Tutorial 6 - Transferring multiple mapsets to your GPS - Layering Maps

Let's install HuntingGPSmap's Colorado TRANSP-BLM4GPS map with Garmin's Topo USA to add the accurate and current public land boundaries to the Topo map that we have already purchased from Garmin.

 

  1. Follow Tutorials 1 and 2 to install and unlock all of the mapsets (layers) that you wish to use.

  2. Open MapSource program on your computer (The idea is the same using BaseCamp - you can simply select different mapsets during the Map Install Wizard)

  3. Let's first select all areas of Topo USA that we want to send to the GPS

  4. We need to make sure we are looking at the Topo USA map in Mapsource, so let's Select the mapset Topo U.S. 2008 in the drop down menu in the upper left corner of the screen – or go to the View menu and 'Switch to Product' and select 'Topo U.S. 2008'
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  5. Now let's make sure we are zoomed out so we can see the whole western US.

  6. To highlight the areas we want to transfer to the GPS, we need to select the 'Map Tool' in the toolbar in the upper-center part of the screen. You can also go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Map'. Once you have the tool selected you will notice a grid on the map that marks out each area that you can select to send to the GPS.maplayers2

  7. Left click and Hold to Drag a box and select the areas of Topo U.S. 2008 that you want to send to the GPS (We want Colorado and some of the surrounding states for our example) NOTE: you can also select or de-select areas one at a time by left clicking on that area

  8. Release the left click to select the areas to send to the GPS (The area you selected should now be highlighted (a light pink color)

  9. You will notice the name of the highlighted regions shows up under the 'Maps' tab on the left hand side of the screen. This means we have maps ready to be sent to the GPS.maplayers3

  10. But we also want to send the Transparent map to be used in conjunction with the Topo USA map, therefore we need to switch to that map product and select the areas of that map that we want to send.

  11. Select the other mapset that you want to send to the GPS in the drop down menu in the upper left corner of the screen (in this case 'CO_TRANSP_LANDSTATUS') – or go to the View menu and 'Switch to Product' and select the other mapset you want to sendmaplayers4

  12. You should now see the other mapset that we have selected, if not, you can go to the 'View' menu and select 'Zoom out Region' to zoom to the area that the map covers.

  13. Now we start the selection process again - To highlight the areas we want to transfer to the GPS, we need to select the 'MapTool' in the toolbar in the upper-center part of the screen. You can also go to the 'Tools' menu and select 'Map'.

  14. Left click and Hold to Drag a box and select the areas of the mapset that you want to send to the GPS (We want the whole state of Colorado for our example)

  15. Release the left click to select the areas to send to the GPS (The area you selected should now be highlighted (a light pink color))

  16. You will notice the name of the highlighted regions have been added to the other maps under the 'Maps' tab on the left hand side of the screen (NOTE: next to the Maps tab you will notice a count for the number of areas that have been selected)maplayers5

  17. Continue this process until you have all the different mapsets (map layers) selected that you want to include on your map.

  18. To Transfer the maps to your GPS plug in your GPS to the computer with your USB connection and turn the GPS on.

  19. Select the 'Transfer' menu button in MapSource and select 'Send to device'maplayers6

  20. A new 'Send to Device' window will pop up and MapSource should automatically recognize your GPS and display it's name in the drop down menu. (NOTE: If you have a newer Dakota, Oregon, or Colorado GPS and you want to send the map to your SD/microSD card, you will need to select the appropriate Removable Disk drive from the drop down menu [or else the map will be sent to the GPS's internal memory])

  21. The box next to 'Maps' should be selected because that is what you want to send to your GPS.maplayers7

  22. Click the send button and the maps will be sent to your GPS or SD/microSD memory card.

  23. Check your GPS to see if the maps have loaded before leaving your computer.  To do this, zoom in to an area you expect to see the maps on your GPS.