Garmin Ireland Maps

rflynnr

I'm contemplating purchasing a Garmin 705 (which I know Blorg (and Caroline.ie?) already have). In this I was prompted by Blorg's route on the famed Dublin-Galway-Dublin (ahem Athlone) run, half of which (i.e. Dublin-Galway) I'm going to try solo next Wednesday. However, having looked online a fair bit, I can't seem to find the SD micro-card map which relates to Ireland. Am I right in presuming that the base map which comes in the basic bundle would be insufficient to guide me from Dublin to Galway on back roads?

Lumen

I bought this which comes with the European road mapping.

Caroline_ie

rflynnr wrote: »

I'm contemplating purchasing a Garmin 705 (which I know Blorg (and Caroline.ie?) already have).

I have the 305 - good enough for me

chroma

I'm on the same boat as rflynnr here. Is the map that comes with the team package (the one Lumen links to) sufficient enough to navigate around Dublin?

rflynnr

Actually, having wandered to the garmin site, I found thishttps://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=8424#overviewTab which looks like it would definitely do the job. On the other hand the package Lumen linked to looks like pretty good value. So my (and Chroma's question) stands - does the Topo map in Wiggle's "performance" bundle provide sufficient information to navigate "B" and even "C" roads in Irish towns and countryside?

Raam

chroma wrote: »

I'm on the same boat as rflynnr here. Is the map that comes with the team package (the one Lumen links to) sufficient enough to navigate around Dublin?

Not really. It only has the major roads.

Lumen

Raam wrote: »

Not really. It only has the major roads.

That'll explain the constant arguments I have with mine.

So having spunked all this money I need yet more maps?

Raam

Lumen wrote: »

That'll explain the constant arguments I have with mine.

So having spunked all this money I need yet more maps?

Maybe. I have a link to some free ones, I'll try find it. They are limited though.

Here it is:
http://www.patrick-roeder.de/geocaching/Caches_eur_high_trad.zip

Actually, that looks slightly wrong, have a root around here...
http://www.maps-gps-info.com/free-gps-maps.html

Raam

I can't remember the exact file I downloaded (it may have been the first one), but I had to rename one of the img files to whatever Garmin expects (basemap.img or something like that) and stick in the Garmin folder. All my kit is at home so I can't check it. I know that I didn't follow any weird and wonderful instructions. Filename and location was all that mattered.

BaBiT

Lumen wrote: »

I bought this which comes with the European road mapping.

I'm waiting on this one to be delivered...A bit expensive (but i got a discount cos I waste spend so much with wiggle :rolleyes:) Will let you know how it works out on my 705...Needed the full Europe cos we're planning a continental cycling trip next year

oobydooby

chroma wrote: »

I'm on the same boat as rflynnr here. Is the map that comes with the team package (the one Lumen links to) sufficient enough to navigate around Dublin?

Yes, it comes with a data map for Europe included. I'm still getting used to it, but it seems to recognise every little street on it. I've used it to navigate around Dublin and Galway and find it very effective. Good price now too.

oobydooby

Lumen wrote: »

That'll explain the constant arguments I have with mine.

So having spunked all this money I need yet more maps?

You got the road performance package right? And you loaded the mini SD card into the Garmin? Navigation wise I've been guided down little roads I never knew existed eg behind Tara Towers Hotel en route to UCD rather than the more intuitive (and better IMO) route up Trimlestown Road.

Certainly the base maps are useless but I've been doing virtual tours of Europe on it and it's very detailed, amazingly so I'd say.

Lumen

BaBiT wrote: »

I'm waiting on this one to be delivered...A bit expensive (but i got a discount cos I waste spend so much with wiggle :rolleyes:) Will let you know how it works out on my 705...Needed the full Europe cos we're planning a continental cycling trip next year

Right. But that has to be the one that comes with the Road Performance Package, the Wiggle subtitle for which says "Fully detailed maps included with the Edge 705 Road bundle".

So as far as I can see from the product descriptions, there are no better "official" maps for the 705 than the ones that come with the 705 RPP.

It's possible that the free ones are better. Or not.

So confusing....

Lumen

oobydooby wrote: »

You got the road performance package right? And you loaded the mini SD card into the Garmin? Navigation wise I've been guided down little roads I never knew existed eg behind Tara Towers Hotel en route to UCD rather than the more intuitive (and better IMO) route up Trimlestown Road.

Certainly the base maps are useless but I've been doing virtual tours of Europe on it and it's very detailed, amazingly so I'd say.

