Garmin Mac Software

Let me introduce myself... My name is Brian and I am an engineer for Garmin on their Mac software team. We were given a link to this site by some of the ADV rider users and found that you guys have a well of valuable information for us.

I won't be able to answer too many questions about crashes or technical issues, so if you are experiencing technical issues please send us an email (mac.bobcat@garmin.com).

During the beta of Project: Bobcat we are looking for feedback about the software, including bug reports, user interface improvements, and general software ideas and improvements. We are very interested in hearing your feedback, so please use the "Report Issues to Garmin" option in the Bobcat Help menu to send us a mail.

I am also very familiar with all the other Garmin Mac software, so if you have questions or feedback about anything from MapInstall to WebUpdater to POI Loader, let me know.

Thanks in advance for the information!

Welcome aboard Brian!

welcome brian,
i have a few questions that are probably considered a little stupid so i apologize beforehand.
i have had a 76csx for about a year and a half, i do not have a PC with a DVD drive so i either have to go to a friends to upload stuff or to an internet cafe.
we DO have a powerbook G4.
now that there is software for macs.....
what do i need to do to use my mac and my garmin???
do i need to BUY new software?
is there software i can just download off of mygarmin.com?
thanks for your help.
-charles

Maybe I can help you. You first need to convert your maps on a PC using mapconverter. (Link here) You then need to get mapinstall and bobcat for your mac. (These programs can be found here). Just follow the directions from the last link and you should be fine. The good is that all this software is free. The bad is that you need to find a PC with a DVD drive to convert your maps so that you can use them on your mac. Good luck.

Brian,
I just have a few suggestions for you for Bobcat. I think many on here will echo these sentiments.

1) The ability to select what you send/receive to/from the unit and computer instead of sending and receiving everything.
2) A track tool would be a very welcomed addition since many users here create tracks to follow. (The areas we ride may not have roads on City Nav and many users like to use Roads and Rec. or Topo to create rides so tracks makes creating these much easier)
3) When editing routes, if you add a waypoint and click back on the "directions" tab it then recalculated the whole route instead of just that one section where you added the waypoint. This is pretty frustrating when you are working with routes that include a few hundred waypoints and extend to hundreds of miles.
4) Having the search window be a floating window (like the route editing window) instead of a pull out drawer. This would allow the user to expand the area of the screen covered by map so that he/she can view more of the map while seeing the search results at the same time.
5) Incorporating the mapinstall program functions into Bobcat would make the transition of maps much easier for first-time Bobcat users. I think the multitude of different programs can be confusing for those users.
6) Also a "save" function would be beneficial. Many users create routes and since there is no save function, we are not sure if the next time we open the program that these newly-created routes and waypoints are going to be available.

Ok, That's about all I can think of. We really appreciate you coming here and getting some input. We are just as anxious as you are to get this program polished and functional. Thanks.

Brent

Welcome Brian. Thanks for all the hard work to finally get us Mac users a mapping program. I was able to use the latest Bobcat to convert my topo maps and draw up several thousand miles of routes to upload to my 60csx. Works pretty good. It works at least as well as the Windows version of mapsource that crashes frequently. A Mac version of the map converter would be nice though so that one doesn't need access to a Windows machine to get started with maps they already own.

Garmin is releasing all of their new maps in a mac-compatible format so that will cure the need for mapconverter in the future. As for any of the older maps, I think we'll just have to suck it up.

Welcome, Brian. You're on the clock, so I'll spare you getting me a beer.

I've been cautiously using Bobcat for a few weeks. First, to cross reference and check the Trans america trail route transcription from Sam's maps & rollcharts from TN to NM. Second, this past weekend, to pre-run the northern TNJ trail, and give feedback to the creator(s).

Great job so far! I definitely have some observations for improvements that will be of great use to us.

First; we tend to prioritize the smaller / dirt / secondary roads, so it is extremely painful to have them disappear at anything greater than 0.2 mile resolution with CNNA2008, and 0.8 mile on USTopo2008. Could this be set higher, or even better an adjustable option? Far-zoom detail: all roads visible at 800ft - 0.2mi - 0.3 - 0.5 - 0.8 - 1.2 - 1.5, etc. : User choice? Let me give you a scenario: Someone sends me a route to follow... I'm tooling along, and run into an obstacle (gate, washout, flood, shotgun-wielding lunatic). I need to reroute. It would be nice to see the big picture, and the secondary roads at the same time. As it is, if you have to reroute 15 miles away, you'll be scrolling around for a good while following the little roads to see what goes through. Lots of logging roads are dead ends. If you just let the software do it's thing, you may miss a nice road that is neither shortest distance, nor fastest time. At least on Bobcat you have the "scenic route" option, but I have no idea what that algorithm does when transferred to the handheld units that auto-route.

