TOPO USA 3.0

[Guest Trackmaster]

Has anyone download From TOPO USA 3.0 software. How do you get a trail that you want loaded to the Vista? I was under the impression that you could take a trail that is on the TOPO and move it to the Vista. Has anyone had sucess doing this?

 

Trackmaster

[Guest infosponge]

I like this program, but I can't even get it to talk to my GPS (Meridian Basic). I downloaded the latest GPS update from Delorme too. Waiting to hear back from their tech support right now.

[Guest Ranz]

InfoSponge;

 

I had similar problems with the Meridian Gold. Got it all worked out (with BunkerDave's help) and everything is working great now. Contact me if you think I can help.

 

When transferring to the GPS, you mark the trail and then make it a route. It will then transfer to the GPS with no problem. I got it all to work great on the Meridian so I assume it will work fine with a Garmin unit, because they have native support.

 

[Guest bunkerdave]

nd I have been working through this, and have been getting some success. If you e-mail me directly, I will help you all I can. I have been using this for awhile, although I am still learning.

 

I don't think you can upload the entire trail, but you can upload a set of waypoints *along* that trail. Most GPS units have limits on how many points a route can contain, and if you violate those parameters, TopoUSA will just give you an error. The trick is figuring out which parameter you violated, since the software doesn't tell you anything other than the fact there was an error. Helpful, eh?

 

bd

[Guest Ranz]

I spoke a little too soon on that native Garmin support. The Etrex line was not 'completely' supported. An enhancement has been released to support this and the Meridians. I needed this same patch myself.

 

Here is the link: http://www.delorme.com/support/topousa/topo3009.asp?D=317&Q=k&K=gps+upload&P=&C=

 

The article explains the enhancement and lists the Vista as one of the units affected. It's a quick download and might solve your problem.

 

[Guest Distorted]

Ranz & Bunkerdave:

 

Since you seem to be having success with my combination, I seek your advice.

 

I am finding it impossible to connect my Meridian Gold with Topo USA

3.0 and establish tracking on the laptop. The laptop, Meridian, and

the Topo USA are set on 4800 baud, and the Meridian is set on NMEA

V1.5ABA. Since making the settings listed, I am at least getting a

heading and a speed reading which seem accurate, but no showing of

satellite lock, coordinates, or tracking. No other combo produced

anything. The GPS window on the Topo shows a flashing red circle with

the notation, "acquiring satellite."

 

Obviously this newbie is doing something wrong or incomplete. Any

suggestions will be appreciated.

[Guest bunkerdave]

I am not familiar with the NMEA setting you described, but the settings I use are:

 

4800 Baud rate

v2.1GSA (NMEA)

 

I don't know what these things mean, but they work for me.

 

In the software menus, there are a few things that need to be done right.

 

(Most, or all, of these things are obvious, but I am just giving you what I've got)

 

COM port settings - Mine is set to COM1

 

Settings window shows - 4800,8,N,1

 

Device Window shows - Magellan (w/wpt)

 

Like I said, I am sure this is stuff you have done, but if this helps, great. Sometimes its the little things. I fooled around for a long time before I figured out the NMEA thing.

 

BTW - I am sitting in my den, and it is tracking through the window. Not very interesting, but I can tell where I am.

 

I need some help. My CD-rom will no longer do 3D maps. I don't know what is wrong. I loaded all the data on my hard drive on my desktop PC, so that still works, but when I try to use the disk to do a 3D map, it freezes. I tried burning a copy of it (worked with Mapsend) but it won't do it. Does someone out there have a CD burner that you could make me a copy of the data disk? I would be glad to pay you for it, of course.

[Guest Ranz]

Distorted,

 

BunkerDave's got it right. The 2.1GSA transmits the satellite info etc. It you are getting a trackpoint with the current settings then changing the NMEA setting should do the trick for you. Let me know if you have any more problems and I'll try to get more specific.

 

BunkerDave,

 

I'll be happy to burn you a disk. I assume that you want "Mountain States" but there are seven disks in this set so drop me a note to confirm it. In regards to your problem, have you checked the paths in your map data manager? I had a similar issue when I changed those settings.

 

Drop me an email to set the details on the disk you want and we'll see if we can't get it back on track ;-)

 

[Guest Huaso]

One of the things I noticed is that the Meridian doesn't appear to communicate with the PC if it can't achieve sat-lock. I have observed this with both TopoUSA and USAPhotoMaps.

 

When I get sat-lock, each program can talk to the Meridian and transfer data. If not, nothing seems to work. Has anyone else noticed this?

[Guest bunkerdave]

Ranz -

 

I seem to have lost your e-mail address. can you contact me?

 

dwallent34@yahoo.com

 

------------------

BunkerDave

N 40° 7.081, W 111° 38.851

[Guest infosponge]

Yes, I've seen the same thing with my Meridian and my MAP 410. Any software that uses NMEA mode seems to act this way. One workaround I found was to put the unit into demo or simulate mode (it's in the setup menu towards/at the end of the list, I think)

This generates a fake set of NMEA data, which is enough to test the inte

rface, etc.

 

I still haven't had any luck getting Topo USA 3.0 to talk to the Meridian, but I haven't really been trying that hard. I use that program mainly for printing maps and less for working with the GPS, now that I've gotten addicted to ExpertGPS.

 

quote:

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Originally posted by Huaso:

One of the things I noticed is that the Meridian doesn't appear to communicate with the PC if it can't achieve sat-lock. I have observed this with both TopoUSA and USAPhotoMaps.

---

[Guest infosponge]

Yes, I've seen the same thing with my Meridian and my MAP 410. Any software that uses NMEA mode seems to act this way. One workaround I found was to put the unit into demo or simulate mode (it's in the setup menu towards/at the end of the list, I think)

This generates a fake set of NMEA data, which is enough to test the inte

rface, etc.

 

I still haven't had any luck getting Topo USA 3.0 to talk to the Meridian, but I haven't really been trying that hard. I use that program mainly for printing maps and less for working with the GPS, now that I've gotten addicted to ExpertGPS.

 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Huaso:

One of the things I noticed is that the Meridian doesn't appear to communicate with the PC if it can't achieve sat-lock. I have observed this with both TopoUSA and USAPhotoMaps.

---