Thread: Garman Nuvi?

nothing i know of...

garmin oztopo or gpsoz, both will cost you more money but the gpsoz version works ok.

Hi,
Oztopo maps are good, with detail right down to fire trails. Using Basecamp these can be loaded onto the Garmin, along with tracks, routes, waypoints etc.
cheers

Funny, I have never found the Garmin topo maps much good, more because of a Garmin trait to not show track names until the map is on maximum amplification usually 700 metres on the screen , even with "high" detail.

Its very frustrating to look for say a turnoff , which shows on the screen, and not know whether there might be another turnoff just off screen, because the track names are not shown.

Another thing I find frustrating is the inability to track a route even by placing waypoints at one intersection , then the next.

I remember trying to plot a route to the camping ground on the 6 foot track, which had been predetermined by the club, and the 1490T just refusing to follow the waypoints.
BTW if it is like mine , it may just turn off on you from time to time. You need to reboot it and the method is on the Garmin website. I have found you also have to clear previous trips regularly or the thing freezes.
Regards Philip A

The latest Garmaps have all the detail you need, the problem is the logic on the unit that zooms out and hides detail with no regard to your requirements.

My 215W performs better than our new 1490LT.

I use Tracks4Africa on my 215W and I can lock it on to a low level zoom for proper waypoint tracking.

Tracks4Africa uses a similar back-end software to GPS OZ (Basecamp type system).

Download "Shonky Maps" and install with garmin base camp / map manager

Shonkymaps by Shonkylogic

much more useful than garmin topo maps, not sure about vicalps but seem to have most of outback exploration , mining and station tracks
but its handy to have hema maps running on win-ce for an overall view while you run shonky on a nuvi.

btw, you have to go into the menus and turn off street maps for shonky to work properly

I find Shonky maps just as frustrating as you have to get to max amplification for all of the tracks to show at all.
I recall recently trying to plot a route in Bendethra and none of the tracks showed at even a moderate screen size. it was only when you get down to 700 metres that all the tracks show and its hard to know where you are when trying to set a route.
I think the limitation is teh 1490T itself, although I have been trialling Oztopo on my ALDI 10inch tablet and the NSW 1/150,000 maps are also difficult to read and pixilate at more resolution. Google maps are almost as good !
I haven't found an ideal solution yet. Maybe its mudmaps on Ipad but that is big bucks unless you already have a 3G Ipad.
Regards Philip A

i found nothing that i thought was effective

shonky maps is as good as it gets imho and it is not much chop compared to other options out there on other devices.

and as the man says himself

"The purpose of shonkymaps has always been to aid in the pursuit of outdoor activities (such as Geocaching) rather than vehicular navigation. "