for a micro second i have seen it draw and vanish the other mapset just before it draws the one it will show.this happens each time you zoom in and out
something is wrong here... my gps v (despite multiple attempts at uploading) will not show any R&R maps... How do I change which map Im looking at ? I could find it anywhere... Thanks.
There's some good advice in this thread. I'll just amplify to say that I typically use City Select mostly which is almost as good as Roads and Rec, although R&R is better in some places. The problem with R&R is that it doesn't auto-route on GPS's that support it. So I mostly use City Select. I've never come to peace with Topo. It chews up memory like crazy and the road information seems to be from 1954. So you really have to be into the elevation information to make that worth using. - Mark
Well, heres the deal.... I tried to install only the R&R on my PC... Install worked but the GPS V refused to show any maps that I uploaded. There might have been a problem with the upload as it didn't take very long... After repeated attempts at uploading R&R maps to the V, I un-installed the software and installed City Select. I selected a few maps and uploaded them (successfully) the GPS V. Now, the question is, how do I get CitySelect/Mapsource to recognize R&R maps ? I have enough room to put both on the V, but if I install R&R it tends to wipe out the City Select. I don't want to do a complete install, just the maps... Also, I could not find where on the GPS V to choose which maps Im viewing so I can switch from CS to R&R.
I just purchased the software for my GPSMAP 76 and found out that most of the dirt and fire roads are well covered by this version. I'm quite impressed actually! Still wish it cam with the units but.. whatever.. :/ I've not tried the TOPO but my other TOPO software is sort of hard to read (Delorme) even on the big computer screen for trails.. (maybe I'm just stupid? ). I will say the PC map interfaces is SUPER cheesy... but it does have the roads. I looks more like a $30 piece of software, not $115 but hey.. I've called Garmin in the past and in no WAY will they offer an API to allow other software to generate map data for their units. They feel thier software is 'superior' (to a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, maybe). Ranting aside about the UI it does work well on the GPS unit once loaded.
So you've installed multiple map databases in MapSource but don't get a drop-down like the following to select from? The way it is supposed to work is that you select an "active map" from this dropdown and select the map regions you want to transfer to the GPS by using the map region tool. They appear in the list under the Maps tab below. You can select maps from lots of different databases and they're all queued up in the list. Then you do a Transfer > Send to Device ... with the Maps checkbox checked - this wipes out all the maps on the GPS and replaces them with the ones queued up in MapSource. It will prompt you to swap CDs during the upload if required. On how to select which maps are visible on the GPS, on a 60CS you go to the map screen, press Menu, and select Setup Map from the menu. You then get a menu to enable or disable any particular map. This may not be applicable to the V though. - Mark
No -- I havent been able to install just the map database for R&R...how do I install just the maps, but not the whole program ? Can anyone else verify that this option is available on the V? (BTW -- thanks alot Mark...very informative )
I just bought a new Husky 510 and a Garmin 76 cx. I have heard that Garmin's "Roads and Recreation" software is the best for off road. I know it's discontinued but where can I get a copy? I've looked on ebay and Amozon with no luck. Would anybody be willing to burn me a copy? If not, what is next best? City navigator?
I've been reading that same thing over and over, that R&R is the prefered map, but where can I get it? I just got a new Garmin 60CSX and have discovered that the base map is worthless. Anyone?
R&R was discontinued over five years ago. There are used and pirated copies floating around (e.g., CL, Ebay, friends willing to make a copy for you, etc.). I'd never call it the "preferred" map. It's old and spotty in coverage. It doesn't auto-route either. But its cheap and doesn't have the issues of getting it unlocked. City Navigator is generally the best overall database to get and it auto-routes, but its not cheap and you have to go through the unlock hassles. In my experience CN handles backroads as least as well as anything else in Garmin's maps. - Mark
Thanks Mark. I'm a frustrated GPS noob whose trying to get a handle on all this, there's a lot of info! I've spent many hours searching and reading the posts here and I'm still lost... Ironic, since I have a GPS and all! Would you say the CN would be suitable for dual-sporting? I want to be able to use my GPS (a Garming 60 csx) for a variety of activities from hiking to trail riding to city navigation. I realize that I may need to buy multiple maps packages to accomdate all this, but it'd be nice if there was some overlap, and the installed basemap is pretty much worthless. Knowing this would you recommend the CN over the '08 Topo?
You just keep installing each new map set with Mapsource. It is smart enough to know not to go backwards in revision.
Absolutely. It's all I use for dual-sporting. For roads (both major and minor), CN is it, especially if you want to auto-route. Everything else is pretty much oriented towards hiking or water sports. The Topos are oriented towards hiking where the contours are important. In certain areas, you might find a few backwoods roads/trails that CN won't have, but they're often so wildly out of date, its impossible to find them. Only the 24K National Park Topos auto-route. When it comes to an auto-routing GPS to be used primarily on the road network, your supplemental road maps generally start and end with CN. - Mark
If you can get a hold of R&R, IMO it's a very valuable tool. Yes CN auto routes and has a more up to date POI database, but for planning purposes R&R has it beat for detail and versatility. Here's a sample of what I mean CN2009 And here's R&R at the same scale
Sorry, but your screen shot comparison is bogus. CN and R&R show different levels of detail at the same zoom level. You were zoomed far enough out in the CN example that underlying detail wasn't being shown. Here's a view of the detail in CN for this same area if you zoom a little further in: If you look very closely, you see many areas where CN shows a lot more roads than R&R. R&R does tend to show more waterways and natural features - as I said, CN is a road-oriented mapset, not a hiking or boating one. - Mark
That was exactly my point. I can use R&R at a reasonable zoom level when planning. I don't have to be zoomed in to a 1 mile scale to see the road detail. To be fair you should have included the R&R mapset using 6.15. Here's the same comparo at .7 miles. I'm still seeing more detail in the R&R in this instance. Different locations will vary of course.
