100 Tile Limit and large maps (e.g, the Colorado Trail)

[tomis916]

I am trying to upload the most legible map of the Colorado Trail onto my Garmin etrex 20 as possible.  Uploading the map as a single tileset gives a very fuzzy map and I can't seem to fit within the 100 tileset limit when I attempt to export a tiled KMZ.

I can't reduce the size of the map further without losing part of the trail.  The closest I can get by changing the map selection is to select Topo 32M which gets me to a tileset of 184 (84 over the limit).

I don't know if it is relevant to the issue, but the only way to view the map on my laptop using Topo is use Topo 512M and that seems to be unable to download tiles on the far western edge of the Colorado Trail.  In any case, Topo 64M, 256M and 512M are not available from the drop-down menu for exporting tiled maps.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[ScottMorris]

Hi,

The custom maps feature on the eTrex 20 isn't very well suited for a large trail like the CT.  The 100 tile limit is a deal killer for detail, as you've found.  Unfortunately it's a hard coded limit on the unit, so there isn't much we can do about it.

We are looking at adding .JNX support, which would allow nearly unlimited tile uploading (and better quality -- Garmin purposely reduces quality on third-party uploaded maps).  Stay tuned for updates on that, but in the meantime, I'd look at gpsfiledepot.com and go with the free vector basemaps, for the CT.

Hope that helps.

[tomis916]

That does help.  I'm technically challenged enough that the last thing I need to be doing is trying the impossible.

I downloaded a base map from gpsfiledepot and that seems to work reasonably well.

While on this topic, I was hoping you could share what the racers typically do on the big races (e.g., CTR, GDR, etc.).  Is it fair to say that they mainly just focus on following the track on their GPS, mark key waypoints, and don't pay too much attention to the maps when they are racing?  I know it might be hard to generalize, but any insight would be helpful.

Thanks again for the response.

[ScottMorris]

The most important thing is the track, yep.  Even with no basemaps, that works.

Basemaps are nice for understanding where you are, predicting terrain ahead, and making unplanned detours (to towns, emergencies, etc).  But they aren't completely necessary.

Some people will mark waypoints for major towns, springs, etc.  But I think a lot of people just wing that stuff out there.  I like to have waypoints for key spots.