Etrex 20x - OSM look different on Basecamp vs GPS

[mrbrad76]

Hi all,
I'm brand new to the forum, and am seeking specific information.
I have been browsing a little on this forum and Googling to see if I could find an answer without creating another post/topic, but no luck. Hoping you can help!
I have four Etrex 20x's that I am trying to setup for local Scouts group.
I have downloaded Basecamp and OSM + Topo to PC, and have transferred OSM map to the GPS using the map manager tool in Basecamp.
I can see in the maps section on the GPS that it has the OSM map installed.
When viewing the map in Basecamp I can see streets and other features in local small towns, but, on the GPS I can see only some very major arterial roads radiating from Melbourne, none of the detail that I could see in Basecamp is there.
I checked that OSM is enabled on the GPS and it is.

Any thoughts?

Thankyou,
Brad

[bernieq]

If the map is enabled then I can only think that your gps is zoomed out to far - what features show depends on the zoom level.

Is the map direct from OSM or are they andrewp's OSM-based maps? If you want topo maps for anywhere in Australia, I would suggest using his maps.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=14234&p=359469&hilit=Osm#p359469
(and thank you for the work, once again, andrewp)

[peregrinator]

In Basecamp, choose from any of the maps you have installed in Maps in the Menu bar at the top of the screen. A tick appears next to the enabled one that you want to view.

Good advice from bernieq about OSM maps from andrewp. These have recently been updated.

[mrbrad76]

Hi Bernieg
thanks for reply, sorry for late response, but you know..... work etc

No, map not zoomed out too far, I zoomed in quite a way looking for the missing detail, and I set detail level to most
The maps came from http://alternativaslibres.org, and look pretty good on basecamp, but I will try andrewps ones. Looking on his cloud box, I can see vic and tas only. I'm in Vic, but should there be other maps for the rest of Australia? (Edit, went to link again, and yes all of Oz is there)

I see that they are a single image, so does that mean I load the file directly to the memory of the GPS or SD card, rather than using basecamp?

Cheers,
Brad

[mrbrad76]

In Basecamp, choose from any of the maps you have installed in Maps in the Menu bar at the top of the screen. A tick appears next to the enabled one that you want to view.

Good advice from bernieq about OSM maps from andrewp. These have recently been updated.

Hi peregrinator, thanks for reply,
I could view the map in base camp, I assume it is looking at local version on PC rather than what is on the GPS, is this correct?

Cheers,
Brad

[andrewp]

I see that they are a single image, so does that mean I load the file directly to the memory of the GPS or SD card, rather than using basecamp?

Correct. Just copy the img files to the Garmin folder on your GPS or SD card. Create a Garmin folder on your SD card if it doesn't exist.

I was copying the files up to a new cloud server. Got fed up with Mega, so giving Google Drive a go.

[mrbrad76]

Yes!
I have downloaded both andrewp's VIC files files to the GPS internal memory, and it worked.

Thankyou all for your assistance, and andrewp for taking care of the map files for others to use.

[MikeB62]

A tip mentioned on this forum at times which I found very handy is to copy these same files to a Garmin folder on a USB flash drive and Basecamp happily uses these files rather than needing to have the Etrex connected. I use this method when route planning and "playing around" and then only connect the Etrex to download/upload tracks, waypoints etc.

[bernieq]

Yes, as MikeB62 says, put the img files in a garmin folder on a USB and basecamp will see them.

An alternative to exporting to the GPS directly is to export tracks to a gpx file and then copy it to the sd card (using a card reader). I do tracks and waypoints as separate files but they can be exported all in one file if desired.

[mrbrad76]

Thanks for the advice. I was wondering why basecamp could not see these maps

[north-north-west]

Mostly because Baescamp sucks.

