Competitive map and topo packages for Garmin GPS receivers? ASTER GDEM?

[bbliss]

I've been trying to answer the following question for about a day now:

"I spent $300 on a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx.  I like it a lot.  Now, what are my choices for adding detailed North American road maps, topographical land data, and more detailed waterway data to it?"

I am proficient with Windows, MacOS, Linux, MapSource, USB, CD-ROMs, Autoplay, etc. (during the day I'm a satellite design engineer), so I know how to actually go about adding maps to the unit.  What I would like to know are, what kinds of choices are out there?

On Garmin's site, I see that three choices are "MapSource WorldMap", "City Navigator", various "Topo US 24k"s, "Topo US 100k"s, "US Inland Lakes", "LakeMaster", and something called "BlueChart" on Garmin SD Data Cards.  I'm reading their descriptions, and they mostly make sense -- though they seem ridiculously over-priced.  I heard there used to be something called "MetroGuide", but that it's no longer being maintained?

On this site, I've found the "IbycusUSA" package and various state-wide topographic maps (Arizona, California, etc.)  These all seem to be free (as in beer) to download (with the option to donate), and free (as in speech) to modify.

So here are my questions, in no particular order, and thanks in advance for any help you folks can provide:

1) Other than the packages listed above, are there any other worthy alternatives out there?  Do other companies like Magellan or National Geographic or government entities like the USGS or *anybody* offer "Garmin GPSMap 60CSx-compatible" maps with different pro's/con's and/or different pricing?

2) Does the IbycusUSA package still lack routing capability and address data?  I will be frequently routing to addresses, so this would be a deal-breaker for me (not to trivialize the immense amount of work that clearly went into producing it).

3) Do any of the non-Garmin topographic packages contain bathymetric data for lakes or other non-ocean bodies of water?

4) If you had a fresh-out-of-the-box 60CSx and were planning to camp and hike and drive around in California and Montana, and a couple hundred dollars of budget, what would you personally choose and why?  I don't mind sending money to individual developers instead of to Garmin if their products are of good quality, but conversely I don't mind sending money to Garmin if that's the only way to get high-quality results.

5) Finally, there was a recent announcement about the free availability of detailed worldwide 30m topographic data through the TERRA/ASTER GDEM.  I tried to download that dataset from NASA, but online access to those data has been disabled.  Any word on whether or when this ASTER data will be "compiled" (?) into Garmin-compatible topographic overlays?  Obviously I'm new to the process of generating Garmin-compatible map sets.

[maps4gps]

These all seem to be free (as in beer) to download (with the option to donate), and free (as in speech) to modify.

They may be free to use, but modify gets into copyright issues.

1) Other than the packages listed above, are there any other worthy alternatives out there?  Do other companies like Magellan or National Geographic or government entities like the USGS or *anybody* offer "Garmin GPSMap 60CSx-compatible" maps with different pro's/con's and/or different pricing?

Each company uses their own propiatary format which is usually incompatable with everyone elses.  Government agenices produce raw/source data which mapauthors use to build mapsets.

2) Does the IbycusUSA package still lack routing capability and address data?  I will be frequently routing to addresses, so this would be a deal-breaker for me (not to trivialize the immense amount of work that clearly went into producing it).

You would need a Garmin product with autorouting.  It takes a lot more effort/time and the version of cgpsmapper to do so is almost $3000.  I have included address info my state maps as part of the street name but it is not searchable nor did I create mapsets for CA nor MT as mapsets for them already existed on gpsfiledepot.

3) Do any of the non-Garmin topographic packages contain bathymetric data for lakes or other non-ocean bodies of water?

Few if any as the data is hard to come by; if it even exist.

4) If you had a fresh-out-of-the-box 60CSx and were planning to camp and hike and drive around in California and Montana, and a couple hundred dollars of budget, what would you personally choose and why? 

Someone familiar with the Garmin products for those areas should answer - for autorouting and the latest/best roads, although I have heard some of their newer products have less/no trail info compared to their older products.  Download the free mapsets for those areas and see what you think.  The Garmin website lets you view an area of you choice for some of their products.

5) Finally, there was a recent announcement about the free availability of detailed worldwide 30m topographic data through the TERRA/ASTER GDEM.  I tried to download that dataset from NASA, but online access to those data has been disabled.  Any word on whether or when this ASTER data will be "compiled" (?) into Garmin-compatible topographic overlays?  Obviously I'm new to the process of generating Garmin-compatible map sets.

I downloaded some tiles/quads of the local area on Friday and some others on Saturday and then nothing is comming through.  1) the data has specific use restrictions which do not currently include map making.
2) the horizontal spacing is 30 meters, the 95% confidence on vertical accuracy is 20 meters.  Most NED/DEM data from USGS was created from published topo maps where the 95%VA is 1/2 of the contour interval, which for 24ks ranges from 80 feet to 1 foot depending on terrain.  Therefore, as I figure, the ASTER may be about 100k quality in mountainous areas and only 1m scale in flat areas.   Comments?
3)The data contains mole, pits, peaks, other irregularities, no mask used on inland water bodies and holes due to cloud cover.  One reviewer found pits and peaks up to 200m.  My local area has a pit on the hillside 1/4 mile away, a few more further up the hills, and numerous issues on the flat areas to the east.  I also noted numerous 4000 - 5000 ft pits in Iceland.  The documentation cautions one to consider the data set as experimental.  CGIAR took a few years and 4 versions to 'cleanup' the SRTM data.

So, maybe, hopefully, sometime in the future, for areas that do not have better elevation data from topo maps.

I noticed there are already 4 or 5 torrents with the data, although with a large difference in total size. 

PS    One of Saturday's files just became ready for download - they do say do allow 1 to 3 days (my first few had taken 20-30 minutes).   ---  17,000 foot elevations in the Faeroe Islands   They do say some areas do not meet spec.  Perhaps contours from DCW/VMAP0 would be better for areas north of the SRTM limit.

[-Oz-]

In your situation I would buy City Navigator and then use free maps for the topo.

Comparing the 24kmaps to the maps here:
- they have autorouting roads and trails
- the maps here may have more trails
- the contours may be more detailed on the free maps here

[BKSLDR7]

The California topo here is wonderful!

[bbliss]

I just wanted to say "thanks" to maps4gps and -Oz-.  I took their advice and couldn't be happier.  I mean, I could, but realistically this was the right way to do things.

Thanks a ton, you folks were very helpful.

-bb