Topo Maps For Uk For Vista C

[+HooloovooUK]

I have just ordered a Garmin Vista C from Amazon.co.uk for £200 - seemed like a pretty good price and I didn't want to stretch to the memory card version.

 

Now, I would like to put topographics maps onto the unit of the areas where I go geocaching. What is the cheapest way of doing this? Ideally I'd like it to show all the public footpaths and rights of way etc. as well as the contour lines.

 

Is there any way of doing this for free, so that I don't have to spend another £150 on the MapSource Great Britain topo maps?

 

I'm not bothered about auto-routing and turn-by-turn directions or anything like that since I have a seperate dedicated in-car SatNav for that. I just want the topo maps.

 

Thanks for any help.

Edited May 5, 2006 by HooloovooUK

[+gloplastic]

For contour lines ONLY.... try seaching for the Scottish mountaineering Club website. One of their members has converted NASA elevation data into a format to be uploaded to Garmin GPS units. You'll have to find the correct software to do the uploading though. I use them, but I am also using the European metroguide for the roads etc.

 

Hope this helps

 

PEterW (aka gloplastic)

[+HooloovooUK]

For contour lines ONLY.... try seaching for the Scottish mountaineering Club website. One of their members has converted NASA elevation data into a format to be uploaded to Garmin GPS units. You'll have to find the correct software to do the uploading though. I use them, but I am also using the European metroguide for the roads etc.

 

Thanks, I've seen those. I'll certainly be giving them a try.

 

But what about displaying public footpaths etc.? Is there a cheap way of getting those or do I have to resort to buying the expensive topo maps?

[nikplus]

I downloaded the Scottish club topo maps but got errors after hacking the registry to make MapSource accept them. In the end I bit the bullet and bought the official MapSource Topo maps, and consider them £144 very well spent. They detail is good (although not perfect - there are a lot of footpaths missing) and it's good not to have to fiddle with work-arounds.

 

The inability to display the detail full screen is very annoying, though, but that's down to the OS's licensing restrictions.

 

--

Nik Rawlinson

 

Geocaching ID: nikplus

iChat / AIM: essex guy

[+HooloovooUK]

Well I've got the SMC contour maps working.

 

But they don't seem very detailed. Dunno if I've done something wrong...........

[+UKGeoCyclist]

How far have you zoomed in on the GPS.

 

You need to be at the 120m scale to see the full contour set. Above that, only a few contours are shown.

 

Regards,

 

Adrian

[+HooloovooUK]

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

I've now got the Garmin Road and Recreation maps, as well as the SMC contour maps on my Vista Cx. Very pleased!