Basemap Accuracy (etrex Legend)

[tdolman]

Hi I'm new to all this and have just bought an Etrex Legend which I'm more than happy with, however, I am dissapointed with the accuracy of the built in basemap (roads etc), I have just been away for the weekend and logged the whole journey but found that my position hardly ever appeared on the road that I was actually driving along, It seams to place me consistently approx 100 meters (ish) off the roads, Now I appreciate that most of the time I had the map zoomed in quite far and the "overzoom" warning was displayed, however even zoomed out to 5k so the overzoom warning dissapears the track still does not appear on the actual road that I am driving.

 

I think the unit it is accurately displaying my actual position as I found my first two caches this weekend and the GPS put me right on top of them, Its just the correlation of my position to the built in map that I an concerned about. this begs the following questions:

 

Am I expecting too much from the built in basemap ?

 

Would purchasing a mapsource cd correct this (i.e are the maps more accurate as well as detailed)

 

Is there something wrong with my GPS unit ?

 

Is there anyway of alligning the base map to actual position ?

 

Any help would be greatly apprecated.

 

Thanks

 

Tim

[+pieces_of_8]

The basic base map is not that accurate BUT the map source maps are.... spot on!

 

Mart

[+Snosrap]

I use a Garmin V with mapsource City Select.

 

The basemap on the V isn't really any use for practical purposes. I think of it as a schematic - more London Underground than Ordnance Survey!

 

Mapsource maps are great though - pretty much always spot on.

[+wildlifewriter]

Would purchasing a mapsource cd correct this (i.e are the maps more accurate as well as detailed)

These two screen shots should give you an idea of the difference in detail, between a basemap, and a Mapsource add-on.

 

Centred on Yeovil, zoom at 1 mile. Your GPS display may not match these exactly, as settings can vary.

 

Typical basemap...

 

CitySelect V7....

 

As others have pointed out, the main problem with getting this added level of detail is the outrageous cost.

 

Hth,

[+Couparangus]

Etrex Legend which I'm more than happy with

 

I got my brutha one of these for Xmas and played around with it a little before wrapping it up. Its a good unit alright - and certainly a good "first" GPS!

 

Is there anyway of alligning the base map to actual position ?

 

Not that I'm aware of, but would like to hear of it if there is. :-)

 

however, I am dissapointed with the accuracy of the built in basemap...

Am I expecting too much from the built in basemap ?

 

As noted by others, this is normal. I think they do this on purpose to *encourage* purchasers to upgrade. I was just gonig to mention two things. The Legend has 8MB of map storage available, which is pretty good. But I have the UK Metroguide (V2.01) and some of the map sections, like London, take up the full 8MB of storage. I'm not sure if there is a Roads & Recreation series available for the UK but if there is, this will allow you to put much more on the unit. Another thing to consider is if you know someone locally with Mapsource UK, you could ask them to download the higher detail maps to your unit for the purpose of evaluation. :-) The Mapsource software itself is pretty good and I use it almost every day (for work & play).

 

Cheers!

Coupar-Angus

[+Nellies Knackers]

You should try boating by a basemap! I've had my boat over fields and railway lines and never heard as much as a bump!

Although the roads were fairly good,I think it depends on the area, I found more errors as I went through lincolnshire for some reason,the A1 had a section missing entirely.