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Basic help with maps

Hi,

There seems to be a lot of discussion on details of maps and different types of them, but I feel like my knowledge is so far behind that I basically just don't understand what they are saying, so I'm really hoping someone can answer a few questions for me (using short words, I'm a simple guy).

My issue is that I travel a lot, and basically want a device that I can use to navigate all of Australia, Europe and the US (and hopefully other places in the future).

1. Do new 820s come with a map or maps loaded, and if so what area does that map cover (or does it depend where you buy it)?
2. Is it possible to put additional maps on the device (I think I can see that this is a yes though, and lots of people seem to talk about OSM)?
3. What area can you cover with additional maps before you run out of memory? For example, if I buy an Australian unit, is there enough memory capacity for me to then load detailed maps of all of Europe? If not, can I remove the Australian map to fit Europe on or something?
4. Can additional maps that you load be used for calculating routes?
5. Can the additional maps be used for calculating how much climbing will be involved (I think I saw something saying that they didn't include topography)?
6. Are additional maps expensive? Is there good coverage of Eastern Europe?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Rowan

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

1. Do new 820s come with a map or maps loaded, and if so what area does that map cover (or does it depend where you buy it)? Rowan

new 820s will include a base map for the region where you buy they unit. Mine came with opencycle maps for the US because I bought it in the US.

2. Is it possible to put additional maps on the device (I think I can see that this is a yes though, and lots of people seem to talk about OSM)? Rowan

Yes. I think you can buy other regions but you should download OpenStreet maps for other regions for free. - Go to - http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ (you can get instructions from DC Rainmakers site. this was written for older units but you can probablyt figure out how to install from here. the primary difference is that you don't install to a memory card but save your map image file straight to the Garmin folder. - https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/05/download-garmin-705800810.html )

3. What area can you cover with additional maps before you run out of memory? For example, if I buy an Australian unit, is there enough memory capacity for me to then load detailed maps of all of Europe? If not, can I remove the Australian map to fit Europe on or something? Rowan

I have the default US maps still installed but I disable them and user openstreet maps of just New England because they are more up to date. All of Europe might be too much but there is a lot of memory available. But if needed you could save all the regions on your PC and swap out the files when needed. They can all have different names - they no longer NEED to be labled gmapsupp.img. The file just needs to have the .img extension.

4. Can additional maps that you load be used for calculating routes? Rowan

Yes. Download the "routable options".

5. Can the additional maps be used for calculating how much climbing will be involved (I think I saw something saying that they didn't include topography)? Rowan

Not sure on that but I think it's one of the other pre-installed Garmin Maps that includes this data and it might be just in the regions you bought the device in???

6. Are additional maps expensive? Is there good coverage of Eastern Europe? Rowan

- they are free from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ and are more up to date that the garmin maps although both are based off of Openstreet maps.

0 TourleTour over 8 years ago

Erich, fantastic, thank you very much. They were exactly the simple and clear answers that I was looking for, and they were even good news!

If anyone knows about the topography and climbing calculations for areas other than where you bought the device that info would still be very much appreciated.

Rowan

0 dpawlyk over 8 years ago

Definitely, use one of the many sources for Openstreetmap (OSM) maps.

The US maps that are installed on the 820 (and other units) is about 6 GB. The 820 comes with 16 GB of internal memory (I believe).

One advantage of the OSM maps is that you can download up-to-date maps for just the region you need. I'd suggest not keeping a library of maps (just get current ones when you need them).

None of the OSM maps contain elevation data.

For the Garmin maps, the elevation data is in a separate map (the one with "dem" in the file name).

That should work for OSM maps that are in the same region but you are out of luck for elevation data for maps outside of that region.