Offroad Maps for Garmin GPS

Submitted: Friday, Jan 22, 2016 at 22:14
ThreadID: 131431 Views:8041 Replies:5 FollowUps:15
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I have used Garmin GPS for street navigation for some time and found it to work for me quite well. When offroad most of the major tracks are in the system but not the more remote tracks etc.

I have the Garmin Topo maps but these really do not show more tracks but have more detail on the topography etc.

Are there any maps available that will work on the Garmin that cover more remote tracks etc I guess full filling a function like Hema maps and the other govt 1:250.000 or 1:50,000 topo maps used with Oziexplorer.

Thanks

Garry
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Reply By: Member - Rowdy6032 (WA) - Friday, Jan 22, 2016 at 22:50

Friday, Jan 22, 2016 at 22:50
Shonkymaps-Free

http://shonkylogic.net/shonkymaps/

You will also need Garmin Mapsource or Basecamp.

OzTopo-Costs
AnswerID: 595294

Follow Up By: garrycol - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 00:41

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 00:41
Ok - thanks - the link indicates that the maps are Geo science maps from 2006 - was hoping for something a bit more up to date.

Any other options?

Cheers

Garry
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Follow Up By: garrycol - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 13:24

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 13:24
I downloaded the basic shonky map and used the map file to replace the map file in my Garmin Topo V4 micro disk and set the GPS to just use the shonky map - all loaded up Ok. The went for a test run in to the foothills of the Brindabellas and was somewhat disappointed.

I also ran my other Garmin GPS with just the latest street maps loaded and compared the two - there are far more tracks on the Garmin street maps than the Shonky maps and when you were on a track the Shonky rarely had you on the track.

i appreciate this test is not conclusive but Shonky did not compare well with the standard on road maps when off road.

Thanks for the suggestion though - unless you try these things you do not knwo how well they actually work.

Cheers

Garry
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Reply By: Member - Will 76 Series - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 04:16

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 04:16
Gary,
There sure is. I have a Garmin Nuvi 2797 and most Garmin's have the facility for a micro SD Card. Have a look at OZTOPO Version 8 (latest). This will give you fantastic topo coverage for NZ & Australia. As stated you will need to use Garmin's Base Camp or Map Source programs for Oztopo. Base Camp is what I use and is a free download from Garmin's website (www.oztop.com.au/basecamp). You need to install Base Camp prior to installing OZtopo to your PC. Upgrades are $100 about every 2 years.
OZTopo is used by a lot bushwalkers, 4wd's & cross country enthusiasts so it provides amazing detail down to 10m contour intervals if you want. If you don't want that detail you go back to the normal road Garmin setting. I do all my route planning on the PC then send it to the Garmin GPS and the route is loaded. Have a look at www.gps.oz.com.au for a bit more info on Oztopo.
Regards Will
AnswerID: 595305

Follow Up By: vk1dx - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 07:39

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 07:39
Mel

What is auto route? (from the oztopo.com.au site near a screen dump).

Phil
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Follow Up By: Jackolux - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 08:57

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 08:57
Yep , l use OzTopo on a SD card and Base camp , it good .
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Follow Up By: vk1dx - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 10:10

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 10:10
Jackolux What is "auto route"?

Phil
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 11:47

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 11:47
Auto route is a function that allows you to specify start point and destination and the program will define a route to it via the roads it knows about.

With Oztopo you may run out of memory trying to do this, in which case you choose a closer, intermediate, destination.

Compared with other topo maps the big strength of Oztopo is that it covers the country at a scale of around 25K. You can also swap the SD card into other Garmin GPSs - as long as you specify which models at the time of ordering as there's variation in rendering.
The downside though is that many man-made features like gates and huts aren't included - compared with govt topos such as VicMap 25K and 30K and the NSW equivalents.
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Follow Up By: vk1dx - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 13:16

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 13:16
Thanks Sigmund. That may be handy on gazetted roads but I wonder if it would work on fire trails and tracks etc like in the high country.

Anyway; I am not getting it as I am happy with Ozi. Just curious.

Cheers

Phil
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Follow Up By: garrycol - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 13:52

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 13:52
Thanks for that suggestion - unfortunately the price if a bit much for me. If it comes to the crunch I would just get another chinese GPS load on my oziexplorer with my Hema and other maps and have $100 left over.

Cheers

Garry
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FollowupID: 863982

Follow Up By: vk1dx - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 14:26

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 14:26
Hi Garry

Ozi doesn't do such a bad job hey! Re the cheap chinese. I see you already had one.

