Software to manage and analyze GPS data. Supports data exchange between PCs and GPS devices. Contains digital maps of various geographic regions. User interface in 10 different languages.
- Features
- Which MapSource product for what GPS ?
- System Requirements
- Product Overview
- Maps on CDrom/DVD
- World
- Australia and New Zealand (Oceania)
- Europe
- North, Middle and South America
- South Africa
- Maps on microSD/SD memory card
- Examples
- Track (travelled path)
- Waypoints
- Manual Routing
- Autorouting
- Elevation Profile
- Comparison MapSource World with a regional map such as City Navigator Europe
- View in Google Earth
- Downloads
- Order
The various programs of the GARMIN MapSource product family provide different features, but all support the same basic functions, which are:
- Data transfer between PCs and GPS devices over a serial or USB connection.
- Manage waypoints, routes and tracks (travelled paths) on a PC.
- User interface in 10 different languages (Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean; Portuguese (Brazilian) and Spanish; Version V6.14.1 or higher)
Depending on the product, additional features are supported, such as:
- Routing on the PC, routes may be transferred to GPS devices.
- Download "points of interest" or maps to GPS devices. This will significantly increase the level of details of the maps and may support autorouting on the GPS device itself, depending on the GPS model.
- Topographic maps with contour lines and geographical features such as mountains, lakes, rivers etc.
- Some products require an unlock code 1), see detailed description of the individual programs. The unlock code is included in the price. The unlock code is either included in the package or may be obtained from GARMIN's website.
1) The unlock code is a unique combination of the serial number of the MapSource software and the serial number of the GPS device. It ensures that the downloaded maps will work only on that particular GPS device.
To table of contents
- MapSource Trip and Waypoint Manager: For any GPS device with a serial or USB interface.
- MapSource World: For any GPS device with a serial or USB interface.
- MapSource Points of Interest: For any GPS device with a serial or USB interface, particularly for the eTrex Venture.
- MapSource Road & Recreation: For any GPS device with a serial or USB interface (MapSource Road & Recreation Europe also contains Points of Interest for the eTrex Venture).
- MapSource MetroGuide: For any GPS device with a serial or USB interface; supports autorouting on the PC. If the GPS supports maps, then they can be downloaded to the GPS to increase the level of details and to enhance the search function.
- MapSource City Navigator: Particulary designed for the GARMIN models of the
Colorado- and Oregon-series, Edge 605/705, eTrex C/Cx/HC/HCx-series, GPSMAP60-series, GPSMAP76-series,
Nuvi-series, StreetPilot-series, Zumo-series, cfQue 1620 as well as GPS10/18/20 with nRoute or MobilePC
, because it supports the autorouting feature of these products.
- MapSource Topo: For any GPS device with a serial or USB interface. If the GPS supports maps, then they can be downloaded to the GPS to increase the level of details and to enhance the search function.
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- PC with Windows 2000, 2003, XP or Vista (Vista requires at least MapSource V6.12.2)
- Pentium Processor
- At least 32 MB memory (RAM)
- See detailed description of the MapSource programs for the minimum disk space
- CDrom or DVD drive, see detailed description of the MapSource programs
- Serial or USB interface (if you wish to exchange data between a PC and a GPS device)
- USB interface to program memory modules (only available for GARMIN eMap, GPSMAP276C and StreetPilot III)
- Cable for data exchange between a PC and a GPS device (available as options; not included in the MapSource packages, but included in some GPS packages)
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The various programs of the GARMIN MapSource product family support different geographical regions on one hand and different functions on the other hand.
For some regions, the maps are available on CDrom or DVD as well as on microSD/SD memory card (microSD is also written as uSD). MicroSD/SD memory card means that the maps are stored on an uSD memory card but there is also an uSD-to-SD adapter included which means that these memory cards are compatible with GPS devices with a slot for SD memory cards as well as with devices with a slot for uSD memory cards. What are the advantages and disadvantages of maps on CDrom/DVD compared to maps on uSD/SD memory cards ?
Advantages and disadvantages of maps on CDrom/DVD:
- Advantages: You may use the maps on a GPS device as well as on a computer. This makes planing much easier and allows to transfer data such as waypoints, routes and tracks between a GPS and a computer. For most maps, updates will become available on an approximately yearly basis (charges may apply).
- Disadvantages: The maps must be unlocked for a particular GPS device - for most products (e.g. City Navigator) you can unlock the maps for only one device, for some products (e.g. Swiss Topo) for two devices. In addition, the detailed maps must be transferred from the computer to the GPS device, which may require a significant amount of time, depending on the amount of data that you wish to transfer.
