Mapping for Garmin

[Garry Booth]

Thanks for that tip. I will try it. Whereabouts on the device does the file turn up? (I need to retrieve it from my son, an oceanographer, who is used to survey software etc. I'm hoping he can figure it out for me... )

[Garry Booth]

Sorry Wirrel Cyclist I should have said: I have a gpx file from my house to a friend's in Cambridge (75miles). I drag it over to the device and yet when try to find it - nada. Simply not there.

[Vitara]

Try using Basecamp, it's a free download and Garmin specific. Import the GPX file into Basecamp, then select the route in the Library window and use the send to device option.

Note if the route you have got from cyclestreets has more than 50 waypoints you need to reduce them to 50 (the Etrex limit for routes). The easiest way to do this is to convert the route to a track then back to a route setting a waypoint max of 50. The waypoints will be evenly distributed so may not be ideal for route finding but generally speaking should do the job.

When Basecamp sends the route/track to the Garmin it does something more than just transferring the GPX file into the etrex memory or onto the memory card, it somehow integrates it into the mapping and installs the waypoints etc.

If you are doing a long trip, say a 14 day LeJog, loading all the 14 files for each days riding will slow down some of the etrex functions especially start up and route loading so although you will only be using 1 of the 14 routes the unit must be doing something or interacting with the 13 stored routes although I'm not sure what. On my 14 day ride I found it better to load each day as I needed it.

My big problem with the Etrex 20 has been downloading a gpx file to it. Say I get a route from cyclestreets or wherever, save it as a gpx file to my p.c. in theory I should be able to send it to my unit. But I have never achieved it.
Otherwise, it is a great bit of kit and tough. Mine bounced off the handlebars into the road going downhill v fast and was unscathed...
Unless that's the reason I can't get it to save a route...

[LollyKat]

Are you dragging it to the right place? It should go in the Garmin/GPX folder, either on the device or on the SD card (you will have to create this folder). It will then turn up. You can then access it from the Routes or Track Manager tabs on the main menu.

I don't use Basecamp (I can't, as my computer is too old) but create tracks with Bikehike or whatever, save them and then copy them over as described above using the file manager.

[ukdodger]

I currently use a smart phone with a free Ap called Osmand which allows 10 free downloadable maps. I've been happy with this but I'm now intending to buy a Garmin Etrex 20. I wonder if I will now have to pay for maps or is there a free source for maps that can be loaded onto a Garmin and work!
Looking on Amazon at maps for Garmin seem quite expensive so may stick with the phone if there are no alternatives i.e. free.

Have you tried this:

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

[Garry Booth]

Thanks again everyone for your tips. I will 'revert' once I've tried it. G

[Samuel D]

Thanks for your comprehensive reply, Mick F.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the etrex 20 is an absolute pig to read in sunlight. More so when the backlight is off.
A way around this is matt screen protectors which not only do a nice job of stopping scratches ruining the screen, but do an ok job of reducing glare at the slight cost of reducing the screens clarity a bit.

Screen protectors introduce additional surfaces that reduce contrast. They may reduce specular reflections, but those can be avoided anyway by angling the device or moving your head, and a screen protector typically won’t reduce even specular reflections by enough to matter – and only while harming contrast at other angles.

I found the eTrex 20 okay in direct sunlight. Not great, but better than a smartphone. Workable.

[Samuel D]

Garmin announced the eTrex 10/20/30 on 31 May 2011, exactly four years after the predecessors (H, Venture HC, Summit HC, Legend HCx, Vista HCx) were announced on 31 May 2007. If these models are on a four-year update cycle, Garmin might announce replacements on 31 May (i.e. in a month).

I wasn’t far wrong! Garmin has announced new eTrex 20x and 30x models. They are very similar to the existing eTrex 20 and 30 models, but have some small changes:

• higher resolution display (240 × 320 pixels instead of 176 × 220). Supposedly the same size, though (very small)
• preloaded Western Europe Garmin ActiveMap with shaded relief instead of TOPO UK & Ireland Light map (in the UK). Name aside, this is the same thing but covering more countries
• more built-in memory (3.7 GB versus 1.7 GB)
• the removal of the hunting and fishing calendar, a niche feature unlikely to be of interest to cyclists anyway.

I think that’s all.