My Subscription to Birdseye Imagery ran out but I still have the imagery I downloaded on my computer and can view it in Basecamp, but when I try to copy the Birdseye Imagery to my Montana 650 I get an error saying "The device Montana 650 does not have an active BirdsEye Imagery Subscription". I was under the impression once you downloaded BirdsEye data you could use it forever.
On a slightly related note, it's unfortunate that Garmin doesn't provide any details as to the age of the imagery available. If they did, more people would presumably update and maintain more active BirdsEye subscriptions. (Instead of making due with the older imagery.) ~ I'm still using the 2 year old imagery (downloaded 2 years ago) on my Montana, but would have considered upgrading if I new there were updated aerial images for the region....
Out in the middle of nowhere (so I thought) the other day: I ended up in someones back yard. ~ My local BirdsEye imagery is apparently way outdated, even older than I thought..... It was quite obvious that this housing development I brushed up against had been expanded quite a few years ago.....
My Subscription to Birdseye Imagery ran out but I still have the imagery I downloaded on my computer and can view it in Basecamp, but when I try to copy the Birdseye Imagery to my Montana 650 I get an error saying "The device Montana 650 does not have an active BirdsEye Imagery Subscription". I was under the impression once you downloaded BirdsEye data you could use it forever.
Please read about BirdsEye map limitations and archiving techniques starting here. ;-)
On a slightly related note, it's unfortunate that Garmin doesn't provide any details as to the age of the imagery available. If they did, more people would presumably update and maintain more active BirdsEye subscriptions. (Instead of making due with the older imagery.) ~ I'm still using the 2 year old imagery (downloaded 2 years ago) on my Montana, but would have considered upgrading if I new there were updated aerial images for the region....
Out in the middle of nowhere (so I thought) the other day: I ended up in someones back yard. ~ My local BirdsEye imagery is apparently way outdated, even older than I thought..... It was quite obvious that this housing development I brushed up against had been expanded quite a few years ago.....
It is common knowledge that most BirdsEye imagery is more than a decade old, and nearly useless for that very reason.
As soon as I download an image or topo, it is sent to the device. From there, I keep a copy on my hard drive. Those jnx files can be moved back and forth to the device they are registered to. The filename of the .jnx file is the same as the displayed name in BaseCamp. (Obviously, this must be done while your subscription is active).
The Birdseye files you see in BaseCamp are located in Users\username\AppData\Roaming\GARMIN\BaseCAmp\JnxFiles. The images will not have a name you can recognize but, you can copy those to the device they are registered for, to view, identify, and rename a copy. The new name of the file can be something that you understand. Rename the file AFTER you make a copy to another location! Keep that copy on your hard drive for future use. Even though your subscription is no longer valid, they will still work on the device they are registered for. If you have a lot of files, this can take a while! (This can be done after the fact).
Please read about BirdsEye map limitations and archiving techniques starting here. ;-)
It is common knowledge that most BirdsEye imagery is more than a decade old, and nearly useless for that very reason.
Hate to say it, but if this was my company, and these were my products and I was in charge..... I'd be embarrassed at the overall quality. All sorts of new products year after year that don't work properly/as advertised, OLD data, software bugs, firmware bugs (that never seem to get properly corrected years after the fact), lack of product integration and compatibility.....
Exactly what is "Garmin" today anyways? Twenty years ago, they were the leader in consumer based GPS. Today, they appear to be more of a branding & marketing importer from Chinese manufacturing facilities... ~ A company with 1/2 a dozen software engineers led by a few "detached executives....." (Management that doesn't fully understand (appreciate?) their customers and how their products are used in the field?!?!? Looking in from the outside, from an organizational perspective: Garmin appears to be in trouble. (a disorganized organization without concise vision at the very least) ~ Under normal circumstances, good companies don't operate this way for very long....
If I were an investor (having spent this much time with their products and issues), there is absolutely no way I would have any confidence in them long term. (It's very disconcerting to look at all the new & OLD recurring problems users have!) ~ You just can't produce all this much hardware WITHOUT also provisioning adequate support. (Delivering solid firmware & software [initial releases] & provide current [readily available] data to back up the hardware.
Note: Garmin subscriptions offering ~10 year old BirdsEye imagery (marketed by Garmin as "recent") comes to mind here, as does my experience over the past 2+ years with firmware updates on a Montana GPS. The Montana 650 finally received "stable" firmware somewhere back in version 4.xx, but getting there took nearly 2 years! ~ I can't fathom why anyone would knowingly spend top $$ on "latest and greatest" products from Garmin knowing they wouldn't "be right" for a couple of years?
