KLS

I know more than a few hunters use handheld gpsr's, and as anyone whos dealt with it knows maps for gpsr's arent cheap, I'm not much of a message board guy anymore but I figured I'd just put a heads up out for anyone with a map capable gpsr in need of maps, this guy has made up a very decent street mapset of the US and has them up for free, granted they arent auto-route capable(but then neither are most of the handheldgpsr's)but they work great and are a world better than the junk base maps most handheld gpsr's come with... the word is he's working on a set of topo maps for the US but IMO topo maps are a little on the cluttered side and fairly specific in their use and so arent the best for "in general" use anyway,these street maps work alot better forthat

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=189762




theres also canadian topo maps http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=174764 howeverthe thread is11 pages long and since I have no interest in canadian topos I havent read the thread to see what the deal is, but I've noticed there are a few canadian guys around on these crossbow sites so I thought I'd put the link up in case anyone wants to check it out



what this guys has done and the work he's put into it to do this for the general public is impressive, if you decide to use his maps I'd ask that you at least give him an open "thank you" for his work

coyote170

You got it!

steve2064

Thanks KLS, I will check out the canadian topos.

Bigg~BirddVA

A FYI........... some hacker has broken the Garmin encryption. There is a key generator out that unlocks all Garmin maps for all Garmin units. Not sure how Garmin can counter it but I would imagine their maping products have taken a hit over it. You used to get 2 unlock codes with a Garmin map product but they changed it to one now. Stinks if you have 2 units you have to pay double. The Garmin maps and routing are nice if you drive to specific addresses every day. My GPS doesn't use the NT version out now.

KLS

wow, I havent heard of anyone breaking into the unlock codes, although I can believe it(and IMO, more power to them), unlock codes are onlyrequired with the city navigator type maps and tie one map to one gpsr(even if you erase the map you can still download it again to the gpsr its registered to, and its transferable from one owner to another), topo's, parks & recs's, inland lakesand such dont require an unlock code, I believe some of the older street maps dont require one either, neither do the pre-programmed micro sd cards(if you have a gpsr that takes them)

I can see garmins want tolimit their more elaborate maps from speading around(by using unlock codes) butIMO the unlock code idea is getting a little too "money hungry" and its more of a problem for the actual consumer/user than its worth, for handhelds I have a garmin summit hc and a vista hcx(which takes micro sd cards is auto route capable, the summit hc doesnt, and isnt) and if you dont have a gpsr capable of auto routing then IMO buying those maps with unlock codes is pointless anyway, your better off sticking tothe self generated(and usually free)street maps that people create and put out(like the ones in the links above)


besides dealing with the unlock codes copying/recreating the actual garmin mapsactuallyisnt as impossible at it would seem, in fact if you follow the gpsr world much you read here and there of people doing it, usually its some kind of computer engineer/geek capable of decifering the mapping "language" and rewriting/recompiling it into a garmin copy... quite a job to dofrom what I understand,which is probably why not many people attempt it(or have the ability and computer resources to attempt it), and its way, WAY beyond my computer skills... in fact most of it is way beyond my understanding...

through various mapping programs custommade maps are entirely possible for the average person to make though, and I've been studing the proceedure, but even that is a looong drawn out(and tedious)proceedure and quite a mind numbing job in itself,I'm more interestedin makingsome more highly detailed maps ofthe areas I hunt than anything butI just cant find the time to devote to sitting down, putting it all together and creating a map...

maybe this winter when/if I get laid off...

Bigg~BirddVA

Several guys in a group effort did it - or so the story goes. It's also got instructions on how to go into the registry and obtain the codes for yet to be created map sets so you can unlock them as well. I read about it on another site. Before this there was a guy selling unlock codes for $40 or something like that. I never contacted or messed with it but for a test you could give him your serial number and he would send you a timed unlock code to show he could actually do it. I guess it gets the time from the sats so no way to back date it. I'm guessing the guy selling was an employee or friend and leaked the info. But they crack all kinds of encryption codes so who knows? Most people would be shocked at how vulnerable computer codes and such really are. Virtually everything out there is being hacked or copied. All devices, all software. From satellite to cell phones to cable boxes to game systems it's all been dissected and worked on. Nothing is 100% safe. Think about that next time you key in your PIN number in your ATM. One day they'll hit that too.

The quest for a Garmin hack has has been ongoing for years. Back when you got 2 unlock codes people were splitting costs for a map. The software you bought was called City Select. It contained a license for 2 codes. Garmin being the money grabbers they are found out people were sharing. No problem, just stop updating City Select and create a new and different map program, City Navigator, with 1 key per license. City Select in reality just changed names - nothing else but license details changed. Nothing you could do as they just stopped giving updates. They nulled your license deal that you thought you had when you bought your GPS that would give you reasonably priced updates. Got to love big corporations huh?

ranger56528

I have a Meridian Gold and a Vista Hcx and Iam lucky I can turn them on you guys are over my head.......Someday I will figure out this stuff but untill then......

Bigg~BirddVA

Ok we won't be going into the part about taking the "ID" REG_BINARY in your registry that's in hexidecimal and converting it into a decimal to obtain the code.

ranger56528

CODE = Read the destrucktions 1st then try to use it..........But really I like both but the garmin is smaller and has the nice digital compass witch I really like not like the meridian were you need to be moveing about 3-5 mph before it kicks in also the Hcx is nice for geocaching.
I allways say buy more then you need because if ya dont youll be sorry in the end.

Bigg~BirddVA

The Garmins are good units. I've tried a few others but the Garmin sems to be best overall.