iamasmith

Hi,

I checked with Keith before posting and I'm sure that we aren't breaking any T's and C's regarding the use of the devices or breaking any laws.

What I wanted to post here is something that I tried with my new 60CSx and on the first hit I have found a quality map that meets my requirements.

So, firstly how to find a free map for your area and what to know about it.

Search free Garmin maps by location

This site provides a link to many, many map sources and allows you to point click on an area of the earth and will give you links to folks holding map sources for that area.

First point of note, check that the map is derived from a legal source and doesn't infringe copyright in any way. Telltales might be 'I scanned this from...', 'I reverse engineered...' etc. etc. Basically you should focus on community efforts where individuals are sending in mapping data based upon breadcrumbs and additional data that they have assembled. There are plenty of tools out there to create maps from scratch for Garmin products so you just have to search a bit to find one that is legit. Bear in mind that if it is legit and you enjoy it a lot consider the paypal option if it is given ^^

Secondly, some of the sources include setup routines - executables for Windows - don't play dumb, always virus scan these if you choose to use them and remember the addage that 'if you break it yourself you get to keep both halves!'.

Thirdly, many of the sites suggest that you use various mapping tools to view the data. I recommend that if you want to install these maps alongside Garmin commercial maps that you may want to consider using something like MapSetToolKit (cypherman1 - MapSetToolKit page (font-end for cgpsmapper)). This tool assists you with authoring maps but also lets you install community maps into MapSource. The great advantage of this is that you can select regions of commercial Garmin maps that you have purchased alongside community maps from MapSource to install on your GPS.

I can also verify that the Garmin MapConverter will also convert the maps for their Macintosh tool 'MapInstall' and this will in turn install the whole map set to the GPS. This is kinda important since there is only one file that most Garmin GPS units use to manage their maps so you must be able to assemble all your maps, commercial and free into one file. MapSetToolKit provides you the vehicle to manage the maps using MapSource and you can then rely on the rest of the Garmin tools to convert and use the maps.

Finally, one should realise that community efforts are not going to be quite as good as commercial organisations and some maps may lack road routing or other features. Your choice is to buy a commercial map for the region or trust if it is ad-hoc use that it will be good enough.. I'm about to try a free map for a region that is not covered by the commercial options and even so I would think twice about spending good money for 7 days use - this is a good example of when you may want to try one of these sources.

Lastly, DO please check all binaries. Make sure they are scanned with anti-malware tools before you use them. Always download from reputable sources. Don't use illegal map content. Don't ever download commercial content unless from a legit purchase account. In particular NEVER download anything commercial using BitTorrent unless it is part of a commercial network, legit and controlled. People make the mistake of thinking that because they purchased product X, forgot to bring it along (or lost it, or damaged the media) and want to download a copy that is acceptable... well even if you find a copy on a BitTorrent that isn't tainted by malware you must consider that by downloading it you are also sharing it with other less scrupulous parties.

Anyway, there's lots of legit, clean and free fun to be had out there,

Good luck,

-Andy

Andy

The risk of downloading from some unknown and then executing software from said unknown is not worth the risk. I'll stick with paying for my software.

iamasmith

Sure, that's an opinion that many take.

I would like to take the sting out of that last comment though. Most of these projects are legit and set up by enthusiasts who are working hard to provide free alternatives - in the same spirit as the Free Software Foundation. The decision to use or not is all about personal freedom to use those options whilst remaining legitimately and working within the spirit as well as the letter of the law.

Windows is of course notoriously vulnerable in many ways and for that reason I highlighted the risks of using binaries if provided and recognising that there are some precautions that limit your potential exposure to exploit. In most cases there is no need to run a program downloaded from the site though even though they may ship with a setup program. By using a single tool such as MapSourceToolKit you can easily install the maps without having to run additional binaries that may ship with the map that do just the same thing as MapSourceToolKit.

Regards,

-Andy