View Full Version : maping software question



mattmill
01-11-2007, 02:07 PM
I am full of questions :)
I go the GPS60 (no maps) and the Mapsource Trip and Waypoint Manager. I just signed up for the gc.com premium membership and have a question on the along route pocket querries. I made one with google earth last night but the route is not what we would drive so I want to make a customized route but along back roads like 11 and 26 out west near Poland/ Otilfield. what do I need to use to do this? I have not "unlocked" the cd yet because I don't understand what that gets me. :confused: I do realize that this is all on the laptop PC not the Garmin. Any help?

matt

ribnag
01-21-2007, 05:44 PM
mattmill : I go the GPS60 (no maps)

Do you really mean the base model 60 itself, or one of the later versions (C/S/X)? If the vanilla 60, you'll have to carefully pick which maps you want, because it won't hold many. That said, read on...



what do I need to use to do this? I have not "unlocked" the cd yet because I don't understand what that gets me.

First of all, for just geocaching, you don't strictly need any of the add-on map sets. Just create your route in Google Earth, upload it to GC.com and run it as a PQ, and then you can load the waypoints into your GPSr with any of a number of programs (MapSource will do, if you feel comfy with it).

So, why do you need to unlock maps? Just an anti-piracy thing :rolleyes:. Basically, Garmin only lets you use your maps on 2 GPSr units - Ever. All the PCs you want, but if you use Google Earth, you certainly didn't buy the vastly inferior MapSource just to use it on the PC, you bought it for use on your GPSr.

Now, here come the "gotchas"... As in "we got 'cha $400 plus add-ons, you don't have a choice of switching to Magellan at this point". :eek:

First - make sure you install any MapSource products by first copying them to your hard drive. If you don't, the book lies when it says you can do a "full install" - It has no such option, and will always expect to find your maps wherever you installed them from (ie, the CD, if you don't copy to HDD first).

Second, you may or may not have trouble unlocking your maps. On the bright side, all accounts I've read of problems, Garmin's tech support really does a great job of helping you out.

Third, (if you have one of the models that take SD cards), you will want a bit more than the base 24MB it comes with. But don't make the same mistake I did, and pick up a decently priced 2GB card thinking that since all of Garmin's map sets take up around 1.5-1.8GB, you can fit a whole set at once (or your whole region from several sets such as Topo + City Nav + Metro). If you did/do so, congrats, you probably just wasted 1.5GB of that, since the device limits you by the number of maps (good chart at http://www.gpsriders.net/mapsource_sizes.html), which for any decent-sized SD card, you'll run out of maps long before size. Not so bad for City Nav, but Metro and Topo take up thousands of maps (with Topo, the only one I really care about, I can't even fit the whole Northeast region at once. :mad:

Fourth, you can only use one map style at a time. You can have more loaded, but don't expect to see, for example, accurate roadnames from City Nav overlaid on Topo for detail. Just won't happen.