Magellan eXplorist XL

[rogainer]

how do I get the Aussie base map? Is it downloadable from anywhere? Does it matter anyway? If I load DAST maps into the thing, does the base map matter at all?

<p>
Not sure what a DAST map is, but I have DiscoverAus Topo loaded on mine, so most of the time the base map doesn't matter. It is only when I zoom out past a certain scale that the base map comes on and discoveraus topo turns off. This is handy to see where you are on a macro scale - ie surrounding suburbs or towns and main roads/highways.

[dak's Emu Mob]

Not sure what a DAST map is, . . .

DAST means DiscoverAus Streets and Tracks--the version before DiscoverAus Topo.
<p>
I'm a bit surprised that the base map comes into play when you zoom out. How do you know when the base map turns on and DiscoverAus Topo turns off? Does the XL tell you somehow?
<p>
Cheers,
<p>
dak

[GIN51E]

i don't think discover aus turns off its just the detail reduces as you zoom out and only shows major roads, does exactly the same when viewing discover aus on the computer,

but i wouldn't worry about what country the basemap is for as i think the basemap is useless when you have discover Aus loaded into it

[rogainer]

DAST means DiscoverAus Streets and Tracks--the version before DiscoverAus Topo.

oh
<p>
On my Explorist XL, if I turn off the base map and zoom out past 2.5km scale, I see nothing except my POI's and geocaches. I tried playing with all the detail level settings to no avail. Obviously, discoverAus topo is designed to work with the basemap past a certain scale.
<p>
Paul

[muzza]

I have a Map330, and can only speak of it, but I believe the same is true of the Meridian, a probably the Explorist.

The detailed maps loaded only come into play when you zoom in beyond a certain level. If you zoom out, you will be displaying only the basemap - therefore, if your basemap is not for Australia, you will not see any map at all. This is not the same as when you run the s/w on your PC.

The level at which you have to zoom out to lose the detail is set in "Map Setup", "Detail" on the GPS. I'm guessing that this is still true for the eXplorist.

[pprass]

I'm a bit surprised that the base map comes into play when you zoom out. How do you know when the base map turns on and DiscoverAus Topo turns off? Does the XL tell you somehow?

I have an eXplorist 600 and the base map kicks in when you zoom out past 350m. That was the same with my Meridian Platinum and Colour. You can actually change that setting so the base map doesn't come in until a higher zoom-out level, but I forgot how it is done. I think you need to change a text file setting in DAST before loading up the files onto the GPSr. There are many discussions on the Yahoo-meridian forum on that topic.
Regarding an Aus basemap, give me a call and maybe we can work something out!

[arthurking83]

I'm almost nearly, very sure, that the basemap doesn't display at zoom level 'x' or 'y' as such!
It's more like..... each layer (0-10 in the topo maps) does or doesn't display at zoom level 'x' or 'y'. It's built into the map compilation, and described in a file called map00.ini
Therefore the basemap detail takes over. at zoom 'a' or 'b' ..but not completely!

It would be nigh on impossible for the basemap to display topo contour lines at zoom level 5km, let alone 350 meters, so that info comes from the topo SD card

Yet at 5km I lose the Calder Freeway at about Woodend/Macedon, and the basemap only shows the "old" Calder hwy from about there.... so that's what I see. At zoom 2.5km I see the Calder Fwy again.

So it's not a matter of "the basemap takes over at zoom X!!

Also, the Aussie basemap is quite good(for a basemap)with lots of main roads detail.
Hmmm....there's about 8 megleft over to play with there!!!

Using the US basemap, the Aussie mainland may be based on WorldWideBaseMap, which can only be described as a joke...check the water around Port Philip Bay, and prepare for some scuba diving whilst driving around the Brighton Beach area

Like everyone else said...get DAST v1 or Topo...forget about the basemap! Keep the zoom level within about 10-20km

[rogainer]

<br>
If I select one of my own POI's directly from the map screen and edit it (change, name icon etc), the new info is displayed correctly on the screen after saving, but turn unit off then on again, editing changes are lost. No problem if you edit POI's through "Menu"->"POI list" though.<br>
<br>
Pressing "Menu"->"Track Log" displays "Please wait" for 30 seconds before warning beep about bad GPS coverage and then displaying track logs.<br>
<br>
<br>

<p>
I just thought I would make people aware of another "undocumented feature" of the XL which I discovered the hard way.<br>If you use the joystick on the map screen to highlight and select a geocache POI and then select go to that point from the popup menu, the unit DOES NOT go to the stored coordinates of the selected POI - Instead, the unit will guide you to the coordinates of the cross hairs where you clicked on the screen.
<br>This is very annoying - depending on the zoom scale of the map at the time you picked the go to, you could be out by a significant distance. <p>I just revisited a cache today which I failed to find in March for this exact reason.

