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Garmin Oregon, Dakota, Colorado -- Custom Raster Map support!


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A couple observations with my CO 300 and custom maps. I've found as already mentioned that at times, but not all the time, there are 2 instances of WW DEM Basemap NR listed and the second instance is my custom maps. I can toggle it off/on and my maps display OK. If I power off/on sometimes it will list my custom maps as it should. Weird.

 

I can't reproduce this at will but I find that my Track On setting to record tracks gets turned off by itself occasionally. Not sure if it is due to profile choices, or by selecting/de-selecting custom maps.

 

My tracklog will not show if only the custom maps are active. It seems to need at least the WW DEM Basemap NR, or any other map set select as well.

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I noticed the "Dakota" banner when I did the Colorado install and mine works fine.

 

1) Check the version installed on your Colorado, make sure it is 3.02. (Setup>System>Options>Software Version)

2) Create the /Garmin/CustomMaps directory on your Colorado's internal drive (delete it and recreate it if you already have one)

3) Copy one of the KMZ files from the link below in /Garmin/CustomMaps and goto Map>Options>Select Map and see if you have a Custom Maps button down near the bottom (you might need to scroll down).

4) Enable Custom Maps and Disable all other maps (for now anyway, I've seen problems with Garmin Custom Maps and some of the Custom .img maps on gpsfiledepot.com)

5) Return to the Map page and search the map near the downloaded map to see if it is visible.

 

https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206

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I noticed the "Dakota" banner when I did the Colorado install and mine works fine.

 

1) Check the version installed on your Colorado, make sure it is 3.02. (Setup>System>Options>Software Version)

2) Create the /Garmin/CustomMaps directory on your Colorado's internal drive (delete it and recreate it if you already have one)

3) Copy one of the KMZ files from the link below in /Garmin/CustomMaps and goto Map>Options>Select Map and see if you have a Custom Maps button down near the bottom (you might need to scroll down).

4) Enable Custom Maps and Disable all other maps (for now anyway, I've seen problems with Garmin Custom Maps and some of the Custom .img maps on gpsfiledepot.com)

5) Return to the Map page and search the map near the downloaded map to see if it is visible.

 

https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206

Wow, thanks! That worked like a charm. My own kmz file must have been defective in some way. Wonder what went wrong. I followed all the steps for map creation to the T. One more question--isn't there supposed to be some setting in setup>maps>"map information"? That doesn't appear in my unit--only the option to check or uncheck "Custom Map" in the choose maps option while viewing a map.

 

Thanks again!

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Apparently I am clueless because I can't figure out the best source for aerial maps to start trying on my oregon. Can someone help this non-Rasterfarian? :D

Use the imagery from Google Earth. Under the File pulldown menu, you can save the image as a jpg. Then you can follow the Garmin steps from there.

 

JetSkier

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Hallo! My local Austrian Garmin service doesn´t know anything about this update. So I don´t know, if Austrian map would work. Greetings Peter

 

Das ist völlig egal in welchem Land Du wohnst! Mach das Update und bastel dir Karten mit z.B. Google Earth Overlays. Das funktioniert in good old Germany, dann geht es auch in Österreich.

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Seems that higher resolution kmz (3x3km 1:10000 map 0.86m/pixel) not showing properly on the top of lower resolution kmz (15x15km 1:50000 map 4.3m/pixel). It is visible only small part of high res map! Other parts is covered by low res map. If I delete low res kmz, high res map looks ok. Does somebody else noticed such behaviour? Both kmz files have been made with Global Mapper with chunks 1024x1024 and "Display When File is.." parameter were set to 49 on first file and 48 on the second file. If it is bug I will send error to TrailTech@garmin.com.

Edited by or-tracker
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Wow, thanks! That worked like a charm. My own kmz file must have been defective in some way. Wonder what went wrong. I followed all the steps for map creation to the T. One more question--isn't there supposed to be some setting in setup>maps>"map information"? That doesn't appear in my unit--only the option to check or uncheck "Custom Map" in the choose maps option while viewing a map.

Setup>Maps applies only to the Oregon. The Colorado enable/disable switch is available directly on the Map page under Options.

 

Seems that higher resolution kmz (3x3km 1:10000 map 0.86m/pixel) not showing properly on the top of lower resolution kmz (15x15km 1:50000 map 4.3m/pixel). It is visible only small part of high res map! Other parts is covered by low res map. If I delete low res kmz, high res map looks ok. Does somebody else noticed such behaviour? Both kmz files have been made with Global Mapper with chunks 1024x1024 and "Display When File is.." parameter were set to 49 on first file and 48 on the second file. If it is bug I will send error to TrailTech@garmin.com.

