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Making Custom TOPO Maps, Step by Step Instructions using MapSetToolkit v1.40
Step by step instructions to make custom topos. Also if you make some please share them so others can use them. Go to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ and upload your finished mp file. If you have any suggestions on how to improve these instructions, please do so. You can also copy and paste it in Word for easier reading. Most information is from http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm Making Custom TOPO maps: 1. Download the following programs and install them: A. DEM2TOPO from: http://people.uleth.ca/~brad.gom/dem2topo/index.htm B. IDL Virtual Machine (IDL VM) from: http://www.ittvis.com/download/download.asp C. GPSMapEdit from www.geopainting.com D. cGPSMapper from www.cgpsmapper.com E. MapSetToolKit v1.40 from http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/home 2. Go to http://seamless.usgs.gov/ and download high-resolution DEM data (for Canada go to http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/index.html) A. Make sure to visit the FAQ if running SP2 for XP and allow downloads and make trusted site in order to get info. B. For USGS click on view and download U.S. data C. Click on the zoom in tool and zoom in to your area of interest D. Use either define download area tool under downloads or define area by coordinates tool to download your area. (Note: If the SDDS Page does not appear using the download area tool use the define area by coordinates method and it will appear.) E. An SDDS Request Summary Page will appear, click on modify data request F. Uncheck the National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1 Arc Second, let the page refresh G. Check National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1/3 Arc Second box, let the page refresh H. Change form ArcGrid to GeoTiff, scroll to the bottom of the page I. Change the Maximum size (MB) per piece from 100 to 50mb (Working with files under 50 mb is easier and faster.) J. Click save changes & Return to summary. K. Click on download and save your data, unzip your files, save the data anywhere you want, just dont forget where you put it.

Beginning of Dem2Topo
3. Next is to convert the GeoTiff (.tif) to an .mp file (an mp file is a file that you will manipulate latter on) A. Double-click on dem2topo.sav to start the program, IDL will automatically start and run dem2topo. B. Select units feet or meters, set your minor contour intervals, set your intermediate contour interval, and your major contour interval (I set them to 20 feet, 200 feet, and 500 feetfor minor contour intervals less than 10 feet makes your map very cluttered). (Contour line intervals need to be a multiple of each other). C. Change your plot refresh interval to 99 D. Next click on Select DEM files, find your GeoTiff file (.tif) and open it (select DEM file if you are from Canada here) E. Your map screen will go black while it is loading so give it time. (Your map screen may stay black even after it has finished loading, but it will say Ready in the box in the lower left corner of your screen.) F. After it has loaded simply click on Create .mp file and watch it work. When it says Finished click Ok. (You should now begin to see contour lines appear. This can take several minutes depending on the size of your map) 4. Next is to download your water data (if you dont need nor want water data skip this part) A. Go to http://nhdgeo.usgs.gov/viewer.htm B. Zoom in to your area of interest C. Under layers open the Hydrologic Units and put a check in the Subbasins box (anytime you check a box that item will show up on the map when you hit redraw the map, so you can turn on cities or counties to figure out where you are)

D. Next open the NHD High Res tab, you may or may not see anything here, the more you zoom in the more things that show up to turn on or off, so keep zooming in and something should show up here. E. When the NHD High Res data shows up put a check in the box for the following: NHDFlowline, NHDArea, NHDWaterbody F. Next put a dot in the circle of Subbasins, Subbasins will now have a checked box and dotted circle (the dotted circle tells the download what to download while the checked box tells what to display on the map) G. Click on the polygon extract tool, click in the area you want to download, H. A NHD Geodatabase Extract should appear, for #1 put a dot in High Resolution, for #2 put a dot in the shapefile, #3 enter your email address. I. A link will be emailed to you to download the data, it might take a while so be patient, when you get the data unzip and save where you can find it later. END of Dem2Topo

Start GPSMapEdit
5. Next is to edit the .mp file in GPSmapedit A. Open GpsMapEdit, click File Open and choose your .mp file B. Click on File then Map Properties and do the following: 1. Change typeset to Garmin 2. Give the map an 8 digit ID number (no. must be larger than 00010000 or it may not show up correctly in Mapsource) 3. Give the map a name 4. Click on the Levels tab and Highlight the bottom or last Level in the series and then click on the Insert Before tab, do this until you have Level0= through Level4=. 6. Change the Level & Zoom settings to look like this Level0=24 Level1=23 Level2=22 Level3=20 Level4=19 bits bits bits bits bits mapsource mapsource mapsource mapsource mapsource zoom=under1.2km zoom=1.2-3km zoom=3-8km zoom=8-12km zoom=12-30km

7. Click on the cGPSMapper Tab and check the Map is transparent box and select Y transparent map without  background object then click Apply and click OK. 8. Next is to import your waterways (Note: Do not use these unknown types: 0x0029, 0x003b, or 0x0045 unless you are using the .TYP file method. Mapsource doesnt have a pattern for these unknown types Use something such as (ex. 0x0049 small river, 0x0041 small lake, or 0x0048 medium river.) A. Click on File, Import and select ESRIshape (*.shp) B. Go to your download waterways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDArea 1. Select type of objects, click on From List tab and select 0X0040 Small lake, click on Next 2. Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, click on Next 3. Select source coordinate system, make sure Datum is WGS84, click on Next 4. Select zoom levels to import, check Levels 0,1,2,3, click on Finish C. Click on File, Import and select ESRIshape(*.shp) D. Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDFlowline 1. Select type of objects, click on From List tab and select 0X001f River, click on Next 2. Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, click on Next 3. Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, click on Next 4. Select zoom levels to import, check Levels 0,1,2 click on Finish E. Click on File, Import and select ESRIshape (*.shp) F. Go to your download water ways folder and open the subfolder hydrography and click on NHDWaterbody 1. Select type of objects, click on From List tab and select 0X003e Medium lake, click on Next 2. Select source of labels, click on the GNIS_Name tab, click on Next 3. Select source coordinate system, make sure datum is WGS84, click on Next 4. Select zoom levels to import, check Levels 0,1,2 click on Finish G. Go to View, Levels and select Level0 and zoom in to the area showing your topo/contour lines. H. Next go to Tools and select Trim. Trace the area around your elevation data then right click and select Trim Outside (this gets rid of extra water ways) I. Click on Tools, click on Remove Object Duplicates. Small box with number deleted will appear, click Ok.

