# Alternate programs to work with your Garmin GPS



## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

You've probably all heard of the major software packages folks are using for their Garmin GPS receivers: Garmin Mapsource Topo, National Geographic Topo!, Delorme Topo USA, Topofusion, and Motionbased. These are all well and good, but they offer either limited functionality, they cost a lot of money, or some combination of those two factors.

You can do more with your GPS receiver with better software, and you can save money in the process. As long as you have a decent computer, and some high speed connection to the internet, you can use the programs I list below.

The first you will want is MN DNR Garmin. This handy little program communicates with your GPS and allows you to save your files as .txt, .shp, or .dbf files, which are recognized by a lot of GIS programs.

The next program to look at is QGIS. This is the bread & butter program that will allow you to view your files over basemap data and alongside other files. You can download topo imagery (DRG), aerial photography (DOQQ), and digital elevation models (DEM) free from us government and university web servers to view. This step usually requires a little leg work, since you'll have to locate a site relevant to your geographic area, and you'll have to filter through all the data you don't want to find what you're looking for. QGIS is a powerful program, so I can barely only touch on what it can do. You really can do a lot...your best bet is to download it and work with it to find out what.

Next, you'll want to download:
DEM2TOPO
IDL Virtual Machine
GPSMapEdit
cGPSMapper

These programs will allow you to create detailed topo maps for your Garmin GPS...that cost you NOTHING. You can make them as detailed as you like, however most folks stop at roughly 1:24k resolution because if you go more detailed, it bogs down the GPS's processor.

Next, you need the DEM data. For USA, go to http://seamless.usgs.gov and for Canada go to http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/index.html . I do not know where to find this data for other countries, so you're on your own. You'll probably also want data about hydrography (streams, lakes, etc), too. You can get that data from http://nhdgeo.usgs.gov/viewer.htm for the US. I do not know the location of this data for other countries, so again, you're on your own. You can add more data as you wish, too. You may want to see roads and fire roads. This data will be available from your state, university, county, or municipality. Just run a search for GIS and the general area (state, county) you wish to search for. You should turn up relevant info. Sometimes, other agencies have data you might want...like your state parks agency (DNR or whatever they call it). Their websites may turn up worthwhile data.

Now for the steps (these instructions assume a USA location...modify as necessary for your location and the website you use to aquire data):
Go to http://seamless.usgs.gov/andhttp://seamless.usgs.gov/ and download high resolution DEM data (for Canada go to http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/index.html)
Make sure to visit the FAQ if running SP2 for XP and allow downloads and make trusted site in order to get info.
for usgs click on view and download U.S. data
Click on the zoom in tool and zoom in to your area of interest
Use either define download area tool under downloads or define area by coordinates tool to download your area
An SDDS Request Summary Page will appear, click on modify data request
Uncheck the National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1 Arc Second, let the page refresh
Check National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1/3 Arc Second box, let the page refresh
Change form ArcGrid to GeoTiff, scroll to the bottom of the page
Change the Maximum size (MB) per piece from 100 to 50mb (I found that working with files under 50 mb is easier and faster)
Click save changes & Return to summary.
Click on download and save your data, unzip you files, save the data anywhere you want just don't forget where you put it.

Next is to convert the GeoTiff to an .mp file (an mp file is a file that we will manipulate latter on)
Double-click on dem2topo.sav to start the program, IDL will start and run dem2topo
Select units feet or meters, set your minor contour intervals, set your intermediate contour interval, and your major contour interval ( I set them to 20 feet, 200 feet, and 500 feet&#8230;..for minor contour intervals less than 10 feet makes your map very cluttered)
Change your plot refresh interval to 99
Next click on Select DEM files, find your GeoTiff file and open it (select DEM file if you are from Canada here)
Your map screen will go black while it is loading so give it time
After it has loaded simply click on create .mp file and watch it work

