Garmin Legend Dowload Topo Maps

[Fred]

I told a co-worker of mine I would research this for him before he went out and blew $150 bucks on something he can probably find for free.

Does anyone have a Garmin Legen GPS and if so do they know where you can download the "Garmin Canada Topo"? Pirated of course. Or are there free cloned type maps available instead of buying the Garmind version?

I was also told the CD is burnable if you don't register the software. Is this true?

Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

[mathieu]

Althought they cost an arm and part of your leg here is what we use at work,

2200$ for the thoughest PDA unit out there and the survey software
140$ for the mapping software (OziExplorer3D)
~100$ for the maps
~10.000$ for the GPS unit (this isn't your dinky little garmin that says it can find a spot within 8 metres but really who knows, it could be over 25 metres, our little puppy can find a spot to a centimeter. YOu can bury a dime in the middle of a field, store the location and come back in five months with a foot of snow and still walk to that exact location.)


So essentially we are in anywhere alberta, hook all this up and here is what we see on our little screen

http://etopo.ca/images/topo50b.jpg

And you can rotate the image and so on...

Really the 10000$ gps isn't neccessary all you would need is a PDA that has the capability to hook up a GPS antenna.

[Fred]

Well Mat, that was an interesting lecture on the accuracy of GPS receivers. LOL Sorry I didn't make it more clear but the guy already has a "Garmin Legend". He wants to buy the downloadable TOPO which costs $150 and I thought to myself there is no way he should have to pay for that given all the free pirated software stuff on the internet these days.

Does anyone know where to get this stuff?

[martha]

you gonna teach your kids to steal too?!



that is a cool looking map mat. I would love to have one out climbing, then I could look at it on the crux of a given climb and confirm the 'holy shizzle' that I am feeling and not be so embarrassed about the crap in my pants.

[mathieu]

Cara, ask Brent about not having a topo on a certain route where we were

1) unsure about if we are on the right route

2) on the first pitch and are having difficulty, imagine if the crux is on the last pitch 200 m off the deck.



But that map is actually a 1:50000 scale so its use would be limited in welsford or even on straight forward alpine rock routes but would be usefull on a glacier or something of the sort.

[PaulB]

Personally, I don't think that having the ability to view a topographical map on a GPS is very useful. The screens are too damn small. I prefer to carry a paper map and use the GPS to find my position. I also don't have to worry about the batteries dying in my map.

I currently use OziExplorer software together with ETopo maps to plot waypoints and routes, and transfer them to my GPS. I can also download tracks from the GPS and plot them on a map.

If I was buying today, I'd probably get the Fugawi software and maps because it lets you seamlessly stitch adjacent maps together, which is pretty cool.

[mathieu]

Yeah I totally agree with you Paul, not much use for a map that's displayed on a screen the size of a mouse.

How we actually use it at work remains to be seen. Its still in the evaluation stage. I think what they are trying to do is to overlay an aerial photograph with the surveying information (pins that define the property boundaries) and slap on top of that other info such as buried pipes and so on. But I think most of us in the field are gonna bring our lap tops in our trucks, and consult it as a reference. Sorta like navigation with GPS, it tells you the general direction to your next way point but the navigation in between is done on the fly with your interpretation of the terrain and other info from maps.

oops still off topic

I think your best bet to find that stuff for free is go on other message board and ask discretly if anyone would be willing to give you their copy, I doubt no one will just give you something which they probably paid 150$ for.