Combining state topo maps

[miksons]

I am new to this area having just bought a Garmin 60CSX and one of the 24K topo cards. I did not buy the 100K disc because of the reviews I read that said that the maps on the 100K disc were not accurate. I have been out with the 60CSX and the card maps and everything is spot on. It is great!

But since the topo card only covers 2 states I looked for other downloadable 24K topo maps and found this site. I have since downloaded maps for Arizona, Utah and Colorado. I have transferred each of these to extra micro SD cards and each seems fine by itself, but I would like to combine them into a single map containing all of the state information. The problem is that I don't know how.

I have tried using the MapSet Toolkit. I added the image folders for Arizona and Utah, but the build process failed. I tried the same with Utah and Colorado, but that failed also. I have also tried to download the relevant areas from the USGS Seamless Server, but the amount of data that can be downloaded is small.

Since I sometimes go to the Arizona/Utah border around Lake Powell to hike it would be nice to have a single map containing both of those states, but that combination is not available from Garmin. And the idea of constantly switching those micro SD cards in the open with any wind blowing is frightening. One small gust and the card would be gone forever.

Can anyone help me with info about how to combine the existing downloaded GPSFileDepo maps into a single set?

Thanks.

[miksons]

Before I posted this message I contacted Garmin support. They told me that my gps (60CSX) used its internal memory only for waypoint, tracks and the like and that it would not hold maps. They also told me that any attempt to add a second map to the external card using MapSource would destroy the map already there. So I did not try.

I have a separate card apart from the 24K topo card and I can (and will) try this without having to worry about destroying my existing map. Have you sent muplitple maps to an external card using MapSource successfully?

[maps4gps]

Make that SD card from Garmin read-only if you can, it can be trashed and is not replacable.
MapSource will make a gmapsupp.img file using the data you have selected from any/all of the data sets you have installed in it.  Only one file with that name can be on the card.  If you later want to add more data, the gmapsupp.img file will need to be recreated.  You can have more than one .img on the unit, but only the one named gmapsupp.img will be used - with a PDA or laptop you could rename files.  I believe the Garmin SD card is locked, so it may not be possible to combine their data with the make-your-own data.

[miksons]

First, a big thank you for the response. I had not actually tried to use MapSource because of a number of things including previous attempts and a phone conversation with Garmin support. But adding multiple map sets in a single MapSource session solved the problem so I am very grateful. I now have a single map set with Arizona, Utah and Colorado all stitched together like they should be.

To simplify matters, and to make sure that I did not damage the existing 24K data on my Garmin topo card I used an SD adapter and connected a completely separate card to my computer and MapSource.

Thanks again.

[-Oz-]

Everyone here is on the right track.  Just make sure you don't put anything additional on the Garmin 24k card.