Messages

<<$10^6 q&a>>

I knew there was a reason I didn't want to know <g>

aha!  that works!
thanks for the tip!

out of curiosity, how does one turn an OpenStreet map into something "searchable / routable"? or is that possible?

Boyd - system settings include
WAAS/EGNOS
Safe Mode
Garmin Lock
Touch Tones

the 350 apparently lacks the gps simulate mode...?

<I'm baaaaaaaaack!>

my finding have been found, and the news is dismal.

using the nuvi 350 in London/UK:

severe problems acquiring satellites; could be the urban environment....
could be poor antenna; could be . . . .

sitting on the bench in an open space park, acquired satellites.
while sitting on the bench my "location" started slowly wandering around. 
at one point the nuvi had me roughly wandering aimless half a mile north of the bench my butt was parked on.

fascinating . . .

the UK OpenStreet map - as I downloaded, uploaded, employed it
- open to significant user ignorance and error -
is not routeable/searchable/<whatever the right term is>. 
using menu functions "Where to" produced "Enter state name"  oops.  UK doesn't have those - nor could I get it to "recognize" anything like county names.

note that I should very much liked to have tested such functions before I left, but there's no way to do that on the 350 . . .

the displayed scale kept jumping from large to small / small to large.  as a walking tool, utterly useless given the inability to keep an appropriate scale on the screen.  this only adds to the utterly useless inability to locate an address.

eventually just turned it off and used the paper maps.  way more easier.
note that as it is primarily intended for automobile use, my criticism as a "walking tour tool" may be unjustified.

so, I've reloaded it with the USA updated maps, and it's certainly a device I will be leaving at home, when headed outside USA.

first, I must say - thanks to all - I appreciate the input.
great site / resource.

I'm off to merry ole'England and we'll see how the OpenStreet map performs.

obviously, DIY GPS'ing is a bit more complicated than "simple"
- for me, such one-off needs do not justify the easy route of "just purchase a Garmin product"

in my case the DIY route has an issue -
by the time I have mastered the techniques needed and my next one-off need, one of two things will have occurred:
I will have forgotten how to do "it"
or
technology has 'changed'

at any rate, it is certainly an adventure!

I will report my findings on return.

oh, the nuvi connects by usb; but not the speed.  there's something that throttles data transfer and its apparently in the unit itself.

if I get an sdram card, I suppose I could use the desktop card reader to load the data.

I found many interesting maps here direct in img form - including UK:
http://emexes.powweb.com/osm/

Dan -

I seem able -

I say "seem" because I'm not in London I can't see the img file map on the gps...

- to load the map via SendMap.

the problem is I want to see _WHAT_ is on the map.  I got MapSource up and loaded and running.  it confirms my prior ufo sighting:  the London tube map is a collection of dots and names.  apparently one is expected to know one must calibrate and overlay those dots on "some other map"

obviously, just like the routing functionality, "maps" need to be approached with a seriously signficant degree of non-belief.  which as I stated, reinforces the concept the user need to _see_ what is in the img file before bothering with all these thousand hour upload / downloads.
also download GPSMapEdit and it appears to have unregistered copy capabilities which simply reconfirmed all the prior ufo dots and text observed.

so I said, okay, the tube map is useless - I have not the skills to overlay, calibrate, trweak and squeak this nonsense.

I'll just "unload" it - yeah, cute idea. 

SendMap produces nothing on "sync GPS" - not found a way to unload stuff so I just deleted the whole dang directory and am copying from a backup to overwrite the unit \garmin\ directory.

one hour six minutes to usb transfer 1.42 gb.  I think Garmin needs to seriously rethink their 1200 bps COMM speed approach.

Boyd -

you're right; installed training center, MapSource installed without complaint.

post install did cold boot.

file open, no option for img file, file all, click on img, not supported
HELP file search on img - no topics.
find device, device found by name and serial number
transfer maps from device:  no maps found. 

curious software, that.

Boyd -

well, I'm first inline when it comes to 'dense' - but that site says it's shareware, download and then email for a key.

<training center, etc.>  standby - will do

<sigh>  it's a brave new world.

I got the freebie update to 2009 maps; apparently when it installed it wiped out any and all maps on the Nuvi.

geopainting looks interesting; then I saw on some msg bd that MapSource cost $30, so went to look at that (garmin.com) - the download doesn't work unless you have a MapSource product, but there is no definition of "MapSource products" -

tried Map Manipulator which is supposed to translate .img back to .mp - got a bunch of black dots on a gray background.  fascinating.

I'm stunned that there is no readily available freebie utility that will show you what the heck is in that there nnnnn.img file.

Don - the London city map link is a "contact the author by email' - which I have done but without reply to-date.  I'll ask if he'd like to link/post it here.

>>talking machines

I'll vote for  that!  my computers are always muted except if I actually want to listen to something.

I think I've found a freebie London city map - thru links here.

question 1:  if I checkmark two maps that cover the same area,,, what happens?

question 2:  any freebie / shareware software out there that would allow me to look at .img map files?  I'd feel more comfortable having seen what I've downloaded prior to relying on actual use...

thanks Boyd - saves me a bunch of trouble!

I never really had any "trouble" reading maps, and finding South Carolina - or even a city therein - leaving from home has not been a big issue either.

methinks I'll set it up on mute until I'm close enough to need turn by turn directions in a local area.
it is a lot more convenient to listen to the prompts than struggle with steering wheel and paper print outs!

so,,, first road trip all done.

>>>just maybe not the smartest way...

very polite turn of phrase.  <g> 

I found it very helpful valuable in navigating the local area(s), but the algorithms for "Shortest" or "Fastest" routing on the city/state-to-city/state level lack ,,,uhmmmm,,,errrrr,,,,, are lacking.

set for fastest route, on the way home - meaning I knew exactly what route is "best" - it suddenly wanted me to get off the interstate and go Route <cow path studded with malls>  at that point my arrival time was hh:48.  as I continued to ignore it's suggestions, every recalculation resulted in a sooner arrival time.  eventually I got it down to hh:13 following my own common sense.

somewhat amusing to have a system set for fastest route, and after passing suggested Exit X, it says take (next) Exit Y and the arrival time improves by 6 minutes... like why not suggest Exit Y so start with....

so, what's the solution?  is there software to created your own route on the pc and download "and this is how I want to get there" to the gps unit?

scrolling out from east coast to UK should be a kick! <g>

I did try the check mark trick - but as you say, I'm not even on the map.

had my first "and it's sending which way?" excursion today - need to learn a few route programing tricks....

thanks for the help - I'll be back!

thanks Dan !

did the download, install & run. says it successfully uploaded the tube map - shows up in Settings|Map|MapInfo.

for lurkers, sendmap20 had trouble "finding" the Garmin directory; when I unplugged all other USB devices, it found  \Garmin, no problem

can't get it to display the map; perhaps that's because I'm not currently in UK <g>

<sigh> if you're 12, you know how to do all this stuff.  ASM I can handle; gps - ahhh, not yet.

looks like I'll need to add a SD card - does one need to approach the upload task differently when using a (blank) SD card - ie not preloaded with Garmin product?

appreciate the help - if there's a Garmin for Dummies out there, just point me please.