eTrex30 map question

[larshgf]

I made a new map of a greek island saved as kmz file.
- where do I place it on my Garmin eTrex30?
- Is it possible to see the map when I am not located in the map area?

Best Regards
Lars - DK

[Boyd]

You need to create a folder named CustomMaps inside the Garmin folder and place the .kmz file there. Sure, you can see the map without being there, but you need to scroll the map so that your island is visible and you will probably have to zoom way in before the map will become visible.

[Seldom]

To elaborate on Boyd's comment a little the KMZ file you have needs to be a raster (bitmap graphic) map, not a vector (lines, areas, and points) type map, for it to work as a CustomMap.  Any questions see this:
http://www.garmin.com/us/products/onthetrail/custommaps .

[Boyd]

And there are a variety of things that will prevent these maps from working properly. Be sure you only use non-progressive jpeg images which are no larger than 1024x1024 pixels with a file size less than 3MB. And use only numbers and letters in the filename - no special characters or blank spaces.

[larshgf]

Thank you. I have used MAPC2MAPC to do the job. It works fine allthough the map on my eTrex30 updates a little slowly. The total size of my kmz file is about 88 MByte. Maybee I should try to rescale to 75% or something like that? I guess I have to do som trial and error here to get some experience!

[Boyd]

Others have mentioned that the eTrex 20 and 30 are sluggish when using .kmz maps. I guess it's just a compromise that Garmin made in order to keep the cost down and get good battery life.

[larshgf]

What other tytpes of map files will my Garmin eTrex 30 accept and use?

[Seldom]

Your 30 will also accept Garmin IMG format files.  Depending on where you are, this site is a good source (for USA and limited foreign countries).  For the UK talkytoaster provides routable topo maps.  For Europe, openfietsmap provides routable topos.  Routable road maps of the whole world are available from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/index_new.php .  Select the cycle map and you should get a topo.