Geocaching Australia

Anybody using these maps? They seem to be comprehensive and up to date e.g. new subdivision where son lives in Thornlands (QLD) which is not on City Navigator or Garmin Topo Australia is present. Routing seems to work OK, but not able to route to an address.

Does anybody know what coverage out in the boonies is like? I have loaded them onto a spare microSD card and put it into the Etrex20 but haven't been out of the suburbs yet. Works well on roads e.g. differentiates when walking down LHS or RHS of a road.

Just seeking peoples' thoughts/experience. Wondering if they might be a reasonable substitute for someone who doesn't want to fork out $200 for e.g. Garmin Topo Aust.

They are great for the price

Like anything community built, the detail will be in the areas with more people (generally) as they are more likely to map their local area.

I know when I'm adding to OSM I do the major roads first, then any minor roads people are likely to need and then worry about any detail later.

The detail of the maps out in the middle of nowhere in general will be sparse, but hey, they are free.

I've been using OSM on my Oregon 300 for six months and it's probably the best move I ever made, what you get for the price is awesome. When I lived in Bendigo (central Victoria) it had all the highways/minor roads/forest tracks that I needed. Now I'm in Melbourne it's got everything I need here too. My geocaching buddy Tank_U uses Garmin maps that he paid $195 for, and I really can't say it's any better than OSM.

TwoDrews wrote:I've been using OSM on my Oregon 300 for six months and it's probably the best move I ever made, what you get for the price is awesome. When I lived in Bendigo (central Victoria) it had all the highways/minor roads/forest tracks that I needed. Now I'm in Melbourne it's got everything I need here too. My geocaching buddy Tank_U uses Garmin maps that he paid $195 for, and I really can't say it's any better than OSM.

How did you get it

I'd be interested in this for my Oregon 450

shrek4 wrote:

TwoDrews wrote:I've been using OSM on my Oregon 300 for six months and it's probably the best move I ever made, what you get for the price is awesome. When I lived in Bendigo (central Victoria) it had all the highways/minor roads/forest tracks that I needed. Now I'm in Melbourne it's got everything I need here too. My geocaching buddy Tank_U uses Garmin maps that he paid $195 for, and I really can't say it's any better than OSM.

How did you get it

I'd be interested in this for my Oregon 450

http://www.osmaustralia.org/garmin.php

Routable and non-routable sets available.

From memory, here's the process I used to get OSM onto my Oregon 300:

Go to http://www.osmaustralia.org/garmin.php and download the state maps you want.

Get a copy of IMG2GPS from
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-too ... 2GPS.shtml

Install and run IMG2GPS.

Select the folder containing the IMG files, then save the output as a file (don't transfer to the GPSr).

Plug your GPSr into your computer.

Drag and drop the gmapsupp.img file into the Garmin folder on the GPSr.

TwoDrews wrote:From memory, here's the process I used to get OSM onto my Oregon 300:

Go to http://www.osmaustralia.org/garmin.php and download the state maps you want.

Get a copy of IMG2GPS from
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-too ... 2GPS.shtml

Install and run IMG2GPS.

Select the folder containing the IMG files, then save the output as a file (don't transfer to the GPSr).

Plug your GPSr into your computer.

Drag and drop the gmapsupp.img file into the Garmin folder on the GPSr.

If you have an SD card in your Oregon, just copy the .img files in to the Garmin directory on the SD card, no need to install or run IMG2GPS.

Then go to Setup -> Maps and enable the OSM maps.

Easy as.

Works great

Thanks guys

I used the same process as CraigRat. Easy as pie! Have used them on a few walks now and they look really good. Still to try them out in the boonies a bit.

If you have an SD card in your Oregon, just copy the .img files in to the Garmin directory on the SD card, no need to install or run IMG2GPS.

Then go to Setup -> Maps and enable the OSM maps.

Easy as.

Works great[/quote]

Does anyone know if this now works on the Montana? When I originally loaded the OSM maps I needed to use the img2gps as a simple drag and drop would not work (the GPSr didn't see them). I am about to update my OSM and it would be a lot easier to just drag and drop.

jusojara wrote:If you have an SD card in your Oregon, just copy the .img files in to the Garmin directory on the SD card, no need to install or run IMG2GPS.

Then go to Setup -> Maps and enable the OSM maps.

Easy as.

Works great

Does anyone know if this now works on the Montana? When I originally loaded the OSM maps I needed to use the img2gps as a simple drag and drop would not work (the GPSr didn't see them). I am about to update my OSM and it would be a lot easier to just drag and drop.[/quote]

I put OSM onto strike-a-light's new Montana and all I did was the drag and drop thing. That's all my IT capabilities are up to

Just to chime in, all of my finds have been with OSM on my Garmin Colorado.

Like CraigRat said, I copy the img files directly onto my Garmin and restart, and the maps appear. Don't even need to use a SD card.

I've even become a contributor and I add walking paths in National Parks that are missing, or missing roads, etc. It's pretty easy to do.

I find this is the easiest site to use.
You just select the area you want, and then you get an email when the file is ready.
Then you just download and copy it to your Garmin.
Very clear instructions on the page.

http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

gmj3191 wrote:I find this is the easiest site to use.
http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

Wow, I didn't know about this site. Thanks for posting it, great for our upcoming overseas trip

All I get is an error message "openstreetmap.nl is not responding due to a long running script".