stupid question about my new venture HC

[CHUCKLES]

Ok i got my venture yesterday used on ebay for 80 bucks shipped.  Not a bad deal i feel but now that i am playing aroudn with it ive noticed the base map isnt very detailed.  Its not even as detailed as the example pic from the website.  Thier pic shows thats varous topo bars indicating elevation and other stuff.  My unit shows the major highways, the ohio river, and the interstate but doesnt even show the two very large lakes in my area or any of the smaller rivers/creeks.  Is this normal or just a setting?  If this is normal that i am probably gonna sell and get the legend hcx so i can add free maps with a memory card for more detail.  This unit is gonna be used for some deep forest 4 wheeling and i think things such as streams, lakes, and small roads are vital to gettting in and out from secluded areas.  Any info appreaciated.

[Boyd]

The screenshots which show elevation contours are no doubt from US Topo and not the basemap. The basemap only shows VERY major roads and boundaries. IIRC, the Venture has 24MB of internal memory. Or maybe I'm confusing it with a different older model? I used to have a Legend C with 24MB.

That will be enough for you to load topo maps of a portion of your state. And that is where GPSFileDepot comes into play (if there are maps available for your area). Otherwise, I would say the Legend Hcx is a much better unit. The card slot will let you load topo maps for a good chunk of the whole US instead of a couple counties in your state like the Venture.

[CHUCKLES]

ok i understand.  I downloaded the map from this website for wv.  Its obviously to large for my 24mb venture.   My question now i can i take the  map i downloaded on here and just section out a portion and put that on my gps.  All i really need is my county?  Can mapsource do this?  How is it done?

[Indrid Cold]

Just select the maptiles that cover you county and send those to youe GPS (that is, it they fit)
Tutorial: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit

[CHUCKLES]

Got a venture HC.  Its used so i dont have the unlock password to use with mapsource.  I do however have the USA map i downloaded on here and another really good one of WV.  I cant put the whole map of the state or USA on this device becuase it only has 28mb of memory.  What i want to know is can i pull just a section of a precreated map and load just that portion to the GPS?  All i want is the County i live in for hunting and 4 wheeling.   also...people talk about loading maps overtop the base map.  Does this erase my basemap incase i wanna go back to it.  Keep in mind i dont have install CD or unlock code to get this back if it erased.

[Indrid Cold]

You don't need an unlock code to use MapSource, and no it won't overwrite your basemap.

If you don't have the CD that came with the unit, you can get MapSource by following the two steps here:
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-install-mapsource-if-it-didnt-come-with-your-gps/

[CHUCKLES]

i already figured out how to get mapsource and did that last night but because i dont have an unlock code for the base map it wont show or transfer to mapsource. For this reason i am leary about adding mapps that may copy over it.  Meaning i will never have a way to get the base map on there again.  r u all sure the basemap doesnt delete?  Once i get my counties on the gps how do i view them?

[CHUCKLES]

thanks eric.  one last question then.  how do i delete these maps im about to load.  For instance if i wanna go out of state on a trip how would i delete these so i can add a new section of maps?  Also how to i check to see how much memory is left on my gps for uploads?  I cant find anything like that in the settings.

[CHUCKLES]

i just figured that part out.  The prevous owner had topo of nashville on it.  showed up as light yellow boxes on the entire us map. Didnt know what they were till i loaded my county in wv on it a min ago.  the nashville boxed dissappeared and the ones i loaded appeared.  This is SO much better.  I can see the lakes and streams and stuff now.  It did act a little clitchy a lil bit ago.... went all black and said no map available.  I just rebooted and it came back.  Guess i was trying to search and zoom to much at once.  Otherwise i love itand it worked like a charm.. thanks for the advice.

[Indrid Cold]

Good luck with it. I think you are going to enjoy the custom maps.