Garmin GPS - Uploading Maps

Author

Uploading Maps

2006-12-18, 3:33 pm

We have just purchased Garmin 60CSx. What I'm wondering is if we can
upload maps that are more detailed than the maps that come with the
GPS. We do have ESRI software in our office - so we have shapefile
road data that is very detailed. Is there a way to make this
compatible with the GPS unit.

Also, can anyone recommend good cheap software for out laptops to go
with this that is easy to use for people without much GIS knowledge.

We are new to GPS and just starting to get it all set up - thanks in
advance for any help.

Steve Calvin

2006-12-18, 3:33 pm

RH wrote:
> We have just purchased Garmin 60CSx. What I'm wondering is if we can
> upload maps that are more detailed than the maps that come with the
> GPS. We do have ESRI software in our office - so we have shapefile
> road data that is very detailed. Is there a way to make this
> compatible with the GPS unit.
>
> Also, can anyone recommend good cheap software for out laptops to go
> with this that is easy to use for people without much GIS knowledge.
>
> We are new to GPS and just starting to get it all set up - thanks in
> advance for any help.
>

If new to GPS-land, and even if not, Mapsource (free) and
Garmin City Navigator maps are decent. You only get the Base
maps preloaded on that model. CN maps have much more detail.
For off road Garmin also has various topo map offerings.

--
Steve

Seagull

2006-12-18, 10:33 pm

RH < reagen_hudson@hotmai
l.com> wrote:
> We have just purchased Garmin 60CSx. What I'm wondering is if we can
> upload maps that are more detailed than the maps that come with the
> GPS. We do have ESRI software in our office - so we have shapefile
> road data that is very detailed. Is there a way to make this
> compatible with the GPS unit.

Yes, but the real question is whether or not that's a useful thing to
do. If your goal is to have street maps, you are better off buying
City Navigator from Garmin (about $130 or so?) and you'll get maps for
all of the US with autorouting/turn-by-turn directions. If you want
basic topos, you can get US Topo for under $100. They are based on the
1:100K topos though they are showing their age.

If you want super-detailed topos, like 1:24k scale, then yes, you can
turn ESRI shape files into a Garmin map with cGPSmapper if you know what
you are doing. The learning curve is steep but it's worth it. I
put together topos for two small parts of Oregon:

http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ORTopo/

Cheers,
John

--
\ carpe cavy!
seagull @ aracnet.com \
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

2006-12-18, 10:33 pm

Thanks guys

Seagull wrote:
> RH < reagen_hudson@hotmai
l.com> wrote:
>
> Yes, but the real question is whether or not that's a useful thing to
> do. If your goal is to have street maps, you are better off buying
> City Navigator from Garmin (about $130 or so?) and you'll get maps for
> all of the US with autorouting/turn-by-turn directions. If you want
> basic topos, you can get US Topo for under $100. They are based on the
> 1:100K topos though they are showing their age.
>
> If you want super-detailed topos, like 1:24k scale, then yes, you can
> turn ESRI shape files into a Garmin map with cGPSmapper if you know what
> you are doing. The learning curve is steep but it's worth it. I
> put together topos for two small parts of Oregon:
>
> http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ORTopo/
>
>
> Cheers,
> John
>
> --
> \ carpe cavy!
> seagull @ aracnet.com \
> http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

Jack Erbes

2006-12-18, 10:33 pm

Seagull wrote:
<snip>
> If you want super-detailed topos, like 1:24k scale, then yes, you can
> turn ESRI shape files into a Garmin map with cGPSmapper if you know what
> you are doing. The learning curve is steep but it's worth it. I
> put together topos for two small parts of Oregon:
>
> http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ORTopo/
>
>
> Cheers,
> John

John,

I'd love to make maps like that, the 1:24,000 topo quads are exactly
what I want to make now that I've shifted from a Magellan to a Garmin.

I've made a couple following some of the online guides and info but am
still floundering around and am not getting the results I'd like. I'd
love to find a tutorial or book or something for the process you used,
is there anything like that around?

It would be great if we could get more people making maps like yours
from the USGS topos.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Broadback

2006-12-19, 7:33 am

Jack Erbes wrote:
> Seagull wrote:
> <snip>
>
> John,
>
> I'd love to make maps like that, the 1:24,000 topo quads are exactly
> what I want to make now that I've shifted from a Magellan to a Garmin.
>
> I've made a couple following some of the online guides and info but am
> still floundering around and am not getting the results I'd like. I'd
> love to find a tutorial or book or something for the process you used,
> is there anything like that around?
>
> It would be great if we could get more people making maps like yours
> from the USGS topos.
>
> Jack
>
I second that as I use mine for walking here in the UK. Maps with
footpaths would be excellent.

Seagull

2006-12-20, 12:33 pm

Jack Erbes <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
> I've made a couple following some of the online guides and info but am
> still floundering around and am not getting the results I'd like. I'd
> love to find a tutorial or book or something for the process you used,
> is there anything like that around?

There's a Yahoo! group for map authors called "map_authors" where
several map creators hang out. It's mostly a Garmin-oriented group
and most of the discussions surround GPSmapper and how to use it.

They published a manual of sorts for GPSmapper which you can get from
gpsmapper.com (along with the utility). It can help a great deal
but it's far from a tutorial, as learning to create maps using the
manual as a source is akin to trying to learn a language by reading
a dictionary. :) I haven't checked in there in a while but I'm not
aware of any tutorials on the subject that are current.

I suppose I could create one...

