my new vista hcx coming in the mail next week....upgrading from a 10 yr old etrex summit !!! i have downloaded the ARIZONA 24k southwest topos to my computer and i see how nicely the arizona trail is depicted on it.....have bought a 2gb micro sd card and card reader from walmart.....is that big enough to download the whole AZ download to the new gps ?? gonna be a real learning curve for me cos i have never ventured much more than emailing on a computer... ;D
2GB is more than enough for that map.
In MapSource, the large box/window on the left will list the segments/quads you have selected and give the total nunber of segments selected and their combined size. Total size for all the segments is usually only a few percent (5+-) more than the size of the downloadable .exe file for a mapset. I would guess about 215Mb for AZ topo.
thanks for the replies so far....have more ????? ! ...... so when you download from mapsource to a card,does a segment zoomed map.....like to 1/2 a mile ....is that what downloads to a card [already zoomed] or does the whole segment download unzoomed and you zoom with a zoom on your gps? ............another ? .......... you know,if you put your mouse on a zoomed map and left click,you can demarcate an area [say either side of a trail]........is it possible just to get that part downloaded to a card and not the whole segment ?
the area i'll be doin as soon as the monsoons let up is from the north rim to just before you drop off the plateau down to the utah border [rim to rim gonna happen sept.21].....that is where the az trail is nicely depicted. have since found checking out the AZ topo that there are large gaps in the trail further south.
You'll be able to zoom your map on your GPSr. You should be able to zoom out to see the whole state, or country at a very general detail level. Every section you select in MapSource will have all the zoom capabilities built into the map.
You need to download a full map tile. When you select it it will turn pink.
Good luck with the weather on 9/21. Assume you are spending the night at Phantom Ranch. If so, how long in advance did you need to make reservations?
All the data for a segment/quad goes to the GPSr - zoom-level nor what is displayed in MapSource makes a difference. What is displayed on the GPSr at a zoom-leve is approximately what is displayed in MapSource at that zoom-level. You can change the display somewhat by changing from normal to most or least detail, both on the GPSr and in MapSource.
I have not heard of being able to send to the GPSr only part of a segment/quad.
Did you check the area of those gaps zoom-in to 500' or greater? If a line feature has many segments, the shorter ones get dropped out as the data is built for the further out zoom levels.
thanks once again for the replies....my understanding of how things work is slowly increasing...my hands on starts tomorrow.
yep,night of the 21st at bright angel camp ground..about 1/2 a mile from phantom ranch...requests for equine passage ...4 months in advance....you have to sleep with your horse [you know what i mean !!] only 6 ponies allowed at campsite per night...i do have a steak dinner and breakfast paid for at the ranch ;D.
The grand canyon should be great on that map. I personally used the old version on multiple hikes. Far from Arizona now though so haven't tried to latest version out in person.