Advantages and disadvantages of maps on uSD/SD memory cards:
- Advantages: The maps are immediately available as soon as you plug in the memory card. In addition, you may use the maps on any number of devices, but only on one device at the time
- Disadvantages: The maps are not available on a computer which makes planing much more difficult and you cannot transfer the data from the GPS to a computer as a backup or for further reference. In additon, the GPS has to have a SD or microSD slot and this slot will be occupied by the memory card and will not be available for other purposes such as a language or travel guide. Also, no updates will be available for maps stored on uSD/SD memory cards.
Click on the flag for detailed information about all products for that country or region. Click on "description" for detailed information about that particular product. Click on the basket icon or the price to put an item into the shopping basket.
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City Navigator Europe NT 2010 for Mac and Windows
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 158 |
/ |
EUR 109 |
Description |
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City Navigator Europe NT UPDATE to Version 2010 for Windows and Mac "nüMaps Onetime"
(including customer code to receive free unlock code,
you must own a previous version of City Navigator Europe NT in order to use this update) |
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CHF 118 |
/ |
EUR 81 |
Description |
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City Navigator Europe NT update subscription "nüMaps Lifetime"
(perpetual download of map updates,
for compatible units with a pre-installed version of these maps) |
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CHF 158 |
/ |
EUR 109 |
Description |
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Navigo AdriaRoute: Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 238 |
/ |
EUR 164 |
Description |
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AdriaTopo: Croatia
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 198 |
/ |
EUR 136 |
Description |
![[ Belgium ]](flag_be_small.gif)  ![[ Luxemburg ]](flag_lu_small.gif) |
Belgium and Luxemburg Topo,
CDrom including customer code to receive free unlock code ("Routeerbare Topografische Kaart voor België en het Groot-Hertogdom Luxemburg") |
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CHF 148 |
/ |
EUR 102 |
- |
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Germany Topo V3 Full on DVD and uSD/SD memory card
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 348 |
/ |
EUR 240 |
Description |
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France Topo, divided into 10 areas
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
- |
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from CHF 98 |
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from EUR 67 |
Description |
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Italy Topo,
CDrom including customer code to receive free unlock code |
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CHF 248 |
/ |
EUR 171 |
- |
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Nederlands Topo
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 268 |
/ |
EUR 184 |
Description |
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GPMapa Poland
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 298 |
/ |
EUR 205 |
Description |
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Great Britain Topo,
CDrom including customer code to receive free unlock code |
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CHF 318 |
/ |
EUR 219 |
- |
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Austria Topo
(including customer code to unlock maps for one GPS unit) |
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CHF 268 |
/ |
EUR 184 |
Description |
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Second license for Austria Topo
(to unlock maps for a second GPS unit, (requires CDrom Austria Topo !) |
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CHF 88 |
/ |
EUR 61 |
Description |
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Spain Topo,
CDrom including customer code to receive free unlock code |
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CHF 278 |
/ |
EUR 191 |
- |
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Friluftskartan Pro 1 "Götaland" (topographic map of southern Sweden) including customer code to unlock maps |
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CHF 388 |
/ |
EUR 267 |
Description |
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Friluftskartan Pro 2 "Svealand" (topographic map of middle Sweden) including customer code to unlock maps |
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CHF 388 |
/ |
EUR 267 |
Description |
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Friluftskartan Pro 3 "Mellersta & Södra Norrland" (topographic map of southern north Sweden) including customer code to unlock maps |
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CHF 388 |
/ |
EUR 267 |
Description |
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Friluftskartan Pro 4 "Norra Norrland" (topographic map of northern north Sweden) including customer code to unlock maps |
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CHF 388 |
/ |
EUR 267 |
Description |
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Switzerland Topo East
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 198 |
/ |
EUR 136 |
Description |
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Switzerland Topo West
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 198 |
/ |
EUR 136 |
Description |
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Switzerland Topo Full
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 368 |
/ |
EUR 253 |
Description |
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Switzerland Lakes
(including customer code to receive free unlock code) |
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CHF 188 |
/ |
EUR 129 |
Description |
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4.1.4 North, Middle and South America (
Canada / 
USA / 
Brazil):
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The following map was created with MapSource City Navigator Europe 2009 NT and shows the travelled path (track) of a trip from Hittnau ZH to Adelboden BE in Switzerland. A track consists of a number of straight lines called "legs" at constant speed. The GPS creates a new leg each time the direction and/or speed changes. For each leg, the GPS records the date and time, elevation, leg length, leg time, leg speed, leg course and the current position (coordinates). With this information you know exactly when you were where and with which speed you travelled in what direction. In this example, we used the WGS-84 datum and display the coordinates in degrees and minutes. MapSource supports many different datums and formats including the Swiss Grid
CH-1903.
