Cost: $75.00 (Street Price
from http://www.tvnav.com/navhome.html)
This is a device that makes
loading maps into Garmin’s non-volatile memory
modules easy and fast.
It is easy because it doesn’t need a GPS to
be running on batteries or an external source to copy
the maps from the Garmin CD to the memory module. It is fast
because the time it takes to move a large-scale
regional map into a 16 Meg module has dropped from
four hours to under 2 minutes.
With reasonable loading times
finally a reality, this simple USB interface will make
the large-scale (128 meg) modules a flexible and
practical tool. Had
Garmin not provided this fast map loading tool, the
large memory modules would have taken a life’s work
to get them loaded to capacity and they would
certainly not be useful for anyone moving around the
country on a limited time scale needing to change the
maps loaded. Here
is why the old way wouldn’t be practical. When I first
loaded the San Francisco Regional area into a Garmin
16 Meg module, that loading time took the better part
of four hours using the computers serial port
connected to my Garmin StreetPilot. Loading the
map area took longer than the life of the batteries in
the GPS the first time.
This long map loading cycle required the
construction of an external power supply to keep the
GPS alive during the second map-loading attempt. If this anecdotal loading experience can be used
as a rough process benchmark, to load a 128 Meg module
to capacity will take 32 hours using my serial port. Not the kind
of time you can spare when traveling around thinking
you might want to get someplace. With this new
USB device, loading this same very large 128 Meg
module should be completed in less than 10 minutes.
Why is the USB faster? A USB device
operates at the computer’s bus speed, whereas the
serial port can be limited from at least two sources. Our first
limiting source is the computer’s UART. This is a chip
device that handles the serial communications of the
computer and it can be severely limited on many of the
older computers.
At one time when the 8250 UART chips were
prevalent in most computers, reliable serial port
communication speeds were really limited to 9,600
baud. This
chip’s design has improved and most computers sold
in recent years have UART speed limits of 115,000 baud
with some having even newer chips that will allow
speeds of 750,000 baud.
On the GPS side, the transfer
speed-limiting device is Garmin’s StreetPilot. Garmin’s
black and white StreetPilot limits speeds at 37,400
baud. Moving large amounts of data this way is
problematic especially with the repetitive loading
reading checking writing style that Garmin employs to
ensure a good load into the memory module. Now that I
have this programmer for loading my maps, I’ve
stopped wishing for the faster, 115,000 baud ColorMap
or eMap units just to load my maps.
Initial installation of the
device is like most USB devices – Simple. Plug the card
into your computer’s USB port and before long the
Windows 98 or Windows 2000 device wizard will appear
asking for the location of the software. Point the
dialog box at your CD drive location and follow the
prompts. For
some reason during my setup, the setup program lost
the location of my CD-ROM drive so I needed to point
to it twice during the process. This device will NOT work with Windows 95, Windows
NT or a MAC.
Once installed, the USB device can be Hot
Connected. This
means it can be disconnected and reconnected without
turning the computer on and off to make the connection
change. After
the device is installed, Garmin’s software knows it
is available and you can insert and remove memory
modules while everything is powered up and running.
Using the Garmin Metroguide
software for moving maps from the CD to the memory
module is about the same with the exception that there
is now a USB tab that can be selected when you select
the Garmin Metroguide transfer option. This tab doesn’t
appear if the USB device isn’t installed and won’t
work with Metroguide versions prior to version 3.04. Garmin’s
current Metroguide release is 3.05 (07/21/00) and is
available from the Garmin web site http://www.garmin.com/support/download.html. If you don’t
have this software version, you are living with all
the old program bugs and should get the new faster
bugs so that you can work with them in quicker and
friendlier manner.
To load a map into a memory
module, run the Metroguide software, select the maps
you want to load, insert the memory module into the
USB device and click on “Save To Device…” under
the File menu. To
change some of the maps in a large memory module,
click on “Open From Device…” under the File
menu, add and delete maps from the list as necessary
and click on “Save To Device…” again.
Garmin units that can use this
device are: StreetPilot, StreetPilot-ColorMap, eMap
and GPSMAP 295. If
you own any other Garmin GPS, this device won’t work
with it. Desktop space for the device is about what is
required for a three-button mouse (see picture below).
While this device will load the
maps into the GPS modules, it won’t do anything
about moving routes, waypoints or tracks to the GPS
and from the GPS to computer. For this, you’ll
still need the serial cable connection, an external
power source for the GPS or good batteries in the GPS. This
device doesn’t change anything for those of you
using the Delorme mapping programs to handle your trip
planning and route transfers. These
limitations as some see it, are inherent in how the
Garmin GPS stores information. Detailed maps are stored only on the removable
memory modules. Base
maps are hardwired into the GPS and route planning,
tracking and waypoints are stored in a small memory
space within the GPS unit itself. This small
memory space is not accessible from the simple USB
device because it requires memory modules to be
inserted into its small opening for operation.
In summary, I’m very happy with
my USB device and think it is now time to get serious
about acquiring larger memory modules so that the maps
we use in our GPS units will at least cover one full
fuel tank’s range and then some. What I like
most about how this will work over time is that with
larger memory modules being available with fast
loading times, it means I can pop the memory module
into the USB device, load the map information into the
Metroguide work area, remove areas that aren’t
needed any longer, add the new areas that are required
and put it all back into the memory module in about 15
minutes.
