BWCA New garmin 62s Boundary Waters Group Forum: GPS
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12/27/2014 08:18AM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Got a 62s for christmas. Is it just me or do the preinstalled maps just stink that much?

I figured out that I need maps. I also get that the free maps at gpsfiledepot.com. donot allow one to auto route when driving.

I will use this gps for trail hiking in Ohio and elsewhere in addition to bwca use.

Will the free maps be adequate?

Any other thoughts? Thanks.

P.s. also got a package of Nutter Butters.....but none of you to can help me with that!!!!
 
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12/27/2014 08:33AM  
Crappy things about the 62s, only base map included and it's not much for topography, and limited internal memory. Good things both can be addressed.

Install BaseCamp on your computer to work with and tailor maps.
Chips memory is cheap, get a few 4gb.
Visit GPS File Depot.
For a small cost you can subscribe to Birds Eye for USGSmaps or Sat Imaging.

Garmin maps like Boundary Waters Topo are available but somewhat expensive, but nice maps.

Have fun with it!

butthead

PS: Forgot to mention making and installing Custom Maps an interesting and usefull tool for the BaseCamp/GoogleEarth/GPS62s. bh
 
Savage Voyageur
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12/27/2014 10:43AM  
Congrats on the new GPS. This is what worked for me. I have a handheld Montana and a Nuvi in my truck. I bought the chip that Garmin sells so I can use between my work truck and handheld. This allows me to drive turn by turn with the latest street info. I also bought a USGS 24000 topo chip so I can navigate in the woods. They were about $80.00 each chip and will be able to move to a newer GPS someday. This is not an option of all but it is for me.
 
schweady
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12/30/2014 06:56PM  
butthead has it covered pretty well. I was going to mention Garmin's Upper Midwest Fishing Guide chip - 7 states and some of Ontario - but I see that it is now discontinued ?? , and also never included Ohio anyway. Could be worth a look on secondary sales sites, though. BaseCamp is really a sweet app. Figuring out how to manage it for saving tracks and points can really enhance your canoeing/hiking/camping trip diaries. Not to mention being able to save stuff on your computer and delete it from your limited memory handheld.

My favorite custom maps that I created involved layering the 27 Superior Hiking Trail jpgs into Google Earth and saving them to my handheld. Nice to have when on the trail instead of reaching for the paper.

I got the 62st model a few years back and was immediately mocked for spending more for the topo, but the sale price was such that I couldn't pass it up. So I can't answer specifically what you would need to do mapwise other than what has already been said. Great unit, however. Rugged, accurate, picks up signal fast.
 
12/30/2014 10:13PM  
Other than Lake Erie, fishing in Ohio is nothing to write home about!

Fun for the kids who like to pull in a 6 inch blue gill with every cast, but beyond that....fair to poor.


I downloaded maps from gpsfiledepot.com. Can't get the Mytrails transparent map to overlay in Basecamp like the creator says it can do now. Don't see many Ohio trails in any of the maps. May have to make my own!



 
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