Click on the image for an enlargement
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During vacation, the locations of the endpoints of all the ski and chair lifts and some restaurants of the ski area of Savognin, Switzerland were stored on a GPS. Based on these waypoints, it was easy to determine the current position in relation to the lifts at any time even if we used a Forerunner 305 which does not show maps. The image below was created using MapSource Swiss Topo V2. Note that in this example, the coordinates are shown as 6 digit X and Y values corresponding to the Swiss Grid and the CH-1903 datum.
Click on the image for an enlargement
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The image below shows a route composed from waypoints with MapSource World V4. The route shows a trip in Scandinavia based on 17 waypoints. Note that MapSource World does not "know" any roads, routes between two waypoints are measured as air-line distances.
Note: Other MapSource products also support the feature "autorouting".
Click on the image for an enlargement
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Some products - such as MapSource City Navigator - support the feature "autorouting", which calculates the shortest or fastest route from a start to a final destination with optional intermediate destinations (so called "vias"). Routes can then be transferred to GPS devices which support this feature.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The autorouting preferences allow you to specify whether the program shall calculate the fastest or the shortest route, the average driving speed for the various types of roads depending on the type of vehicle and more.
Click on the image for an enlargement
The example above shows the route from the Hofbräuhaus in Munich to the Eiffel tower in Paris as calculated by MapSource City Navigator Europe. The route consists of 43 waypoints, including start and destination. Depending on the capacity of the GPS receiver and the complexity of the route, routes may have to be split to be transferred to a GPS receiver. Autorouting also supports intermediate destinations (vias).
The picture above shows the complete route on the map (yellow line). The driving instructions (directions) are shown in the window in the lower right corner.
Click on the image for an enlargement |
Click on the image for an enlargement |
| Detailed view of the route in Munich (violet line). You will find the driving instructions in the window in the lower left corner. |
Detailed view of the route in Paris (violet line). You will find the driving instructions in the window in the lower left corner. |
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Topographic maps support displaying the elevation profile of planned routes. The image below shows the elevation profil of a planned hiking trip from Wengen via Kleine Scheidegg to Adelboden. This profile was created using Swiss Topo V2.
Click on the image for an enlargement
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The images below show three different extracts of the area around Bern at different scales - created with MapSource World and City Navigator Europe. Click on the images for an enlargement.
| World Map |
City Navigator Europe |
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| Bern and vicinity with maximum level of details, scale 15 km. |
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| Bern and vicinity with maximum level of details, scale 1 km. |
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| Bern City with maximum level of details, scale 200 m. |
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MapSource allows you to view your waypoints, routes and tracks in Google Earth. Click on the images for an enlargement.
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| MapSource track of a trip from Montreal to La Mauricie National Park in Canada viewed in Google Earth (red line). |
Enlargment of the track shown on the left. The image shows the trip trough Montreal passing the Olympic stadion (red line). |
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| Track of the Lauberhorn downhill race track including the ride with the chair lift from the finishing area to the station Allmend and the trip down to Wengen (white line). The picture in Google Earth was taken in summer, but the track was recorded when skiing in winter. |
Enlargment of the track shown on the left. The image shows part of the Lauberhorn downhill race track (white line). |
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Here we provide additional documentation and software updates related to the GARMIN MapSource. The later are free upgrades, but require a previous version of MapSource to be installed on your computer. The upgrades are cumulative, which means you don't have to install all upgrades, but only the latest version.
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If Adobe Acrobat Reader is not installed on your computer, you may download and install it for free. |
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To order GARMIN MapSource products please:
- Click on the price or the shopping basket symbol
![[ Show shopping basket ]](../warenkorb/warenkorb.gif)
to add the item you wish to purchase to the shopping basket.
- If the shopping basket does not work, please use this form.
Please read our terms and conditions.
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Specifications and packaging of the products are subject to change without notice.
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TRAMsoft GmbH
Laettenweg 19 / CH-8335 Hittnau / Switzerland
Telephone: +41 44 995 1570 / Contact
Last modification: 09/02/2010 (RA)
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