No. Someone who does not know the subject. Lack of knowledge does not equal idiot.

On most GPSes you can create a waypoint.. I'd say all but there might be a very basic one that won't do anything other than tell you where you are!

I forget what the arrow thingy function is called .. but teh ones with more features do that .. they even do more than that .. arow to where you want to go to , or arrow to the route you should be using .. depends on teh model and possiblty maps and or route ..

But I think anything you think of has already been done on these things - they pack a lot in a tiny box. The difficulty is finding out how to use them.

Go to a store and play with one .. you need some hands on time ..

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I have a Gramin 60Cx ... it is small - waterproof, rugged, batteries last all day (for walking etc) runs maping with autorouting, has a microSD card for the maps and track logs.

The 60CS is no longer made - does not have a memory card .. nor the latest receiver .. I think the 276 is also no longer made .. but you can google them and get lots of things .. Best to compare current items on garmins web site ..

The nüvi I don't know .. happy with my 60Cx so not looking at anything else.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

The older GPS's didn't offer the function "autorouting", so you had to watch the cursor or arrow whether you were moving in the direction you had intended. If the base map on the system was detailed enough, it even showed roads and towns/villages.

I cannot comment Smelly Biker's worldmap, because I don't know the detail quality. At least Garmin's worldmap isn't the best. Neither do I know the T4A details, but I'm pretty sure they do not cover the complete road net of Africa, as mentioned by Cactus.

So, to come back to your question: A good (=detailed) worldmap or detailed local maps loaded onto your GPS will help you to recognise your current position. And when movong, the cursor/arrow will show you the direction in which you are moving, thus showing whether you are moving towards your destination or away from it - no matter whether the road on which you are traveling is shown on the GPS map or not. Forget the autorouting function. The above mentioned maps won't support this function.

What is important is that the map shows "north up" on your GPS. This makes it easier for you to get your bearings, since this is the way you would look at a paper roadmap as well.

I don't believe the Nüvi is suitable for this kind of navigation. Rather go for the Garmin 60-series or maybe he 276/278 series (very expensive :-( Even the Zumo would be suitable, but I reckon the 60 series is more rugged and subsequently more reliable. These systems also offer a compass function as additional support to get your bearings. Finally: Nothing is as useful as a good old-fashioned roadmap, no matter how enhanced your GPS system is

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Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

I think I understand what your Q is now. I think it is as follows; If you'r looking at a paper map and you see a spot you might want to go and you don't have a detailed electronic map in the GPS showing that place, how do you translate that place on the paper map into a GPS waypoint !

There are basically 3 methods to do so;
1; take topographical paper maps with grid reference (military?). You can learn to calculate coordinates of such a map. This is not feasible though because these maps are small scale (1:20.000 or 50.000) so you would need to many maps.

2; Take a laptop with navigation software (Oziexplorer, Touratech Quovadis, Fugawi) which work with open source maps, i.e. png, jpeg etc type file. You can scan the original paper maps yourself (or have it done), load them in the program, calibrate them and then you can take a waypoint of the digitalized paper map. I do this in Oziexplorer (user friendly) which works very well. (Quovadis drives me crazy and Fugawi I'v never tried) Calibrating the electronic maps is nowadays very easy with Google Earth. You take 3 reference coordinate points from Google Earth, find the matching spots in scanned map on the laptop and enter the actual coordinates. Obviously it takes some time to master this but its not difficult. If you have properly calibrated maps on the laptop, you can create waypoints, tracks, routes etc in the program and upload these to your GPS unit. This is basically the same as using Mapsource but as noted, Mapsource is not open source and if Worldmap is useless. On the other hand, if you do have good Mapsource maps (e.g. T4A) which can be loaded into your GPS unit than its the perfect solution. There are plenty of Mapsource maps available but very expensive.

3; Google Earth, you can prepare your routes in advance in GE. Select points along the route you want to take, write down the coordinates and built up a small database in this way. You enter them in the GPS as needed. This can also be done electronically. There are some programs which can read routes in GE and convert then into electronic waypoints for the GPS and vise versa

WikiWaypoints

GPS Visualizer

quikmaps.com :: maps for the masses

Cheers,

Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

From the paper map you have you should be able to work out a lat/long for the location you want to get to.

If the paper maps has lat/lon reference lines then your ok.

If the paper map has no lat/lon marks then you're going to have to do some work.
First you know where you are on the paper map. And the GPS will goive you the lat/lon for that point. Now find a place that is no both your GPS and papre map - teh GPS will give you teh lat/lon fopr that point. Now find a third point on both .. now you have 3 points on teh paer map that have Lat/lon .. scale the lat/lon of the place you want to get too .. and enter that lat/lon into the GPS. For accuracy it will help if the 3 points equally soround the point you want to get to. This is fairly simple stuff. You will need a basic map on the GPS - one of the world maps will do that. Pencil, rule and rubber.

You need to think the problem through .. sit and think. Don't Panic. If you panic - take time out for a cup of tea/, walk around the block .. what ever calms you . Then think the problem through.. (very hard to do .. panic/stress is hard to get rid of. I find siting and calming myself is good, yoga may help too .. don't know .. find out what works for you and do that). Good Luck.

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

I've used an old Garmin IIIplus for years in Africa, so loooked at the Garmin V or the 276c as an upgrade however if you are strapped for cash the 60 might be good although I've never used that particular unit.

The IIIplus and the V are primarily vehicle units and allow tracking and setting of waypoints etc however they have a limited memory compared to units such as the 276c.

Look here as well:

GPS Satellite Receivers, Electronic Maps and Navigation !

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Enzo

Why custom POI's?
because you can create them on your pc and upload them to your unit leaving your unit's POI memory free.

The 278C can hold up to 3000 POI's but that will include POI's created when making up routes and therein was a problem for me as routes ate up a huge proportion of them- leaving very little available for 'on-the-road' use unless you were willing to delete routes.

Having worked a wee project I set myself, and using POI loader, I've been able to create a rather extensive library of POI's and upload 326 thousand POI's in my custom POi files- I wanted to see where the limits of my unit were. I can't be dead precise but my gps turned it self off when I tried to upload 328421 poi's I think it was. So I know it can handle 325,000 'safely' which is rather a lot!!

I use both Garmin units, the 278C and the 60 csX (don't get the cs model - the csX has an internal micro sd card that can handle up to 2GB and that unit can also have it's tracks saved directly to the data card thereby also saving unit memory.)
I have not tested uploads on other gps's.

However this "functionality" does come at a cost: 450 pounds plus for the 278 isn't it?

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Enzo

sorry, I don't know the latest price.
The 60CSX is cheaper and will do the same albeit with a smaller screen etc.

The 278 also has its own large enough memory for the whole of the latest Garmin City-Nav Europe to be loaded into- thereby freeing the bespoke Garmin memory card slot for other maps too.
The 276 cannot do this- max map size there is on a 512mb card ad no map internal memory