Purchased Outdoor Maps+ for the satellite imagery maps, ran into two undisclosed restrictions - any solutions welcomed!
1) Tiny 1.7 mi2 Map Limit
Garmin Support confirmed the paid Outdoor Maps+ satellite maps are restricted to MAXIMUM of 1.7 mi2 (2.8 km2). It also defaults to .5 mi - the 1.7 mi size is only reached after zooming out to the maximum and clearing an error message before downloading.Therefore...
- to get satellite imagery of a 5 mi trail on your watch, prepare to individually download 3+ maps
- for a 10 x 10 mile region, prepare for 35-40+ overlapping maps for a continuous area
[Screenshot above. Firmware was up to date as of this post]
2) 11 Steps to Download (repeatedly...)
The tiny Maps can ONLY be downloaded from watch itself, which is a painful process which must be repeated to get more than a 1.7 mi2 map on your watch:
1. Press Start
2. Scroll to Map Manager, press Start
3. Scroll to Outdoor Maps+, press Start
4. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the listed maps and select +Add
*wait several seconds for watch to connect to WiFi*
5. Select location from one of the options (Current Location, Points of Interest, Saved Location), press Start (in this case selected Current Location)
6. Scroll and press Start to deselect any unwanted map layers and select the layer to download (in the case selected Satellite), then scroll back to top and press Start
*Map square appears with a 0.5 mi (0.8 km) area showing*
7. Tap "-" 3 times to zoom out to the maximum map size
8. Error screen appears stating: "Max zoom level exceeded for the following layers: Satellite" - press Start to return to the map
*Now the maximum map square area has been achieved - 1.7 mi2 *
9. Move the 1.7 mi2 map square to the exact position you want to download, press Start
*if downloading more than this tiny area try to remember what you selected, or take a photo with your phone, so that on the next map you can try to slightly overlap the map, to make your own larger map*
10. You'll reach a new screen - Press Start again to confirm the download
11. Screen appears stating: "Map download will continue when your device is plugged in." - press Start
*if you only want the one tiny map, now plug in your watch and wait somewhere between 10-30 minutes for the download to eventually start - it is NOT immediate.
OR
*if you wanted a larger map area than the tiny 1.7 mi2 map square, REPEAT! Resume at Step 4 above (scroll down to +Add)