# Maps to purchase for Garmin eTrex Vista cx



## big0mike (Jun 11, 2010)

I've had my Vista for a while now and have just used it to keep track of where I've been on hikes and stuff. You know, distance, elevation, speed... Never used it to find my way anywhere so I've had no need for a map.

I'm thinking I want something for it now. It would be nice to be out riding, especially if in an unfamiliar area, and be able to see any trails around for routes. But, for mountain biking we aren't really on "normal" trails. I mean, no commercial map is going to have Trail 100, 8, 220, 1a here in AZ drawn on their map, are they? What I'm picturing is having something like GoogleMaps Satellite view. Even though they won't be labelled I'd still be able to see them. Are satellite views even an option for a GPS? I kinda doubt it. I think they are all just TOPO maps.

Since it's Garmin MapSource is an obvious choice. Are there any others or do manufacturers lock these things down tight enough so you have to buy their maps?

If there are options let me know what you like and about what it costs...

Thanks,


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

You won't be able to get any good satellite imagery on your Vista. You can look at MOAGU if you'd like, but it's really not a good solution. It's an imperfect solution that "fools" the GPS into displaying raster maps. It's very slow.

gpsfiledepot.com has been mentioned in this board so often lately, I'm surprised to even see you asking about topo maps. Go there, get free topos (and learn how to get Mapsource for free to use them).


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## big0mike (Jun 11, 2010)

Already had the MapSource program. Just no maps. Just got 'em from gpsfiledepot... I've only been in here a couple times so I've not seen any mention of them.

Thanks! Not exactly what I was hoping for but as you pointed out above it's probably not gonna happen. I suspect I'll probably be closer when I upgrade to a Droid with GPS and GoogleMaps. Of course, that will only help me when I'm near a cell signal. Out of range means no GoogleMaps...


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

big0mike said:


> Already had the MapSource program. Just no maps. Just got 'em from gpsfiledepot... I've only been in here a couple times so I've not seen any mention of them.
> 
> Thanks! Not exactly what I was hoping for but as you pointed out above it's probably not gonna happen. I suspect I'll probably be closer when I upgrade to a Droid with GPS and GoogleMaps. Of course, that will only help me when I'm near a cell signal. Out of range means no GoogleMaps...


A lot of newer GPS receivers allow the use of raster maps (think satellite imagery, scanned topo maps, scanned park maps, all sorts of stuff).

Delorme was the first to popularize it (though I think Bushnell actually did it first, even though it didn't catch because their GPS sucks). Now many Garmins allow it (Colorado, Oregon, Dakota, 62, 78), and I hear there's a new batch of Magellans coming out that will be supporting it.

There's also, I am told, some smartphone apps either out now or in the pipeline that will allow better batch map downloading so you can use the GPS functions of the phone outside of cell range. It's still early for those apps, so I haven't heard any actual user experiences yet, but the app developers are finally listening.

AND, there's the Magellan Toughcase for iPod/iPhone which in addition to the waterproofness, it also adds an auxiliary battery and a SiRFStarIII GPS receiver chip to the wimpy cell phone GPS receiver (or in the case of iPod Touch, gives it a GPS for the first time).

someone's finally paying attention to the fact that smartphones in their current incarnation suck for GPS use in the woods.


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## big0mike (Jun 11, 2010)

NateHawk said:


> someone's finally paying attention to the fact that smartphones in their current incarnation suck for GPS use in the woods.


Well, in their defense, it's a PHONE. It's not supposed to be able to get you around in the woods. It's not supposed to even be able to get you around in the city. It's a phone. But, everyone just has to have *everything *at *every moment* of the day and *in the palm of their hand.*

I'll have to look into this some more. I've thought about upgrading to something like the Colorado...


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## erginguney (Dec 30, 2005)

You might want to take a look at the free Arizona Topo Map for Garmin GPS receivers downloadable from GPSFileDepot. It has no claim of representing all trails available in any given area, but, if it's anything like the California Topo Map from the same website that I've downloaded and have been using for a while, it should show pretty much every dirt road and fire road that's represented on USGS topo maps. Many "trails" (except for purpose-built singletrack) are repurposed from such roads, at least in the area where I live. Moreover, those should at least give you enough bail-out options in case you get hopefully lost.

It's a 200-megabyte download, so, unless your eTrex Vista uses flash storage cards, you may not be able to fit it in its internal memory. But, it might be worth a look anyway, because you might find leads for other such free maps by starting to look from that page (filtering by state on the main home page of that website would be a good start), or MapSource might give you the option of downloading smaller portions of the map to your device selectively.

I have the California equivalent of this map currently loaded on my Garmin 60CSx that I always have with me on rides. I've been very impressed with its detail and accuracy. The only drawback I've experienced is that my device is unable to do street-based routing and turn-by-turn navigation while that map is present, but that doesn't bother me much because I use this GPS receiver strictly for biking and hiking.


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## big0mike (Jun 11, 2010)

Already dowloaded the AZ topo right after Nate pointed me to gpsfiledepot. MapSource does allow me to upload only sections of the map. At 3-10 megs each I don't know how many my Vista will hold so I may wind up getting an add on card. Of course, this thing is so old it may not accept "good" sized cards.

I put two maps of the area I normally ride (or course it was split between two) and a cursory looks shows absolutely NONE of the trails I ride but that's OK. Can't expect much for free... At least I've got some general terrain instead of a blank screen.

I went to the Garmin website and started looking at "Custom" maps. Then discovered those are only for the Colorado, Dakota, and Oregon


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

big0mike said:


> Already dowloaded the AZ topo right after Nate pointed me to gpsfiledepot. MapSource does allow me to upload only sections of the map. At 3-10 megs each I don't know how many my Vista will hold so I may wind up getting an add on card. Of course, this thing is so old it may not accept "good" sized cards.
> 
> I put two maps of the area I normally ride (or course it was split between two) and a cursory looks shows absolutely NONE of the trails I ride but that's OK. Can't expect much for free... At least I've got some general terrain instead of a blank screen.
> 
> I went to the Garmin website and started looking at "Custom" maps. Then discovered those are only for the Colorado, Dakota, and Oregon


I use a 1gb card. I swap it between my Edge and my 76CSx depending on which one I'm using. It will hold 24k topos of the entire state of Texas on it. You'll easily be able to put a 1gb card in yours and it should hold plenty. I'm not sure if the Cx can hold a 2gb or larger card, but IME, that much space is only necessary if you plan on loading multiple mapsets at once to switch between. I don't do that, so it's not an issue for me.

oh, and custom mapping is also available for the 62 and 78 models that just came out this summer. But the custom mapping site probably hasn't been updated yet.


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