[Az-Geocaching] Problems with Mapsource datafile: downloaded topo maps don't appear

[Brian Casteel]

Ken,

I also have the Vista and know exactly what you're referring to.  I don't believe that you can keep your 'basemap' topo of your area while downloading additional mapsets for travel.  Whenever I head to an area I don't have on my existing basemap config, I add those tiles to the mapset and download it.  With the amount of memory in the Vista, you can download approx. 85-90% of Arizona and leave that in for state travels.  The only areas I didn't show enough memory for was the SW corner of the state (El Camino del Diablo area), and extreme SE Arizona where caches are scarce to begin with.  

If you're traveling to another state, you'll need to download that state info when you leave for the trip.  Depending on where you're going, you could possibly select tiles along the major highways you're traveling to keep some mapping capability while driving, and use those tiles to link to the major area in which you'll be traveling to.   When you look on the 'i' screen, it's going to show every map tile as a different name to differentiate what is what if you want to select which to/not to display.  About the only work-around is if you had a laptop that you could download new mapsets on the fly when you needed to.  

Since this is time consuming, as it takes quite awhile at 115200bps to download anything more than waypoints (which only download at 9600bps for some reason), there are USB adapters available and the latest MapSource updates support the USB feature (presumably in anticipation of the new 60C/60CS GPS units that were recently put on the market), or maybe even to support the USB download ability.

About the only way to have the ability to do what you are wanting to do is to have a Magellan unit and multiple memory cards for different regions.  

Brian
Team A.I.

  
> 
> From: Ken Akerman <ken@highpointer.com>
> Date: 2004/01/25 Sun PM 11:54:19 EST
> To: listserv@azgeocaching.com
> Subject: RE: [Az-Geocaching] Problems with Mapsource datafile:  downloaded topo maps don't appear
> 
> Steve,
> 
> Thank you for the tip.  I looked in my list and saw only three maps downloaded into the GPS, none
> of which was in an area I visited within the past two days.  I then redownloaded the topo map for
> MESA, AZ (WEST), because this covers the area I live in.  After I did this, I saw the topographic
> contour lines and street detail for my home area, but when I checked the list of maps in the GPS,
> the other three maps were erased and only the MESA, AZ (WEST) map appeared in the list.
> 
> I then downloaded another map, PHOENIX SOUTH, AZ (EAST).  The downloading of this map erased MESA,
> AZ (WEST). Therefore, it appears that when I download one additonal map into the GPS, it erases
> all of the other maps in the GPS.
> 
> I would like to keep the maps for the Phoenix metropolitan area permanently in my GPS, and
> download other maps as I need them, for example for other parts of the state or other regions in
> the USA when I travel.  When I don't need a certain map in my GPS, I would like to remove it to
> save space, but I would always like to keep the maps for my home area in my GPS at all times. 
> Therefore, how can I download a new map into my GPS without erasing the other maps in the GPS?
> 
> Ken (a.k.a. Highpointer)
> 
> --- Team Tierra Buena <teamtierrabuena@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > > I have downloaded topographic maps into my Garmin eTrex Vista GPS using
> > > Garmin MapSource, but the topographic maps are not appearing in my GPS
> > > display.  Does anyone know what I can do to make the map data appear on my
> > > GPS display when I have my GPS turned on?
> > Ken,
> > Try this, but no guarantees:
> > Go into Map view. From the menu there, choose, "Setup Map". On the "Map
> > Setup" screen, click on the information icon (the letter "i"). That
> > should bring up what looks like a single map description, but once you
> > move your joystick down onto the map name you will see you can scroll
> > through that list by moving your joystick up or down. Make sure the
> > "show" checkbox is checked (you can check it with your joystick if it
> > isn't) for each map you want displayed. Hope that helps.
> > Steve
> > Team Tierra Buena 
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