60CSx and raster maps?

[gmbyrom]

Hi all,

This seems to be a question answered elsewhere in various GPS forums with an emphatic "NO!" but I cheerfully don't believe the answer. I'm wondering if it is possible to put raster mapping on a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx.

OK I know the arguments about lack of memory, small screen etc. for handheld GPS units but this unit comes with a very nice colour screen and perhaps most importantly, a micro SD slot, which surely means you can in theory expand it to to whatever is the largest SD card available today (micro SD comes in 6Gb I believe - enough to take Ordnance Survey 1:50k mapping for the whole of the UK and more besides). So it MUST be possible but has anyone actually tried it, been successful, and willing to post their experiences?

Greg.

[Skippy]

[gmbyrom]

Thanks Skippy. Nice bike BTW.

Do you know if there's any third-party software out there that will do this if the Garmin software doesn't? I don't think cgpsmapper can do it as it states "This software makes it possible to create vector maps..."

I was thinking I could just put the raster maps on the memory card with a PC anyway, and if they're in the right format, they should work without having to load them using software. But I don't know what format, or how you would tell the unit to display them on the screen, calibrated to the correct coordinates etc.

Don't like the PDA idea - rather have something battle-hardened...

Thanks for your help,

Greg.

[AllyCat]

Hi Greg,

AFAIK, the Garmin just doesn't contain an operating system (or processor) capable of handling raster maps. For example, it is usual for the map on a handheld GPS to align with the Direction of Travel. To do this with vector data, the display driver just has to add the angle of DoT to the angles of at most a few hundred vector lines (note that text is not rotated). To do this for a raster map, it has perhaps 20-50 thousand pixel locations which have to be multiplied by the sin and cos of the DoT.

Furthermore, map data is nearly always encrypted (certainly for OSGB data) to preserve copyright, so it's very unlikely you'd be able to find any source of data to install into a handheld GPS.

Cheers, Alan.
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