Danger

My Topo map arrived today. I was able to cut out a region and install it as a detail map just like it says in the book. It was a non-issue, just my misunderstanding. I bet tech support would have caught that if they spoke english. Thanks again for you help and for your patience as well.

Years ago I had a Garmin (don't remember the model) and one day it just stopped working. I wasn holding it in my hand looking at it and it suddenly said "Searching for satellites..." and that's all it ever did from then on. It wasn't dropped and it wasn't during any incliment weather. I know of two other cases where the same thing happened. That's why I went with Magellan, but I didn't forsee all the issues I'd have with it either.

You also might have additional expenses with it depending on what you want to do. If you are geocaching, you can look at the map on the website, drive close and then use the GPS and you'll do OK however the map that comes with the unit doesn't have much in the way of local streets. You're looking at addition costs of an SD card and map software if you want more detail.

...and this is after dealing with the (lack of) WAAS problem, fruitless calls to tech support and a couple ignored e-mails. I picked up a copy of Topo 3d from ebay and I'm watching a couple of copies of DirectRoute now. That should keep me covered (ok, this is getting expensive). I appreciate all your help here.

I recently purchased one myself and I'm not sure I'd recommend it to someone. First off, I think it's a great unit for the price. I do really like it. The problem that I had was that it wouldn't use WAAS. I was able to do a work around for it and load the European version of the firmware and fixed the problem, but for a new guy starting out it was a real pain in the butt to find all the information. Some of them do work however. It just depends on whether or not the unit was turned on during a 6 month period last year. If you don't mind digging in a little (and it's not all that complicated really) you can fix the problem and it's a great GPSr in my opinion. If you just want to turn it on and go geocaching, you might have better luck elsewhere.

Yeah, did that first thing. Deleted the old one and created a new one. It worked OK this time as a background map, but it has less detail than the basemap that came with it so it's useless. OK, so in order to get a detail map I have to purchase additional software I guess. Any recomendations? I'm just looking for detailed street info for WA.

Well, once I tried to load the washington map as the background map and got the error message telling me that it was an invalid file, it then proceded to load the default map and then just hangs. I may have just created a brick. I can power it off, but on power up it goes right back to trying to load the default map. I have been able to get to the menu (once it tells me that it will load the map, there is only one option - OK. Esc from there has brought me to the menu) but when I try to change the background map, it locks up again with a "Loading...please wait" message. Crap. I'll see if I can get in with the cable and copy the background file to washington. If I can get in, that should work. [later that day...] OK, all I had to do was pull the SD card out (duh). /endofpanic

OK, I may be confused here as well. I'm a little new to this. My assumption was that I could cut a region from WWBM and use it as a detail map. Is that not true? When I select Menu, Active Map, and attempt to change the Detail map selection, I am unable to see the file. When I attempt to change the Background Maps selection, I am able to see the file. I guess I'm a little confused as to the difference between a background map and a detail map. If I attempt to load the washington.mgi file that I created as the Background Map, I get an error message telling me it is an invalid file.

Yes, I've done that numerous times. I see the file from the PC, but not from the GPSr. I even tried using someone else's serial number and MapSend still creates a .mgi file. I thought that maybe I had the wrong version of MapSend or something. The label in the jewel case tells me that it is compatible with eXplorist 400,500,600, Meridian, etc. I thought maybe the disk was the wrong one (hey, it came from ebay). It is CD part #500129 and also mentions eXplorist in the trademark info. I have tried both v1.10 and the 1.30 patch CD part # 500229 A. Can someone who has this working verify that these are the correct disk part numbers? I just sent a second e-mail to Magellan. My first one was completely ignored and phone calls have been less than optimal (I mean seriously, how can you do tech support with someone you can't understand?)

OK, I reformatted and transfered again. I can again see the file from my computer, but when I go through the GPSr Active Map menu the folders are still empty. Just for giggles, I created a new folder and the GPS does recognize that. I renamed the .mgi file to .imi and it gave me an invalid file message, but it also showed me the file when I went through the active map menu. It appears that I need to create a .imi file for the detail map, but Mapsend just doesn't want to do that for me.

Ah, good idea. I'll try that when I get home. I just took a look at the utilities and there is an option to check the SD card. It did recognize the card and said FAT16 and everything OK. Tonight I'll format it and then try the xfer again.

Yes, I've heard of the same thing happening because of serial number. I've checked the serial number about 10 times (from "about" screen) and I'm sure I'm putting it in correctly. This didn't work from the beginning, but I have also re-installed several times. The serial number is 11868000831. It looks like I have one more digit than you do. I've tried both version 1.10 and 1.30. I've tried copying the files over to the SD card and I can see it there. By default the program copies the file into both the Background Maps folder and the Detail Maps folder. From my computer I can see them both. From the GPSr, I can't see either (and yes, I looked on both the SD card and in local mem)

It creates both a .rgn file and a .mgi file. The .rgn file is 1K and the .mgi file is 1.3M (washington state)

The manual tells me to use a .mgi file. Tech support tells me I need a .imi file. OK, so how do I get a .imi file? I installed the update to Mapsend, because I thought that was supposed to make the correct file, so I un-installed it and installed again so I'm just using v 1.10 and it still created a .mgi file. OK, I learned elsewhere in the forum that when you input your serial number into the conversion manager (or whatever it's called) that is uses your serial number to determine what kind of GPS you have and then created the appropriate file type. I've checked the number 10 times and I'm putting it in right (the one from the "about" screen) and still no love. Tried v1.10 and 1.30. Called tech support and gave up after being on hold for an hour (no exaggeration). Waiting on an e-mail at this point.

I'm having a similar, yet slightly different problem. I'm using Mapsend Worldwide v1.30 for an Explorist 500LE. I can create the region and save it to the hard drive just fine. (.mgi file) I can transfer it over to the SD card just fine using either Magellan Converson Manager or just copying it over. I can see the file sitting there on the SD card just fine from my computer. When I try to change the active map however, it doesn't see the file at all. I navigate to the SD card and all the directories appear empty. No detail map in sight. Any clues?

I'd like to thank everyone for sharing their hard work here. I just picked up an Explorist 500EL off of ebay and didn't have a clue about this issue and probably never would have. After reading this I realized that I didn't have WAAS. I just did the upgrade and it was very painless. Now I have WAAS. Thanks!

quote:Some stories claim that nearby Ape Cave received its name from Bigfoot sightings in the area. Actually, the APE caves were named after a local climbing group, but I don't remember what the acronym stands for now.