Garmin map question

[coffeejo]

When I bought my Garmin Edge 800 last year, I decided to get the bundle with OS maps on the SD card as they're the maps I'm most familiar with and trust. So far, so good - or at least out in the countryside. However, as we all know, they're pretty useless in towns, though not as bad as the basic garmin mapping on the device.

Someone on here pointed me towards garmin.openstreetmap.nl and I've decided to download some tiles of the UK, or at least the part where I live so I can more easily navigate the urban areas.

I don't want to replace the OS maps, just the useless default map on the Garmin which only shows a fraction of the roads! The two disc image files in the Garmin folder on the device are called "gmapbmap" and "gmaptz". Rather than putting the newly downloaded GMAPSUPP file on a separate SD card, as I want to keep on using my OS maps, can I save it directly to my Garmin or will that make the device explode and bring the world to its knees in some sort of cosmic chain reaction?

 

[172traindriver]

When I bought my Garmin Edge 800 last year, I decided to get the bundle with OS maps on the SD card as they're the maps I'm most familiar with and trust. So far, so good - or at least out in the countryside. However, as we all know, they're pretty useless in towns, though not as bad as the basic garmin mapping on the device.

When I went to France last month, someone on here pointed me towards garmin.openstreetmap.nl when I was looking for maps of Brittany and the one I downloaded was excellent. So much so that I decided to download some tiles of the UK, or at least the part where I live so I can more easily navigate the urban areas.

The two disc image files in the Garmin folder on the device are called "gmapbmap" and "gmaptz". Rather than putting the newly downloaded GMAPSUPP file on a separate SD card, which will require swapping cards every time I reach a town and get lost, can I save it directly to my Garmin or will that make the device explode and bring the world to its knees in some sort of cosmic chain reaction?

I have got a 705 (I know that is old, but it does the job) and bought a bundle which included the european maps so in theory I am covered in europe as I go cycling in Mallorca.
I too found the openstreet maps and thought why not just try them to compare them as sd cards only cost a few quid. I downloaded Spain and the UK, and tried putting them both on one card, it didn't want to play. So I put each country on a different card and it works fine. So if I go to Mallorca I just swap sd cards.
As I said at the start I have an old Garmin, I expect someone will come on here with an up to date version and say you can probably go into settings and select which country you want off a single card if you have more that one country on it.

 

[ColinJ]

It's a good question.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer but I would like to read it if someone else will oblige!

(I think my ancient Etrex finally needs replacing. It is annoying me by losing the satellites under tree cover. It was the last model before Garmin started using a far more sensitive chipset which is much better at keeping track of weak signals. I'll be looking at different models when funds become available.)

 

[coffeejo]

For clarification: I'm not looking to jump between UK and French maps, just replace to awful default Garmin map on the device which only displays majorly major roads with the free one I've downloaded, keeping the SD card slot free for my OS maps. I'll edit my OP to avoid confusion.

 

[ColinJ]

According to one post in this discussion, you may actually be able to use 2 maps on one card,

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Delete the map files from the garmin unit. Rename the openstreetmap but leave the .img and put it on the sd card too.

You can still enable/disable either from the map menu

 

[coffeejo]

Bit the bullet and copied the GMAPSUPP file over to the device. The world didn't explode. The Garmin still works and now displays street names in my local area. Huzzah.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I just tried installing a second map on my edge705 with a different file name and it showed up in the map settings, so I actually have three maps
osm generic routable
mapset
TT osm British Isles and contours.