New User - Old Problem?

[chrisrivers]

Hey everybody;

 I just bought the Topofusion Basic yesterday to try to get a handle on merging my tracks into a single file, so that way my Garmin Oregon doesn't have 45 little 'mini-trails'. Unfortunately, I seem to have the exact same thing I have before.

What I'm trying to do is get all the tracks into a single file that can be turned on or off from the Garmin track manager (eg: build a local area trail map of a variety of different trails in different spots). Currently, it has all of the little pieces of track as 'individuals' on the track manager screen, though they were all brought into the GPS from one file. I'd like to have one 'master track' that switches all those bits on and off, instead of having them all individualized.

 Any thoughts?

[chrisrivers]

I should note that I don't even need the tracks to be navigable; just an overlay is sufficient.

[ScottMorris]

Chris -- I'd recommend using TF's custom map feature for that.  Load up all your tracks, use "File->Export View" to create a .KMZ file, using whichever background you want.  Garmin's handling of multiple tracks in a file is sub-par.  There really aren't any good solutions for that problem.

Hope that helps.

[chrisrivers]

Scott - Thanks so much for the incredibly fast reply. I'll take a shot at the map attempt tonight and let you know how it goes.

[JStuartWarner]

Chris:

I am facing a similar problem.  I have a single large track from my Garmin Oregon 450 and dozens of "patches" in TF that I used to tidy up things for eventual printing.  I would like to combine these into a single file in TF ('cause it's a pain to enable/disable the patch files one at a time) and in the Oregon (for obvious reasons).  Have you come up with a solution?

[ScottMorris]

Stuart -- it's easy to combine a bunch of tracks/files into one.  Select them all in the active list, right click, and then choose "merge files and save as...".  However, uploading that resulting file to most GPS units won't go all that well, as described above.  I'd recommend the custom map feature for that.

Hope that helps.

[JStuartWarner]

Scott:

This is devastating news.  A couple of hundred dollars and a few months difficult hiking for what?  Is there some way I can be put in touch with Chris Rivers, the chap that started this stream to see if he has found a workable solution?

Stuart

[ScottMorris]

Hi Stuart,

Well, I would certainly hope you enjoyed a minute or two of the difficult hiking, just purely for itself?

I would contact Garmin to complain that they don't have a better way to handle multiple tracks in a file.  Otherwise, my suggestion in this thread is a viable workaround.  You can send Chris a private message through this forum.  He also should have received a email notification for our posts, so he may chime in.

Thanks and good luck.

Scott

[JStuartWarner]

Hi Scott:

Garmin Customer Service began as they always do by saying "I can help you with this."  Then they confessed there was no solution other than to activate hundreds of files.

Is there somewhere in your Manual for TF (Basic) that says how to do this Custom Maps thing?  I didn't recognize that subject in the index.

Finally, how do I reach Chris Rivers by email through this Forum?  Do I just have to hope that he is still involved with this problem?

[ScottMorris]

Here is the tutorial for custom maps:

http://topofusion.com/garmin-custom-maps.php

Click on his user name on one of his posts, then look for "send this user a private message."

Hope that helps.

[JStuartWarner]

Thank You Scott!

The tutorial made it easy for me to overcome the multiple files problem. This success raises two more questions for me.

1.  Can you store more than one map in the Custom Map file AND choose to view them one at a time?

2.  I presume I can use the Custom Map to navigate but can I turn the tracklog on and add tracks to the Current Track/(aka Custom Map).  Or must I unload the current track, make new tracks, integrate them into my Custom Map using TF and then reload the NEW Custom Map into the Garmin?

Stuart

[ScottMorris]

Stuart,

You're welcome.

1) Yes, if you find the custom map menu in the GPS you can toggle them on and off, if they are in separate files.  Things get screwy if the sum of all the files is greater than the tile limit (100 for many units).

2) You can display GPX files unders "tracks..." on your GPS on top of the custom maps, if that's what you are asking.  Active log will show up on it, too.  If you want permanent changes to the map tiles, you'll need to regenerate the maps in TF with new tracks.

Regards,

Scott