Next is to download your water data(if you don't need nor want water data skip this part)
Go to http://nhdgeo.usgs.gov/viewer.htm
Zoom in to your area of interest
Under layers open the Hydrologic Units and put a check in the Subbasins box(anytime you check a box that item will show up on the map when you hit redraw the map, so you can turn on cities or counties to figure out where you are)
Next open the NHD High Res tab, you may or may not see anything here, ,the more you zoom in the more things that show up to turn on or off,so keep zooming in and something should show up here.
When the NHD High Res data shows up put a check in the box for the following:NHDFlowline,NHDArea,NHDWaterbody
Next put a dot in the circle of Subbasins, Subbasins will now have a checked box and dotted circle(the dotted circle tells the download what to download while the checked box tells what to display on the map)
Click on the polygon extract tool, click in the area you want to download,
A NHD Geodatabase Extract should appear, For #1 put a dot in High Resolution, for #2 put a dot in the shapefile, #3 enter your email address
A link will be emailed to you to download the data, It might take a while so be patient, when you get the data unzip and save where you can remember.

 Next is to edit the .mp file in GPSmapedit
Open gpsmapedit, click file open and choose your .mp file
Click on file then map properties and do the following:


change type set to Garmin
give the map an 8 digit ID number
give the map a name
click on the levels tab and hit the insert before tab do this until you have level0= through level5=
Change the settings to look like this
Level0=24 bits mapsource zoom=under1.2km
Level1=23 bits mapsource zoom=1.2-3km
Level2=22 bits mapsource zoom=3-8km
Level3=20 bits mapsource zoom=8-12km
Level4=19 bits mapsource zoom=12-30km
Level5=18 bits mapsource zoom=50-120km

Click on the cGPSMapper Tab and check the Map is transparent box
Click apply
Next click on view, then levels and select level 4. This will be a white page
Click on the wand tab(create object) and select point, Click on your map and create a settlement(less 100) and click ok


Next is to import your waterways
 Click on file, import and select ESRIshape(*.shp)
Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDArea
Select type of objects, click on from list tab and select 0X0045Blue- Unknown,hit next
 Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, hit next
 Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, hit next
 Select zoom levels to import, check levels 0,1,2,3, hit finish

Click on file, import and select ESRIshape(*.shp)
Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDFlowline
Select type of objects, click on from list tab and select 0X0001River ,hit next
 Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, hit next
 Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, hit next
 Select zoom levels to import, check levels 0,1,2 hit finish

Click on file, import and select ESRIshape(*.shp)
Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDWaterbody
Select type of objects, click on from list tab and select 0X003bBlue- Unknown,hit next
 Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, hit next
 Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, hit next
 Select zoom levels to import, check levels 0,1,2 hit finish

Go to view, levels and select level0
Next go to tools and select trim. Trace the area around your elevation data then right click and select trim outside(this gets rid of extra water ways)
Click on tools, remove object duplicates

Click on file, map properties, Click on the cGPSMapper Tab and make sure the Map transparent box is still checked if not check again and hit apply
Click on file save map as and save your file (Polish format(*.mp,*txt.)
Click on "File > Export GarminIMG/cgpsmapper.exe". (This program has to be downloaded prior so look at the website in this step), name your file and save it, then search for the cgpsmapper.exe file that you saved earlier and click on run and wait until it says "Export is complete" and click "Ok".
END of gpsmapedit☺

