Clearly there is a large base of general knowledge that I don't have. Please indulge me. I have a Garmin foretrex 401. I've loaded an application called Garmin Basecamp onto my laptop. I'd like to be able to open maps into the application and mess with them: view details, plot stuff using the app, do markups and labeling, print edited maps, etc. From this website I've downloaded a folder called ortopo11. The folder has a number of .img files, named with 8-digit numbers. The default type of the file icon invited me to "burn an image" to a dvd - tried but was told the file type was invalid.
I guess I'm presuming that what I downloaded is somehow accessible to Basecamp. I don't know how to view the content of a .img file nor how to open this mysterious content in the Basecamp application.
What gross ignorance have I revealed? Can you help me?
Unfortunately the .img extension is used for different things. What you downloaded was a Garmin map, but you should not have directly opened that folder and messed with the files. They are system files that are used directly by Basecamp. When you ran the installer program, it copied all the needed data into Basecamp and it should now be ready for you to use.
This should actually be very simple, and there are several tutorials on the site to guide you through the process. Start with this one
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-open-maps-in-garmin-basecamp/
When you are ready to send maps to your GPS, use this tutorial
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/
These may help you get up to speed with Basecamp:
http://www8.garmin.com/learningcenter/training/basecamp/
I actually have no experience with Garmin's sports devices, just their outdoor handhelds and automotive units. So I just had a look at the Foretrex 401 specs: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-trail/wrist-worn/foretrex-401/prod30026.html
Apparently it is not capable of displaying maps. So disregard the tutorial above for sending maps to the GPS. You can still install maps in Basecamp and use them on your computer, but you will not be able to transfer them to the GPS.
I have a Foretrex at work; I'll have to bring it home to try out some stuff but I thought I could load a super small map...
Also, if the Oregon map isn't showing, install My Trails and that should fix a glitch: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/53