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Oregon/Colorado Night Mode


yogazoo

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New mapset that provides Night Mode (glare free navigation at night) to users of the Oregon/Colorado series that run City Navigator maps. Only works in conjunction with City Navigator maps because the draw priority was set at "30" and map detail levels coincide with City Nav maps. Simply enable this mapset along with CityNavigator maps when the sun goes down.

 

All of the continental US and Southern 2/3rds of Canada are included.

 

Night Mode

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New mapset that provides Night Mode (glare free navigation at night) to users of the Oregon/Colorado series that run City Navigator maps. Only works in conjunction with City Navigator maps because the draw priority was set at "30" and map detail levels coincide with City Nav maps. Simply enable this mapset along with CityNavigator maps when the sun goes down.

 

All of the continental US and Southern 2/3rds of Canada are included.

 

Night Mode

Unless I'm doing something wrong, I won't be able to use this mapset with my Oregon 550T. It appears to prevent me from using the TOPO U.S. 24K maps I also have on the unit.

 

I downloaded the mapset, then loaded it into the Garmin directory on my Oregon 550T. With City Navigator NA 2011.30 and the new mapset active, the background showed up as black. Very cool!

 

Then I disabled the City Navigator maps and enabled the TOPO U.S. 24K maps. When I went to the map screen, only the black background, plus waypoints, were visible. That didn't surprise me.

 

I disabled the new Night Mode mapset, then checked the map screen again, expecting the TOPO maps to show up now. I still couldn't see anything but waypoints on a black background. The only way I could get the TOPO maps back was to delete the Night Mode mapset from the unit.

 

Based on this experiment, it appears that the Night Mode mapset is incompatible with TOPO U.S. 24K maps, even when disabled. Oh, well!

 

--Larry

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Topo US 24K Northeast works fine on my Oregon 550. City Navigator North America 2011.30 (disabled), Topo US 24K Northeast (enabled) and Oregon/Colorado Night Mode (disabled).

Go figure...

 

Since the combination seems to work for Cacheoholic, I decided to try again. I copied the Night Mode mapset back to the unit, then repeated the steps in my original post. I disabled the City Navigator maps and the Night Mode mapset, leaving the TOPO U.S. 24K maps enabled. This time, the TOPO maps look fine, and the combination works out nicely.

 

I have no idea why the two attempts gave me different results, but I'm now a happy camper. I can use the City Navigator maps with and without the Night Mode mapset, and I can still use the TOPO U.S. 24K maps as long as I remember to disable the Night Mode mapset. Very, very cool!

 

--Larry

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Larry,

 

Sometimes when you are done enabling/disabling maps and you go back to the map screen you have to either zoom-in or zoom-out to refresh the screen. The units frequently retain an artifact of the last screen image before changing maps and it gets stuck. Unless you "jar" the image free by zooming in or out. I'd bet that's what happened.

 

Depending on intrest I can easily make the same type of night mode for the various topo maps as well. I can use the same image simply rendered at appropriate draw priorities and detail levels. I started with the car navigation maps because car navigation at night with such a huge glare and night-vision killer of the white background can be a small hazard.

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Sometimes when you are done enabling/disabling maps and you go back to the map screen you have to either zoom-in or zoom-out to refresh the screen. The units frequently retain an artifact of the last screen image before changing maps and it gets stuck. Unless you "jar" the image free by zooming in or out. I'd bet that's what happened.

I'd bet you're absolutely right. I've noticed that phenomenon myself, but forgot about it when I checked out the Night Mode mapset the first time. It's quite likely I just went to the map screen, saw that the black background was still there, and assumed the worst.

 

Depending on intrest I can easily make the same type of night mode for the various topo maps as well. I can use the same image simply rendered at appropriate draw priorities and detail levels. I started with the car navigation maps because car navigation at night with such a huge glare and night-vision killer of the white background can be a small hazard.

I'll probably use the new Night Mode while driving 95% of the time, so I agree that the version you've already made available will be of the most interest to cachers. On the other hand, if you find the time to create versions that work with Topo maps, those could come in very handy as well.

 

--Larry

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I can't develop night modes for all the custom maps out there since a cover-all solution wouldn't work due to the varying detail levels of the various custom maps.

 

I'll work on night modes for both the Garmin 100k US Topo and the Garmin 24K Topo series. I'll make the Topo night mode a darker gray so you will still be able to view the terrain shading but have the added benefit of reduced glare. I've noticed that the automatic night mode in my 62s is kinda stinky, i.e. the color schemes aren't well thought out IMHO. I'll probably use the gray night mode on the 62 as well. It's easy to create a "Night Mode" profile so you can color the menu schemes as well.

Edited by yogazoo
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I can't develop night modes for all the custom maps out there since a cover-all solution wouldn't work due to the varying detail levels of the various custom maps.

 

I'll work on night modes for both the Garmin 100k US Topo and the Garmin 24K Topo series. I'll make the Topo night mode a darker gray so you will still be able to view the terrain shading but have the added benefit of reduced glare.

Sounds great; thanks!

 

--Larry

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I've downloaded the file but have yet to install it. I'm perplexed about this great feature as it did not come from Garmin. I don't imagine it was that difficult to do,so that leaves me wondering why Garmin chose not to offer it earlier? It's not like Garmin doesn't have the resources or ability,surely the effort would not have cost that much.

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I've downloaded the file but have yet to install it. I'm perplexed about this great feature as it did not come from Garmin. I don't imagine it was that difficult to do,so that leaves me wondering why Garmin chose not to offer it earlier? It's not like Garmin doesn't have the resources or ability,surely the effort would not have cost that much.

 

To give you a reason to want a Nuvi. Thankfully you can eBay one of those for like $30 these days so that's what I did :)

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It should be obvious as to how this needs be installed on a Garmin Colorado,but it seems I must not be as smart as I think. Okay,I've installed it from the .exe file onto my computer. What file or files should I be placing into the Garmin folder on the GPS? I see a number of .img files in the CityNav Oregon Night Mode folder...?

Edited by flyjazz
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flyjazz,

 

You got caught in the interim. I removed the .exe file from the GPSfiledepot.com servers and replaced it with a straight .img file to put in your "garmin" folder. There was really no need for me to post the installer into mapsource and that was brought to my attention by Jim from Iowa (Thanks Jim). Go back to GPSfiledepot and download the .img file and you should be able to throw it straight in your unit.

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flyjazz,

 

You got caught in the interim. I removed the .exe file from the GPSfiledepot.com servers and replaced it with a straight .img file to put in your "garmin" folder. There was really no need for me to post the installer into mapsource and that was brought to my attention by Jim from Iowa (Thanks Jim). Go back to GPSfiledepot and download the .img file and you should be able to throw it straight in your unit.

 

Thanks for replying. Works like a charm!

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Well, after trying to generate a Night Mode layer for the various Garmin Topo's (Topo2008 and Topo24K) I discovered that it simply will not work. There is an inexplicable relationship between the Terrain Shading and the tan base layer that will not allow for an insertion. City Navigator, lacking the terrain shading does not have this relationship allowing for a layer to be inserted bewteen the base white and the data above. Custom Topo's also do not have this relationship.

 

Oregon night modes can be created very easily for the custom made topo's. Below are a few screenshots of the dark gray night mode I created for my custom topo's in Montana. It's way better(IMHO) than Garmin's iteration of a jet black background on the 62 series because you can still see the terrain shading. Anyway, If anyone wants instructions on how to make the dark gray night mode with whatever custom topo's their using just PM me and I'll forward instructions, It's easy and only takes a few minutes to make.

 

1294243432.jpg1294243537.jpg1294243479.jpg

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