If however the search criteria had been 'frad' a number of results are returned, which are possibly closer to what you actually want, than Fradley Junction - e.g. Fradley Visitor Moorings.
The following are a few hints and tips when using Canal Planner.
For the latest hints and tips please visit www.canalplanner.com/hintsandtips/
TIP 1 - Don't be too specific when searching for locations
When using either find
location, find tab when planning a route or Quick Route on the Quick Start Menu,
only enter the first few letters of the location you are trying to
find. This feature pattern matches what you have entered into the box
against the location names in the database. If you are too specific you may
well not find the location you want due to a difference in the way we have named
the location. For example, if you enter 'Fradley Junction', no results will
be returned, because we have this named Fradley J.
If however the search
criteria had been 'frad' a number of results are returned, which are possibly
closer to what you actually want, than Fradley Junction - e.g. Fradley Visitor
Moorings.
TIP 2 - Choosing the right method of planning
When planning a route you have 4 methods of creating your route
You should general use each type of method for the following scenarios.
If you need a quick answer to how far two locations are either on the same waterways or on 2 different waterways, then you should use Quick Route, as this will return the quickest A-to-B route between the two locations. This option has no concept of via locations, and this method will never send you up an arm or a waterways without any other connecting waterways.
If you are planning a trip and you know roughly where you want to go, and are not necessarily too work about how to get between a number of specified (via) locations, then your best option is to use A-to-B planning. Overall this is the easiest most intuitive method of planning and can cater with any possible route you wish to plan, whether that includes going up a dead-end etc.
If you have a fixed amount of time, and you are unsure of what route you want to take, then How Far Can I Get could be the method for you. Specifying your start location and your time constraints, this method of planning will suggest a number of different possible routes for you. This will be particularly useful for hire boat users whose time is crucial.
Finally, if you know exactly where you want to travel, and exactly where you want to stop and are using Canal Planner to get timings, then Manual Route (or A-to-B) are the methods to use.
TIP 3 - Partitioning your route
By default your route will always state x number of hours over 1 day. This is because before you have partitioned your route, Canal Planner does not know where you want to stop. Partitioning a route will also give you a better appreciation of just how much time is required to complete your route. Whilst a 60 hour cruise does not sound like a lot, when this is split over 6 days, you get a better appreciate that you will have to do 10 hours of cruising a day in order to complete the route. We would suggest using the Auto Partitioning feature of Canal Planner in order to split your route up over several days.
TIP 4 - Changing overnight stop locations
Ok, so you have your route, and you have partitioned it using the Auto Partitioning feature of Canal Planner, but you notice that you are planned to moor over night in the middle of some dark woods. You notice that just a couple of miles further on is a pub which serves food and is children friendly. This is where you should manually intervene and set the overnight stops / moor-up locations manually. See Changing Overnight Stops Manually for a step by step guide on how to do this.
TIP 5 - Adding a section to the middle of a planned / saved route.
All too often plans get changed at the last minute and someone decides that wouldn't it be nice to go down a section of waterway which hadn't bee put in the initial plan. Rather than have to redo the whole plan from the start, simply add a new location / section and let Canal Planner calculate the rest. See Adding a Location / Section for details on how to do this.