cwhlam

Take a look at Topo OSM Deutschland <http://maps4me.pipapo.org/tosmd.htm>. It is a 130MB download. The download link is at the bottom of the page. Clement

When generating the maps with Directroute, I usually save the maps to the hard drive. Then I copy the maps into the SD card, under the folder "detail maps". You can give the maps any names you want, and is not restricted to "detail00" (as was in the case of the Meridian series, I suppose). I have never tried downloading the maps directly to the E500 and I am not sure whether it is possible. Clement

Since you have a new cable, it rules out the possibility of a broken cable. The only suggestion I have is to clean the contact on the Explorist side. I have read postings that cleaning it with an eraser helps. Clement

There are several possibilities. To get started quickly, I would suggest visiting MAGic Maps <http://www.magicmaps.ca/>. They have both vector and raster maps for the Triton. The vector map coverage of Eastern Canada at 1:250k is quite complete. These maps were built for the Explorist, and should work for the Triton. However, there were reports that these maps may freeze the Triton, and that the developers were redoing the maps so that they will not freeze the Tirton. I am not sure whether the current vector maps works on the Triton or not. So. if you want to try them, make sure you read the part about emergency recovery first. As for the raster maps, they are specifically built for the Triton and should have give no problem. The raster coverage map not be as complete, but I do see 021G15-FREDERICTON as one of the available raster maps. Given that the Triton 300 has only a very limited free memory, the MAGic Maps are about the correct size. You can view both the vector and raster maps using Vantagepoint. Since the Triton 300 does not have an SD card slot, I think you have to transfer the maps to the Triton using Vantagepoint too. The second possibility is to find a CD version of MapSend Topo Canada. Make sure it is the CD version and not the SD version, because it seems that the latter cannot be authorized to work on the Triton. Magellan stopped selling the CD version; so you will have to be patient on eBay, or similar second hand sources. The quality of the maps in MapSend Topo Canada is equivalent to the Garmin version of Topo Canada. The third possibility is to make your own. The raster version is easier. Go to Tritonforum for some tutorials. Making the vector version of the maps are more difficult and information are scattered. If you do want to make vector maps, my suggestion is to joint MAGic Map as a premium member and learn from their tutorials. Clement

Good to know that you are familiar with file transfer between the E500 and the XP. I use XP at home, and Vista on my laptop only when I travel. However, E500 does talk to Vista in file transfer mode. Just to cover another obvious possibility, have you try installing the drivers found on the Installation Wizard disc that comes with the Explorist? Maybe it works.

The Vista driver update on Magellan site is for the NMEA driver, which is for serial communication. Serial communication is useful for real-time navigation applications, e.g., showing your current position on MapSend Lite. But, serial communication is not useful for downloading files. For downloading geocache files, you need to put the E500 into the "File Transfer" mode. On the PC side, it shows up as an external drive. The drivers (I believe for XP) can be found on the CD that comes with your E500. The last time I connect my E500 to a new Vista machine (with SP1), it seems to find the necessary drivers directly (but my memory may be faulty, since it was a while ago). Note, the Vista drivers necessary to communicate with the E500 in "File transfer mode" is different from the drivers to communicate with it in the NMEA mode. When putting the E500 into "File transfer" mode, choose SD card, instead of Internal Memory. If everything works out, on the PC side, a new drive pops up and you should see a "geocaches" subfolder, where you will find your .gs files. One cannot put the PQ's directly onto the 500. It only accepts .gs files. MapSend Lite can write the .gs files directly into the E500, as long as the communication is in file transfer mode. It will be slower than using a card reader, but .gs files are small. If you fail to see your E500 as an external drive on your Vista machine, then please give more information about what you have tried. Good luck.

OK, my new computer has a built in SD card reader. The card opens as an F: drive just fine, but I can't open the .gs files. So how do I get the caches onto the card? I usually PQ bookmark lists as .gpx files and download them to my desktop. What do I do from there? I use MapSend Lite v2. It can read/write both .gpx and .gs files.

