cwhlam

The correct serial number is the one that is shown in the "about" screen on the gps. The serial number from the battery compartment has an extra 0 on the front, and another extra digit at the end. If you drop the first and last digits from the serial number in the compartment, you should get the correct one. File transfer to the gps is done in usb mode. When you want to transfer your map from the hard drive to the gps, put the gps into file transfer mode, select the SD card, assuming you have one. Then the gps should show up as a removeable drive on the PC. Now, to actually transfer the map, just drag-and-drop the map into the 'detail map' directory of the removeable drive.

The steps are outlined in Mikhail's web site: http://www.msh-tools.com/exploristmsend.html MMO converter is used only in the final step of the process. You will need MobileMapper Office version 2.7 or higher to generate the map.

Except Magic Maps has not done any 1:50000 maps. The Ibycus maps are all 1:50000. Huge difference. Yes, it is unfair to compare a 1:250000 map to a 1:50000 map. Which map sheet are we talking about? I can try to convince Magic Maps to make a 1:50000 map for comparison purposes.

The 2007 dataset was released on Nov 27, 2007. May be they have improved the accuracy. In their release notes, it claims that in most urban centers, the absolute positional accuracy is "similar to roads in the 1:50,000 NTDB data (i.e. approx. +/- 10 meters)". I generated a map for Montreal, and overlap some of my track logs on it, and the roads are right on. But, of course, this is only one sample.

Hello Ibycus, Are you still looking for a database with road names? Statistic Canada has one: <http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss2006/DataProducts/RNF2006_e.jsp>. It seems quite complete. I have used it to generate maps for the Magellan Explorist and the data seems quite accurate. Clement

Or.... Join Magic Maps as a developer. It has some very clearly written tutorials. Once you have mastered the process, you can create a map from scratch in 20 minutes.

First three digits are 119. What are the good digits? There is a very good chance that it will take the EU firmware.

What are the first 3 digits of the serial number of your 400? It may determine whether your unit would accept the EU firmware.

Thanks to briancgraham and Pod-Cache for your responses. Just to summarize for future reference, upgrade to EU firmware 2.57 seems o.k for 210's with serial number starting with 112, and for 500's with serial number starting with 118. It does not work for 210's that start with 132, nor for 500's that starts with 133. Clement

Sorry to hear that your 210 did not take the EU 2.57 firmware. Some of us are still trying to piece together the information of which unit can be upgraded and which cannot. One of the deciding factor seems to be the first 3 digits of the serial number. So, my question: what are the first 3 digits of the serial number of your 210? You can find it from the "about" screen. A previous post on this thread says that a 210 with serial number starting with 112 can be upgraded. I note that the version of firmware in the your unit is 1.88. Now, the question is whether it is the firmware version that prevents the upgrade or the serial number that prevents it. Clement

If you really want to hack it, it is possible to use MobileMapper Office to create .imi files using the mapping data from the old MapSend Topo USA data. See <http://www.msh-tools.com/exploristmsend.html> for more details. I have heard success stories, and supposedly, it is not that difficult.

There were quite a bit of recent discussion on Yahoo's Explorist group about firmware upgrade for the 500. You may be able to deduce where one can find the 2.57 firmware. Question of curiosity, what are the first 3 digits of the serial number of your Explorist 210. The available evidence for the 500 strongly indicates that those units with serial numbers starting with 118 are upgradable, and those starting with 133 are not. Clement

Interesting! I had upgraded to 2.57 last year, without knowing the WAAS implications. I found the extra screens of marginal interest, because I rarely use them, but the WAAS fix would definitely be worth it. I can see a lot of people trying the upgrade now. Be careful, some units refuse to take the upgrade. Also, there is a small chance of the unit turning into a brick after the upgrade. May be the largest size of the Euro basemap is to blame. There is a (earlier?) version of the 2.57 upgrade that does not replace the basemap. May be it is safer to find and use that version instead.

