Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: GPS :: BWCA maps for Garmin
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Corsair |
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schweady |
quote Corsair: "Does anyone have the new version? Of what? If you are talking about Garmin's ILBW chip, I don't see version info anywhere. |
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kevins |
I was thinking of Red Pine or the new BWCA maps from Garmin. Any thoughts from those wiser than me? |
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butthead |
butthead |
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schweady |
Oh, maybe not 100% identical... actually, improved: In the spirit of steering back toward the original topic on mapping campsites and portages, this new chip does extend farther across the Canadian boarder, at least around the Lac La Croix area, and has Bottle Portage in its data set. Small thing, but indicates that this is not just the LakeMaster data re-copied. |
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Frenchy19 |
Red Pine BWCA & Quetico |
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Frenchy19 |
quote quark2222: "Hmmm. The links to the screen shots don't pop. Have you tried their software or cards?/ Thanks. Tomster" I noticed the same thing. I have not yet tried them, but I have an impending surgery that will keep me home for a couple of weeks at which time I plan on making the purchase. I will post comments after I have a chance to check it out. I figure for about 1/4 the price of the Garmin BWCA & Ontario lakes maps it's worth the cost to at least check it out. |
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schweady |
Frenchy, before you buy, make sure you take a look at Garmin's BRAND NEW Upper Midwest Fishing Guide. $99.99 for download, chip, or DVD. 9,500 lakes in 7 states plus Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake. I'm veering a bit off-thread here, since it doesn't contain BWCA campsites and portages like the Red Pine data does, but sure has a lot of lake contours for the money. The downside: I think you have to marry it to one gps unit, even if you get the microchip. |
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butthead |
butthead |
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Corsair |
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quark2222 |
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butthead |
screenshots Installed the program on Asus EEE PC 1215N, and it auto installed into both MapSource and BaseCamp. Also installed to 1GB chip and used in NUVI 255W (the program took less than 48MB). Some but not many lakes are depth charted. BWCA and Quetico are covered well with portage track and length displayed. Camps in BWCA displayed. Most of the info displayed can be found for free at other sources and combined to make a similar map package, the biggest benefit is it's all in one program for those who might not want to mess with mapping programs on a computer. butthead |
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Corsair |
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schweady |
First thing, connect it to your computer and make a backup. It will show up as an external drive whose contents can be copied to a folder on your computer somewhere. That way, you can toy around with it without fear of goofing anything up forever. That has saved me a couple of times. I have the 62st which includes Garmin's topo mapping, but there is even higher resolution map out there that you can add to your unit for free: Minnesota Topo Map. If you are looking for lake depths, I know of no better investment than Garmin's Upper Midwest Fishing Guide chip which I linked to a few posts back. I could be wrong, but I think that Garmin's Garmin's Inland Lakes Boundary Waters chip is just a subset of the UMFG chip's lakes with the campsite and portage data added on. For the same money, you can have tons more lakes mapped and add the campsite and portages .gpx data for free. For that data, I suggest the Arch Harris link I provided above. I use the bwca-camp+port-wpt.gpx file and the bwca-portage-tracks.gpx file, then delete the waypoints marking the portage ends that come with the campsite waypoints in the bwca-camp+port-wpt.gpx file. They just seem redundant and clutter things up when the portage tracks are already present. The Harris data can be a bit daunting at first. Here is a thread where I tried to spell it out a little more clearly... It also has posts from other users who were somewhat underwhelmed by Garmin's ILBW chip data. Oh, and to follow my directions on the Harris data, you'll need Garmin's BaseCamp software installed on your computer. Really helpful application, and it is also free. Have fun! |
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kevins |
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schweady |
If your goal is to simply bring up a map showing where you are, see a trail recording your movement, or mark spots of interest along your way, you're all set. If you want topographical lines for hiking, gpsfiledepot.com. If you want hydrographical lines for fishing, UMFG chip. If you want BWCA campsite waypoints and portage tracks, the Arch Harris data. If you want a nice system to organize and manage your growing pile of data, BaseCamp. Of course, these are just the solutions which I found most helpful. Others have found pleasure with other methods. Do play with it for a while. Get comfortable with the various buttons and screens. Go for a hike or take it in the car. Notice what happens with the Current Track info. Create a waypoint somewhere. Move away from that point and figure out how to make the unit locate it again... Enjoy! |
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jeroldharter |
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butthead |
Just noticed this as a forum sponsor. butthead |
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schweady |
And I guess I don't really feel the need for more maps/waypoint sources; I'm getting by better than I had expected with BaseCamp and the .gpx data available free from Arch Harris (who -- by the way -- retired from James Madison University just this past month. Grab your data while the school still offers him the web space...) THANKS, Arch! |
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Frenchy19 |
quote butthead: "OK I stopped looking and pulled the trigger on the Red Pine Paddle Nav map (I'm a bit of a computer mapping geek). Thanks for the thorough info! I also really appreciate the screenshots, and being a Mac user with limited tech abilities, I am going to pull the trigger later this afternoon after reading your post. Looking forward to learning how to use my first and new (still in box) 62s over the next few weeks... |
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schweady |
quote Frenchy19: "Looking forward to learning how to use my first and new (still in box) 62s over the next few weeks..." Frenchy, break the seal on that thing. Then start up a new thread about the 62s and 62st and we can field questions/insights. If you go out to Garmin's website, connect your unit and register it, you can get a discount (10-15% ??) on your next Garmin purchase within some short limited time frame. (Maybe Garmin's Upper Midwest Fishing Guide chip that I mentioned above...?) Always nice to install firmware updates as they are announced, too. |
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tnthekids |
quote butthead: " Pine Mapping I use this software program and really like it. I have a Garmin Dakota 20 |
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schweady |
MN lakes mapped on the 2010 Garmin LakeMaster MN chip. Still hoping to see a similarly detailed list for Garmin's own Upper Midwest chip. |
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Frenchy19 |
quote schweady: "quote Frenchy19: "Looking forward to learning how to use my first and new (still in box) 62s over the next few weeks..." I'll be lucky if I can figure out how to turn the thing on:) Seriously, I plan on playing around with it this weekend. I have a torn rotator cuff that will be repaired next Tuesday, and I am looking at some extended couch time. That's when I plan to get down and dirty...! |
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schweady |
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