Who is most knowledgeable about the equipment I'm after. I run the risk of insulting a less knowledgeable person, but with all due respect, that's his problem.
In this day and age I don't know many who would shy away from free stuff. If you are the owner (proud or not) of a Garmin Nuvi GPS the tips and links below will help download and install topographical or city map updates onto your GPS. First and foremost you have to determine if your computer has Garmin's Mapsource program. If you already do, then you're able to skip a few steps. If you don't you'll need to progress to the next step. If you are unsure whether you do or do not follow this pathway.Start Menu-All Programs-Look for a Garmin folder which should have the Mapsource icon.
If you do not have either, then you will need to move to the next step. Step 1- You'll need to download Garmin's Training Center software. Cut and paste the following link: You will need to down Garmin's Training Center software in order to download the Mapsource update which will allow you upload topo maps to your Garmin GPS.Step 2- Cut and paste this link to get the Mapsource update: (In the event you need or want additional information on how to get a free copy of Garmin's Mapsource program you can cut and paste this link.
Now that you have installed Mapsource you are ready to start downloading maps to your computer and upload them to your Garmin GPS. As I eventually learned to do this is not overly difficult but If you have questions, here's some additional reading. To read more on downloading maps to your computer and uploading to your GPS cut and paste this link: -Step 3- Once you are ready to begin downloading maps just cut and paste the following link and select the state you wish to download. This also works for updating existing city maps. Depending on the state you may have multiple options with which to choose.
Choose the link for the map and click the download windows link. Doing so should trigger a pop up window asking if you want to run, save or cancel. I would recommend run and let it install.Step 4-Once you have downloaded the map(s) you want open up the Garmin Mapsource program and in the upper left corner there should be a drop down box which will show the which maps you have on your computer. At this point, select which map from the drop down and it will display in the map area in the main part of the screen. Using your mouse, press the left button and drag it over the area of the map you want to highlight (there is a highlight button you need to push first). It should light up the grid a yellow color and the box on the left side of the screen will start populating with the various files which comprise the map area you selected. My recommendation would be to do this for all of map area you wish to upload to your GPS.
Once you have all the map files set that you want to send to your GPS click the button at the top to 'Send to Device' and the process will begin to start uploading your newly acquired maps to your GPS. Below are a few points I learned along the way that I will share:. I learned that you cannot update or individual topo map files as the new one will over write the previous file. Another point I will make is that your GPS is somewhat limited in the amount of onboard memory it does have. I was able to upload 24k topo maps for TX and city map update and have a small amount of memory left.
If you're decide to go hog wild and download numerous states or areas I would recommend getting an SD card with a few gigabytes of storage on it. It's been a few days since I got everything situated on my Nuvi350 and so far so good.
I've noticed a subtle difference on GPS with additional detail which was not there previously for bodies of water, elevation and so on. If you decide to take advantage of this, good luck and I hope you enjoy.
I drove 'off' the road today getting to my logging area in the state forest. No problem I thought to myself, I'll just grab an SD card for my garmin Nuvi 2797, find that thread on tacoworld and go to town. Well sort of. The Alaska topo from gpsfiledepot is a collection of.IMG files. When I browse to them inside map source and try to open one it comes up with an error that.IMG is not a valid file type. When I browse to the same files from my start button Winders wants to burn them to a CDROM, but I threw in a blank CDR and 'the selected disc image file isn't valid'. I feel like a new dad who doesn't know how to change a diaper.
Tech support invited. My experience with gpsfiledepot maps is that they have a setup file included. This will load it to Basecamp (modern version of Mapsource).
Attach your device to the computer and then from Basecamp you tell it to copy the map to the device. Now I don't know if this works for a Nuvi attached to Basecamp.
It for sure works on my Montana 650t. I have a 3790LMT which is licensed for an update every quarter. If I plug in the 3790 to the computer and use the Garmin Express program to download to the computer only, the City Navigator file is unlocked and can be used in Basecamp without the device attached. I have done this on 3 computers. My question is how do I chose a map on the Nuvi if I load a gpsfiledepot or my garmin 24K topo to the device? Do I have to have either one or the other loaded?
On my Montana 650t I have like 20 maps installed and can enable/disable which ones I want. One other trick. On my Montana 650t it comes hard coded with a 100K topo map of north america. I found the files on the device and copied them to a dedicated 4GB USB drive.
Basecamp now thinks the USB is my Montana 650t and allows me to use the 100K topo without the GPSr plugged in. (Long post, sorry).