Our son initially had a chinese one. He couldn't even listen to the radio or a CD/DVD at the same time that Ozi was occupying the screen. He was most impressed when he heard the music with Ozi on- screen in my car. He got an aussie in-dash one when he got home.

Just a heads up first mate.

Phil
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Follow Up By: Sigmund - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 14:37

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 14:37
Horses for courses. Current Hemas are just too small scale & aren't up to close navigation. The new 150K will be better but 50K is my preferred limit.
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Follow Up By: vk1dx - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 14:53

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 14:53
I've kind of gone off Hema since they told me that when they next update their maps, I won't be able to buy a version for Ozi. Or something like that.

That's not a real worry though, because I have enough maps anyway. Something like 39Gb all up and only take those for the area we are covering.

I am not into always having the "trendy" ones or changing something that does all I need just for the sake of upgrading.

Phil
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Follow Up By: garrycol - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 16:47

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 16:47
I have had two chinese stand alone GPS over the years with Ozi - so listening to the radio is not an issue. They have worked well with their main limitation being poor batteries but are cheap to replace.Still got a 7" but needs a new battery and it is over 5 years old so a bit long in the tooth.

Looking to go to a 10" android tablet with Ozi using the maps I have for offroad stuff - in NSW I use the 1:25K maps and elsewhere the 1:250K maps.

However I have learnt from bitter experience a few years back that you should have backup where GPS is concerned (paper maps or another GPS). The Garmin GPS is hard wired in the dash cubby box and it would be good to have decent offroad maps sitting on a micro SD card in its spare slot for use if needed. Maps can be changed from the map menu in the GPS.

As I indicated I have the Garmin Topo maps but they are really just the onroad maps with lots of topo information added so do not have minor or remote tracks.

Cheers

Garry

PS - when you edit a post/followup - why does it take out the paragraph spacing?? Just had to go back in and put them back - twice. :-(
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Follow Up By: vk1dx - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 22:32

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 22:32
Re radio:
I was actually talking about the in-dash ones that relace the car audio kit. I won't have stuff loose in the cabin. Had my fair share of loose object when in a pickle. And really want to rid the car of stuff that has to be charged up all the time. I keep on forgetting.

Phil
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FollowupID: 864008

Reply By: B1B2 - Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 18:42

Saturday, Jan 23, 2016 at 18:42
Garry,
I use the Mapsource program on the computer with City navigator and shonky maps and find it fantastic. I have the Garmin Oregon 300. It is the detail which increases as you zoom in. Garmin had a free program called nRoute which i installed on my laptop. I can then use my computer to navigate, it shows the vehicle on the screen. I organise trips, with waypoints and routes on the computer then download them to the GPS.
I bought the Camps 7 for my gps and loaded it onto the Oregon and found that pretty good for camping, used in conjunction with the Camps Book.
I have an IGO chinese gps which I use on trips in conjunction with garmin, it is excellent for finding more detailed shopping, fuel etc. It was only $120 and has maps of the world. They are just harder to see in bright sunlight. It has all the speed limits, red light cameras too.

Cheers,
AnswerID: 595339

Reply By: Malcom M - Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 08:20

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 08:20
Garmin Topo maps can only be used as an 'either or'. You can use the standard Garmin maps or the Topo ones but you cannot select both at once. Unfortunately the Garmin Topo misses out on a huge amount of data that the street maps contain.

I use OzTopo maps which are simply brilliant. You can select both the Garmin street maps and the OzTopo to display simultaneously so you effectively get Topo info on your standard maps.

We run the Garmin this way to supplement OziExplorer. Its nice to be able to auto route a route.
AnswerID: 595471

Reply By: garrycol - Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 10:52

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 10:52
Thanks for everyone for your input - has focussed my thoughts.

Shonky maps seem to work OK but are are too old. I have not used Oztopo maps but from the description given seem to fit the bill - but the cost is just too much. There does not seem to be another option.

So I will leave the Garmin as the onroad navigator and when I head off road use Oziexplorer and my Hema maps on either a Win CE GPS or a android tablet.

Thanks

Garry
AnswerID: 595482

Follow Up By: Member - Graeme W (NSW) - Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 12:02

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 12:02
Hi Garry,

There is also Tracks4Australia. I doubt it's any more recent than the Shonky maps but here's the link.

http://www.gpsoz.com.au/tracks4australia/

The insert link button doesn't seem to work on my android tablet, so I hope the web address appears OK.

Graeme
Lake Eyre 2011

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Follow Up By: garrycol - Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 16:38

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2016 at 16:38
Thanks - I will check it out.

Garry
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