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Free Garmin Compatible Uk Topo Maps


Remote Part

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Passing on info that I heard about in another group (uk.rec.walking).

 

These are based on free data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, and converted into Garmin MapSource format.

Includes contour maps for the whole of the UK and Ireland, plus coastline data and trigpoints, summits and a few place names.

 

Note that the SRTM data isn't as accurate as OS maps, and there maybe errors in places.

 

Download them from the Scottish Mountaineering Club website:

http://www.smc.org.uk/books/books_contour_maps.htm

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Hey they really work too....

 

Thanks for the link, little rough around the edges, but the main features are there.

 

Seeing as Garmin haven`t made anything like this, it`s a really good resource. Been looking for something like this for ages from the Garmin, but I suppose you snooze you lose.

 

Thanks to the chap who done all the hard work. Another string to the bow while out in the field.

 

Pengy

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Hey they really work too....

They certainly do!

 

Last year, I did the same sort of thing with SRTF data - for an event cache - but that was only an area of 5x5Km. I was daunted by the amount of work which would be needed to 'contour' the whole of the British Isles.

 

So, hats off to Mr David Storey and bless his little cotton socks: not only has he done this staggering task, but he's ALSO managed to produce the result in Garmin format. (A fair bit of fiddling with Mapsource is required to get the street and contour mapping to co-exist, but that's not his fault.)

 

What does it look like? Here's an iQue 3600 screenshot....

 

7eda7b9a-7adc-4a09-beb9-f167bf8018c5.jpg

 

For the whole British Isles, the files include trigpoints, summits, and other sundries.

 

I am awestruck. :ph34r:

 

(Edited for broken IMG link)

Edited by wildlifewriter
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Ok then so how do you get the basemap back after sending another map to the gps or have I bu**ered it up entirely?

I used 'sendmap' to upload a map and have now lost all roads on my etrex vista, I guess I have to get a mapsource cd to fix it.

Assuming this is related to the OP, you may not have selected the data correctly. Things to know...

 

* It is not possible to delete the basemap on an eTrex Vista.

* Wildlifewriter would not touch 'Sendmap" with a barge-pole.

 

You can cause the basemap to display by:

 

1) Go to the map page, and bring up its menu.

2) Choose "Setup Map"

3) Click on the button.

4) See the name of the map you loaded. There will be a tick beside it.

5) Highlight the name and click the clicky-stick, to deselect it.

 

Your basemap is now visible.

 

Additional tasks:

 

1) Get a proper copy of Mapsource.

 

Hth,

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OK! I have just spent around half an hour trying to work these all out, but need some advice from the techies. I have downloaded N55 N56 N57 and the Essentials OK and unzipped them. None of the files is a .reg file which the download page says you need. Do I have to open these files in Mapsource first and then send them to the GPS? Have tried this but it didnt work. Apologies if I have missed something obvious.

 

PS How can I check whether the extrex has enough memory for these maps?

Edited by Firth of Forth
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I have downloaded N55 N56 N57 and the Essentials OK and unzipped them. None of the files is a .reg file which the download page says you need. Do I have to open these files in Mapsource first and then send them to the GPS? Have tried this but it didnt work. Apologies if I have missed something obvious.

 

PS How can I check whether the extrex has enough memory for these maps?

The *.reg file is in the essentials.zip

 

You open them up in Mapsource, hi-light the ones you want to send over to the unit, it says at the bottom of the map list window how much the selected maps need in the unit. Vista has 24mb so anything over that will just not be load usually with a memory full message, so you`d just select less.

 

Hopefully..... <_<

 

Pengy

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Guess I'm going to have to be walked through this very slowly! Thanks for the tips P&T - I have now located the disguised .reg file whish doesnt show the .reg when you look at the list of files from essentials. However, clicking on it or any of the files produces a check box asking to choose between 3 options about how the waypoints were created. Trying any of these produces no apparent result. What am I doing wrong?

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Guess I'm going to have to be walked through this very slowly! Thanks for the tips P&T - I have now located the disguised .reg file whish doesnt show the .reg when you look at the list of files from essentials. However, clicking on it or any of the files produces a check box asking to choose between 3 options about how the waypoints were created.

FOF: Start again and try this...

