- What is the difference between a motorcycling profile and a driving profile? Is it merely to do with motorcycle off-road travel or is it more complicated than that?
I haven't played with a lot of the different profiles in basecamp so I can't confirm for sure but the concept is that different vehicle types should route or behave differently. In the map data that is surveyed by other companies e.g Whereis and then used by Garmin or other manufacturers there is much more information recorded and embedded in the map than just speed limits and streets etc.
Also surveyed are restrictions for example a weight limit on a road so if you were using a heavy vehicle profile it shouldn't route down that road. Or perhaps a restriction on a freeway might be, "bicycles prohibited" so a route for a bicycle should not go along that stretch of road. In a GPS you might even be able to select a vehicle type of emergency vehicle and then a route there is going to ignore certain things such as No Right turn restrictions etc. Problem is that laws are different world wide but that's the concept. Mapmakers and GPS manufacturers apply a kind of "skin" or transform file to map data and then generate a map for specific brands of GPS so each different type can read / understand the same underlying surveyed map data and then apply certain rules to it.
A good place to get some ideas about how mapping is done is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap . or for simpler mapping you could take a look at
https://www.waze.com/ I have to say I really like Waze. I use the app on my iPhone and it really does a brilliant job in the city and built up areas. but get to some back roads in the country and it won't know they are there. Good thing is that if you come across a road that isn't there you can map it and then in a week or two it will become part of the navigable areas in the app.
Anyway back on topic, as I say I am not sure that Basecamp actually behaves this way with activity profiles, and since it can't read speed limit data from the map yet then I suspect not, but maybe that sort of stuff is coming.
- How do different riders maintain a database of their waypoints?
I use mainly have used Mapsource but I am gradually bringing everything into Basecamp. So I am building a list of Points Of Interest. Which I can then use in different routes.
So I use List Folders and then Lists for each different type of POI. Thusly.
So a POI can be a member of multiple Lists so you can have the same (not duplicated) Waypoint as a member of the BP list and the 24h list for example.
Then each of these single waypoints / POIs can be a part of as many routes as you like.
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(yep I can see my Duplicated Kingswood POI there)
And so for an example of a POI that is in many routes for me...
So with POI's you can also use Garmins POI Edit program you can import gpx files in a folder structure to create your own "permanent" POI's in your GPS, where each folder represents a category. So then you don't go cluttering up your favourites in your gps.
o The problem I run into with this is that when I download the actual route ridden from my GPS’s then a number of waypoints become duplicated so I end up with, Home, Home 1, Home 2, etc. and Jerilderie BP, Jerilderie BP 1, Jerilderie BP 2, etc.
I delete everything in the Favourites on the GPS before uploading a route and I don't use favourites to store anything permanently. I will create POIs using POI edit so I can have an "unlimited" number of my own waypoints in the GPS rather than just a few hundred stored in favourites.
o Do riders when they get home download into BaseCamp the routes actually ridden from their GPS?
Yep I download the tracks periodically and either save them with the routes or seperately if I want to check on anything specific, see exactly what time I was at a particular place etc, analyse the ride in any detail.
- When planning for a rally do any riders load the CSV file of waypoints into MS Excel and manipulate the data in Excel (change names, etc.) before creating a GPX file and transferring that into BaseCamp?
Yep.
- Do any riders just use Google maps or Google Earth for rally planning?
I use Google maps only for sanity checks, IE checking that the route generated is the same and get an idea of the google maps timing and a general overview of where I am going. I find it much easier to look a google map to have a general idea about the whole ride. A far easier map to read than in Basecamp.