Garmin Birds Eye Topo map problem

[nowacc]

I have a couple Garmin Map 62 which I use for work and home use. My work GPS has the Birds Eye Topo loaded on a 8 gb card and have not had any problems. I load different map shapes into it. I recently made a copy of the 8 gb card to a 16 gb card and started having problems. The gps works fine the first time I turn it on but the second time I turn it on my Birds eye will not work. I have to remove the card and leave it off and sometimes it will work when I turn it on. If I plug it in to Basecamp and look at the files and unplug it will turn on the first time but no go the second time. I recently used Google and made an custom map overlay and saved it to the gps. It will not show up on the gps, I'm thinking a to big of file. Base camp says its there in the gps but will not come up. If I switch the 8 gb card to the 16 gb same problem. I know it takes time for the 16 gb card to redraw the layers but it will not even come up
It appears the software upgrades are current on Basecamp and GPS. Any ideas??? THANKS

[Boyd]

For Birdseye problems, I think you need to contact Garmin support.

Custom maps can be tricky, and the ones you make using Google are so limited as to be basically useless IMO since they can only be 1024x1024 pixels. See this FAQ for other limitations:

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId=%7B9eb27dc0-6377-11df-f5aa-000000000000%7D

Also be sure that you use only letters and numbers in the file name. The underscore character also seems to be ok, but in the past I've found that blank spaces or special characters (like #@$% etc) would cause the file to be ignored.

If you want to make more useful custom maps, you need software that can split images into multiple tiles. Your 62 can handle a maximum of 100 tiles at 1024x1024. I use Globalmapper since I already have it, but that is expensive. Here are a couple other programs that can help, although I don't use them myself:

http://moagu.com/?page_id=155
http://www.the-thorns.org.uk/mapping/

The g-raster author is a member here. mapc2mapc is kind of cool because it lets you make irregularly shaped maps.

[colorado_dave]

I use BirdsEye regularly with few problems. On my Monterra, I load them onto the 32GB card rather than the unit which only has about 1 GB of storage left. The set I have currently consumes about 20GB of that 32 GB Card!

The only strange thing I have noted is that you have to turn off the unit, to actually get the new maps to be available after downloading. Downloading takes a long time in the 232MB allocation units too...

[Boyd]

Dave, are you talking about Birdseye Satellite imagery? https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/prod70144.html

I believe the OP was asking about Birdseye Topo, which is completely different: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/prod98816.html

I have used Birdseye satellite on both an Oregon and Montana,  but haven't tried Birdseye topo. I completely filled a 16gb sd card with Birdseye a couple years ago. This caused the unit to take a really long time to start up, over a minute IIRC. Now I like to keep my Montana lean and mean, and have been using it without a memory card and only loading maps I need. Starts up quickly now.

I have recently built a very large custom maps (.kmz) set. If I load the full limit of 500 tiles on my Montana, that also causes a significant increase in startup time for the GPS.

How do you like the Monterra? Interesting product but a little over my budget.

[colorado_dave]

Ah yes, I was referring to BirdsEye Satellite imagery. I really like it a lot. Not sure what the value of BirdsEye Topo - is it just 1:24 versus the default Topo at 1:100? any other merits? I have found BirdsEye Imagery overlaid with the 1:100 or a few 1:24 maps I have to be fantastic. I do not have any issues on the Monterra device with loading time, but it is a common issue within Base Camp. I do have the BirdsEye satellite imagery occupying about 20GB of a 32GB SD Card. That card is a very fast, class 10 Ultra SanDisk card intended for HD video.

I do a lot of hunting and backcountry hiking - the satellite imagery is amazingly accurate in these parts. I can use it to find the quickest routes through clearings, and places where there may be small openings in the trees that are not at all visible with topo maps or by naked eye, binocs. It has been amazing in the field for that reason.

The Monterra took almost 1 year of updates to be considered useful as a GPS. It still has some bugs but most of the field use is fine. The bugs are file manager type things that I may just need to get under control within BaseCamp or some better SW. My primary reasons for getting the Monterra was the screen size. I thought the idea of "apps" would be great, but they consume a lot of space for very little utility. The ones I use seem to be productivity type like "Power Control" app that lets you turn WiFi on and off from any home screen, a better battery monitor app, and a more complete GPS Status app.

Does anybody have any other recommendations on Apps for the Monterra device?

[Boyd]

Not sure what the value of BirdsEye Topo - is it just 1:24 versus the default Topo at 1:100? any other merits?

Birdseye topo is scans of the classic paper USGS 7.5 minute 1:24000 topo quads. Many people like them for the hand-drafted quality and little details not found on vector based maps like Garmin's 24k series. I grew up using the paper maps, so I really like them personally. But raster imagery has its limits, it gets pixellated when you zoom way in, hard to read when you zoom way out, and in track-up mode all the labels will be upside down if you're travelling South. 

I was using a class 10 card for Birdseye, but Idon't think sd card speed should make much difference, those speed ratings are for writing data (like HD video) but the GPS is just reading data. Probably the Monterra is just faster than the Montana, or they have somehow optimized the startup code. The slow startup with 500 custom map tiles was using internal memory with no card.

If they got the Monterra price down around $300 I'd be tempted, but it's a long way from there, and my Montana really does everything I need.

[nowacc]

I have spend a couple night trying to figure out what happened. I finally called Garmin tech support and they cleared it up after 2 calls. The first person I talked to  thought the maps themselves got messed up. I tried what she told me and no luck. I called today and talked to another person, just by chance we found an software update was issued just days ago for this very problem. It's cleaned up and working great. This update Ver 5.90?? was issued just a couple days ago for Birds Eye mapping issues, ie restarting a 2nd time. A person has to keep checking the updates....