etrex vista hcx with topo gb - no footpaths

pete_vincent · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 30, 2011 Posts: 3

Hi, any advice would be greatfully received; Ok so am I missing something like footpaths! I have been out with my vista and whilst covering several miles over many footpaths, I have yet to see any appear on the unit. for that matter I have scrolled across most of the areas in my county I am quite familiar with and not one footpath has presented itself. Am I missing a setting or does topo gb not display this on an etrex vista hcx?
Many thanks
Pete

SQUARE2024 · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 02, 2005 Posts: 164

I have Topo GB on my vista and the footpaths are a bit hit or miss,have you "zoomed" down ?
_________________
Square2024

TomTom 520
Christmas Draw 2010 Grand Final Winner Garmin Nuvi 1490TV

pete_vincent · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 30, 2011 Posts: 3

Hi thanks for reply, I have zoomed down but no paths. I find it hard to believe the South west coast path is not on any map to be honest, its been around for donkeys years! I bought the maps preloaded onto a micro-sd so have no way of seeing the maps on a p.c? do you have to tick a 'add paths box' or something on the dvd version. Bit new to all this and its certainly not as straight forward as I was expecting; what I really wanted was O.S mapping on a gps but realise now I dont have the right unit for that.
regards
Pete

AllyCat · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:38 pm Post subject:

Hi Pete,

For the "Topo" maps, AFAIK the OS only supply Garmin with "water features" and contour line data, the rest of the mapping is supplied by Navteq who are more concerned with road navigation than pedestrian use. So footpaths are generally not included but you may find a little better for tracks and byways, etc.. Similarly the "Points of Interest" are more likely to be cash machines and Restaurants than churches (as waymarkers) and Pubs, generally of more interest to walkers. Smile

Rather too late for you now, but I believe the "Mapsource Viewer" is still on Garmin's website, maybe now accessed by a "try before you buy" link. Yes, you do need a "special" GPS to view OS maps; several now come with the GB 1:50k maps "bundled" at a far lower price than separately (the Satmap from Amazon looking a particularly attractive deal at the moment). But "serious" walkers usually prefer the 1:25k OS maps and IMHO these are frighteningly expensive for any GPS, if available at all.

But all is not lost. There are several websites which give on-line access to OS maps (down to 1:25k) on which you can plan routes to transfer onto almost any handheld GPS. Also, I believe the "Open Street Map" project is now including at least some major footpaths and these maps can be converted to work on Garmin GPSs. Sorry for not including any web links, but I don't actually use any of the above kit myself.

Cheers, Alan.
_________________
Garmin GPS72H/76/60/45, Etrex H, Mapsource v6.5.
Acer N50,HP114,Loox N560,Dell x50,CF/SD cards to 4/32GB.
RoyalTek,Holux236,Navman B10 & Copilot(Globalsat) BT GPS,TomTom5/6.
Memory Map (v5.4.2 & v5.1.3 OS & Euro), GPS gate,OSGPSconverter.

dales · Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 4:27 pm Post subject:

On the PC, Topo GB does show the SW coastal path (certainly in the Dorset area that I just checked out).
But it's in its usual "hit and miss" fashion ie bits missing.
And its necessary to zoom in (to 0.2m on the scale, or lower) before any paths are seen.
It's labelled merely "path" (where any label is provided).

Dales.
_________________
nuvi 2599LMT-D, oregon 700, basecamp, memory-map.

	PocketGPS
	Web