GPS Maps

[Rheghead]

Has anyone downloaded more detailed maps onto their gps/nav sat unit? I have just been given a Garmin eTrex Vista C. It tells me that I need to buy a CD-Rom ~£100 for a world map. The base map on the unit is not all that good, I thought I was able to download Ordnance Survey maps but alas no :( .

A free website where I could download a good map would be ideal but I have searched and failed to find anything.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

cheers in advance

[Jalon]

Hi Rheghead, I've been thinking about buying a SatNav myself and found this site worthwhile. There's a good forum which may help you find what you're after.
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/

Hope this helps :)

[Rheghead]

Thanks for that! :)

btw, I always thought that all those people that I see walking along the road (not looking where they are going) but looking down into a mobile phone were texting to their buddies. I now realise that some of them may just be finding their way about with a gps...

looks can be deceiving.

[daviddd]

try this for good GPS info too....

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/forum-31.html&sid=a54f2c71cb045c2ef2f86f5a8571afe4

[Naefearjustbeer]

The only way to get OS standard maps with gps is to use a PDA with integrated gps or bluetooth gps or a separate wired gps such as this http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/mio-map-168-uk-pocket-pc-including-car-kit-updated-version1-description.html running a program called Memory Map. Quite an expensive option. I have memory map and it is an excellent program worth every penny. www.memory-map.co.uk

The only maps you can send to a garmin gps are the ones you buy from garmin again expensive, or these free topo maps created by someone in the Scottish Mountaineering Club here http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mcmichael/contourmanual/ but you have to have a garmin mapsource product in the first place to use them.
You might be able to pick up a copy of a garmin mapsource product quite cheaply from ebay. These maps are only of use for on road navigation and if you want autorouting function you will have to buy a new genuine copy of city select europe this is becuse the map and the gps have a serial number and your maps are locked to a particular unit. Sorry no cheap or free options!

A few good links to study on top of the others mentioned
www.garmin.com/cartography/mapSource/cityselectEuro.jsp
www.expansys.com
www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk

and for something to do with your gps have a look at

www.geocaching.com
www.geograph.co.uk
www.trigpointinguk.com
www.gpsdrawing.com

[Naefearjustbeer]

If you want to use your gps for hill walking you will still need good old fashioned map and compass as they dont rely on batteries. The gps is good for retracing steps and finding locations when visibility is poor, But remember not to blindly walk following the arrow as you could end up off of a cliff. GPS accuracy can be about +/- 10m and on top of a ridge in the fog 10 m is a long way.

[marion]

Enjoyed reading these posts on GPS systems. In the late 1970s - early 1980s while a civilian engineer, I worked on various GPS programs for the military. It was an interesting program. While it was in its infancy I could see the future success it would have for the military as well as for the commercial world. I am now seeing it in 2005. Although I am not a possessor of such a system, perhaps somewhere in my old age I will purchase one.

[jimbews]

If you want to use your gps for hill walking you will still need good old fashioned map and compass as they dont rely on batteries. The gps is good for retracing steps and finding locations when visibility is poor, But remember not to blindly walk following the arrow as you could end up off of a cliff. GPS accuracy can be about +/- 10m and on top of a ridge in the fog 10 m is a long way.

I'll second that!
GPS can be affected by poor signals (depending on how it is carried) and reflections of signals off hillsides, etc.
They are accurate to even better than 10 meters if they get the (WAAS) correction signals.
As an example - one walk we did over the Capel Mounth showed us (using Fugawi Ordnance Survey map software) as being half way across Loch Muick.
Similar problems on a recent walk at Ben Lawers.
On a walk in the Arrochar Alps it switched itself off and lost the track of where we had been!
Take Care.

Jim Bews

[Naefearjustbeer]

I have to laugh at the map software you are using because of the name. On top of a foggy hill You could say "Where the fugawi" :D . All joking aside memory map is a very similar program but I have heard fugawi is not so user friendly as the memory map product. Have you ever recieved the WAAS signals? I have yet to see it.

[jimbews]

I have to laugh at the map software you are using because of the name. On top of a foggy hill You could say "Where the fugawi" :D . All joking aside memory map is a very similar program but I have heard fugawi is not so user friendly as the memory map product. Have you ever recieved the WAAS signals? I have yet to see it.
I looked at both products a couple of years ago when I bought it.
At the time Fugawi was a better deal for the coverage I wanted, but I can't compare as I've just got used to it and its limitations.
I'm not sure how much of the limitations are the software and how much the GPS. For example, if you plot a route in advance: only the waypoints will transfer from computer to GPS if there are more than 30 (i.e. it's a set of points, rather than a genuine route).
My GPS is a Magellan Meridian (now obsolete) which usually shows WAAS.
Being older it has the disadvantage of having only a serial (RS232) computer connection - and these are becoming less common on laptops.

[Naefearjustbeer]

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=40608

this will solve any problems with lack of connections on modern laptops, I have 2 gps units and the older Etrex had the same problem, My new unit uses usb to connect and serial connection