 

That sounds like an issue. I would send Garmin the files since it seems easy to reproduce. I'm assuming you aren't exceeding the 100 limit?

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Looks like they already have some posted:

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/143/

 

Without downloading it, those look like vectorized rasters in IMG format, using Moagu to vectorize the rasters.

Oh, well I image it won't be long. They have a thread going in their forum with some cool images on the subject. looks like they are using Global Mapper as a front end to Google Earth.

False alarm before. Now it looks like they have started

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/234

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/236

http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/237

Edited by JDiablo
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What would be a really nice program for someone to write would be an automatic KMZ sizer. For example, I find some free aerial imagery, cut out a high resolution tile and this mythical program would cut into appropriately sized and appropriately resolutioned tiles/KMZ's for the Garmin units.

 

I'm having a bit of difficulty getting KMZ's onto my unit as I want to do too much (too big an area) at once. I'm finding that the right size is a painfully small area.

 

Let's call this mythical program the "KMZ Shredder". Shredding it down to Garmin sized chunks.

 

Edited to add: I see that a "tile" cutting program is already being looked into already by a few people. Fingers crossed.

Edited by yogazoo
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Custom Raster Map support is a pretty cool new development for our Garmins. I downloaded the Golden Gate National Recreation Area & Alcatraz Island KMZ files (https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=2653) and zoomed in to Alcratraz Island and the two maps were overlayed beautifully. It was like a work of art. I can't wait to be able to do this on my own for the areas I travel to.

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This could be a time saver...

http://www.stitchmaps.com

 

 

One thing I have done with some of mine where 5 or 6 smaller maps make up 1 larger map is to give them different draw orders so that the overlaping areas of the different maps won't become a problem area in viewing, if not lined up perfectly the same. Ex. first map draw order = 0, next adjacent / overlapping map draw order = 1, and so forth with remaining maps. So far this has worked well.

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As i did not get any feedback until now - it seems to be that i am the only one where the unit crashes while using rastermaps (with a lot of panning and zooming).

Thank you.

:laughing::D

 

I have been getting crashes as well while doing a lot of panning and zoom, gps will randomly shut down.

Me too, plus lots of unit freezes whilst navigating, so much so that I need to go back a version from this beta, which is a shame as the GB OS maps render really quickly with the beta.

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I have updated GPS Visualizer's "KML Overlay" tool to make it more compatible with the new Garmin update.

 

Here's an input form if you want to start from a GPS data file or from a pair of coordinates: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/kml_overlay?garmin_custom_map=1

 

And here's a new Garmin-friendly "network link" for use inside Google Earth: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/google_earth/...twork_link.html

 

The .kmz files that GPS Visualizer creates (with USGS or NRCan topos inside them) should work right out-of-the-box with the new Garmin software. Please let me know if something goes awry.

Edited by adamschneider
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That sounds like an issue. I would send Garmin the files since it seems easy to reproduce. I'm assuming you aren't exceeding the 100 limit?

No, limit not exceeded, files per both kmz only 21. Error report and kmz files sent to TrailTech@garmin.com

Received response from Garmin: "From looking at the kml files, it looks like

you are trying to use super overlays and the minLodPixels tag. Garmin

devices don't support super overlays. To control which images are shown

on top you can use drawOrder. See this forum post for more details about

which xml tags are being processed:

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=2646."

The minLodPixels tag is generated by Global Mapper 10 (Display When File is...) parameter. After removing this tag

from doc.kml file problem seems to be solved.

Edited by or-tracker
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I have updated GPS Visualizer's "KML Overlay" tool to make it more compatible with the new Garmin update.

 

Here's an input form if you want to start from a GPS data file or from a pair of coordinates: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/kml_overlay?garmin_custom_map=1

 

And here's a new Garmin-friendly "network link" for use inside Google Earth: http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/google_earth/...twork_link.html

 

The .kmz files that GPS Visualizer creates (with USGS or NRCan topos inside them) should work right out-of-the-box with the new Garmin software. Please let me know if something goes awry.

 

Thanks Adam. I've posted instructions on how to use GPS Visualizer overlay input form here:

 

http://www.gpsfix.net/garmin-custom-maps-g...iz-kmz-support/

 

and updated the network link instructions here:

 

http://www.gpsfix.net/garmin-custom-maps-t...gps-visualizer/

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Here's another very helpful tool put together by Leszek Pawlowicz over at Free Geography Tools called G-Raster. It allows you to take publicly available map sources and convert them into compatible KMZ files for use on your Garmin Colorado, Oregon and Dakota.

