Garmin eTrex Vista & Maps Question

burly

Hi everyone,

Have an eTrex Vista Hcx Handheld, with SMC contour maps on, and working away fine.
Was thinking of buying City Navigator maps to boost the detail around mountains in terms of secondary roads etc.
My question is, do the SMc maps and the City Nav maps overlay on each other on the screen of the Hcx. I know they don't on MapSource.
Also, will the city Nav software provide directions to a specifice location using the eTrex in the same way it would on an in-car sat nav?

Appreciate any replies

Alun

burly wrote: »

My question is, do the SMc maps and the City Nav maps overlay on each other on the screen of the Hcx. I know they don't on MapSource.

Yes, they do. As mentioned before, however, some of the water features overlay each other as well, which isn't ideal, as the CN versions of them are more accurate then the SMC ones, so it can look a bit odd sometimes. The Upper Lake at Glendalough is a prime example.

Also, will the city Nav software provide directions to a specifice location using the eTrex in the same way it would on an in-car sat nav?

Yes. Just the same, but within the confines of the tiny little screen, and no voice prompts or anything fancy like that, it just beeps at you before a turn.

burly

Thanks Alun,

Pity about the water masses, how bad does it look on screen? is it likely to affectc navigation?

Regards

Alun

Not really, it just looks a bit odd.

burly

Alun wrote: »

Not really, it just looks a bit odd.

Yeh, doesnt look too bad.

By the way how are you getting screenshots from your eTrex on to your computer?!!!!

Alun

burly wrote: »

Yeh, doesnt look too bad.

Yeah, it's not that bad. The SMC ones look a lot 'blockier' when you zoom in much closer.

By the way how are you getting screenshots from your eTrex on to your computer?!!!!

A little Garmin utility called xImage ...

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=545

burly

Alun wrote: »

Yeah, it's not that bad. The SMC ones look a lot 'blockier' when you zoom in much closer.

A little Garmin utility called xImage ...

http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=545

Hi Alun,

Great little programme that. Ive used it successfully that to get screenshots from the GPS. I see that it also allows transferring of images to the gps? What kind of images can be transferred to the GPS? and for what benefit??

Alun

As far as I can see for the etrex's, only custom waypoint symbols. There's mention in the help file about downloading/uploading custom splash screens, but it's not clear what models this refers to (the etrex doesn't have one).