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(Never have used it yet for that, though). I'm also aware that any modern (more expensive than the etrex 10) navigator can handle large, detailed maps, but mine is etrex 10, which I have been carrying with me as an “if everything else fails, I can get out of the forest” tool. Thanks for the links HHL! I believe that now I have to study some map chopping.
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Smaller than 8 MB IMG-maps, covering the whole Finland are freely available from the net, and curiosity whether the similar kind of maps from other areas would be available, made me open this thread. On my Garmin, I was able to see paths and ditches, which were not visible on 1:25000 topographic paper maps. The map covered only 24 by 48 km, and of course, I have to load a new map every time I go to a new area, but usually that 1100 square km is quite enough for one trip, and the details on the map were amazing. I'm aware that 8 MB is rather limited space, but after seeing that youtube piece, I loaded a 6MB topographic map to my etrex 10, and I was really impressed. Not everyone needs lots of bells and whistles. An SD card slot would have been an easy remedy. Personally, I find it ridiculous that Garmin used to include up to 24MB of internal memory for the older black & white screen GPS models, but capped the eTrex 10 at 8MB. The utility will show how many MB it will take at the bottom of the screen.
#MAKE GPS MAPS FREE FREE#
One way to find out how much space the maps you want load will take up: Connect an SD card to your computer, open Garmin's free MapInstall utility, and select the tiles you are interested in. Another option is loading caches as POI files - you won't get the paperless detailed logs and hints (caveat: you can use GSAK for cramming some of that into the Notes field), but you will at least have a dot for placement of the cache on the map screen. Staying at or below 6-7 MB is a safe bet.
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The closer you get towards using up the minuscule 8MB of memory, the less space you will have for waypoints, track logs, geocaching GPX files, POI files, etc. You probably already have discovered this, but the 8MB of internal memory is the big limitation of the eTrex 10.