Cheers,
John

--
\ carpe cavy!
seagull @ aracnet.com \
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

Jack Erbes

2006-12-21, 10:33 am

Seagull wrote:

> Jack Erbes <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> There's a Yahoo! group for map authors called "map_authors" where
> several map creators hang out. It's mostly a Garmin-oriented group
> and most of the discussions surround GPSmapper and how to use it.
>
> They published a manual of sorts for GPSmapper which you can get from
> gpsmapper.com (along with the utility). It can help a great deal
> but it's far from a tutorial, as learning to create maps using the
> manual as a source is akin to trying to learn a language by reading
> a dictionary. :) I haven't checked in there in a while but I'm not
> aware of any tutorials on the subject that are current.
>
> I suppose I could create one...
>

That *would* be a nice gesture. And you'll become a historical figure in
my house. :> )

And I'll have to run that map_authors group down and read it too.
Thanks for the suggestion on that.

I think what I am trying to do (and what you have done?) is to sort of
reverse engineer the shapes and layers that are in the 1:24 quads so I
can run them through cgsmapper to get the Garmin *.img file.

If more people did their local/favorite areas and shared them pretty
soon we could have a nice collection of uploadable quads for the U.S.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

peter

2006-12-21, 10:33 am

Jack Erbes wrote:
> I think what I am trying to do (and what you have done?) is to sort of
> reverse engineer the shapes and layers that are in the 1:24 quads so I
> can run them through cgsmapper to get the Garmin *.img file.
>
You might be interested in looking at this site:
http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm
which discusses making topo maps for Garmin receivers using GPSmapper.

Jack Erbes

2006-12-21, 12:33 pm

peter wrote:
> Jack Erbes wrote:
> You might be interested in looking at this site:
> http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm
> which discusses making topo maps for Garmin receivers using GPSmapper.
>

Thanks for the link, I have found that to be a good site too.

I used the info there to successfully create and uploaded a *.img file
to my 76Cx. That was a good start for me.

But there was a certain amount of confusion and uncertainty (on my part)
about options, setting, type of things I needed to download, etc. The
map I made was sort of like a useful map but it was not a USGS quad.

That is why I was looking for another source of info that might go more
specifically to making a clone of a USGS quad.

I'm happy enough to get the work by trial and error and following a
tutorial, I'm not sure that I'll ever acquire (or even want or need) a
complete understanding of every subtle detail and step of the process.

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

Seagull

2006-12-21, 3:33 pm

Jack Erbes <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote:
> That *would* be a nice gesture. And you'll become a historical figure in
> my house. :> )

This is the kind of thing that just screams for a Wiki. I generally
don't care for Wiki's, but they do have their uses, and this would be
a good fit.

I don't suppose you could set one up somewhere? :)

> I think what I am trying to do (and what you have done?) is to sort of
> reverse engineer the shapes and layers that are in the 1:24 quads so I
> can run them through cgsmapper to get the Garmin *.img file.

Yes. The biggest problem is finding an intermediate application to
manage the data before sending it to cGPSmapper. While there are a lot
of free tools out there that can do this, to be honest, it's a space
that is best served by a commercial GIS application. I use Manifold
System, which is "only" $245 and it's perfectly suited for the task.
It's certainly a lot cheaper than anything in ESRI's ArcGIS line, and
it's better than using GlobalMapper (though the learning curve is
steeper).

Cheers,
John

--
\ carpe cavy!
seagull @ aracnet.com \
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

Seagull

2006-12-21, 3:33 pm

peter <prathman@comcast.net> wrote:
> You might be interested in looking at this site:
> http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm
> which discusses making topo maps for Garmin receivers using GPSmapper.

This is a great page. Thanks, Peter!

The process this author used is quite similar to the one I followed.

Cheers,
John

--
\ carpe cavy!
seagull @ aracnet.com \
http://www.aracnet.com/~seagull/ \ (seize the guinea pig!)

Jack Erbes

2006-12-21, 3:33 pm

Seagull wrote:
> Jack Erbes <jackerbes@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
> This is the kind of thing that just screams for a Wiki. I generally
> don't care for Wiki's, but they do have their uses, and this would be
> a good fit.
>
> I don't suppose you could set one up somewhere? :)
>
>
> Yes. The biggest problem is finding an intermediate application to
> manage the data before sending it to cGPSmapper. While there are a lot
> of free tools out there that can do this, to be honest, it's a space
> that is best served by a commercial GIS application. I use Manifold
> System, which is "only" $245 and it's perfectly suited for the task.
> It's certainly a lot cheaper than anything in ESRI's ArcGIS line, and
> it's better than using GlobalMapper (though the learning curve is
> steeper).
>

Okay, sometimes you just have to buy good software to get things done.
I was reading about it here:

http://www.manifold.net/products/mf...50pro_home.html

They don't have a down loadable trial version (which would be nice) but
you can order it and return it within 30 days and get a full refund
which is more generous than many software developers. That does speak
of their havening some level of confidence in their product. The
details on the refund process need to be clearly understood and can be
seen here:

http://www.manifold.net/products/freestuff.html

If I couldn't find any other reason to give the Manifold software a try,
this excerpt from that page might entice me into it:

"Annoyances - This page sure is annoying, right? It's amazing how much
time has to be wasted on stating the obvious and other stuff because a
small percentage of people are imbeciles, lazy to the point of gross
negligence or crooks. Manifold relies on word-of-mouth advertising so we
couldn't possibly have stayed in business with so many thousands of
improvements over the years if our customers did not think it was a
great product for normal people at a great price with a fair licensing
deal all around."

Thanks again for your help John,

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA (jackerbes at adelphia dot net)
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine dot com)

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