BirdsEye file re-download selection and suggestions.

Former Member over 15 years ago

My son downloaded some BirdsEye imagery for his Oregon and put a copy on a memory card for me. I was thinking I could just select "re-download" from my BaseCamp software as I have a BirdsEye subscription also. The re-download was not present. We then tried my Oregon on his BaseCamp. The re-download selection only re-downloaded the file for his unit (which wasn't even connected, mine was).

As we often share information between or Oregons, the following would make life much easier:
BaseCamp should allow BirdEye images to be re-downloaded for the currently connected device (if it has an active subscription of course).
The re-download should be possible with BirdsEye images not originally downloaded on this install of BaseCamp.
The BirdsEye image properties should display the unit number that the file is encoded to work with (makes it possible to manage files for more than one unit).

The above enhancements would make it easier for teams to work together. Given that they all have BirdsEye subscriptions. One member could define and download all the images needed for a specific outing. He would give copies of these files (.jnx) to the other members who would then simply have to choose "re-download' from their BaseCamp software to get a version of the file that will work on their unit.

0 Former Member over 15 years ago

That is something I've been wondering about myself, and not sure if I understand exactly what Todd is saying.

I now have over 8GB of birdseye imagery on a memory card for my Oregon 400t. Let's say that I decide to upgrade to an Oregon 450 and I purchase another BirdsEye subscription for it.

Do I really have to start all over again and download the same imagery? That would be really counterproductive for Garmin; it makes me less likely to upgrade my GPS and if I do, it puts an unnecessary load on their servers downloading the same stuff.

A couple times when I have transfered the images to my Oregon, I get a message that Garmin's servers are being contacted, that my subscription is current, and that the imagery is being unlocked for my unit. To me, this implied that the imagery is not unlocked until you send it to the GPS and could therefore be unlocked for any GPS with a current subscription. Is this not the case?

And once you have sent the .jnx files to a memory card, are they forever locked to a specific gps, or can they be unlocked for a different unit with a valid subscription?

0 Former Member over 15 years ago

My son downloaded some BirdsEye imagery for his Oregon and put a copy on a memory card for me. I was thinking I could just select "re-download" from my BaseCamp software as I have a BirdsEye subscription also. The re-download was not present. We then tried my Oregon on his BaseCamp. The re-download selection only re-downloaded the file for his unit (which wasn't even connected, mine was).

Please let me clarify.

The "re-download" option allows you to get the imagery from the Internet onto your computer, which then can be viewed in BaseCamp. In general, you do not need to "re-download" your imagery unless you are getting bad images or experiencing network issues.

Once the imagery is downloaded in BaseCamp, if you would like to transfer it to your device, you can drag-n-drop it into the device folder inside BaseCamp, or right-click on the imagery in the list -> Send To -> your device. You may send it to multiple devices if they have an active subscription. Otherwise, you will be prompted to send a demo instead.

The BirdsEye image properties should display the unit number that the file is encoded to work with (makes it possible to manage files for more than one unit).

That is something we are improving for a future version of BaseCamp.

0 Former Member over 15 years ago

I had some offline discussion with KFPANDA. Here are the details:
To change the unlock code for use on another unit, you do not need to re-download the images, but you do need to send them to the device to change the unlock code for the image. If you want the BirdsEye files on your memory card, you then need to move them from the device to the memory card. I verified this and it works. Just took many steps, and lots of time, to complete.

With this in mind, here is my updated BaseCamp feature request list:

Give us the option to change the unlock code to the currently connected device when moving BirdsEye files from any location or device to any location or device.

Give us the ability to specify a default file location on the PC that appears as a memory card in BaseCamp. File transfers in BaseCamp to (and from) any flash memory card are slow compared to transfers to a hard drive. BaseCamp file transfers would be much faster if it is not working with flash memory. This would give us the ability to create all the BirdsEye .jnx files on our hard drive and use either File Explorer (faster) or BaseCamp to copy the files to the memory card for use in the unit. An additional benefit of this would be that you could now easily have a backup copy of the BirdsEye images on your hard drive if you wish.

0 Former Member over 15 years ago

On your memory card, create a Garmin folder in the root directory. Now look inside the Garmin directory on your GPS and find the file named GarminDevice.xml. Copy this file to the Garmin directory on your memory card, then also create a BirdsEye directory inside the Garmin directory on the card.

Now you can place the memory card in a high speed USB 2.0 card reader connected to your computer. Basecamp will see the card and think it is actually the GPS itself, displaying it same unit ID. This frees up your GPS for use while basecamp is running, and also gives you a higher transfer speed.

However, even in this scenario, it takes a surprisingly long time to send BirdsEye images to the card. I don't think this has anything to do with memory cards vs hard drives. The flash memory over USB is pretty speedy. It seems to be related to the way that BaseCamp sends the imagery to the card.