IdefixOnTour

In this article is a brief description of the Maps and Software we bought as well as some alternative Products.

For our Garmin unit we bought Trip & Waypoint Manager. This includes the Mapsource software with a base-map of the world. Basically it is a computer programme with a digital map. It runs on your PC, with it you can create/modify tracks, waypoints and routes and upload and download to/from your Garmin GPSr.

When you buy the GPSr it has an integrated map installed. In Europe this is called the Atlantic Recreational Basemap. This map covers Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania and the Americas, with the exception of the very outskirts of the Earth. Wester Europe has more details than the rest of the world.

For auto-navigating Garmin sells City-Navigator (Land) and Bluechart (Marine) maps.

Additional Maps we bought are:

TOPO Schweiz

Tracks4AfricaPRO

Tracks4AustraliaPRO

All these maps are Vector Maps. This means that the maps are made up of lines and other shapes (Polygons). With Mapsource you can not only send the Waypoints, Tracks and Routes to the GPSr, but also these vector maps themselves.

The other type of digital maps are Raster Maps. These maps are built up from Pixels and cannot be loaded onto the GPSr. To view these maps and create/modify Waypoints, Tracks etc. various software programmes are available. These WP’s and Tracks can be uploaded to the Garmin GPSr.