A few questions from a newbie GPS user

[windedbowhunter]

I will primarliy be using the GPS to use for hunting, backcountry hiking and hunting and to use as a driving GPS when needed in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming.

I see that OZ has created the Idaho Topo Map.  What are the functional differences between the Idaho Topo to Garmin's US Topo West and Garmin's Topo 2008?

Is there any need for me to purchase the Garmin TOPO U.S. 24K North Central DVD or Garmin MapSource City Navigator North America 2010?

As a newbie, which tutorials should I begin with to get started using my GPS?

Are there any other tips or downloads that I should use?

Thanks in advance!

[Seldom]

For driving I'd keep a copy of CityNavNANT for routable roads.  It's gotten me safely into and out of some nasty eastern US neighborhoods, where I wouldn't have wanted to make a wrong turn. 

Apart from that, most topos, except for the Garmin 24ks, aren't routable, and the routable Garmin topos are reported to have worse trail data than is available on Garmin's non routable products.  For non routable topos, you can probably get better quality maps here (24k) than Garmin's Topo 2008 (100k).  Trail data is sketchy everywhere.

[windedbowhunter]

seldom - is the CityNavNANT software the same as the City Navigator North America? Or is developed by a 3rd party somewhere else?

[Seldom]

It's a Garmin product, they publish two "North America" versions (Which don't include Mexico and points south).  NT and non-NT.  NT has fewer, larger, segments and is takes up less space on a mSDHC card.  (about 1.1 Gb for the US, Canada, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.)

You don't say what GPSr you are using, and some older units don't take NT, so check to make sure yours will.  Otherwise, get the non-NT version, which will load smaller chunks. 

The DVD version will be locked to a single GPSr.  The mSDHC version isn't locked, but you won't be able to use it to plan trips on your PC, so I'd suggest going with the DVD version.  If you don't have a PC, but use a MAC, I can't help you, but you should be able to find something on Garmin's site.

[Boyd]

Everything works fine on the Mac. There are Mac Installers and "RoadTrip" is the Mac version of Mapsource. BaseCamp has been released on both platforms. I don't think they make the non-NT version of City Navigator anymore, do they? I know that owners of the old StreetPilots have been complaining that the were orphaned, and it is not listed on Garmin's site as far as I can tell. http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/cache/offonce/us/maps/ontheroadmaps

[windedbowhunter]

Sorry, I missed that detail!  I will be using the Garmin 60CSx unit. Which is brand new, just purchased it last Friday.

I think that the largest card that this unit will take is a 2GB.

I wonder if any of the maps from this site show color separate WMA, BLM, state lands and the like?

Thanks!

[Seldom]

60CSX will work with NT, and I'd recommend it.

Boyd, I think there is still a non-NT City Nav available.  Amazon shows a CityNav for Street Pilots.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-MapSource-Navigator-America-StreetPilot/dp/B000BW3TK0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260308210&sr=8-4

The cover photo doesn't show an NT.  It's not dated, but ships from Amazon, not third party dealer.

[Boyd]

From Garmin's site:

Question:  Can I update my non-NT version of City Navigator North America?

Answer:
You can order your update for the non-NT version of City Navigator North America for $75.00 through the Garmin website. At this time, the non-NT version of City Navigator has been discontinued and it will no longer be eligible for future updates beyond the current 2009 version. This update will be available for purchase through Garmin until the end of 2009.

If you have a compatible device, we suggest that you purchase the City Navigator NT software. The full version of City Navigator North America NT retails for $99.99 plus tax and applicable shipping. The City Navigator North America NT software can be purchased directly through the Garmin website in download, DVD or preprogrammed card format or from one of our many Garmin dealers in DVD format.

http://iqc.garmin.com/eCustomer/KODSelfService/request.do?session={b5b0eb30-e454-11de-5bd3-000000000000}&event=1&view()=c{979c4db0-5a20-11de-7911-000000000000}&objectId=&eksObjectId=&objectType=Case&isJumpEnabled=false&isContentJumpEnabled=false&vendorKey=&versionId=105&objectScore=89&from=search&categoryIdLvl2=mapschartsandextras&categoryIdLvl3=all&categoryId=mapschartsandextras&categoryFieldLvl2=Maps,%20Charts%20&categoryFieldLvl3=all&categoryField=Maps,%20Charts%20&kbname=garmin

[Seldom]

Ouch!!

[Boyd]

I think that the largest card that this unit will take is a 2GB.

I believe that was the case at one time, but software updates have changed it. Again, a search of Garmin's site found the answer   I think that the 4gb limit comes from the use of the Windows FAT32 filesystem. As a practical matter, you will probably reach the 2025 segment limit before coming close to 4gb.

Question:  What is the largest SD/microSD card supported by an expandable memory device?

Answer:

There are several products within the Outdoor and Fitness families that can accept expandable memory cards in SD or microSD format. These cards, for some devices, can be used to store active track-log data, however, all expandable memory devices can utilize the additional memory to store MapSource products.

There are limitations to the size of SD/microSD card used and to the number of detailed mapping segments that can be recognized by a device.

If at the most recent unit software version, these limitations are:

    * There is no limitation to the size of SD/microSD card used but the device will only recognize 4GB of detailed mapping
    * Each expandable memory device will be able to recognize up to 2,025 detailed mapping segments

If 2,025 detailed mapping segments are loaded to an SD/microSD card but does not reach 4GB worth of data, the unit will not show any more detailed mapping than what is provided by the mapping segments.
Last modified on:  10/12/2009

[maps4gps]

I wonder if any of the maps from this site show color separate WMA, BLM, state lands and the like?

Some of the States have that information available as an overlay mapset.  Check by State.
I have included that information in the US Planimetric - xxxxx mapsets; however, to keep from using custom types (not supported by some GPSrs) they are all shown with park green - the management agency is included in the name field.