Second; It seems when pulling up a track, then getting info, there are some features not yet active? The time stamps of individual points would be great to have... that way I could correlate it exactly with where I was when I took a photo, or ran into a gate. Maybe add a "Keep map centered on highlighted point" option? That way you could scroll down through the points while scanning the times and watching the map moving to keep it centered at that point.

Third; Is it possible to add a "rubberbanding" feature as currently is implemented on the handheld itself? Very useful when plotting routes with the handheld GUI, and ends up easier than adding a waypoint to the end of your route, and then moving it up the list to be inserted at the desired sequence.

Fourth; Is it possible to add an option so that you know that the handheld will automatically route the same way Bobcat does? There are different auto-routing options on the handheld vs. Bobcat, and it would be nice if you didn't have to test your waypoint choices and subsequent autorouting as set in Bobcat a second time on the handheld, and then readjust as necessary. Maybe a way to force Bobcat to route exactly like your handheld will. I presume you would have a different emulation algorithm for each family of handhelds. Distributing a route for a big group would still have to be navigated directly from point to point with autorouting off, but if I'm setting up a route for myself, it would be great to be able to test it on Bobcat and know that WISIWIG when I'm on the road / trail. As it stands, thats the one thing that has prevented me from using Bobcat to create the routes for the TAT. I can make the route on the handheld, test each section autorouting, and if it's good, then receive it from one handheld, and send it to the other.

Finally, it would be great if the folders where the user data is saved was in a place where it could be copied easily and carried or sent to another computer. I have a desktop, laptop, and a couple of computers at work, and use an iPod to carry files back and forth to keep everything synchronized and backed up. I've figured out where you've stashed all the relevant files in user/lib/app support/garmin/bobcat... but if I go and visit someone and say... hey, let me show you this.. my only option is to send it from my handheld... and then we edit the route and add some waypoints and they want to send it back to me, I've got to send it back, and then everything's a mess. Maybe an option to update changes, or add changes, or overwrite changes? Consider the scenario where you go to a dual sport event, and the organizers upload the waypoints and routes to your handheld.

Anyway, looking forward to your efforts.... we'll do our best to help.
d

Please see my inline comments above...

I am able to see the time stamp on my tracks. See below. I would be nice for the program to centered on track points as you click them though (maybe this will be included when the track tool is implemented).

Welcome to ADV!
Now let the harassment begin:

Another feature that would be nice for inputting routes would be to have a distance measurement while drawing the route out. If you have a list of points and they are measured in miles it is hard to get the exact distances when drawing the route out with the "route tool". if there was a running count as you pulled the route line it would be very nice.

also I don't think the "copy and paste" works yet. when creating routes on bobcat it is sometimes hard to go back to a route that i was working on before closing the computer and it will start a new route rather than continuing on the one i was working on. when this happens i have 2 routes rather than one and have to label them "part 1 and part 2". if i try to copy the points and paste them into another route (like when I want to combine routes 1 and 2) Bobcat wont do it. Is this because "copy and paste" aren't enabled in the beta version?

Thanks for coming over here to ADV, it is great that you guys at Garmin are talking to us users.

I've been holding getting a mac because of Garmin support for mapsource. Now I may end up buying one. I do so much with GPS that I have to have a laptop with full garmin support. Many of the GPSXchange.com forum would like Mac support too, you can also get some feedback from there. let me know if you need any help thanks

Try dragging and dropping. Worked for me.

Crashes every time I select the waypoint tool and click on a road.

Sent the error log in.

I don't know what you Garmin guys call it, but the ability to click a route with the selector tool, then drag the route to the road I want, like it does in MapSource, would be really nice.

I'd like the ability to set the level of detail that gets shown in the map, similar to MapSource and the GPS itself. Drawing a lot of detail on the map is rather slow, even on a dual-G5 powermac.

Maybe just some optimizations in the map-drawing code?

We currently have plans to allow you to adjust the detail level of the map drawing. This will be included in an upcoming beta.

So I knew that Garmin didn't work with Macs, I came here to research GPS units and just today there is a brand new thread for Mac software to be used with Garmin GPS. I think it must be a sign.

Now which one should I buy?

Don't worry, I'm still searching, but if someone has a good suggestion on which unit is perfect for someone who likes to explore back roads and backcountry on everything from skiis, to motorsickles, send me a PM. Lately, I've taken to printing up Google Earth snapshots before I take off. I'm a bit of a weight weeny.

Thanks Brian and

Go Mac!

J

how can you drag and drop from one route into another? how can you open two "route properties" windows at once? I am playing with the program now but can't get it to work.

On the left of the Bobcat window you have two sections; one with the folders at the top and then one with the contents at the bottom. Go to the "part 2" folder that has the waypoints you want to add to your original route. Select those waypoints and drag them up to the folder in the upper window. You will be able to add them to the folder up there. You can then open up the "Part 1" route editing window and drag the files that you just added to the route editing window. That should work.