best way to put geocaches on my new garmin montana 650

[+jocko126]

Hi all.

I just purchased a garmin 650. It seems to be a great unit, but i'm still learning the ropes. I have calibrated the screen and the compass and I figured out how to load pocket queries. I don't have any maps yet. I was thinking about getting a sub to birdseye and i wanted some kind of street navagation maps but really dont know what maps I need to buy. I live in town, so I do in town catching as well as out in country catching. I also go hunting and fishing. I would love to find maps of all of usa. Back on point. lol. i read somewhere that i can only load 12000 caches to my montana. I live in Ohio and there are a lot more than 12k catches here.I would like input on the best way to maximize the whole state to make pocket queries so i have a bunch of catches all around me. Also if anyone has any ideas on the type of maps I need that would be great. This is my first gps unit. I always did my caching from my phone up till now. Thanks for any help I get and any tips would be great.

 

thanks again

jocko126

[+Atlas Cached]

To clarify, when you said Garmin 650, you meant Montana 650?

[+JohnCNA]

Three recommendations:

 

Download and install Garmin's Basecamp from the support area of Garmin's web site. You'll need this to install maps from the next steps to your Montana.

 

Visit OpenStreetMaps and download an Open Street Map for your state or regional area. These are routable street maps and when set to the Automobile navigation mode, will provide turn by turn directions.

 

Then visit GPS File Depot to download topographical maps for your state and surrounding states.

 

Once downloaded, use Basecamp to install the maps to your Montana. You'll be able to switch from street maps to topo maps in the field, depending on your needs and where you are geocaching at the time.

[+jocko126]

thanks for the fast replys.

Atlas Cached- yes it's a montana 650

 

JohnCNA- I already downloaded basecamp. I knew about openstreetmaps and gpsfiledepot. It seemed a little confusing to me. is it easy to set up. I know it would be cheaper but would it be more easy to just buy maps from garmin.

 

Also is it true i can only store 12000 caches on my montana. I figured I would be able to download a crapload of caches. I thought some gps units came preloaded with over 250000 caches. I guess i will get used to it the more i use my unit. It's just a different way than using my phone. I would like to get the best maps and other tools to make it as close to my phone as possible. That would make the transision a bit more easy for me and my family.

 

Thanks again for help

 

jocko126

[+NanCycle]

 

i read somewhere that i can only load 12000 caches to my montana.

 

 

This made me LAUGH. OUT. LOUD!! ONLY 12000 caches? I remember when I got my Montana and read that I could load 12000 caches instead of the only 200 that I could on my old GPSr.

 

How about just the 12000 closest to home? Next week, after you've found them all, you could again load the next closest 12000. And so on; pretty soon you'd have covered the whole state.

[+Atlas Cached]

 

Also is it true i can only store 12000 caches on my montana.

 

jocko126

 

Yes.

 

The newer Montana 610/680 have unlimited geocache capacity.

 

Please check the Montana wiki and most, if not all of your questions will be answered.

[+jocko126]

Thanks again for all the great help. I read up a little about installing the maps.I went to gpsfiledepot and was able to get some ice topo maps. they installed in no time. so I the decided to go to openstreetmaps and try my luck. Well thats when my luck changed. Is there a trick to it? do I need a special program to open up the file? Do i need bur files to disk before i can load maps. I tried downloading several different maps from there and each one is a disk image file. I am usually pretty good at catching on to new things but this one has me stumped. I downloaded map set tool kit, and i also downloaded my trails with no luck yet. If someone can help me out or point me in the right direction that would be great.

 

Thanks again

 

jocko126

[+Atlas Cached]

Thanks again for all the great help. I read up a little about installing the maps.I went to gpsfiledepot and was able to get some ice topo maps. they installed in no time. so I the decided to go to openstreetmaps and try my luck. Well thats when my luck changed. Is there a trick to it? do I need a special program to open up the file? Do i need bur files to disk before i can load maps. I tried downloading several different maps from there and each one is a disk image file. I am usually pretty good at catching on to new things but this one has me stumped. I downloaded map set tool kit, and i also downloaded my trails with no luck yet. If someone can help me out or point me in the right direction that would be great.

 

Thanks again

 

jocko126

 

If you are downloading *.img files:

 

*.img is not a disc image file, it is a Garmin Vector Map file, as stated here.

 

*.img files can be copied directly to the \Garmin\ directory on your GPSr or uSD card, as stated here.

 

If you are downloading *.exe files:

 

*.exe files are executable map installers that will install the map files to your PC hard drive and make them available while using Garmin BaseCamp software.

 

These maps may (or may not - depending on restrictions put in place by the map author) be transferred to your Garmin GPSr using MapInstall, as demonstrated here.

[+Mineral2]

12,000 caches is a lot. Here's how I manage my caches, even on a device without cache limits.

 

At all times, I keep caches within a 50 mile radius of my home location. Where I live, that distills down to two pocket queries - I happen to live in a rural area and along a state line, so I can separate the queries by state. However, if you live in a cache-dense metro area, 50 miles could easily get you up to 10,000 listings. You can either reduce that radius, or separate your queries by attributes - type, size, etc.

 

I figure that within 50 miles of home, you're likely to make spur of the moment drives for caching, and beyond 50 miles, you're likely to make planned trips. When you plan to travel outside your home range, you make PQs for the area(s) you are headed and then remove them when you return home.

[+jocko126]

thanks guys for new info. it really helped alot. I will figure this all out sooner or later. It's just a little different than using a smart phone.

 

Thanks again

 

jocko126