It's not that the maps are necessarily bad, it's just that I find the routing is often really weird. The other week it took me from Ballyboden to Clonsilla via Tallaght. In Tallaght it took me round and round the town centre then got really confused and turned itself off. Maybe it was having a bad day. There are still lots of newish roads (maybe 2 years old) which it doesn't know about.

blorg

The ones in the Road Performance Package are the ones you need, they key thing is "MicroSD road mapping for Europe."

It will route you down some funny routes sometimes, you have to sanity check it. A lot depends on the "cyclist" and "avoid motorways" setting, in Dublin it often tries to route me around a 45km circle when I am 10km from home.

For longer rides you are best of setting them up in MapSource (which does not come with it AFAIK.) Having said that it has been very useful in France on the fly to do "avoid major roads" routing but you have to check it against a map to be sure! I have certainly often set it to "car" when it is behaving ridiculously with the diversions.

Around Dublin it has routed me along _very_ strange routes down small roads, through housing estates, etc. but it probably actually was slightly shorter than the obvious route.

paddy's hill

I have the Garmin City Navigator NT 2009 maps on memory card in my 705, have not used it in Dublin but out in the country it is brilliant. Its exactly the same map as is used in Garmin Nuvi for a car. I'm a leisure cyclist and not a commuter so will not cycle in a city if I can avoid it.
To get Garmin mapSource, download and install Training center. Then download and install the update for MapSource and you will have the full working version of MapSource.

Freddy687

Just like "paddy's hill" I bought the city navigator software. I have the full map of Ireland loaded into the memory of the cevice and still have 450mb space for all the ride information.
The map covers every back road in the country. You can also use city navigator to create routes and download, not sure if the SD card in the Road Performance Package can be used do do this.

311

Lads ,you don't seem to know where your going with these gps things :P

BaBiT

Lumen wrote: »

Right. But that has to be the one that comes with the Road Performance Package, the Wiggle subtitle for which says "Fully detailed maps included with the Edge 705 Road bundle".

So as far as I can see from the product descriptions, there are no better "official" maps for the 705 than the ones that come with the 705 RPP.

It's possible that the free ones are better. Or not.

So confusing....

Yep, you're right Lumen, I bought the 705 new on fleabay shortly after they were released so I didn't see the Road Performance Pack available...Got the 705 at a really good price, way cheaper than wiggle at the time, but at the end of the day having to stump up 60 yoyo's for the SD card puts me over the RP pack...Ah well, live and learn

Chips Lovell

311 wrote: »

Lads ,you don't seem to know where your going with these gps things :P

The only people who need GPS are those who are oddly averse to using main roads and insist on bone shaking boreens instead and a certain Cervelo rider who gets lost on the southside of Dublin.

BaBiT

el tonto wrote: »

The only people who need GPS are those who are oddly averse to using main roads and insist on bone shaking boreens instead and a certain Cervelo rider who gets lost on the southside of Dublin.

Ah no really, my 705 gives me so much more information than where I'm going...All the information I could never need in fact...

Oops, did I say never?....Fruedian slip

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

The only people who need GPS are those who are oddly averse to using main roads and insist on bone shaking boreens instead and a certain Cervelo rider who gets lost on the southside of Dublin.

The bloody GPS didn't even help.

rflynnr

Raam wrote: »

The bloody GPS didn't even help.

Is that actually true? If so, what is the point of the things? Should I just spend my pennies on a set of paper maps and a taxi to drive alongside me carrying them?

Chips Lovell

rflynnr wrote: »

Is that actually true? If so, what is the point of the things? Should I just spend my pennies on a set of paper maps and a taxi to drive alongside me carrying them?

If I'm going somewhere unfamiliar, I'd sometimes photocopy the relevant section of a map and stick it in a plastic bag in the jersey pocket. Most of the time, I get by though by checking the map beforehand and relying on my memory.

Lumen

rflynnr wrote: »

Is that actually true? If so, what is the point of the things? Should I just spend my pennies on a set of paper maps and a taxi to drive alongside me carrying them?

I think the internet phrase is "your mileage may vary", rather appropriate here.

Blorg reports great success with the 705. I suspect that's because he's achieved some sort of mechanical-mechanical interface with the thing.

Raam

rflynnr wrote: »

Is that actually true? If so, what is the point of the things? Should I just spend my pennies on a set of paper maps and a taxi to drive alongside me carrying them?

It only had the rubbish base maps, and the toys were nowhere near the pram as I had been pushing into a head wind for an hour at that stage so I didn't have the patience to try figure it out. I had just got it the day before.

rflynnr

el tonto wrote: »

If I'm going somewhere unfamiliar, I'd sometimes photocopy the relevant section of a map and stick it in a plastic bag in the jersey pocket. Most of the time, I get by though by checking the map beforehand and relying on my memory.

