BirdsEye Satelite Imagery fault

I sent an inquiry to Garmin Support (and included a link to this thread) and received the following response --

I realize others have the same issue and the engineers are aware of the limitation complaints.
As you are most likely aware, please select smaller regions or fewer map tiles if using the highest resolution.

The problem with this workaround is that results are inconsistent and you don't know if it worked or not until the download is complete and you can visually check it. Combine that with the slow downloads that occur at times and you have one major irritation. I had given the product a high rating on Amazon but with issue I have gone back and amended that review and dropped my rating of it.

Dave

Sorting

It seems that if your selection area includes a section that is not available in highest resolution, it comes out with everything at the lower resolution. I have only been able to get the highest quality on areas that are 100% high quality. This is perhaps the reason for some of the errors that we are seeing. It is probably fixable by code.

It's unfortunate there is not better integration between basecamp and google earth...there is a potential there for some excellent synergy. Perhaps garmin doesn't want to sacrifice the sub fees for birdseye, I don't know. Either way, I hope these features improve, because honestly, my cell phone GPS outperforms my Garmin in some areas in terms of image acquisition during satellite navigation.

It seems that if your selection area includes a section that is not available in highest resolution, it comes out with everything at the lower resolution. I have only been able to get the highest quality on areas that are 100% high quality. This is perhaps the reason for some of the errors that we are seeing. It is probably fixable by code.

It's unfortunate there is not better integration between basecamp and google earth...there is a potential there for some excellent synergy. Perhaps garmin doesn't want to sacrifice the sub fees for birdseye, I don't know. Either way, I hope these features improve, because honestly, my cell phone GPS outperforms my Garmin in some areas in terms of image acquisition during satellite navigation.

I don't think that is the case because I can take a large section that would not download in highest resolution, subdivide it into many smaller subsections, and download every one of those at high resolution - a workable, but very painful, workaround.

Dave

It's unfortunate there is not better integration between basecamp and google earth...there is a potential there for some excellent synergy. Perhaps garmin doesn't want to sacrifice the sub fees for birdseye, I don't know.

I don't think it's that simple. Garmin would need to license the imagery from Google instead of Digital Globe. Google only provides their imagery in their own interface, streamed over the internet in realtime. It's a violation of their TOS to rip it from their servers and store it on your own device - see http://www.google.com/accounts/TOS

5.3 You agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of the Services by any means other than through the interface that is provided by Google, unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in a separate agreement with Google. You specifically agree not to access (or attempt to access) any of the Services through any automated means

We have already seen them shutdown access by some software for making your own custom maps: http://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/mobac/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1&start=0

OK...so set the subscription fees to allow for imagery from Google instead of Digital Globe - this will obviously be a higher fee but at least test the waters (user base) with this one!

....the current service is clearly, as publicly evidenced, obviously resolution-limited/throttled/function-limited/.
I honestly wouldn't mind paying a higher subscription (within reason!) for a service that delivers full zoom resolution comparable to Google/public imagery at highest res. I'm sure others would be of the same opinion.......please test the waters on this one! Basecamp would be a very convenient integration method.

....the current 'advertised' service is very clearly (and evidenced) sub-optimal / lottery/zip/post code- driven. This is a proven fact!!

The current license from Digital Globe does not deliver the users full expectations!.........Garmin's 'satellite imagery' advertisement is miss-leading in the context of the mass public expectation (i.e. Google Maps/Earth max zoom comparison). Do they really want to play 'games' with their official advertisement?
What percentage of 'Satellite Imagery' subscribers purchased their subscription expecting a max zoom resolution comparable to that easily available 'freely'........what!...<100%....really??.....was I really that stupid?

Please conclude this quickly!

I, and am sure others, have decided to purchased a Garmin GPS over their competitors due to the promise of an effective satellite imagery feature..........unfortunately, I, by now, feel that the term 'effective' has been stretched for sales purposes! We would NOT have bought into this with the current knowledge of ineffective imagery! I am beginning to feel that I purchased a product on the basis of a miss-leading feature.

It would be unwise to turn the current and future user-base against you with misleading/game-playing statements! Web critisism is very hard to remove!

Once again, I ask that the drive to resolve this is ramped up, and, that communication to the user base about this issue is activated....there's been little/no updates on progress from Garmin on this issue. I've not even had a personal reply/update sent some weeks ago to their internal mail system!

Here's hoping.

Once again, I started with BirdseyeView at downloads of 70 MB in highest detail.
There was a message when I reached the limit.
I ended with 250MB in highest detail with a message that I reached the limit.
Now I can select an area of 250MB without a message and get 20 MB in standard detail (beats the hell out of me why anyone wants this kind of detail, cause it is completly useless).
By trying I found that somewhere around 50-70 MB is the limit for highest detail.
At every download you have to wait until the downlaod starts to see if you are in or over the limit.
If you are over the limit you have to select the area again, but smaller, and see what happends next.

I can live with 50MB downloads, it's more work but then you know what you get.
I can't live with trying over and over again to get an area I want in highest detail.

So give us a message when we reach the true limit.
250MB takes a long time to download, say 10 minutes.
50 MB takes 2 minutes.
Fooling around to get 250MB in, god knows how many sessions, take's a lot more then 10 minutes.

I had the same problem after conversation with Garmin and no real solution I asked to get my money back ? answer was no.

looks like Garmin has a better censorship than communist China :)

Gentlemen,

The problem you are discussing here only relates to BirdsEye Imagery service, not to the GPS devices themselves.

It's not widely known, but almost every satellite or raster map source can be used to make the maps for the BirdsEye-enabled GPSes, and the quality of these maps will only depend on the source of the images.
Just try to search "mapc2mapc jnx" in your favourite search engine.

I bought the BirdsEye subscription too, and I'm completely unhappy with what I get from it. And if the quality of the highest detail level won't get better for the terrirories I'm interested in, I won't renew my subscription.
But the ability to load my own maps (made from OZI Explorer maps, and the satellite imagery downloaded from OSM and Google Earth) into my GPS makes this renewal completely unnecessary.

I don't think it's wise to trash very good GPSes (in my opinion) just because of crappy online mapping service for which there is a better alternative.
Give your Garmin GPS a second chance! :)

I fully agree with your perspective, Return0.

Garmin products are fantastic purchases - I am delighted with my 550t (It's staying with me), and will certainly consider this company in future purchases. We don't mean or set out to come accross as knocking their hardware!..............

The title of this thread, and I hope, primary comments/discussion, is pretty specific only to the satellite imagery fault.

It is just the frustration we feel of a potentially really exciting feature being provided in the less than ideal manner we have described - see earlier posts. Some users - me also - do feel quite let down by a possible play on the BirdsEye advertising - maybe we were wrong to assume too much?....maybe not? As I have also said, it may very well be 'problematic' for an organisation to find out that customers have made purchase choices based, to an extent, on an advertised feature that later proves to deliver 'less that the user's expectations'. This is really the crux of the matter.

However,......I do understand that it is apparently possible to use other imagery sources - though I've not really looked into this (again....basecamp would be the easiest method for us).

I'm very pleased that you have researched an alternative method and I'll actively look into this now. Could you answer a few questions:-

- Does using the alternative sources you mention (OSM/GEarth) really work?
- Is it relatively pain-free to convert and transfer this imagery onto the GPS device? - do you use OZI Explorer maps to do this (I've never heard of it before)
- Are these custom maps accurate with respect to gps coordinates?

I see Google have recently restricted downloadable content via other software.