is it common to have problems when loading free maps

[namiboy]

i see so many posts on here about freeze-ups, buzzing, etc. issues when people load free maps on their gpsr using a card. is it that bad? i'm not too tech-y but i'm also not wanting to spend money on city nav and topos if i don't have to. i bought a bland micro sd card, but i'm afraid of problems, i'm getting cold feet so to speak. discuss.

[+splashy]

Us (topo) maps from Gpsfiledepot are very nice maps, no problems.

The way you put them on a Sd depends of your Gps and software version.

Like last updates of Oregon and Colorado, you can rename the gmapsupp.img to my-owname.img, making it alot easier to handle multiple maps.

[namiboy]

well i have a vista hcx and i just bought a sandisk 2gb micro sd card. just now i put the card in the unit, plugged it in and opened mapsource, made a quick track and tried to transfer it to the card....nothing happened. shouldn't it ask me if i want to transfer to the unit or the card? it looks like the unit and/or mapsource doesn't even know there's a card in there. i can see this won't go well...

[+coggins]

well i have a vista hcx and i just bought a sandisk 2gb micro sd card. just now i put the card in the unit, plugged it in and opened mapsource, made a quick track and tried to transfer it to the card....nothing happened. shouldn't it ask me if i want to transfer to the unit or the card? it looks like the unit and/or mapsource doesn't even know there's a card in there. i can see this won't go well...

On the Vista HCx, tracks from a PC get loaded to the internal memory if you want to use them. If you put the unit in Mass Storage mode, you can then send it to the card, BUT the gps won't be able to use it. Maps, on the other hand go only to the card. Edited July 16, 2009 by coggins

[namiboy]

well i have a vista hcx and i just bought a sandisk 2gb micro sd card. just now i put the card in the unit, plugged it in and opened mapsource, made a quick track and tried to transfer it to the card....nothing happened. shouldn't it ask me if i want to transfer to the unit or the card? it looks like the unit and/or mapsource doesn't even know there's a card in there. i can see this won't go well...

On the Vista HCx, tracks from a PC get loaded to the internal memory if you want to use them. If you put the unit in Mass Storage mode, you can then send it to the card, BUT the gps won't be able to use it. Maps, on the other hand go only to the card.

 

is there some kind of link or manual or something on how to do the whole process of putting maps on the card? i don't even know what 'mass storage' mode means, sorry to say.

[+splashy]

Read the Gpsfiledepot manual and the mapsource help.

[yogazoo]

There are enough checks and requirements in the custom map creation process that by the time it's loaded into MapSource there should be no problems with the maps themselves. If somethings funky CGPSmapper will catch it and kick it out.

 

By the time a mapset is loaded on your unit it will work as it was created to. I've never heard of problems nor have had any on my own that have caused issues with GPS operation. Not to say it couldn't happen but IMO it's very unlikely.

[namiboy]

Read the Gpsfiledepot manual and the mapsource help.

 

thanks, but quick question: when i had mapsource open and my vista connected to the computer, all it showed was the gpsr, not the card. it's a brand new card. i looked where you suggested but could not find anything to teach me how to see the card in mapsource. nothing in the garmin manual either.

[+JBnW]

Read the Gpsfiledepot manual and the mapsource help.

 

thanks, but quick question: when i had mapsource open and my vista connected to the computer, all it showed was the gpsr, not the card. it's a brand new card. i looked where you suggested but could not find anything to teach me how to see the card in mapsource. nothing in the garmin manual either.

You might be overthinking this. In the situation described above, MapSource and your Vista know what to do with maps when you click the "Send To Device" button. So a quick tutorial; insert the card into the Vista, connect the Vista to your computer, open MapSource and select the map tiles you wish to send to the Vista (without exceeding the size of the card or the 2025 (?) total tile limit), click "Send To Device" and a popup window displays, make sure the Maps box is selected, click "Send". The rest is automatic. Let us know if this doesn't work, but I hope it helps.

[namiboy]

Read the Gpsfiledepot manual and the mapsource help.

 

thanks, but quick question: when i had mapsource open and my vista connected to the computer, all it showed was the gpsr, not the card. it's a brand new card. i looked where you suggested but could not find anything to teach me how to see the card in mapsource. nothing in the garmin manual either.

You might be overthinking this. In the situation described above, MapSource and your Vista know what to do with maps when you click the "Send To Device" button. So a quick tutorial; insert the card into the Vista, connect the Vista to your computer, open MapSource and select the map tiles you wish to send to the Vista (without exceeding the size of the card or the 2025 (?) total tile limit), click "Send To Device" and a popup window displays, make sure the Maps box is selected, click "Send". The rest is automatic. Let us know if this doesn't work, but I hope it helps.

 

you're probably right about me overthinking it, but when i click 'send to device' the popup only shows my gpsr, and i believe i should be able to pick gpsr or memory card, and i'm not seeing that. i appreciate all the help i've already been given.