What is a good topo map to load into a gps ?

Submitted: Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 11:34

ThreadID: 74667 Views:5139 Replies:3 FollowUps:5

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Outback Gazz

Howdy all - hope you had a good chrissy and ate / drank too much like I did !!

Couple questions about gps's and maps for gps's as I'm not that into this new electronic gadgetry - are there topo maps that cover all of australia and if so what is a good one ? What is the easiest / best way to load them into a gps ?
When loading in new maps do you still keep the existing maps in the unit ?
The luvely missus gave me a Garmin Nuvi 255w for xmas ( any good ? )

Cheers

Outback Gazz

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Reply By: Atta Boy Luther - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 11:51

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 11:51

Topo Australia Works for me . When in city or towns use the normal city maps and when in the rural areas untick the city maps on the garmin and use topo australia maps .

AnswerID: 396524

Follow Up By: Outback Gazz - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 15:51

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 15:51

Thanks for that ! As there currently is no box to tick / or untick in the map section I am assuming there will be when I load other maps into the unit !

Thanks for your reply

Gazz

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Follow Up By: Atta Boy Luther - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 18:14

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 18:14

Garmin 255W /tools/settings/map/map info/. Get the dvd version .

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Reply By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 12:45

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 12:45

You can load Tracks 4 Australia and or OzTopo , I would add those to an SD Card, you can also purchase the Garmin Topo , also because of it's size, to an SD Card,
One important thing you should do is connect it to the PC and make a backup of the internal files ,
At the link supplied below you will find links for all safety POI's and info on how to gain more room in the memory..BE CAREFUL .

For other Nuvi Information LOOK HERE

.

gift by Daughter

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AnswerID: 396527

Follow Up By: Outback Gazz - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 15:57

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 15:57

Thanks Doug & Dusty - I knew this would start to become a technical headache for me and my not so tech savvy brain ! I have always found it easier to open a beer and a paper map than programs on a computer !
Will use your advice!

Cheers and beers

Gazz

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Reply By: The Explorer - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 12:50

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 12:50

Hello

AFAIK there are five options

Garmins TOPO Australia

GPSOZ's OzTopo

OSM

Tracks 4 Australia

ShonkyMaps

All have various amounts of detail. First two are commercial products that cost ~$230. Others are free. Considering you already have street detail suggest you try Shonkymaps which has out of town detail equivalent to a 250K topo map. If you find this inadequate then maybe Garmins Topo or Oztopo could provide the detail you want. There is no universally applicable best map.

You can download a ready to go version of Shonkymaps (and t4A and contours combined) here.

Shonkymaps Garmin img format download

It is 413MB in size. Ensure you create a folder on the datacard called "Garmin" and place the data/map in that folder. WARNING Any map already on that datacard WILL be overwritten.

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 15:51

Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 at 15:51

PS: latest version of Garmins basecamp now allows viewing of non-DEM map data (i.e previously only Topo Australia could be viewed).

BaseCamp software version 2.0.8

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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