Copy part of map into internal storage

I purchased and downloaded a regional Topo US 24k map from Garmin. I downloaded this to an sd card in my etrex device.

I can see this map in basecamp when the device is plugged in via usb. Is there anyway to copy this map to my computer so that I can use the map and plan without the etrex plugged in?

Also, I would like to copy only a selected portion of this map to internal memory. I cannot seem to make any selection off of this map with the basecamp selection tool. Is this possible?

I have searched at length about unlocking this downloaded map but have not been able to find definitive information.

Thanks

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

The map will be permanently locked to your eTrex and can't be installed on another GPS. But it will work on any computer. Just copy the contents of the card to a USB flash drive and plug that into your computer. Basecamp will read it and allow you to use. You won't need to connect your eTrex then, but you will need to insert the USB flash drive. It's also possible to create a "virtual disk" and use that instead of a flash drive, but that gets more complicated.

Either way, you can't just copy the files to your computer because they aren't in the same format that Basecamp uses for mapsets installed on the computer. With a downloaded map, it's "all or nothing". You can't just install a portion of it. If it doesn't fit into internal memory on your eTrex, you'll have to use a card. But the good news is that you can also install additional maps on the same card, so it isn't such a big limitation.

-Boyd

0 Former Member over 12 years ago

Is there anyway to copy this map to my computer so that I can use the map and plan without the etrex plugged in?

Yes. The solution is to create a "clone" of your eTrex on a removable drive and keep that plugged into your PC. I and others do that.

Now what kind of removable drive you use is up to you (USB stick, memory card etc). My PC(s) have attached card readers so I use SD cards and one CompactFlash card.

All you need to do it to copy the \Garmin\GarminDevice.xml file from your eTrex to a removable drive and BC (and other Garmin software) will see it as your device.

Now for BC to recognize your map(s) just copy the .img (and .gma/.unl if applicable) files from your eTrex to the "clone" removable drive. Not sure where they are on an eTrex.

Also, I would like to copy only a selected portion of this map to internal memory.

Downloaded maps (i.e. .img files) cannot be edited to my knowledge. I have Topo US 24k maps on DVD which allows me to do that. Also the maps aren't locked and can therefore be used on multiple devices.