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It is still a bit mysterious as to what exactly is required to enable the routing tool. The key to that command enabling the routing tool seems to be that the GPS must have stored at least one pre-existing custom route. The operation that seemed to enable it was the Device-> Receive from Device menu command. While fiddling with the map, I eventually noticed that the routing tool had become enabled. Hopefully not another annoying limitation. I was a little disappointed that the routing tool was not enabled. We are looking at ways to make this available via download. We do not use either program to create our preloaded micro-sd cards, so the magic must be done there. If you create your own combined map including a trail map and topo map using MapSource or BaseCamp, BaseCamp is unable to read the maps from the GPS.

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This only works if you are using our preloaded micro-sd cards that combine a free topo map with any trail map. (Click on the images below to display them in a larger more readable size) For once, a user could see the trails in the detailed context of a topographic map just the way they appear on the GPS. The snowmobile trails overlaid over a detailed topographic map. This has always been a frustrating limitation of MapSource. When I selected the вЂњNH ME VT SnowmobileвЂќ I was astonished to see for the first time a Garmin product displaying a combined map in a single screen. The вЂњNH ME VT SnowmobileвЂќ map also showed up in the map selection drop-down, and under Utilities -> Manage Map Products menu. That map was labeled вЂњNH ME VT SnowmobileвЂќ. BaseCamp read the combined trail map and topo and displayed it in a list of maps on the device. When I happened to fire up BaseCamp with my 60Csx connected to the computer via a USB cable, something odd happened. This GPS model has no user accessible built-in storage, so all optional maps beyond a rudimentary base map must be stored on the micro-sd card. I recently loaded up our trail maps along with a topographical map on to my 60Csx GPS. The bottom line is that BaseCamp has a number of unique features that make it an increasingly compelling replacement to MapSource. If you have a DEM capable map, there are ways that you can view non-DEM enabled map data in this context. For these maps, the 3D display mode of BaseCamp produces a true 3d rendering of topography similar to Google-Earth. However, Garmin TOPO US 2008, and probably other variants of Garmin topographic maps do contain DEM data. Most maps, including most free topographic maps do not contain DEM data. When displaying a map that lacks Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, the 3d map is simply a perspective view similar to what you see on most GPS models 3d view mode. BaseCamp has a 3d Display mode that is not in MapSource. There are a couple of other features that are worth mentioning. If you are an Apple user, then you have no other choice, since MapSource was never ported to MacвЂ™s. If you have a Birds-Eye-View capable GPS that can display optional satellite imagery, then BaseCamp is a must, since MapSource has no support for this feature. Increasingly, the unique features of BaseCamp make it more compelling. BaseCamp was becoming a viable alternative to MapSource.

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MapInstall is a little clumsier than the integrated map integration and download feature of MapSource, but it works. The addition of MapInstall as a separate program callable by BaseCamp made it possible to use BaseCamp to combine and download maps to the GPS. Now when I fire up BaseCamp, the sluggishness is gone. I eventually updated my hardware to a faster multi-processor, with more memory and a faster USB interface. I continued to focus my documentation efforts towards explaining MapSource usage. For the most part I stuck with MapSource for everyday tasks such as managing track logs, combining and downloading maps and creating custom routes.

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Every now and then I would get a question from a Mac user who was using BaseCamp.

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WhatвЂ™s the point of a slower program with fewer features? BaseCamp went into my unused software bin,Д®very now and then, I would run BaseCamp just to see if maps were compatible. I quickly wrote it off as a lame attempt by Garmin to appease the Apple users who could not run MapSource. It did not even have the ability to load maps by itself. It was incredibly slow to paint maps on the screen, subject to crashing, and from what I could ascertain had fewer features than he old standby MapSource.

When Garmin first introduced BaseCamp, I loaded it up and took it for a test drive.