I don't particularly like Garmin's tradeoff between zoom and detail in CN either, but buying a mapset based on this criteria is a little like buying a car based on the color of its tire jack. The tradeoff between hiding and showing detail at each zoom level is really just a subtle tradeoff they made in the software between avoiding clutter and showing detail. They moved the slider a little differently in CN vs. R&R. Hardly a big reason to choose one over the other. Don't get me wrong - having R&R around is not a bad idea and if you don't want to spend the money on CN, you can get R&R for very low cost (or even free if you don't mind using pirated software). But for someone getting their first mapset for an auto-routing GPS, the choice is really a no-brainer - get CN. Edit: After reading this, I thought I might as well pull an old 3.02 R&R I haven't used in a couple years, install it to my latest MapSource, and make some side-by-side comparisons. And I was too harsh in my assessment above - R&R does have a nicer presentation when in planning mode and I prefer that it shows a lot more sensitivity to the "Map Detail" menu selections - CN really is pretty bad in this regard. I still think CN is the way to go for an auto-routing GPS, but R&R is a nice adjunct and if you can find a cheap copy and are don't mind driving point-to-point routes, its quite workable. - Mark
Like every GPS question on this forum, the question is not complete. Which GPS, which map set, which battery, Hard wire, etc. should I buy? What is always missing is the real question, "what do you want to do" with what ever it is. "I want to ride my XR200 on forest back roads and old log skids and then hike to some off route locations" or "I want to ride my GS1200 on a few high quality gravel roads and want full auto-routing with data on all gas, food, and motel POIs". Nothing about the answers to any question would be the same for these two guys. Almost every answer I read is the answer to what the responder does not what the questiner wants to do. Then there is personal choice, I went on a trip with a friend with an HP and an old GPSV with City Nav. What a combinition, but it works for him! We came to a dead end (poor planning) he auto-routed to where we wanted to go, I zoomed R & R out and picked my own route. It is all a amatter of choice not good vs better.
The steps are different than on a 60cs but yes, the same function is available! First you need to be sure the software is installed properly. Remember R&R is very old technology, XP and Vista weren't even on the drawing board when R&R was discontinued. I have had good luck installing MapSource products in the order of their release, oldest first and rebooting between installs. Once the lasted version of MapSource you own is installed then download a recent MapSource update and install. Most are still using ver. 6.13.7 as the newer ones have some bugs. You may have to search to fine the file as Garmin probably doesn't have it any more. At this point you should to download and install the latest GPS V firmware upgrade as there was a new one released several months ago. A big hint here: the early MapSource products installed from a CD and only installed the software utility not the map data which remained on the CD. The installed utility then looked to the CD drive to retrieve detailed map data as needed which required the CD be in the drive and slowed the process. To avoid this copy the whole install CD to a folder you create in the root on your hard drive and run the install from that location. MapSource will then look to that location for the map data and no more CD juggling. Newer products (CS) don't have this issue. If the different MapSource products have installed properly, they will be listed in the drop down menu box upper left of the MS interface just under the "File", "Edit" commands. If it doesn't show, it didn't install. Select all the map segments from all the map product you wish to load keeping the total under 19mb (lower portion of the MAPS Tab) and transfer to the GPS at one time. You can not add to maps already on the GPS. You must start from scratch each time. The GPS uses a hierarchy when choosing which to display. To override this hierarchy: While on the GPS Map page press "Menu", then select 'MapSource Info" and "Enter". Once on the "MapSource Info" you can select individual map segments to show or hide but it can be had to know what is what so.... From the "MapSource Info" page press "Menu" and a list of the different map products install will be displayed allowing you to select what is displayed. "Enable" = show & "Disable" = hide. If you have more than one product enabled the GPS will use the default hierarchy to decide which will show. Bruce PS; If you want to use Topo on your V you can control the display of the contour lines and even hide them completely, wish my 60CSx would do that!
Agreed, that's the rub! Being a total GPS noob, I don't know what I'll like/dislike with the products out there, but here's what I want: Ultimate Versatility. I want to dual sport roads and trails, I want to burn up twisties, find gas in the sticks, get directions for the bike night address in town, have topo for hiking mountains, snowboarding, geocaching, and a bunch of other stuff I haven't done yet, like fan-boating in the everglades or flying a glider, plus being able to use it in the car if I feel like it. And I'm a cheap bastard. I find $400 in mapping software hard to swallow (CN, TOPO America, Detailed topo SD cards, ect...) on top of the cost of the GPS unit ($350 for my 60 CSX, plus RAM mount, power cord, ect). I could purchase A LOT of nice paper maps and a compass for $800 bucks. These zoom level comparisons are interesting, thanks for the debate! I don't like to plan my route ahead of time, I like to decide the day of or on the fly, so having a "big picture" seems important to me. I'd like to be "zoomed out" but still be able to see connecting roads/trails, just like when looking at a paper map, maybe it's too much to ask... I guess I'll start with the CN DVD and see how I like it. Sound reasonable?