled, map will rotate in the direction you point the Montana. This is fine and works as it should. But apparently, when having an active route and driving on it with enabled 'lock on road' option, the Compass heading still works and map rotates.

I wonder, if this is normal? My GPSMap 276Cx is not doing this. It auto disables Compass, when driving an active route with lock on route. How do other Garmin handsets behave? I suspsect, that this could be some special feature of 276Cx only.

[GPSrChive]

So, the Montana 7x0 v1050 compass never auto-disables above a minimum speed threshold?

[ConiKost]

So, the Montana 7x0 v1050 compass never auto-disables above a minimum speed threshold?

This is not related to firmare 10.50, as I also had this behavior with 7.10 and newer. Basically since having the Montana.
You received my video about the 50 points limit? Look at the starting demo route. You see, what happens, when Montana is not pointing into the direction of route. This also happens during real driving, this is not related to demo mode.

So it looks like, that compass never auto-disables? I wasn't aware, that there is a minimum speed threshold?

[GPSrChive]

All Garmin GPSr with Magnetic Compass will use the Compass heading to determine map icon direction at lower speeds, and at higher speeds (somewhere around 5mph) the magnetic compass will be disabled and the device will use GPS Position History to determine heading.

In your 'simulated route' video, you have disabled GPS, so the only option remaining for the Montana 7x0 is to use the magnetic compass to determine heading, as the video reveals.

While testing our Montana 750i during actual routing without disabling GPS, the map and heading always performed as expected.

Also, 'Lock on Road' has no bearing on the 'heading' for the map position icon. 'Lock on Road' was created decades ago when the best accuracy available was around ~200ft, and the vehicle icon was frequently displayed a considerable distance from the road actually travelled. Enabling 'Lock on Road' told the GPSr to 'Lock the vehicle icon to the nearest road'. There really is very little reason for this option to still be included on modern devices, as it no longer serves any real purpose.

[ConiKost]

All Garmin GPSr with Magnetic Compass will use the Compass heading to determine map icon direction at lower speeds, and at higher speeds (somewhere around 5mph) the magnetic compass will be disabled and the device will use GPS Position History to determine heading.

Thanks, this is good to know.

In your 'simulated route' video, you have disabled GPS, so the only option remaining for the Montana 7x0 is to use the magnetic compass to determine heading, as the video reveals.

While testing our Montana 750i during actual routing without disabling GPS, the map and heading always performed as expected.

Yes, you are right. I had that wrongly in my mind. I have to rephrase. My GPSMap 276Cx seems always do disable magnnetic compass at all, when driving an an active started route, while Montana does not, but does exactly as you decribed. This leads to the problem, as vibration is masivly confusing the magnetic compass at all. Basically, the map is spinning up to 360 degree, while at movement speed, it stops doing that. But my 276x doesn't have the problem.

[GPSrChive]

What you describe is because the GPSMAP 276Cx was never intended to be a handheld unit, while the Montana 7x0 is, so the Magnetic Compass will be enabled at lower speeds. This means that, if navigating in a car or on a motorbike, you may see erroneous map pivoting at very low speeds or when stopped due to magnetic interference from the vehicles metal structure and high energy electronics.

[ConiKost]

What you describe is because the GPSMAP 276Cx was never intended to be a handheld unit, while the Montana 7x0 is, so the Magnetic Compass will be enabled at lower speeds. This means that, if navigating in a car or on a motorbike, you may see erroneous map pivoting at very low speeds or when stopped due to magnetic interference from the vehicles metal structure and high energy electronics.

At least it's not a big deal for me, as I have a solid workaround. I am just using a seperate profile for AMPS mount with disabled compass, so it gets automatically disabled when using on a motorbike.

[GPSrChive]

Excellent solution! Using the tools available to achieve the desired goal!

[ConiKost]

Excellent solution! Using the tools available to achieve the desired goal!

The only downside is, that Montana always goes to main menu upon profile change, which is really anoying. But I guess, I have to live with that.