[peregrinator]

It takes some getting used to, that's for sure. But people had to start somewhere and may have been persuaded, as I was, to buy a Garmin device based on recommendations from other users. At that initial entry point into GPS software, several applications seemed to be equally confusing. I'm still battling with aspects of Basecamp, but not really keen to discard what I've learnt so far and spend time that I do not have trying to learn something else. (Which could also turn out to "suck".) Especially when there are several learned members of this forum are are very willing to offer help. So my next post here will be a question addressing yet another vexatious Basecamp conundrum!

[peregrinator]

Yes, as MikeB62 says, put the img files in a garmin folder on a USB and basecamp will see them.

An alternative to exporting to the GPS directly is to export tracks to a gpx file and then copy it to the sd card (using a card reader). I do tracks and waypoints as separate files but they can be exported all in one file if desired.

First, thanks from me to MikeB62 for that useful suggestion.

Second, a question to bernieq. Could you give further information about (1) exporting data to a gpx file; (2) exporting separate track and waypoint files vs exporting as a combined file? Are you referencing Basecamp on this, or more generally?

I don't understand the details on any of these processes. Anyone know of a good on-line link where such things are dealt with in a simple and instructive way?

[bernieq]

Yes, nnw, basecamp does suck - but it actually does tracks quite well (have also used mapsource, OziExp dev and production, qmapshack, orux).

Peregrinator, answering specific questions works ok in a forum like this (ask away) but not so easy to talk in general terms about how to do stuff. I'm happy to chat off-line if you want.

Re exporting from basecamp; just select the items you want (eg several tracks) and hit file-export. Give the file a name and select gpx in the pulldown filetype box. Then copy the file to the garmin directory of either the sd card or the gps internal memory.

[peregrinator]

Bernieq, you have resolved what for me has been a troubling issue. So thanks very much for that and also the offer to help further offline. You make a good point about what may or may not be suitable to discuss in the forum. And I'm already guilty of taking this thread away from the original poster was asking. This seems to happen in every thread about GPS that I've come across! (I've come across plenty, looking for clues about Basecamp's, shall we say, peculiarities.) These tangents certainly make it difficult to focus when searching for online help.

Anyway, I'm glad I did ask you about exporting, because your answer solved an issue that I failed to understand. Instead of File/Export '[file]' to the Etrex device, I was selecting Transfer/Send '[file]' to device. Thereby ending up with Track, Track1, Track2, through to Track85. And Waypoint1 . . . Waypoint185. Yes, in doing that the data is available on the device when in the field, but managing the data via the computer is a nightmare. Using the Export command means of course that the device shows the files as having meaningful names. Hooray for that!

It so happens that MikeB62's suggestion ties in beautifully with all that. Initially compiling the files that are required by exporting them to a USB stick, then copying them to the Etrex seems quicker than compiling them directly to the Etrex if one is doing this while looking at various files in the context of maps on Basecamp.

[bernieq]

Happy days

Actually, I've never used the 'send file' option. I export the file to my PC. I have a collection of planned (drawn on a map) and recorded (walked) gpx files as well as img files. As needed, I'll connect the gps to the PC (selecting mass storage mode) and drag the appropriate file(s) to the sd card - into the /garmin folder for img files (maps) and into the /garmin/gpx folder for gpx files (waypoints, tracks).

[nevw]

A recent Basecamp update caused a problem for those wanting to use it to send osm maps to the gps.
This is discussion from the OSM forum and I think the problem has not been fixed yet.
https://forum.openstreetmap.org/viewtopic.php?id=62468

[bernieq]

Oh yeah, I should have said - don't upgrade basecamp to 4.7. V4.6.2 is the last good version. Garmin had terminated development (afaik).

[peregrinator]

Nevw, thanks for that. I was using 4.2, which did not send notifications regarding upgrades. But I might have eventually learnt about 4.7 and installed it without knowing of the problem. Now I've installed 4.6.3 and one of its "features" is to send a notification about the 4.7 upgrade every time I start.

[bernieq]

You can permenantly remove that (very annoying) feature - search the basecamp forum for instructions.

It worked for me (win 10)