 

* Create a folder: c:\Program Files\Garmin\contours

* Unzip ALL the downloaded files into this folder. Make sure not to miss any.

* Switch to the folder.

* Find the file contours.reg

* Right-mouse-click on this file, and select "Merge". Answer YES.

* You should get a message that the file has been entered into the Registry, or something similar.

 

Don't go clicking on anything else. <_<

 

* Open Mapsource.

* In the Mapsource menus, go; "View" > "Switch to Product"

* You should see a product named Contours

 

That's the fella, right there.

 

The trick now , is to select BOTH the road maps AND the contour maps for the area chosen. This takes a bit of fiddling. Make sure the MAP NAME pane is opened down the left of the screen, and watch the bottom of it to see what memory will be committed when maps are loaded to your GPS.

 

Hth,

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My problem is I dont have Garmin on my program file on c drive it is a seperate folder on c and the only thing on c:Program files\Garmin is trailroutes

 

I also discovered to my horror if you click on the reg fileon contours it screwed up the mapsource program and I had to do a system restore!!!!

Bearing in mind I am using City Select only would this be a problem anyhow???

Edited by izzardno1
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To izzardno1:

Open the contours.reg in Notepad (right click on it and select "Edit")

It should have 3 directories listed, just change these to match the folder you unzipped the maps to (leaving the contours.img / contours.tdb bit on, and make sure it has "\\" between folders), then save the changes.

Then right click on the file and "Merge"

 

It should work fine with City Select, you just have to use "View" -> "Switch to Product" to change between them.

Edited by Remote Part
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<_<:o:lol::D Oh Yes !!

It beats buying a magellan now and makes the 60cs look better than ever!!

 

Another tip is to transfer the mapsource maps and the contour lines is to highlight the contour sections first then the city select or metroguide next not the other way around as you loose the mapsource map and keep the contour one.

 

But thanks for the edit of the registation - that was spot on.

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Another tip is to transfer the mapsource maps and the contour lines is to highlight the contour sections first then the city select or  metroguide next not the other way around as you loose the mapsource map and keep the contour one.

In fact, it should be possible to select maps from the sets in any order - and to switch back and forth between them.

 

If not, check that you are on the latest version of Mapsource, V6.5

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Some observations on the foregoing...

  • Using the data sets and getting them into your GPSr is a "techie" job. If you aren't comfortable with file handling, registry editing and similar tasks on your PC - leave it alone.
  • If your GPSr is used primarily for in-car navigation, be aware that the extra contour info will clutter the screen display, making it more difficult to read at a glance.
  • If you mess up your GPSr settings, Garmin will probably charge you money to fix it.

Some discoveries...

 

* A few of the ancillary files are wrongly identified on the SMC website. The following list is correct:

 

13900001.img - GB & IOM trig points

13900002.img - Irish trig points

13900003.img - GB & IOM summits

13900004.img - Irish summits

 

* The 'placenames' file 13900005.img is a bit dodgy, and adds to clutter. If you already have a Mapsource product with place names(such as Metroguide) this file could well be deleted before compiling and installing maps.

 

* Surprisingly, the contour display works quite well on monochrome units, such as the eTrex Legend.

 

* The 'detailed_coast.img' file is quite accurate - in fact, it's a lot more accurate than Garmin's own effort.

Edited by wildlifewriter
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I also discovered to my horror if you click on the reg fileon contours it screwed up the mapsource program and I had to do a system restore!!!!

You're lucky!! Dabbling with this has screwed up Mapsource completely, removing it from my computer and reinstalling it hasn't worked, and system restore didn't either.

 

AARRGGHH!! Time to forget trying to be a techie.

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What does it look like?  Here's an iQue 3600 screenshot....

I've managed to get the data onto my iQue too Just a local area for testing), but seem to have to zoom in a lot to get any useful detail.... so which things do you have to adjust to change the zoom when you get the detailed contours, and how do you get the text (hight data) to be visible?

 

Another thing (slightly related) When I use the "map Install" on the Palm desktop, I get maps & routing installed fine. If instead I use MapSource, the maps are sent fine, but the detailed routing info isn't. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong / not doing?

 

Paul

Edited by paul.blitz
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which things do you have to adjust to change the zoom when you get the detailed contours, and how do you get the text (hight data) to be visible?

