Magellan GPS - Meridian questions SD

Author

Meridian questions SD

Noweldrecumbent

2007-06-27, 10:33 pm

Does anyone know how large a SD card this will take, and how much coverage
of the usa on it Do they take a special map SD card or can you download
maps from the Mapsend Topo 3D from a pc to it.

I'm considering upgrading from a sportrak pro that has very limited map
coverage in it's internal memory.

Thank you in advance
Dave
http://www.noweldrecumbent.com

Frank Tabor

2007-06-27, 10:33 pm

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:56:36 -0400, Noweldrecumbent wrote:

> Does anyone know how large a SD card this will take, and how much
> coverage of the usa on it Do they take a special map SD card or can you
> download maps from the Mapsend Topo 3D from a pc to it.
>
> I'm considering upgrading from a sportrak pro that has very limited map
> coverage in it's internal memory.
>
> Thank you in advance
> Dave
> http://www.noweldrecumbent.com

I use a 1gb card in my Meridian Color. It will hold about 70% of the
US.

You do know that the Meridian is out of production and no longer
supported?

--
Frank Tabor
You work very hard. Don't try to think as well.

Noweldrecumbent

2007-06-27, 10:33 pm

Thank you Frank, I know they are out of production. I wasn't aware it was no
longer supported. Do you know which meridian models are the most sought
after? I'll probably pick up a used one on ebay to play with this summer.
Will yours take a 2 gig card?
Dave

"Frank Tabor" <ftabor@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:138628ip4u949cd
@corp.supernews.com...
> On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:56:36 -0400, Noweldrecumbent wrote:
>
>
> I use a 1gb card in my Meridian Color. It will hold about 70% of the
> US.
>
> You do know that the Meridian is out of production and no longer
> supported?
>
> --
> Frank Tabor
> You work very hard. Don't try to think as well.

Frank Tabor

2007-06-28, 10:33 am

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:03:53 +0000, Noweldrecumbent wrote:
[color=darkred]
> Thank you Frank, I know they are out of production. I wasn't aware it
> was no longer supported. Do you know which meridian models are the most
> sought after? I'll probably pick up a used one on ebay to play with this
> summer. Will yours take a 2 gig card?
> Dave
>
> "Frank Tabor" <ftabor@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:138628ip4u949cd
@corp.supernews.com...

I've never tried a 2gb card, so I can't answer that. By no longer
supported, I mean there are no more map or software updates.

I have the Meridian Color. It has an external antenna jack. A friend
bought the gold model with TOPO on it, and it doesn't have the jack.

--
Frank Tabor
Q: What do you call 15 blondes in a circle?
A: A dope ring.

Q: Why do blondes put their hair in ponytails?
A: To cover up the valve stem.

Noweldrecumbent

2007-06-28, 3:33 pm

Wouldn't be worth upgrading to if the maps will be out of date. I just
bought the mapsend topo 3D last year I think will work with it.
"Frank Tabor" <ftabor@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1387e91klhvb62e
@corp.supernews.com...
> On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 03:03:53 +0000, Noweldrecumbent wrote:
>
>
> I've never tried a 2gb card, so I can't answer that. By no longer
> supported, I mean there are no more map or software updates.
>
> I have the Meridian Color. It has an external antenna jack. A friend
> bought the gold model with TOPO on it, and it doesn't have the jack.
>
> --
> Frank Tabor
> Q: What do you call 15 blondes in a circle?
> A: A dope ring.
>
> Q: Why do blondes put their hair in ponytails?
> A: To cover up the valve stem.

Jack Erbes

2007-06-28, 10:33 pm

Noweldrecumbent wrote:
> Thank you Frank, I know they are out of production. I wasn't aware it was no
> longer supported. Do you know which meridian models are the most sought
> after? I'll probably pick up a used one on ebay to play with this summer.
> Will yours take a 2 gig card?
> Dave
<snip>

I just tried a 2 GB card in both of my Meridians, a Color and a Marine,
and it works fine in both. I'm pretty sure I had used a 2 GB card in
those in the past but can't remember for sure.

The Card Utilities > Test Card reports the card (a SanDisk standard
speed 2 GB SD card) as 2030600192 bytes. Magellan would never admit
that the Meridians would use any size card bigger than 512 MB. I think
that was because that was the largest size Thales-Magellan listed as an
accessory and also the largest size that was tested in development. But
1 GB and 2 GB cards work fine.

I also loaded some routes from the card and saved them back to it so
there are no read or write issues there.

I've not used or powered either of those up in several months.
Got a good WAAS fix in less than one minute sitting in the living room.
It was like running into a couple of old friends...

Jack

Jack Erbes

2007-06-28, 10:33 pm

Noweldrecumbent wrote:
> Wouldn't be worth upgrading to if the maps will be out of date. I just
> bought the mapsend topo 3D last year I think will work with it.

Topo 3D will work with any of the Meridians, monochrome or color. I
always considered Topo 3D to the best offering for topo on a handheld.
It has something like 1:40,000 scale whereas Garmin's U.S. Topo is
1:100,000. There are a couple of good links for reviews and info on the
Magellan hardware and software:

http://gpsinformation.net/
http://www.mtgc.org/robertlipe/myfaq/

Magellan lost me to Garmin because their eXplorist line was a downgrade
from the Meridian as far as software features and there was very little
improvement in hardware over the Meridians. The eXplorist has fewer
navigation pages and is less capable than the Meridian in several areas.
I was driven out of the fold...

