Newbie Map Install Question/Frustration

[AEuropa]

Hi all, I recently purchased a Oregon 400t and 8GB MicroSD card.

I am trying to install many of the Topos of various states from GPSFileDepot and I am extremely frustrated with an apparent lack of ability to rename the maps. For starters, I don't understand why the people who created the maps in the first place didn't do something more clear, for example instead of naming a file artopo11, why didn't they simply make it Arkansas Topo? After all the work to create a Topo, why be lazy during the last step?!

Anyways, I've tried renaming the files to something a bit easier for me to quickly understand inside the GPS, but I can't seem to figure out how to do it. I tried doing a search, but I must be a bit slow because the results that I was able to find didn't make much sense to me.

Thanks in advance for the help. 

- Alex

[maps4gps]

Perhaps if you were not so lazy you would learn to make the maps you wanted the way you want them and share them with others.  What is not clear about artopo11 ?   It uses the standard two letter postal code for the state, tells you it is a topo mapset (versus planimetric or contour overlay) and that the data is current as of 2011.  That is a whole lot more informative than almost all other map authors are about their mapsets.

Additionally for some States the 'State topo' had been used by a map author who has not updated their work in 3 to 4 + years.  If 'State topo' was always used, how would you tell one version from another, and/or one author's creation from another.

BTW - MapSource will allow you to replace its subtitle of 'quad/segment' name(s) with a name of your choice. 

If you do not like what someone is using their time to share with you; then simply learn to do
it yourself or purchase Garmin mapset(s).

[AEuropa]

Wow. Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm sorry if I offended you, is that your map?

Not everyone has the programming knowledge or time to create topos. Particularly when they have already been created.

To answer your question, they (you?) could JUST AS EASILY have named it ArkansasTopo11. Correct? Is there a character limit? To FURTHER answer your question, I come from a world where CLEAR and CONCISE information dissemination is critical.

Lastly, as I'm sure that you're aware, there are quite a few other non-state maps and topos that have an even less-clear naming structure. This post wasn't aimed directly at the maker of artopo11, but to all of the people who use an unclear naming structure. Forgive me for hoping that people would make the name clear to EVERYONE and not just the creator and people who eat/sleep/breathe map making and topos.

- Alex

[Seldom]

Whining => bad karma.

[Boyd]

Alex,

Maybe you should start over again and frame your comments differently? Normally everyone receives a warm welcome here. But they don't complain about the maps in their very first post.

The maps here are a "labor of love" for the authors who invest a considerable amount of time. And they are offerered - free - in the spirit of helping others. You'll find that questions and constructive criticism are appreciated. But when you say you're "frustrated" by the "lazy" mapmakers in your very first post, you're off to a bad start.

[-Oz-]

Alex,
I agree with everyone else, you could have phrased this much better.  The way I see it you are complaining about the name of a free map that you didn't create and don't seem to want to create.

You could have either:
a) Asked why it was named as such
b) Asked if there was any way to change it
c) Paid the $100 and bought the maps from Garmin.

Any which way, being rude to people who've put in 100s of hours to make these maps isn't a smart move.  And I come from a world where clear and concise is important and let me tell you, as long as the name isn't "Map" and exists for a reason its being pretty clear.  maps4gps has made a lot of maps used by lots of people.

I will agree that some other maps aren't named as well, but they may be old maps when there weren't that many maps and when how they appeared on the GPS units was different.

Welcome to GPSFileDepot, I hope you enjoy what we have to offer and express gratitude for what you can get for free.