My Explorist 500 shows the ground speed. Yep, did ground speed, but in MPH, not knots. Up to 575 MPH. But it also recorded altitude by cabin pressure, not GPS altitude. You must have the 600 or another model that has the barometer. The Explorist 500 does not have a barometer, and it shows the actual elevation as calculated from the gps signals.

My Explorist 500 shows the ground speed.

First, I would suggest that you visit Tritonforum.com <http://www.tritonforum.com/forum/>. It is full of useful information. As for your question about free maps, you can make you own and it is free! Tritonforum.com has a tutorial. Clement

To OP, If you haven't sold your 200 yet, you may want to visit the file section of yahoo's Explorist's group and see whether the two following two folder and files are of help to you: 1. Firmware in hex for bricked units 2. Explorist 200 fw-bm part1.rar 3. Explorist 200 fw-bm part2.rar They seem to come from the Rhamphorinkx group. It comes with instructions and the magup software that would allow you to recover from your explorist 200. Clement

One of the great feature about the Triton series is that you can easily make your own map. I just checked Google map for Inuvik. You can see clearly houses, and even cars. Whatever you can see on Google map, you can make it into a map for your Tirton. It may take a few hours to learn how to make the first map, but the quality of the map will be excellent. Once you know how, a map can be made in minutes, if you have a fast internet connection. For a tutorial, please see: <http://www.tritonforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1690>. As for Magellan's topo Canada, it seems that the downloadable version does not cover NWT. The SD version seems to cover it though. I have the older (and no longer available, except maybe on ebay) CD version of Topo Canada. It shows all the streets of Inuvik. As for comparison to Garmin's maps, I once compare my (Magellan's) Topo Canada map with my friends Garmin Topo Canada map, and the street level details look identical. However, I think Garmin just released a new version of the Topo Canada maps, which may be more up to date. Clement

If your Magellan is a Triton, take at look at TritonRmp: <http://www.msh-tools.com/triton.html> It can import a raster map. You have to calibrating it. After calibration, the program can generate a map that can be used on the Triton. Clement

Where can I find these third party cables. These problems all sound similar to my explorist 400. Here is my thread: <snipped> Try an online shop called Overdrive Electronics. They have a goog price on the cable, excellent customer service, and fast shipping. <snipped> I bought my third party cable from ebay. I just checked, and there are still several "buy-it-now" listings for about $10. The key phrase in the description is something like: "Unlike original cable comes with unit you need a separate wall power adapter to power up the unit." It does not have the middle connector where the external power supply plugs in. It takes all its power from the USB port. I also looked at Overdrive Electronics. They seem to carry only the Magellan's original version. I would avoid it. The connection for the external power adapter creates a weak point in the cable, and that is why it does not last. BTW, if you are adventurous, you may be able to fix the cable. I have actually cut-off this middle connector from my broken original cable, and reconnect the wires so that the wire intended for the external power is now also connected to the USB power. The internal wires are very thin, and one has to be very carefully while stripping off the insulating plastic. I put it back together with black tapes. It is ugly, but it works. Now, I have a spare.

What you described seems consistent with a broken cable. The Explorist can get power from either the USB port or the external power. If the wires are broken, the USB power can accidentally be connected to the external power line too. Don't despair, most Explorist cables dies around 1 1/2 years. One can buy a replacement easily on ebay. Actually, my suggestion would be to buy one which uses USB power only, i.e., USB power is also used as the external power. You can have the Explorist on, and charge the battery at the same time, without the external power. I haven't used the power adapter since I bought this "improved" 3rd party cable. As for downloading caches to the Explorist, an alternate way is to write the .gs file directly onto the SD card, if you have a separate SD card reader. I know it is possible with MapSend Lite, and very likely also possible with Geocache manager. However, having to remove the battery to take the SD card out is very inconvenient.

Glad to hear that you are finally getting over the fear of bricking your XL and trying out the onefityfie.

