About 3rd-party maps

this one is really great for Trail/Hike, i confirm :-)

https://ravenfeld.gitlab.io/open-garmin-map/

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This one for Mountain Bike

https://blog.utagawavtt.com/fr/blog/carte-gps-vtt-gratuite

I typically use 3rd party map within my country, however, when trying to calibrate using DEM, apparently the device neglects the DEM data on the map and tries to source it from elsewhere. As per my understanding, the DEM calibration is now linked somehow to the phone, rather than the watch itself.

I already stated its pretty disappointing, since my 6X can calibrate using DEM without any existing connections to anything. Simply click - calibrate and its doing its work without bothering with non-sense. TopoActive is being used only when I am abroad. By the way, I find these quite good: http://frikart.no/ , but they are only for Europe area.

Garmin watches have a separate DEM map, so if you don't remove it, DEM calibration should be possible even if the third party map has no DEM. I've never tried a third party map with DEM, so cannot comment on that.

socorsu Lyubomir Bitti, thank you all I will try them out.

I also read that now the DEM (at least on model F7 and later) is part of the system, i.e. it is no longer stored in the GARMIN folder. However, I wonder if/when it is updated and how (via fw update? GExpress?).

Bitti said:

Garmin watches have a separate DEM map, so if you don't remove it, DEM calibration should be possible even if the third party map has no DEM.

That's what I observed. The DEM map is the one with a naming like this: D4713090A.img. It gets - or at least got so far - updated via maps update automatically.

It sits in the GARMIN folder as all other maps do and I can use it with 3rd party maps as well. This is tested with F7S, F7 & T7pro. However I can't tell whether it still works with software > 15.77 which I plan to keep for the time being for the well known and of course disputable reasons. 

If it has separate DEM map as previous Fenix versions, then it shouldn't require a phone connection to calibrate because the data is stored in the watch and does nothing to do with the phone itself. Currently with latest firmware 19.34, it requires a phone connection to calibrate using DEM, which does not make any sense at all.

Rest assured, it has a DEM map and it doesn't require a phone connection. At least until 15.77 can't say for newer version as described but I'm almost sure it didn't change. I don't even have a phone connected EVER and thus my T7 always uses the DEM map  if I require a recalibration via DEM. This works with 3rd party maps as well as said before.

If it still doesn't work for you w/o phone you're probably on 19.34 or something like that and ran into the problem described here:

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/392032/f7-19-34-altitude-calibration-failed-dem