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Combine several maps in one file

Started by rangercarol, December 20, 2015, 12:19:14 PM

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rangercarol

I successfully downloaded maps for SC and GA but can only view one at a time.  I would like to combine several states in one file for a trip.  How do I do that?  Also can I do the whole country or would the file be huge?

Thanks,

Rangercarol

Boyd

#1
File size would not be a problem, but there's a limit to Garmin's map format that would prevent this from working. Maps are divided into smaller tiles or "segments". Older Garmin handheld devices can only access about 2000 segments, the newest models have a limit of about 4000. There is no standard segment size, it's up to the mapmaker. But using maps from this site I think you'd hit it before loading the whole US. With Garmin's own 24k topo series you can only load about three of those products (just looked and my copy of the Garmin 24k NorthEast topo has 1059 segments).

What GPS do you have? There are significant differences between old and new models. On old devices like the GPSMap 60csx or eTrex Legend, only one map file can be used. You would use Mapsource to select portions of all the maps you want on the GPS, then send them together in a file name gmapsupp.img.

Newer models can use multiple map files. MapInstall generally knows how to deal with these and will create individual files with descriptive names.

On the GPS itself, you would enable all the maps you want to see at the same time through the Map Setup menu. But on your computer in either Basecamp or Mapsource, you can only view one map at a time. This is just a limit of Garmin's software.

You may also find that separate maps from this site don't mix very well. Different authors do things differently and there you could overlapping areas or blank areas between maps. Garmin's commercial products are seamless however.

maps4gps

Boyd summarized it well.  A map of the 48 states at about a 1:24,000 scale is also near 8Gbytes in size - and on my OR300 takes about 80 seconds every time the unit is turned on for the GPSr to do its thing (indexing, etc) before displaying the data.

csmeltzer

I figured out a way to combine multiple states into one map using MapsetToolKit v1.77 beta on Windows OS.

1) for each state previously installed, "Select IMG" the *.img directories
2) "Select all" the img files [only need to click this once]
3) "Add -->" the img files [only need to click this once]
4) select ok to remove duplicate .img files [multiple clicks]
5) set some basic parameters: map name and unique family ID
6) check the "Install in Mapsource" option [will update windows registry automatically]
7) click "START" [you'll see a CMD window process all the *.img files]
8) once finished you'll see the new combined map appear in the "Mapset Installed" pane

Then you may use the new combined map in Mapsource or Basecamp. This is useful if your route spans multiple states. The procedure does not overwrite the original state maps.