[rohanjf]

As suggested by GD, I downloaded the India map. I copied it into my mobile's 2 GB micro SD card and inserted the card into GPS device. But the map was not detected.

So I copied the map directly to the device's folder where the original US map is (*.img file). Only after that, the map got detected. This means, I don't even need a separate micro SD card.

I used it to navigate to my house yesterday. Since no commercial/residential places are marked, I had to use the immediate next town to my village as destination. The route was suggested by the device as I expected. But since I take some inner village roads to go back home, I ended up forcing the device to recalculate the path. It worked wonderfully, and I discovered another route to my house, where the roads are decent!

Although I stay outside the city limits, all village/town names and road names are displayed accurately. If I want to go to some place on the other side of the city, I would first use the GPS device to reach the place, and then use Google Maps in my phone to reach the exact destination.

I will see how it works during my long drive to Pondicherry this weekend. If this also turns out to be good, I don't think I'll need to buy another map.

EDIT: I couldn't find a 2 GB micro SD card in any store. I did not buy 4 GB, because I don't know if my device is capable of handling large memory units.

[rk_sans]

I am looking for updated Sikkim map. Most of them do not have or not updated map. Any leads towards it would be helpful.
Also could anyone suggest where can i get Bhutan maps ?

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by gd1418

I use a Garmin 200 and had SatNav maps installed. They gave mea free upgrade in the first year anthen they asked for Rs.1000/- for subsequent upgrades.

On my friend's suggestion I started using OpenStreet Maps that are free and being a developer's map keeps on getting upgraded very very frequently.

Thanks for posting this. I too have an outdated Satguide India map of April 2011 vintage. The device I have is a Garmin 255W which I bought in the US. It has US map on the device and Satguide India map on the SD card.

Though the India map works fine, it is rather outdated. For instance, when driving from Bangalore to Hyderabad, it showed my car off the main road several times. Obviously it does not have the new 4-laned roads in many places, and still shows the old routes that pass through major towns.

Originally Posted by rohanjf

As suggested by GD, I downloaded the India map. I copied it into my mobile's 2 GB micro SD card and inserted the card into GPS device. But the map was not detected.

So I copied the map directly to the device's folder where the original US map is (*.img file). Only after that, the map got detected. This means, I don't even need a separate micro SD card.

Thanks for the feedback. I am planning to replicate, but do not want to risk losing the US maps, as I do travel once in a while to the US.

Any suggestions?

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I am planning to replicate, but do not want to risk losing the US maps, as I do travel once in a while to the US.

Any suggestions?

I did not delete the US map from my device. There is enough memory in the device for both maps to co-exist, and probably many more

When I opened the device memory, there was 765 MB free. Out of that, India map used only 169 MB. As mentioned by R2D2 in an earlier post, you have to uncheck US map when you use the device in India (probably because your searches should be limited to your present country).

[gd1418]

Just copy the Openstreet maps on the SD card and you shall be fine.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Thanks for the feedback. I am planning to replicate, but do not want to risk losing the US maps, as I do travel once in a while to the US.

Any suggestions?

BTW rohanjf, what is your feedback on the Openstreet maps?

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by gd1418

BTW rohanjf, what is your feedback on the Openstreet maps?

I will give a full review next week, once I complete my Pondicherry trip this weekend. For Bangalore, the map is accurate as long as places are concerned. I keep it switched on all the time, so I am able to verify the name of the road/village/town I am going through (my office is 22 km to 28 km away, depending on the road I take). The map clearly shows inner roads and main roads with different widths. Even inner roads around Whitefield (the IT hub) are accurate.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I did not delete the US map from my device. There is enough memory in the device for both maps to co-exist, and probably many more

When I opened the device memory, there was 765 MB free. Out of that, India map used only 169 MB. As mentioned by R2D2 in an earlier post, you have to uncheck US map when you use the device in India (probably because your searches should be limited to your present country).

Thanks. I'll check my device by connecting it to the laptop in the evening. I hope there is sufficient space.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Just copy the Openstreet maps on the SD card and you shall be fine.

Rohan had an issue when he copied to the SD card . This apart, I don't want to lose the Satguide maps till I get sufficient feedback that the new ones are better.

Perhaps I can copy the Satguide map to my laptop and then install the map on the SD card from your link. Do you think this is feasible?

[gd1418]

I too copied the Satnav map on to my Mac and replaced it with the Openstreet. Never felt better.. Map detailing is very extensive and gets updated atleast twice a month.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Perhaps I can copy the Satguide map to my laptop and then install the map on the SD card from your link. Do you think this is feasible?

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by gd1418

I too copied the Satnav map on to my Mac and replaced it with the Openstreet. Never felt better.. Map detailing is very extensive and gets updated atleast twice a month.

Thank you very much. By the way, the second link you've posted to download directly does not seem to be working.

So the only option is to open the first link, select India and then download, right? Do I download to my laptop and then copy to the SD card?

Further, when I select India from the drop down list, there are some neighboring countries also listed on the left pane like Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc. I hope I've selected the right map?

Edit: I tried downloading from the first link and was taken to the page that looked like this. How do I proceed further?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by gd1418

I too copied the Satnav map on to my Mac and replaced it with the Openstreet. Never felt better.. Map detailing is very extensive and gets updated atleast twice a month.