I have Softmap's 50K maps for southern Ontario. I am not happy with the quality of the scanned maps, but then I was spoiled by the quality of the 20K maps for Quebec. My suggestion is to take advantage of their 7-day Free Demo trial of SoftMap 5 and TopoWeb. Apparently, you can get Topo maps for Ontario in 10k and 20k scales. The sample map looks excellent. Using SoftMap 5, you can print the maps. The latest update to SoftMap 5 allows it to read .gpx files and shows the geocaches directly on the map. It is not perfect, but it works. During the 7 day trial period, you can probably download all the maps you need. You should print them during this period, because after the expiration of the 7-day period, you cannot open SoftMap 5 without a registration key. Having said that, I do hope you buy from them. I have no relationship with SoftMap, other than being a happy customer for 10 years. Clement

There are some, e.g., snowmobile trails for some states/provinces: <http://www.gpssledmaps.com/maps/>. There are also a few topo maps for Canada: <http://www.magicmaps.ca/>. Clement

You can transfer via the USB, but, AFAIK, not directly from MapSend Topo 3D. Put the GPS into file transfer mode, so that it shows up as a removable drive under Windows. Then just do a file copy under Windows. One should note that transferring via USB is very slow, and it is faster to take the memory card out, transfer the files, and put the card back in. As for transferring .gs files, I use MapSend Lite V2. It can read .gpx files, and save to the Explorist directly (with the GPS in file transfer mode). Others use GSAK. If you need more information, just ask. There are many guru's in this forum. Clement

You should look into Yahoo!'s mobilemapper2 group. There is also some discussion here: <http://www.msh-tools.com/exploristmsend.html>. Clement

Two suggestions. First, look in the battery compartment, there should be a serial number there. Delete the first and last digits and use the trimmed number to generate a map. Second, with the Explorists connected as an external disk, there is a file "UNIT_ID.DAT" in the directory "USBTRANS". It contains both the SW version number and the serial number. The "USBTRANS" is at the root level, and has the attribute of SH. You have to ask windows to "Show hidden files and folders" before it will show up. Clement

I suppose you have the CD version. If you have the DVD version, it is hopeless, because the software is bound to only one serial number, even if you install it in several computers. For the CD version, when you generate a map, there should be an option to change the serial number. I believe you can change it up to 3 or 4 times. After which you will have to reinstall before you can change it again. My suggestion is to generate all the maps you would even need for one serial number, file them away safely. Then change the serial number, generate all the maps again and file them away, and then do the same for the third explorist. After that, you don't need to generate maps any more. Clement

I have the MapSend Topo Canada CD and it works with my Explorist 500. One word of caution, it works fine under Windows XP. On Vista, I cannot get MS Topo Canada to run. As for the serial number, on the CD version, I believe you need to drop the first digit (which is a zero, I believe), and probably the last digit before MapSend will generate the correct map. It may be the same issue with the downloaded Topo Canada (Ontario) maps. Clement

Magellan has a faq on how to install MapSend Topo 3D on a Vista machine, using the XP compatibility mode: http://www.magellangps.com/support/faqdeta...amp;prodid=1044 You may want to give it a try. Clement

Did you try loading a MapSend Map directly into an SD card using a card reader? If you do, does it work in the Triton?

I am curious whether Directroute can generate a map for the Triton. If it can, then one should be able to copy it onto the SD card. At least, you can see how street routing works.

If you are thinking about a Samsug Q1 Ultra, take a look at the Asus R2HV. It even has a GPS receiver, using the SIRF III chip, built in.

Wow, we are now the country with the most free maps in MapCenter: 1531 and counting. Your maps prompted me to start learning how to convert from a Garmin map to a Magellan one, since I have only a Magellan. I started yesterday by downloading AddMagMap. It seems that the starting point of the conversion is a polish format file, and I am glad to see that you have included the .pm files in your uploads. I will add to the request for 031, because this is the area that I am most interested in. Thanks.