FREE topographical maps for your Garmin (almost!)

Mouse

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I have made a cool discovery.

Some enterprising spod called Dave Storey has translated some topography data of the UK (mapped by the space shuttle and put into the public domain by NASA) into Garmin format maps.

What this essentially gives you is a second map set, that you can view in MapSource, and transfer to the GPS in exactly the same way as the standard road maps. You can then tell the GPS to display either both maps, either, or none. On the 2610 you select what maps to display by pressing MENU -> Info -> Map Info.

Here's the link to the instructions, and the files you have to download.

EDIT.......Read to the bottom of this thread before installing anything...there have been updates to this software :thumb

http://www.smc.org.uk/books/books_contour_maps.htm

The links to the data files on that page are dead, so download them from here:

http://www.lukedesigns.co.uk/maps/contour_maps.htm


The instructins on the first page are good, but here's what I did just for reference. This assumes that you are using WIndows XP and that MapSource is installed in the default location.

1 - download all the zip files.

2 - extract the content of all the zips into C:\Program Files\Garmin\Contours (you have to create this directory).

3 - Inside that directory is a file called contours.reg. Double click it, and say yes when Windows asks you if you really mean it.

4 - Run MapSource and select the new maps from the menu in the top left.

Using a 256MB data card in my 2610 I can get the entire UK's road maps (CN v7) and all the contour maps with a couple of MB to spare.
 
Did what you said, when I started Mapsourse I got this message.

" there is a problem with Mapsourse regestry,
Please reinstall Mapsourse and start it again."

I dont want to have to do that as my pc doesent have a dvd and it was a real pain getting v8 on!! Is there anything I can do?? can I just delete all the new files?

Chris
 
Oddly enough I've just spent an hour reloading Mapsource and three sets of mapping after getting the same error.

I'll not bother trying again :(
 
Hmm, sorry chaps. I only related what I did, which worked for me. Did you read all the instructions on the web page itself? There are alternative ways to get the maps onto your GPS other than using MapSource. And the supplied registry file can only be used if MapSource is installed in the correct directory (as it says in the instructions).

Beacon - I think what you will need to do is delete the exra registry entries, not the files. Using RegEdit delete the "directory" called

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\131

I just tried that on my machine and it stopped MapSource recognising the new maps. Restoring the keys restored the maps.

I'm sorry I'm no Windows expert so I can't guess what might have gone wrong with your installation.
 
Schwarz Baron said:
Got them downloaded, but the wizard wont unzip them without a password :nenau Any ideas?

Err, what wizard?

Are you using WindowsXP? If so, you should just be able to double click a zip file to see the contents. If not, I suggest the free download of WinZip.

The files are not password protected, I just checked.
 
It's also worth pointing out, that if you really have to, you can reinstall MapSource without having to reinstall the maps (either Garmin's maps or the contour maps).
 
Running MapSource 6.10.2 on Windows2K, followed the first post in this thread to the letter....

All working fine! :D

Cheers for the link!

-Rob
 
XP system restore. Fantastic up and running again, still got all the new mapping in the garmin folder, but not in mapsourse, thats where they'll stay for awhile anyway!!

Thanks Mouse, I.ll wait till I have mate to show me how to get it onto Mapsourse without causing probs.

Chris
 
Mouse said:
Err, what wizard?

Are you using WindowsXP? If so, you should just be able to double click a zip file to see the contents. If not, I suggest the free download of WinZip.

The files are not password protected, I just checked.


Yip Winzip, is what i'm refering too...
 
Hmm, that's odd. I can only guess that somehow the zip files are not 100% standard or WinZip has a bug.

Have you got a friend with Windows XP and a CD writer? You could unpack them on a different machine and transfer the unzipped files to a CD. Or a USB memory stick in fact, the files only total about 100MB.

Or see if there's an update to WinZip.

Sorry, clutching at straws here.
 
I'm struggling my self. It's probably to do where the files were automatically saved too, I'm gonna try again, as I desperately want Topo for the UK and Ireland...
 
Got it to work on mine. I'm using XP I had to edit the Reg file to reflect the file location of my garmin programme files which were not in the default location. Worked fine!

Round the Barons Way. :D
 

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Right, had a look and the registry key was pointing to c:/programefiles/garmin and my garmin folder is at c:/garmin. Edited the three files to point there and it's all working :thumb :thumb

I've got contours :bounce1
 

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I've had the Ireland map installed on my Quest for a while.. Dead handy when you're out for a bit of a hill walk.. Just be aware that on a Quest, it does slow down the redraws, so you might want to enable it only when you're going to make use of it, and uncheck it, if you're just travelling around town.
 
Jeeeezus1, 3 hours that took, just to get mapsource back, I'm fried....Panic over! :confused:


Edit: Woooow ho! I'm in, thanks to Mzokk, could never have done it myself, cheers Marcus, tremendous!!! Can't thank you enough!!! :thumb :clap :clap :clap :clap
 
Here's how it looks on the Quest, excellant cheers Mouse, and Marcus!.

This is a screenshot of the beautiful Mournes and the mighty Slieve Donard :thumb, with the roads still well defined, just what I wanted. Now I don't have to know, where all the mountain passes are.

Mouse, Fanum says he'll have your babies, when you've finished with him, him give us a call :D :beerjug:
 

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