Find your newly created .img file and change the name to the 8 digit number that you gave the map in step 4(2)(2).
You can now send the map image to your GPS or Mapsource. My instructions follow:
Create and compile your map using cGPSmapper. You must give it a name of all numbers: ex. 10000123.img. (You already did this in Step 4(2)(2).
Create a folder named "custom" under the Garmin folder and copy your custom map to it. (Only do this for the 1st map ONLY.)
Copy cGPSmapper.exe to the same folder.
Copy test_pv.txt (found in the Test_Map folder of cGPSmapper) to your custom folder.
Edit test_pv.txt (using NotePad or WordPad - works best) so it looks something like this and "File > Save":
[Map]
FileName=CINtopo ' anything
MapVersion=100
ProductCode=111 ' a different number for each custom map (not sure this matters)
Color=32
Levels=2
Level0=20 ' this should be the least detailed (but not empty) layer on your map
Level1=17 ' anything
Zoom0=5
Zoom1=6
MapsourceName=CINtopo ' anything (this will be the name of the files and registry entry)
MapSetName=CT ' anything
CDSetName=CT ' anything
Copy1=Garmin
Copy2=Stan
[End-Map]
 ' You should do this - delete the Dictionary section that shows up in your "test_pv.txt file".
 [Files]
 img=10000123.img 'This is your map file name. *** MUST be numbers ***
' YOU CAN HAVE SEVERAL OF THESE "img" LINES. They will all be compiled into a single preview map, and you can select and upload them to your GPS individually using Mapsource.
 [END-Files]


Open a "command window" (DOS prompt): Start > Run, type "cmd" and click "OK".
Now type "cd c:\garmin\custom" in the command window to change the directory to the "custom" folder and click "Enter".
Create the preview files: type "cgpsmapper pv test_pv.txt" and click "Enter". This creates a small preview map file (.img), a table file (.TDB) and a registry file (.reg).
You Don't Have To Do Steps 5-7 Except For Your 1st Custom Map ONLY
Edit the registry file (i.e. CINtopo.reg) that was just created in your "Custom" folder: Right click on it and select Edit. Change the folders (directories) so they point to your custom folder. Yes, you need the double back-slashes:
REGEDIT4
 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\CINtopo]
"LOC"="C:\\Garmin\\custom\\"
"BMAP"="C:\\Garmin\\custom\\CINtopo.img"
"TDB"="C:\\Garmin\\custom\\CINtopo.tdb"
 and click File > Save.

Run the registry file (double click it) that you edited in your "custom" folder and select "yes" to load it into your registry.
Open Mapsource. If you made a registry file mistake you will get an error saying to reinstall MapSource. Don't worry, you don't have to reinstall. Just run "regedit" (seek help if unsure about this!) and remove the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Garmin\MapSource\Products\CINtopo" key. Repeat the above steps until you get it right.
You should now see your map listed in MapSource along with your other Garmin maps in the 'Product' list as "CINtopo".
Select (click) your map and the preview map will show up in the map area of the screen. Since we did not go to any trouble to make the preview map pretty you will see an outline and not much more. You may be able to zoom in to see more detail of your custom map.
You should now be able to use the "Map Tool" to select your custom map for uploading and upload it with your other maps.

These instructions were adapted from: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=145256&hl=
If you have questions specific to these instructions, the experts on this are on the groundspeak forums. Ask them.

The image below is from a project I'm working on for a local nature center. The contours are generated from a DEM using part of the procedure above (and then clipped to reduce the processor load on my pc, hence the gaps in places outside the boundaries), and the trails are from GPS data I collected. All the other data (original DEM, roads, streams, ponds, property boundary) was downloaded as-is from GIS data websites.


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

DayUm Nate! Sweet tutorial. I've been trying to get to this point, but have fumbled along and made a few messes. This is really well done and appreciated by us GPS geeks.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## scottyperkins (Oct 29, 2006)

Wow. I need an adult beverage now.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

If you really want to see something cool, I'm working on downloading about a gigabyte's worth of high res orthophotos to overlay with a ride I did last week. It's gonna take about an hour to get all that downloaded. When I get a final image ready for export, I'll post it here.

Oh, and no need to thank me for the tutorial. I didn't come up with it. I just reposted it from the groundspeak boards. I just see a lot of folks asking questions here that this could answer and I thought it would help. The bits about MN DNR Garmin and QGIS, however, are my recommendations and if anyone has questions about that stuff, I can help the best I can.


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## scottyperkins (Oct 29, 2006)

Good stuff NateHawk, thanks very much.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Okay, here we go. Took awhile to get everything arranged. The first one is an overview of the ride and the second is a close zoom into the TH start/finish area.