You can adjust the 'detail' slider (in preferences) to control this. The screenshot was taken with all display settings at their defaults.

 

Yes - I have to zoom right in before the contours display at 10m intervals, and that's the way I want it. Otherwise, the screen is impossibly cluttered when zoomed out.

 

Another thing (slightly related) When I use the "map Install" on the Palm desktop, I get maps & routing installed fine. If instead I use MapSource, the maps are sent fine, but the detailed routing info isn't. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong / not doing?

 

For some reason, you have told Mapsource that you don't want the routing information! When selecting maps to transfer, make sure that the option arrowed here, is ticked. RTM.... :angry:

 

af1f6da2-b330-46fc-9c9d-f62a796fc4fa.jpg

 

Hth,

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You can adjust the 'detail' slider (in preferences) to control this. The screenshot was taken with all display settings at their defaults.

 

 

Ok, I can see that... I was rather hoping there was a way to make them a little more visible... like I will sometimes do with the waypoints to get an overview.

 

Thanks for the info on the tick-box... you were spot on!

 

Now, tell me... how do you manage to get screen dumps from an iQue?

 

Paul

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I know this has been dead for a while but I thought I'd add my experience, I'm what people tend to refer to as a 'techie' and I'd agree with wildlifewriter that if you're not sure what you're doing here it's best not to try (given the cost of the products).

 

I unzipped all the files and 'Merged' the .REG file as instructed, I then ran Mapsource only to find the the error message informing me of a problem and telling me to reinstall mapsource. The problem was caused by my having named the directory c:\program files\garmin\contour when it should have been c:\program files\garmin\contours, quite an important distinction. After that, everything was fine. It's vital that you use this exact path if you want to use the .REG file.

 

I uploaded some maps to my GPSr (Vista B&W) and everything was fine, base-map and all. Quite impressive results too.

 

Thanks to wildlifewriter for the instructions.

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Follow the registry editing commands. I had a mapsource crash and did a system restore to get it back. The problem is that the autoinstaller link to your garmin folder is not pointing in the right place.... use regedit and point it in the right place and all works.

 

These maps are just excellent and coexist overlayed on my vista just fine.... just wish we could see them overlayed in mapsource on the PC?!

 

Cheers

 

PEter

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I dowloaded n51 and n52 and unzipped to the file garmin contours, but no reg file. How do I get the reg file?

You need to download the file "essentials.zip", as well.

 

This contains the .reg, and some other bits that you'll need to make the whole thing work - hence the filename... :lol:

 

-Wlw.

Edited by wildlifewriter
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got it now, on the essentials. Looks promising. From what I remember though, I would need to re-download the maps of the uk at the same time as what is in at the moment will be wiped when I put it in. Or can this be added without messing with the mapping already installed using mapsource?

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Yes thought the maps would need to be reloaded. A warning for anyone without mapsource on their computer. However, I do have a registered copy, and hey, this is brilliant. Far better than I thought it would be. It may not be something in place of the ordnance map as footpaths are not shown, pity that as we really would have everything then, but hey, this is great as it gives a good idea of what the land will be like. how steep etc by just looking at where the cache is on the gps.

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I've got an older GPSIII+

How big are the maps and is it worth doing the mods for a GPSIII+ or is there not enough memory on that unit?  What do people think?

The contour "maps" are selectable in tiles, in the same way as other Mapsource-compatible data. The memory committed for each tile varies - it depends on the density of information on each tile.

 

This makes sense if you think about it. For example: the tile for central Wales is 4.08Mb. A tile of the same extent, but covering the Cambridgeshire fens, is only 630Kb.

 

I don't know how much user memory is available on the GPSIII+

 

Hth,

 

Wlw.

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Yes a we're using win98se maybe thats the prob, will try and edit the reg manually.

Did download and unzip again but still same error

Had similar prob with XP. Found the default registry file for the contour maps had the path for Mapsource wrong:

 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\131]

"BMap"="c:\\program files\\Garmin\\contours\\contours.img"

"Loc"="c:\\program files\\Garmin\\contours\\"

"TDB"="c:\\program files\\Garmin\\contours\\contours.tdb"

 

Mapsource actually installed to C:\garmin so I had to edit the registry file. Worked fine then.

Chris

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