Trouble is, if - for example - you were going Dublin-Galway via backroads that means carrying quite a bit of paper.

Anyway, as I understand it now from having read responses here and wandering back and forth to the Garmin site, my best bet is to go for the RPP package from Wiggle then go to the Garmin site and download relevant maps onto the 705. I haven't quite figured out why this necessitates the use of the SD card but presumably this will become clear once I've actuallly acquired the thing.

Raam

rflynnr wrote: »

Trouble is, if - for example - you were going Dublin-Galway via backroads that means carrying quite a bit of paper.

Anyway, as I understand it now from having read responses here and wandering back and forth to the Garmin site, my best bet is to go for the RPP package from Wiggle then go to the Garmin site and download relevant maps onto the 705. I haven't quite figured out why this necessitates the use of the SD card but presumably this will become clear once I've actuallly acquired the thing.

The garmin won't have the capacity to hold the maps without the SD Card. The full maps are 1.4gb.

rflynnr

Raam wrote: »

The garmin won't have the capacity to hold the maps without the SD Card. The full maps are 1.4gb.

Aha! Thanking you.

In the interim, guess what I've just tried? I loaded up a Dublin-Galway route on Google Maps, brought it up to it's second highest magnification then took a pic with my camera phone. Voila! Map on a phone. (At that magnification it should only take me 3 days to capture all the images necessary to carry the full route.)

blorg

The Garmin works very well but only if you have the full maps, the base maps are useless. I did our Dublin-Galway-Athlone completely on the Garmin (route pre-planned in Mapsource) without any paper maps at all and without needing to stop to consider where I was going. It also worked well doing Dublin-Waterford with Raam, and touring in France. You can follow a back-road route with lots of turns without having to stop to look at a paper map. You could not do these routes relying on signposts and it would be tough with a paper map.

A general paper map can be a good idea to get an idea of where you are, especially if you are relying on the routing in the unit rather than pre-programming it with a PC. Even with that, once you decide the route is sane, off you go and you don't have to look at the paper map again.

I would get an SD card (they are very cheap) but the 1.4gb is all of Europe, you could fit Ireland in the internal memory handily enough I believe (it has 512mb.)

I would strongly recommend getting MapSource for the PC, it makes route planning a lot easier.

BaBiT

rflynnr wrote: »

Trouble is, if - for example - you were going Dublin-Galway via backroads that means carrying quite a bit of paper.

Anyway, as I understand it now from having read responses here and wandering back and forth to the Garmin site, my best bet is to go for the RPP package from Wiggle then go to the Garmin site and download relevant maps onto the 705. I haven't quite figured out why this necessitates the use of the SD card but presumably this will become clear once I've actuallly acquired the thing.

As far as I'm reading the Road Performance Pack includes the full Europe Mapping SD card so unless you're planning a trip to the far reaches of Eastern Europe it should be full mapping (road/street though, not topo)

AstraMonti

A little offtopic but do you know whats the difference of the Garmin Edge 705 Road Performance Package Team Edition and the Garmin Edge 705 Road Performance Package apart from the orange color?

sy

Anybody know if this would work. Says it can be uploaded but do you need a micro sd card etc. Thanks

blorg

sy wrote: »

Anybody know if this would work. Says it can be uploaded but do you need a micro sd card etc. Thanks

Given the price it is probably a pirate copy in which case it should work fine on your computer but you probably won't be able to transfer maps to the device (as the maps are locked to unique device IDs.)

paddy's hill

Yes it will. You only need a micro sd if you want to upload the whole map, about 1.4 gb. You can just upload some of the maps, say Ireland for instance. If you were traveling abroad you could delete Ireland and upload some other country. But an sd card is only about €20 or less.

paddy's hill

Think Blorg is right about the price.

sy

@ Blorg and Paddy's hill . Thanks guys. Not a big fan of pirates. Unless of course they are excellent "eyetalian" (to quote the great man) cyclists;)
By the way Blorg hope that knee injury is improving?

Traumadoc

rflynnr wrote: »

I'm contemplating purchasing a Garmin 705 (which I know Blorg (and Caroline.ie?) already have). In this I was prompted by Blorg's route on the famed Dublin-Galway-Dublin (ahem Athlone) run, half of which (i.e. Dublin-Galway) I'm going to try solo next Wednesday. However, having looked online a fair bit, I can't seem to find the SD micro-card map which relates to Ireland. Am I right in presuming that the base map which comes in the basic bundle would be insufficient to guide me from Dublin to Galway on back roads?

Cheaper here and they seem to have the card.

http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.php/905/garmin-edge-705-heart-rate-monitor---speed-cadence