I like my 76Cx, it is doing everything I need to do with it, much better
display, SiRF III chip set, more routes, more waypoints per route,
excellent track recording, etc., etc. But there are still some things
missing (the Card Utilities menu for example) and some things that the
Meridians either did better or that I liked the way they did it better.

Jack

Noweldrecumbent2

2007-06-30, 3:33 pm

Sounds good, thanks for testing the SD cards. I probably will go with a
meridian color for the summer bike touring. I wasn't aware the detail was
better on the magellan. Maybe garmin will improve theirs in the future.
Dave

"Jack Erbes" <jacker@midmaine.com> wrote in message
news:46844b76$0$3126
5$4c368faf@roadrunne
r.com...
> Noweldrecumbent wrote:
> <snip>
>
> I just tried a 2 GB card in both of my Meridians, a Color and a Marine,
> and it works fine in both. I'm pretty sure I had used a 2 GB card in
> those in the past but can't remember for sure.
>
> The Card Utilities > Test Card reports the card (a SanDisk standard speed
> 2 GB SD card) as 2030600192 bytes. Magellan would never admit that the
> Meridians would use any size card bigger than 512 MB. I think that was
> because that was the largest size Thales-Magellan listed as an accessory
> and also the largest size that was tested in development. But 1 GB and 2
> GB cards work fine.
>
> I also loaded some routes from the card and saved them back to it so there
> are no read or write issues there.
>
> I've not used or powered either of those up in several months.
> Got a good WAAS fix in less than one minute sitting in the living room. It
> was like running into a couple of old friends...
>
> Jack

Noweldrecumbent2

2007-07-01, 12:33 pm

Do all the Meridians have external antenna jacks on them anyone? Thanks
Dave
"Noweldrecumbent2" < noweldrecumbent2@hot
mail.com> wrote in message
news:Axwhi.5124$vi5.3237@newssvr17.news.prodigy.net...
> Sounds good, thanks for testing the SD cards. I probably will go with a
> meridian color for the summer bike touring. I wasn't aware the detail was
> better on the magellan. Maybe garmin will improve theirs in the future.
> Dave
>
> "Jack Erbes" <jacker@midmaine.com> wrote in message
> news:46844b76$0$3126
5$4c368faf@roadrunne
r.com...
>
>

Frank Tabor

2007-07-01, 3:33 pm

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:10:54 +0000, Noweldrecumbent2 wrote:

> Do all the Meridians have external antenna jacks on them anyone? Thanks
> Dave

No. The Gold does not. The Color does, I don't know about the
Platinum. It should say so on the spec page at http://www.magellangps.com/

--
Frank Tabor
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.
-- Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"

Jack Erbes

2007-07-01, 10:33 pm

Noweldrecumbent2 wrote:
> Do all the Meridians have external antenna jacks on them anyone? Thanks
> Dave

I think only the Color had that external antenna connector, that was
sort of the "Cadillac" of the Magellan Meridian line. My Meridian does
not have a connector.

But the Meridians had a real good antenna, arguably better than many
others. I used mine in cars and on boats and never needed an external
antenna.

Jack

Ray

2007-07-01, 10:33 pm

Noweldrecumbent wrote:
> Does anyone know how large a SD card this will take, and how much coverage
> of the usa on it Do they take a special map SD card or can you download
> maps from the Mapsend Topo 3D from a pc to it.
>
> I'm considering upgrading from a sportrak pro that has very limited map
> coverage in it's internal memory.
>
> Thank you in advance
> Dave
> http://www.noweldrecumbent.com
>
>
I have a 2 GB SD card in mine. The map size limit is about 64 meg, so
you have to break up your maps into sections. You can save the maps
from Mapsend Directroute (and I assume Topo) to the HD with different
names and then copy them over to the flash memory, then install the
flash memory in the Meridian.

Jack Erbes

2007-07-01, 10:33 pm

Jack Erbes wrote:

>..My Meridian does not have a antenna connector...

That should read my Meridian Marine does not have an antenna connector.

Jack

Frank Tabor

2007-07-01, 10:33 pm

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:56:00 -0500, Jack Erbes wrote:

> Noweldrecumbent2 wrote:
>
> I think only the Color had that external antenna connector, that was
> sort of the "Cadillac" of the Magellan Meridian line. My Meridian does
> not have a connector.
>
> But the Meridians had a real good antenna, arguably better than many
> others. I used mine in cars and on boats and never needed an external
> antenna.
>
> Jack

Outside, I can tell no difference. BTW, the Garmin external antenna for
the c33x series fits and works well. About half the price of the
Magellan one.

But sitting on my dashboard, the external antenna will give me 10 or more
solid sats, while the internal only gets 5 or 6 solid and maybe 1 or 2
partials. The internal antenna can't see any thing higher than about 110
degrees up from the horizon on my dash. The roof line blocks it.

--
Frank Tabor
Q: Why do WASPs play golf ?
A: So they can dress like pimps.

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