 

You can convert the following formats:

 

* GeoTiffs: TIFF images with embedded geodata

* MRSID imagery (file extension .sid or .mrsid)

* NOAA BSB imagery (file extension .kap)

* ERDAS Imagine format (file extension .img

* JPG imagery (”Big JPEG”) generated by the free program USAPhotoMaps.

* General graphic files with geodata in worldfile format for the UTM coordinate system (e.g. JPG with .jgw, BMP with .bpw, GIF with .gfw, TIF with .tfw).

* General graphic files with geodata in worldfile format in any coordinate system.

 

http://tinyurl.com/graster

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Here's another very helpful tool put together by Leszek Pawlowicz over at Free Geography Tools called G-Raster. It allows you to take publicly available map sources and convert them into compatible KMZ files for use on your Garmin Colorado, Oregon and Dakota.

 

You can convert the following formats:

 

* GeoTiffs: TIFF images with embedded geodata

* MRSID imagery (file extension .sid or .mrsid)

* NOAA BSB imagery (file extension .kap)

* ERDAS Imagine format (file extension .img

* JPG imagery (”Big JPEG”) generated by the free program USAPhotoMaps.

* General graphic files with geodata in worldfile format for the UTM coordinate system (e.g. JPG with .jgw, BMP with .bpw, GIF with .gfw, TIF with .tfw).

* General graphic files with geodata in worldfile format in any coordinate system.

 

http://tinyurl.com/graster

Looks like a great tool. When I have time I'll try it out on some NAIP imagery for Nevada.

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I've told many people about the ability to add raster imagery to their Garmins and most have stated it seems like too much work. I'm hoping something simple comes along to help those who are not thrilled with trying to take on this task, will continue to watch here.

 

Has the bugs been addressed at all or are many of you still seeing them?

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I've told many people about the ability to add raster imagery to their Garmins and most have stated it seems like too much work. I'm hoping something simple comes along to help those who are not thrilled with trying to take on this task, will continue to watch here.

 

I thought this too until I learned to use GPSvisualizer. I can do about 50 square miles of 1 meter USGS B&W aerials in about an hour. Very easy. I'm sure that more automation of this process will come in good time. Best of all, IT'S FREE.

 

Has the bugs been addressed at all or are many of you still seeing them?

 

My unit still crashes from time to time when panning or zooming excessively. The tracklog still does not show over the image. These will be issues that are worked out in future software releases.

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Very simple process and very flexible. Best thing about is that even the 'hard work" (which is very quick*) needs only be done once.. you can then share the file with other CO/OR/Dakota owners can just drag the file to their SD card. No muss. Example..a state park map for our state orgs annual event this weekend that i am organising .. scroll down at http://fallfling.wikispaces.com/Downloads+Page Good reviews of it so far from the users!

 

*Probably quicker and less work than cutting and downloading from delorme.

Edited by Maingray
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I can see why some people probably wouldn't be interested in going through the process. While it really is pretty simple it's more software and something new to learn. Like others have said, the key will be putting together a good library of these maps. GPSFileDepot seems to be heading that way, hopefully we'll see more.

 

The big advantage of tools like G-raster is that you don't need to do any calibration because the maps you are using are already georeferenced. I just went out at lunch and found a couple of caches and had 30cm color aerials on my unit (publicly available maps from MassGIS) and it worked very well, they are clear down to the 50' zoom level (of course I can only have about 3-4 sq/km loaded!). They only thing I wished I could do was switch back and forth between the color aerials and the trail map I had also loaded. Hopefully Garmin will add a feature to allow us to enable/disable individual custom maps.

 

As far as stability goes if you are only dealing with a handful (<10) of files that are <500kB each you probably won't see any problems. The crashes I've seen happen when zooming/panning when the unit is zoomed in to the 20-50' levels with lots of maps. I've also seen problems loading up certain large maps with lots of tiles.

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Very simple process and very flexible. Best thing about is that even the 'hard work" (which is very quick*) needs only be done once.. you can then share the file with other CO/OR/Dakota owners can just drag the file to their SD card. No muss. Example..a state park map for our state orgs annual event this weekend that i am organising .. scroll down at http://fallfling.wikispaces.com/Downloads+Page Good reviews of it so far from the users!

 

*Probably quicker and less work than cutting and downloading from delorme.

