MAPSOURCE
SOFTWARE
MapSource software for PC’s – supplied
on CD and bundled with new Garmin GPS receivers or purchased
online (www.garmap .co.za) –is a useful and practical
tool for planning your trips, and managing your trip
data. If you own a ‘Plug and Play’ Street-navigator
that operates off a pre-loaded SD card mapset, and you
want to utilise the versatility of MapSource, you can
use MapSource to transfer your mapsets from the SD card
to the unit’s internal memory. Thereafter, MapSource
becomes the interface between you, your computer and
your GPS. Remember, this is optional for Plug and Play
users
MapSource enables you to upload and
download data between your Computer and your GPS, to
plan, and design Routes, make Waypoints, edit data (including
Tracks) and manage the data. The versatility of the
interface between the MapSource and your GPS depends
on the model you own – street navigators, are
intentionally less versatile, while ‘full house’
models are more versatile.
Garmin provide regular free updates
of MapSource. Check for new updates regularly, and update
your copy after loading the software onto your Computer
for the first time.
Click here
if you want to update your MapSource.
Remember, Garmin design firmware
upgrades to optimise the operation of their GPS units.
DOWNLOADING
UPGRADE FILES IN AFRICA AND SOUTH AFRICA
Garmin provide a free software programme,
WebUpdater
(also periodically up-dated) designed to check and automatically
download new firmware to your GPS. When using the WebUpdater,
http://www.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp
be aware that South Africa's relatively slow Internet
speeds (and associated connectivity problems) can interrupt,
prematurely terminate, or corrupt a downloaded file.
SELECTING THE RIGHT GPS
Garmin through Garmin Distribution Africa, market an
extensive and rapidly growing range GPS models for Land
and Sea navigation. Some of their new releases replace
"outdated" models, while others improve existing
models.
Shopping for a Garmin in this rapidly
changing environment requires careful research. What
do you want from your GPS? Where and how would you use
your Garmin? Would you use it for street navigation
in your car, or mounted on your motorbike or on your
boat?
Would you use your GPS for hiking,
or touring, and would you want to u deciding, consult
existing owners, browse the Garmin website (www.garmin.com)
or post questions on the Garmap forum (www.garmap.co.za).
Garmin group their automotive GPS Range into four categories:
Full-house units, Street Navigators, Cell phone Bluetooth
models and Plug and Play units. Ask a dealer to explain
and demonstrate the user interface and capabilities
of the models that appear to address your requirements.
STREET NAVIGATORS
Garmin designed the Street Navigator range with a limited
MapSource interface. Street Navigators cannot
take tracks. You cannot load routes designed in
MapSource to or from your unit: You can only design
your route on the small screen of the GPS.
You can however take waypoints
(a two-step process under "favourites") and
load these back and forth between the GPS and Mapsource.
Street Navigators can generally (but not exclusively)
utilise "activated" POI"s (specially
built waypoints termed "Custom Waypoints")
that activate certain predefined points on a route -
road hazards or in some models, a voice file (a Tour
Guide function). Garmin provide free POI Loader
software (periodically updated) to load this data to
your GPS.
Click here
to see a list of POI Loader compatible GPS units (then
click on the Product Compatibility box). Some Garmin
Street Navigator models have Bluetooth cell phone connectivity.
The Street Navigator range
includes "Plug and Play" units sold with preloaded
mapsets. You buy them, plug them in, and use them. These
units do not enjoy a MapSource interface and you are
not required to unlock the map prior to use. Most "plug
and play" models are POI Loader compatible.
Smartphone navigators,
linked by Bluetooth to a Garmin GPS10, enjoy similar
specifications to the Street Navigator range, although
these smartphones cannot interface with MapSource.
The GPS10 is a versatile
GPS receiver (one of several models in this range) that
you can use in conjunction with Garmin"s nRoute
software that links your GPS capabilities to the large
screen and the trip-data memory capacity of Laptop or
Tablet PC storage.
Click here
to see a list of Garmin compatible smartphones.
FULL HOUSE UNITS
If you own a "full-house" Garmin GPS (that
can log tracks, take waypoints and save data to an expandable
SD card, or couple to a Data Logger), you can deploy
MapSource to design Routes, then transfer them between
your PC and GPS, or exchange this data with friends.
Over time, you can use MapSource to collect and manage
a massive amount of travel information.
SELECTING THE RIGHT MAPSET
Garmin GPS receivers run on branded "Garmap"
mapsets developed under licence by Georigin in Pretoria
specifically for the Garmin range. Southern Africa Streetmaps
v1, encompassing South Africa and six of her nearest
neighbours into a single regional mapset, is the most
recent and comprehensive street navigation mapset in
the range.
Other mapsets include
the Topographic & Recreation" Mapset (non-autorouting),
African Road Atlas and an auto-routing mapset for Nigeria.
Georigin (specialising in African mapsets) plan to incorporate
additional regional maps of Africa into their range
in the near to medium term.
UPDATING MAPSETS
Maps are static representations of a dynamic, continuously
changing environment. Keeping abreast of change entails
a process of continuous updating, and the periodic release
of new, and more comprehensive versions of the same
or improved Mapset. Garmin (through Garmin Distribution Africa in
Johannesburg) release an update every six months, in
June and November.
Click here
for a complete list of the Garmap range of maps
MAPSOURCE
Apart from detailed GPS loaded mapsets, Garmin owners
can also acquire and load MapSource, a powerful and
versatile planning tool, onto a Computer to complement
the street navigation capabilities of their units. If
you"re serious about your planning and data logging,
you will generate large amounts of data that can be
managed by MapSource on your Computer (and, if you want
to, exchanged with friends or colleagues).
"Plug and Play"
owners who buy their units with a mapset pre-loaded
onto a SD card, need not switch to MapSource; neither
do they need to register or unlock their mapset. Never
the less, they can, at any time make the switch (provided
they register and unlock the CD in the prescribed way).
Click here
for information on the Dealer network, or contact sales
at Garmin Distribution Africa on +27 11 251 9999.
Click here
for information on Garmap"s Product Range of maps
NOTE
Garmin Distribution Africa updates the firmware on all
new stock before dispatching them to the Dealer Network.
However, check the firmware on your unit before to using
it; a new update may have become available.
Click here
to upgrade your firmware; or ask a Dealer
to upgrade for you.
Click here
to upgrade your firmware if you own a Nuvi.
Thank you for your interest in Garmap. We hope your
visit to our Web site is pleasant and productive.
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