[GIN51E]

For those Explorist and XL users if you have been waiting for Marine maps the wait is over

http://www.nextdestination.com.au/news/#45

[Grank]

When transferring geocache WPs from GSAK (or just uploading .gpx using Geocaching manager, for that matter) I seem to be hitting some invisible limit of about 200 records. I still havenÂ’t figured out where the cutoff occurs (itÂ’s not alphabetical by cache name, nor does it seem to be the age of the cache).

Has anyone come across this, or more importantly overcome this?

[Chwiliwr]

When transferring geocache WPs from GSAK (or just uploading .gpx using Geocaching manager, for that matter) I seem to be hitting some invisible limit of about 200 records. I still havenÂ’t figured out where the cutoff occurs (itÂ’s not alphabetical by cache name, nor does it seem to be the age of the cache).

Has anyone come across this, or more importantly overcome this?

It is all eXplorist's that have the problem and I have not seen a solution.

Generally it seems that it is 200 per POI file so if you can split the file up into something like zones you do get around it in a way.

[Chwiliwr]

Forgot to add the 200 appears to be a random selection of the whole but I suspect that it is just the first 200 found that get to be transfered.

[Grank]

Forgot to add the 200 appears to be a random selection of the whole but I suspect that it is just the first 200 found that get to be transfered.

random is right LOL ... I spent about 20 minutes sorting the source data this way and that way and the comparing the result cache list in the XL ... gave up trying to understand it and now just keep the file below 200 ...

to date this hasn't hampered my outings if I ever reach 200 in a day THEN I'll write to Magellan. I tell you

[Grank]

When transferring geocache WPs from GSAK (or just uploading .gpx using Geocaching manager, for that matter) I seem to be hitting some invisible limit of about 200 records.

Checking the Magellan site for updates and felt around their new look site and found some FAQ info on some previous questions I had.

Some quotes

On the subject of geocache POI lilmits ....

"A Geocache point is just a POI (point of interest). You can save up to 200 Geocache points or POIs on your eXplorist 400, 500 and 600. "

On the subject of displaying a screen size Hints page with only the first 2 lines of info

"Your eXplorist 400, 500 or 600 supports Hints up to 50 characters. If the Hint exceeds 50 characters, you will only see the first 50. Refer to the Hint on the Geocache Website to read it in its entirety."

My favourite is their response on whether you can get get a turn by turn solution

"Not at this time. MapSend DirectRoute is a great way to add turn-by-turn guidance of city streets to your Magellan eXplorist 400, 500 or 600. If you are interested in DirectRoute on SD card, please email us at: MagellanSupport@ThalesNavigation.com and we may make it available in the future."

So are they suggesting I buy it and send them an email and await a solution I think they need a new doctor of spin!

On the positive side, the questions we are asking in Aus seem to be getting asked by US Users and Magellan (hence)have noted them. Hopefully the next stage after the Marketing departments initial response to us will be positive progress (action) towards some minor enhancements to address the User's feedback.

Still think it is a great device, but some of these items are annoying when I have the ability to expand storage to 2gb but can do very little with it other to claim to G1N51E that "mine's bigger than yours"!

[pprass]

"Not at this time. MapSend DirectRoute is a great way to add turn-by-turn guidance of city streets to your Magellan eXplorist 400, 500 or 600. If you are interested in DirectRoute on SD card, please email us at: MagellanSupport@ThalesNavigation.com and we may make it available in the future."

The way I read that comment from Magellan was that if you put in a request for turn-by-turn capability (for Aus) and there is enough demand with others doing the same, then they will consider making it available for us. Didn't see where they said that you had to buy DirectRoute first - which would be irrelevant for us.

Regarding the 200 wpt limit, you can fill your SD card by creating many WPT files upto 200. Not sure if I missed the point there, but I have all of my unfound caches in two files - One less than 150kms from home and the other greater than 150kms from home. It just happens that they are conveniently around 200 each! And if they get bigger than 200, we quickly go out and find the ones that are causing the overload and blast them