Here's a link to the ride on Motionbased, where you can compare how this looks with the Google Earth imagery.

If you're curious where I got the imagery in the first place, I got it from the Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access site.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Here's a final zoom level.


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## rockymtnrider (Apr 29, 2007)

*satalite images*

the satalite photos are great. That is what I would like to do. How did you do it and did you have to pay to do it?


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## slocaus (Jul 21, 2005)

The answer to that question just happens to be the *first* post in this thread........


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## IvanLasston (Jul 10, 2006)

Some Stuff I found to make the Garmin training units (IE Edge/Forerunner) more useful. Neither is as full featured as a real garmin gps, but with the utilities below, visualization is much better. Plus you can use it as a base level navigation aid by getting gpx files and converting them to courses you can follow.

Convert your tracks to google earth, maps, jpg etc
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/
Another conversion/route sharing site
http://www.gpsies.com
Convert a gpx(geotagging file) to crs(garmin course file)
http://forums.motionbased.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=58a33ee0bd94e7c420f4158b2499958a&topic=2088.0

Perl based conversion tools
http://cislyon.homeip.net/blog-en/archives/2007/04/convert_tools_f.html
Web based history file splitter (or you can download a perl script to split your history file)
http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/forerunner/
Windoze users - for perl get cygwin or activestate
http://www.cygwin.com
http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/

Yet another logbook program. Some people use this instead of Motionbased.
http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

A place to get gpx files (The gpx files don't seem that detailed so be warned. If you set it to your course, you will probably be off route a lot. It is a sharing site so upload a more detailed gpx if you can)
http://www.trailcentral.com/

A course visualized in google earth. Generated with gpsvisualizer. Bonus points to whoever guesses where it is.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

rockymtnrider said:


> the satalite photos are great. That is what I would like to do. How did you do it and did you have to pay to do it?


They're not satellite photos. They're photos taken from low level flights in a small plane like a cessna. And yes, the description on how to do it is in the first post in this discussion.


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## MichauxYeti (Nov 10, 2005)

Alderfer Three Sisters Open Sp Park according to the coordinates at the bottom left of your screenshot.


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## IvanLasston (Jul 10, 2006)

Boooo! Way to be observant. Correct none the less.


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## nico2me (Feb 9, 2007)

Great post.... thanks for the very useful info.....


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## Nathan Cloud (Jul 18, 2005)

That Quantum GIS looks pretty sweet, gonna have to check it out. Thanks!


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2007)

Mods, this should be sticky...


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## Trevor_S (Jun 25, 2007)

IvanLasston said:


> Yet another logbook program. Some people use this instead of Motionbased.
> http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/


I can't get this to work with Vista 64  anyone else had any luck ? (looks for an old verison of .NET, Vista comes with .NET 2.


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## IvanLasston (Jul 10, 2006)

Have you tried installing .net 1.1?
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...4f-088e-40b2-bbdb-a83353618b38&displaylang=en
It says Vista 64 bit is supported.


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## ickyickyptngzutboing (Mar 30, 2005)

I'm confused about the IDL VM... the website says you can download a trial version that only runs for seven minute sessions--is this the case?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

If you click a couple more links, you get to the download page where you can register and choose the version you want. That first page you get to is a little deceiving...but I think the only time-limited downloads are for the other apps they offer. The IDL VM is free and lets you run other apps that use the language.


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## markowe (Feb 1, 2007)

Awesome tutorial! This info is real voodoo stuff - until recently the Garmin map format was a secret, but now anyone can make maps for Garmin devices. I haven't really got into this side of it yet, but this is definitely useful for me because here in Serbia there are very few good maps available and most enthusiasts are making their own.

By the way, for non US/Canada DEM data is available from a NASA FTP site for the whole globe - the link eludes me at the moment, but this is what people are using all over the world to produce maps. Anyone help with that link?


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