I finally bit the bullet and figured out how to get free online maps onto my Garmin etrex 20. I was able to take Caltopo maps, overlay them onto Google Earth, and then save them onto my GPS. I tried a small area, and it worked! I'm looking for simple maps on my GPS that give me lake outlines, so to pull off the overlay, I just matched up the lakeshores.

But when I tried to do a large area, it was very difficult to get the overlay map to "match" Google Earth.

So I'm wondering if any of you have more experience than I have any tricks; like settings you can use to get them to match? Or was my overlay map just too big? (I was trying to get most of the southern half of Wabikimi.

Thanks,

Brian

Overlay alignment can be tough. Angles and permanent landmarks, roads work best. Patience, trial and error, are the word.

butthead

Large overlays can also mean dealing with file sizes too large for your gps unit to handle. Try multiple smaller files.

Screenshot of 62st, area west of Gunflint, Seagull, displaing Garmin Topo.
Same area but with overlay from Fisher Map.
Zoomed.
Zoomed again.

butthead

Thanks. Well I'll try again. I'm going to Wabikimi so it isn't an area with roads. Maybe I'll look at the railroad tracks.

Of course Google Earth/maps are just incredible products. But I've always found it irritating how "loosy goosy" they are. Wish they had a button that would just force the view to be from 90 degrees above the center, North up.

Here ya go, View, reset, Tilt and Compass. You need to repeat every time you move the map.
Mexican Hat Lake WCPP.

butthead

quote butthead: "Here ya go, View, reset, Tilt and Compass. You need to repeat every time you move the map.
Mexican Hat Lake WCPP.


butthead"

Nice. Thanks.

Question from a beginner: If you get points, tracks, routes, and can just "show on map" with a topo map, what advantage is there to an overlay on google earth?

quote 3Ball: "Question from a beginner: If you get points, tracks, routes, and can just "show on map" with a topo map, what advantage is there to an overlay on google earth?"

I will overlay jpgs saved from MN State Park map pdfs and Superior Hiking Trail pdfs from their websites and install them on my 62st. Great for showing position in relation to trails and points of interest right on the screen and leave paper map and compass in my pocket more often.

I have maps of recent major BWCAW wildfires which are occasionally interesting to overlay on top of our anticipated travel area.

They may be turned on and off as needed if they cover some important details on the base map.

So, the advantage is that there is some information that isn't a route, track or waypoint? That makes some sense.

I have tried map overlays in google earth but haven't figured out how to save them as maps and load them to basecamp as maps. I have figured out how to save tracks, waypoints etc. from google earth, and open tracks etc. in basecamp (such as the SHT) but not maps.

Has Google changed? It seems that the videos show map saving in a way that does not appear possible when I go to Google Earth.

Sure, like this page, which is probably the best tutorial on creating and saving these images. Campus buildings, park trails and features, historical maps... all sort of interesting things to have on an overlay image.

Click the page's middle tab for the best step-by-step instructions I have found for saving these kmz files. You can save them directly to your device or save them to your computer and copy them to your device's maps folder later: /Garmin/CustomMaps/

Perfect. Thanks!

One more question (OK it turned into more than one): Can I get the maps from my device to permanently load into basecamp rather than to have to connect the GPSr each time? Can Basecamp open more than 1 map at a time?

See where your connected device shows up in the list in the left column in BaseCamp? Click on it and drag the map name to My Collection. Better yet, make a new list and drag it there.

I just barged in here but, VERY NICE Schweady. Thanks!

Wow, I made a lot of progress without any pain. Thanks very much!!

Sorry to ask so many questions ... I am getting the overlay done, and into basecamp, but I then can't send to the device (Garmin oregon 650T) because it "exceeds maximum resolution."

I think that the image is 1.5 megapixels and the maximum allowable is 1.

Is there any way to make an adjustment to the image before overlay, after overlay, or before sending to GPSr?

Quite sure you can section the map into separate chunks and transfer both. Size limit may apply to single transfer, but you should be able to store and chose from a selection stored on the unit internal and or external memory.
I'd be more specific but and rebuilding my hard-drive storage and BaseCamp has no maps installed currently.

butthead