I've recently bought a Garmin eTrex, struggling on how to use it at the moment. How and where do you get maps for it from ? do you buy them on SD cards ? i've heard some people mention openstreet maps, but how do you download them on to your unit ? please be gentle as i'm a complete novice at techy stuff.
Maps for a Garmin ?
- Thread starter jimgow
- Start date
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GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
OpenCycleMaps for UK+RoI here on SD card for £15 is the best route for the non-techy.
Plug it in the slot. Turn it on. Start riding.
If you want to load a pre-planned route onto the Garmin to follow on the map, make sure you install the Garmin USB drivers and the Garmin Web browser plugin on your PC (downloadable from the Garmin web site.
If you use a site like bikehike (there are lots of others that do the same things) you can dump routes straight to the Etrex and/or save them on your PC (or elsewhere) for later re-use.
Best newbie guide to GPS I know is here
Best guides on how to set up an Etrex for use on a bike I know is here
Plug it in the slot. Turn it on. Start riding.
If you want to load a pre-planned route onto the Garmin to follow on the map, make sure you install the Garmin USB drivers and the Garmin Web browser plugin on your PC (downloadable from the Garmin web site.
If you use a site like bikehike (there are lots of others that do the same things) you can dump routes straight to the Etrex and/or save them on your PC (or elsewhere) for later re-use.
Best newbie guide to GPS I know is here
Best guides on how to set up an Etrex for use on a bike I know is here
Edwards80
Über Member
- Location
- Stockport, UK
+1 for the opencyclemaps card. I just plugged it into my 800 and that was it. You can get the maps onto the device for free but it requires a little bit of work. It's good to support the project too
The official garmin maps are uploaded via their software, they are pretty expensive though!
MissTillyFlop
Evil communist dictator, lover of gerbils & Pope.
Yes, OS maps are the way to go.l used them when I went France and they were great.
Ok, thanks for all replies, however now that i've got everything i'm finding it difficult to download routes on to it. I've created a route on Bikeroutetoaster of say 50 miles, but when i download it to the Garmin it comes up short of miles ? i mean it only shows about 20 miles of the route i created. Any ideas where i'm going wrong ?
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
Yes... your etrex will only accept GPX tracks of a maximum of 500 points. One of the advantages that bikehike has over bikeroutetoaster is the ability to downsample the track to below a given number of points. Alternatively you can do it in Mapsource.
GrumpyGregry
Here for rides.
what PpPete says. See Bikehike under 'Options' and set the course point limit to less than 500. It won't make any noticeable difference to your route on the road.
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