Free up space for Bluechart

Hi Guys,

I've just got a Fenix 5+ (Ti)....actually it's main use, other than general fitness tracking, will be for sailing.

I have a Bleuchart I can add to the watch, but it will not fit with the pre-installed maps also on the device....is there a way I can "uninstall" those included maps (Topo Europe), keep them safe on a HDD, and thus free up enough space to put on the Bluechart?

I can see the map files using Android File Transfer, but not sure if simply removing the existing files to HDD will keep them safe, should I ever want to reinstall them?

Top Replies

dmalovic over 5 years ago +1 verified

You can redownload them as they are a part of what you bought with the watch. But a quicker way is to do what you want to do. Just take them off the storage, and copy back after you are done. There are…

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+1 dmalovic over 5 years ago

You can redownload them as they are a part of what you bought with the watch. But a quicker way is to do what you want to do. Just take them off the storage, and copy back after you are done. There are two big files for Europe, east and west, it might be enough to delete just one. and don't delete everything, as the DEM files are your elevation data worldwide. It's used for altitude calibration.

0 benkayuk over 5 years ago in reply to dmalovic

Thanks for the quick response.

So I can see 2 "big" files...

gam-prom.img (at 3.30 Gb)
D6185060B.img (at 2.90 Gb)

Then

Gmapdem.img (at 919Mb)...leaving this one well alone as per your message.

Any idea which of the above is East, and which West? I'm in UK, so guessing I could remove the East map and not lose anything useful to me.

Also, where, if I lose the original backup, can I re-download the maps?

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to benkayuk

Actually, one is "NorthEast", the other one is "SouthWest".

NorthEast = 3375 MB

SouthWest = 2971 MB

The gmapdem.img is the Digital Elevation Model, not sure if this is *really* needed, especially if you're using it at sea level anyways.

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to benkayuk

By the way: There are OpenSeaMap maps that cover the whole of Europe in about 3.5 GB. But I don't know the quality of the data there.

0 benkayuk over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

Is there a coverage chart anywhere that shows NE and SW coverage?

0 Former Member over 5 years ago

I'm in the USA but would also like to add marine charts to my watch. I own both the older Bluechart CD based charts and a G2 Vision chip for my area. After numerous conversations with Garmin, it appears that I can' add these charts to the watch because they aren't compatible. We need to purchase a G3 Vision chart at a cost of $350. If anyone has been successful adding charts to the Fenix 5+ please share your methods.

0 benkayuk over 5 years ago

I've found out that the chart is simply too big to fit on the watch...it's a bit annoying as it's a 'Vision' chart we have...none of that data is relevant to the watch but it wants to include it anyway...stuff like aerial photos etc. mean the chart is over 14.7 Gb.

It's a shame one of Garmin's PC/Mac softwares doesn't allow for selective uploading of a chart to the watch (i.e. only part of the overall coverage) :(

0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to benkayuk

It is also a shame that we can't use the older Bluecharts as they allow you to select areas and don't have all the extra info that is not needed for simple navigation. What Vision chip do you have? Is it the G2 or the G3?

0 benkayuk over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

I think it was a G2 Vision - VEU722L ---- but can't actually see that stated anywhere at all!

0 benkayuk over 5 years ago in reply to benkayuk

Strangely, we also own VEU706L (an old region they no longer sell..actually a smaller region that might fit on the watch), but this doesn't show up in Garmin Express as available to download to the watch....strange.