9. Verify that map is still checked transparent: click on File, then Map Properties, and then on the cGPSMapper Tab and check the Map is transparent box and select Y transparent map without background object then click Apply and click OK. 10. Click on File Save Map As and save your file in (Polish format (*.mp, *txt.) 11. Click on File > Export GarminIMG/cgpsmapper.exe. (This program has to be downloaded prior so look at the website in this step), name your file and save it as a Garmin Mapsource .img file, then search for the cgpsmapper.exe file that you saved earlier and click on Run and wait until it says Export is complete and click Ok. (Note: This may take several minutes depending on the size of your map) 12. Click on Close in Export to cGPSmapper.exe screen. END of GPSMapEdit 1. Find your newly created .img file and change the name to the 8 digit number you gave the map in step 5-B-2. 2. You can now send the map image to your GPS or Mapsource. For Mapsource Continue: 3. The next step will create and compile your map using cGPSmapper. You must give it a name of all numbers: ex. 10000123.img. (You already did this in Step 1 above.) 4. Create a folder named Custom under the C:/Garmin folder and copy your custom map to it.

Start MapSetToolkit
Does not require you to make any registry changes and you do not have to create the test_pv.txt file or the .reg file; Mapsource makes them for you. See this link for the MapSetToolkit: http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/home (Thanks to Cypherman for simplifying this process) 5. Open MapSetToolkit 1.40. Click on Select IMG files and click on folder C: > Garmin > Custom. 6. Select your .img file or files and click Add. 7. In Create MAPSET Box:  A. For Mapset Directory click on and select the folder C: > Garmin > Custom. B. Enter a name in the Mapset Name field. (Spaces between characters is allowed) (This is what will show up in Mapsource in the Select a Product such as CN, Topo, Custom Maps, etc.) C. For Family ID enter a number between (1-65535). Make sure this number is not being used in any other Families ID. (Look at Uninstall Mapset box and verify your FID number is not used.) (After you have entered a FID number the Product Code is over written with 1.) D. In Product Code enter a number between (1-9999). Make sure this number is not being used in any other Mapset Product codes. E. In Map version enter your version such as 1.00. F. In Copyright info type Text. This field does not display on GPSr but this field is displayed in Mapsource when displaying Mapsource Product information. (If you want to use a .TYP file or registered your MapSet in families, continue to Step G, otherwise go to Step 8.) G. For TYP files, if you have a custom type definition (.TYP file), then click on and select your file. (You will only need to fill in this box if you created a .TYP file to customize lines, points, or polygons.) If you select .txt file, MapSetToolKit will compile this file when you click on START button. 8. Check the Install in Mapsource box and check the Blank Overview Map box ((this will prevent seeing a double track (high resolution and low resolution lines) when zoomed in close in Mapsource)). 9. In the cgpsmapper box click on . Select cgpsmapper.exe program and click Open. 10. Click on START. Then box will pop up saying Convert termined and click Ok. 11. Verify your Mapset name and Code you assigned in Step 7-B & C are now in the Uninstall Mapset list box.

12. Now you can go to Mapsource and install them to your GPSr with .TYP file. You dont need another program to send your .TYP file to you GPSr if your Product Code and FID in your .TYP file is the same as in Steps 7-C & 9-A. Mapsource will send your .TYP file for you with your selected maps. If you used the same values in your .TYP file and MapSetToolKit for Product Code and FID, Mapsource will send your maps and also your .TYP file to your GPSr. (Ignore this step if not using a .TYP file.) NOTE: If you want to add a new map to your existing Mapset you must first uninstall the existing Mapset using the MapSetToolKit, Uninstall Mapset list and create the same Mapset name again. END of MapSetToolKit 13. Open Mapsource, you should now see your map listed in MapSource along with your other Garmin maps in the Product list. 14. Select (click) on your map in the Product list and the preview map will show up in the map area on your screen. On the Mapsource Toolbar change your Detail Settings to Highest and zoom in to see your custom map. You may have to zoom in to a Map Scale/Zoom Level of 2 miles or less before your map starts to display. 15. You should now be able to use the Map Tool to select your custom map/s for uploading and upload it with your other maps such as U.S. Topo, City Navigator, and etc. maps. These instructions were prepared by EAParks. Thanks to Groundspeak members GeoBobC, Bus36, and Cypherman for all of their technical expertise. This process would not be possible without the time and dedication Cypherman has been willing to share with fellow GPSers. 11-28-06; Rev.2, 02-06-07; Rev.3, 02-13-07; Rev.4, 02-16-07; Rev.5, 3-19-07; Rev.6, 07-17-07; Rev.7, 03-22-08; Rev. 8, 7-30-08.

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