Basecamp and Purchased map download

Former Member over 10 years ago

Hey,

So I am new to garmin and recently bought a fenix3. I'm starting to regret it... Perhaps I need the Epix.

I have been talking with garmin for a few days now trying to figure out how to use the fenix in conjuction with hikes and long distance hike planning.

Long story short, yesterday I was on the phone and it was explained to me that I could inport GPX files to Basecamp and then buy any map to use underneath these routes.

Now, the guy clearly knew I only had a fenix 3 which does not support maps. So I purchased a map for an upcoming hike, and I can not seem to download the map to Basecamp with out entering certain info, and when I try to enter my fenix 3 info, I'm told it can't be done.

Am I missing something? Is basecamp worthless with out a hand help map supporting device? Keep in mind, yes I know that the map will not go on to my watch... I simply want the map installed in to Basecamp.

0 schinder over 10 years ago

I think that's right. Garmin doesn't want to you buy maps unless you have a device that can support them. That's a flaw in BaseCamp, I suppose, but I can see why they do it. So you should try to get a refund.

What you do in the mean time is get OpenStreetMap maps (my usual source is http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl). Completely free, very good quality, can be installed and used in BaseCamp (the only minus is that you don't get the nice relief shading that Garmin TOPO maps provide in BaseCamp). The ones I've used where I can compare both Garmin and OSM have been more accurate than the Garmin maps; for example there are a lot of trails missing from the Garmin TOPO 24k US maps for my area (which I bought for my Edge 800) but they're all there in OSM.

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

Alright, thanks. I will look in to that when get off work tonight.

0 Former Member over 10 years ago

So, I checked out openstreetmaps, and it works. However I am curious about something.

The iphone app I used when hiking is called MotionX. It apparently also uses Openstreetmaps for roads but also uses the OpenCYCLEmap for their terrain and contour lines maps...

Is there a way to use opencyclemaps in basecamp?

0 schinder over 10 years ago

I did a Google search on "opencyclemap garmin os x" and seemed to have found that they're really only available for Europe. You can try yourself and see what you turn up. If you live in Europe then you can try them out. The maps I like well enough to pay the subscription fee are from openmtbmap.org, based on OSM but with enhancements, available for the US as well as Europe. I use them in BaseCamp but have never installed them on my Edge 800 because I have Garmin's TOPO US 24k already on it.