 

Funny, a lot of people in here seem to be saying it's not all that easy? That's why I mentioned it, maybe everyone was mistaken or the "learning curve" wasn't too hard to get past?

 

Reading from a poster a few posts up though, I don't know if it's either quicker OR easier....but I am glad to see this is an option for those willing to do the work! I know that the maps I can get readily available from DeLorme is a BIG plus for me, I am not the kind who wants to worry about using maps illegally or even want to be searching for them...and I am NOT techy. Having the maps at my disposal AND knowing how to get them really is a good thing...for me. Again, I hope the process is made easier for those Garmin users I spoke about before...they're the ones you'll have to get to believe the ease and quickness about. :o

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I can see why some people probably wouldn't be interested in going through the process. While it really is pretty simple it's more software and something new to learn. Like others have said, the key will be putting together a good library of these maps. GPSFileDepot seems to be heading that way, hopefully we'll see more.

 

The big advantage of tools like G-raster is that you don't need to do any calibration because the maps you are using are already georeferenced. I just went out at lunch and found a couple of caches and had 30cm color aerials on my unit (publicly available maps from MassGIS) and it worked very well, they are clear down to the 50' zoom level (of course I can only have about 3-4 sq/km loaded!). They only thing I wished I could do was switch back and forth between the color aerials and the trail map I had also loaded. Hopefully Garmin will add a feature to allow us to enable/disable individual custom maps.

 

As far as stability goes if you are only dealing with a handful (<10) of files that are <500kB each you probably won't see any problems. The crashes I've seen happen when zooming/panning when the unit is zoomed in to the 20-50' levels with lots of maps. I've also seen problems loading up certain large maps with lots of tiles.

 

So the limitations are still there...I wondered if this had been addressed yet or not (and no, I haven't been watching too much, so I thought maybe I missed any updates that may have come out). The lack of ability to switch between maps was one of my big gripes about my OR 300, maybe this will get fixed soon as well? if so, it'll go a long ways to helping make the Garmins a great unit...better than they are now, at least! :o

 

3-4 sq/km?? That's not much. How much space does that take up on a card?

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One last thought...it appears many of you are what I would consider techy (or at least knowing your way around a GPS AND maps), so hearing you guys say it's easy just doesn't instill that warm and fuzzy feeling for me. Not badmouthing, but wondering aloud here, would the common user find this as easy as you guys do?

 

My main concern is that I am telling friends about this and I am not even sure how to get the maps myself. Seems this new tool makes it easier, but easier for a techy person...or for a common user?

 

Maybe I'll get with a friend soon and see how easy it is??

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You can switch between maps. What he is saying is you cannot switch between different RASTER maps that cover the same location.

 

As to ease of use, I sent the Garmin instruction page link to the guy in the next office for his bathymetric map and he had the KMZ done in 5 minutes. He knows nothing of GPS units or mapping.

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You can switch between maps. What he is saying is you cannot switch between different RASTER maps that cover the same location.

 

As to ease of use, I sent the Garmin instruction page link to the guy in the next office for his bathymetric map and he had the KMZ done in 5 minutes. He knows nothing of GPS units or mapping.

 

My experience was that you could, but it was a PITA switching between maps. Having to turn one off to use the other is my memory of it. It would be great if they had a layering system like the PNs do, ut that's a whole new topic altogether. :o

 

And come on, saying he "knows nothing" seems misleading to me. If he knew nothing, he likely wouldn't need 1) a GPS to begin with and 2) maps for said GPS? I'd buy he's similar to me and not techy....

Edited by Rockin Roddy
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My experience was that you could, but it was a PITA switching between maps. Having to turn one off to use the other is my memory of it. It would be great if they had a layering system like the PNs do, ut that's a whole new topic altogether. :o

 

And come on, saying he "knows nothing" seems misleading to me. If he knew nothing, he likely wouldn't need 1) a GPS to begin with and 2) maps for said GPS? I'd buy he's similar to me and not techy....

 

It is a few keystrokes on an Oregon, so most switch profiles instead, which is a few presses. On a Colorado, you can change at the map screen quickly. The maps do have a layering system..... Most map makers just don't make full use of it.

 

He does not own a GPS yet. He has been waiting as the map he needs was not available and there was not a point in having one without the map. All that he is concerned with is having one for sailing so that he can avoid the shallow areas.....

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... Having to turn one off to use the other is my memory of it. ...

The Oregons have profiles so you can set up different profiles with different maps and simply switch profiles. Hardly a PITA.

 

I still don't understand why you keep putting your $0.02 in when you don't even own the unit thats being discussed here.

 

JetSkier

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