I don't even have the 3D or topo buttons on my toolbar! Not to mention having the same problem you are. If anyone knows why the toolbar buttons wouldn't show up, or why the TOPO software isn't showing up any actual TOPO stuff, please let us know. Thanks! To be running MapSend topo 3D USA and yet have no 3D button is very odd. Can you double-check the help->about screen? As for JaredLund64's question, if you are still following this thread, on the top line of the Mapsend screen, there is the word "option". Click on it, and it opens a drop-down menu. The third from the bottom is "show topo". By clicking on "show topo", you turn on or off a check mark. If the check mark appears, then topo will show up. If the check mark is not there, then topo will not show. If you do not see the "show topo" line in the menu, then your dataset does not have topo information.

One can create maps with road names using data from Statistic Canada. Around urban areas, they are reasonably accurate. But for new areas, and for outside of urban areas, they can be off by quite a bit.

I'm looking for primarily Canadian maps ie: detailed hiking and back country and river and lake maps. I hear ya about the Garmin but that is not an option. Which part of Canada are you located? If you give your location in latitude and longitude, it would be easy to find out which map set you need. Magicmaps have just release a 1:50k test map for 031H (Montreal and east). You can take a look at the quality.

Glad you found the fix of pulling the SD card out. Now, if you have a SD card reader, you should delete the .mgi file from the "background map" folder. You may want to put the SD card back into the GPS. It should now boot up correctly. I am not sure what an invalid file error is, because I have not come across it. But, my suggestion is that you regenerate the washington file again, and making sure that you use the serial number from the "about" screen. Next, you can copy the newly generated .mgi file to the "background map" folder, and try again. Good luck.

Just one last try. With the explorist in file transfer mode, check, using the PC, that the .mgi file is in the "Background Maps" folder of the removable disk which is representing your Explorist. Then put the Explorist back into "power only" mode, and go to the active map menu. First check whether the file shows up under "Background Maps". If not, highlight and select "Background Maps", and navigate to the "Background Maps" folder on the SD card. If the file shows up there, highlight and select it. If it still does not show up there, I don't know what is happening and can offer no further suggestions.

Ibycus, thanks. Another question, in the same build.mp file, can I assume that lines of type "0x000" and "0x0000" both refer to roads? In other words, being a hex value, the extra zero is not significant. Lines of type 0x008, according to GPSMapEdit, are "highway ramps (low speed)". Are they "highway exits"? Clement

Red90, thanks for the quick response, and the hint to use GPSMapedit. It makes live easier. As for 0x2c00 being a point, I found it in the build.mp file contained in "Ibycus Topo-031I04-071070732-src.zip". In particular, the build.mp contains the section: [RGN80] Type=0x2c00 Data0=(46.081789,-73.547102),(46.082247,-73.547710),(46.082441,-73.548080),(46.082455,-73.548454),(46.083656,-73.550247),(46.084311,-73.549364),(46.084354,-73.549168),(46.084309,-73.548510),(46.084225,-73.548227),(46.084335,-73.547771),(46.084333,-73.547525),(46.084139,-73.547169),(46.082842,-73.545637),(46.081789,-73.547102) EndLevel=3 [END-RGN80] If I understand it correctly, RGN80 is a polygon and not a point. Can I assume that this is just a minor typo? There is only one such polygon among 1580. Clement

I have been looking at the shape files created by Ptxt2shp and have a technical question regarding the meaning of the polygon types with the following hex code: 0x0029, 0x2c00, 0x004a, and 0x0020. I cannot find them in the Appendices of the cGPSmapper manual, and Mikhail's AddMagMap decodes them as: Blue-unknown, 0x2c00, Definition area, and State Park. Is Mikhail correct? I will look at the Polyline type later, and may have similar questions. Sorry if I am hijacking the thread, but I am actually looking at the build source of one of ibycus's Canada topo maps. All the discussion of converting form garmin to magellan have got me interested. Clement

A .mgi file is an alternate basemap, and is the expected output from Worldwide Basemap. Have you tried copying it into the "background map" folder on the explorist? May be that will work.