Are you using cloudmade maps for openstreetmap? I think they update every 6 months or so now.
You can create your own latest map by downloading india.osm and then running some conversion script. Google for it, I do not recall where I read about the process.

[gd1418]

yes

Originally Posted by vnabhi

So the only option is to open the first link, select India and then download, right? Do I download to my laptop and then copy to the SD card?

Yes.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Further, when I select India from the drop down list, there are some neighboring countries also listed on the left pane like Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc. I hope I've selected the right map?

Download the osm_generic_gmapsupp.zip.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Edit: I tried downloading from the first link and was taken to the page that looked like this. How do I proceed further?

Attachment 1122582

Tan, I've no idea. This was suggested to me by Harjeev. He downloaded the map for me in Ranthambhore and I found it way ahead & better than the Satnav that I was using. The latest update that I downloaded ws on 26th July. Now I see another update has come on 2nd Aug

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Are you using cloudmade maps for openstreetmap? I think they update every 6 months or so now.

You can create your own latest map by downloading india.osm and then running some conversion script. Google for it, I do not recall where I read about the process.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Download the osm_generic_gmapsupp.zip.

Many thanks, will download to laptop now. After downloading the zipped file, do I unzip on laptop and then copy to SD card, or simply copy the zipped file to the SD card? If it is the latter, will I need to unzip it on the SD card?

Sorry for so many questions.

BTW, I found another link while googling based on Tanveer's inputs, and found this one. But as nobody seems to have used it, I shall refrain.

http://mapas.alternativaslibres.es/downloads.php

[gd1418]

You'll have to unzip the file first. The extracted file would be gmapsupp.img. Copy this on the SD card overwriting the Satnav map file. And bingo, you are on.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Many thanks, will download to laptop now. After downloading the zipped file, do I unzip on laptop and then copy to SD card, or simply copy the zipped file to the SD card? If it is the latter, will I need to unzip it on the SD card?

Sorry for so many questions.

BTW, I found another link while googling based on Tanveer's inputs, and found this one. But as nobody seems to have used it, I shall refrain.

http://mapas.alternativaslibres.es/downloads.php

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by gd1418

... OpenStreet Maps ... garmin (gmapsupp.img) and enjoy.
Very comprehensive map and free too. ...

Originally Posted by rohanjf

... For Bangalore, the map is accurate as long as places are concerned. ...

Originally Posted by gd1418

... I found it way ahead & better than the Satnav ...

Being crowd-sourced non-commercial data, one can't complain much for a free map that OSM is. However, there are glaring problems - which would lead one to believe that the map is good only for regions with significant crowd-sourcing! There are obvious limitations to crowd-sourcing, first and foremost being limitations on quality control / assurance on data.

Here are a couple of examples, which are a pointer to generic faults - probably in the process of including data in the map:

1. One leg of a triangular 'roundabout' is missing (Vijayanagar, Bangalore; Water Tank near Vijayanagar Main Bus Stop, leading to 8th Main) - and this happens to be the entry point from the main road. Since this is missing, the routing algorithm is completely ignoring it while going into the area. If you go past it, there is another discontinuity on 8th Main near the parks which makes the navigation look for alternatives

2. Railway crossing appearing as a discontinuity. This is the crossing - a narrow road used heavily as this is a short-cut - from Malleshwaram 8th Main towards Brigade Gateway and Renaissance Apartments. Not reckoned with while finding a route

The data point density seems to be better than commercial maps surprisingly, and that is why the pointer appears more accurately on roads than being 'near it'. For example, if one goes into an underpass which is turning left or right, with MMI and Garmin maps one finds a discontinuity that ultimately shows up (in the recorded track) as you have jumped over the underpass at an angle, starting well before it and ending well after it - nothing in between. With the OSM map, the same track follows the underpass route faithfully. I wish I had screen capture facility available on the navigation unit (a Garmin 260W).

Couple of scares though:
* The navigation unit gave up and said "Can't find a route" - I was going from Malleshawaram 18th Cross to Koramangala
* Doing an address search: most of the addresses show up simply as "Bangalore Metropolitan Area"!!! Only the names are there in prominent PoIs. If the same institution is present in more than one area - you are left in a limbo, unless you generally know the compass point and approximate distance of the destination with respect to the current location. The result list shows, for example,
National School 5.6Km W
National School 9.8Km NE
National School 4.1KM SW

As I said, crowd-sourced data and free map - one can't complain much. Long way to being a mature solution.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

At this point of time there are three sources - Navteq (from Garmin), MMI and SatGuide.

MMI are about Rs.7000 for one year while SatGuide are under Rs.1500. Only Satguide are still to release the Garmin version / upgrade of their newest offering supposedly Oct-Nov 2011!

I contacted Satguide and they gave me a free update dated June 2013. I used it soon after downloading on my trip to Srisailam on 10th August. I found it utterly outdated. It misled me at a couple of points, and nearly 50% of the journey, it showed me off the road.

Soon after returning, I copied the Open Street maps that I'd downloaded this month. I am yet to use it, but will provide a feedback soon.