I have a lowrance h20c and a 2009 lakemaster chip in it.  The new chip has portages and campsites on it.  It also gives the distance for each portage.  Can't think of a better unit to use now days.  Any retailer that sells lowrance gps units will let u demo it instore.  good luck

I purchased 2 Garman Rhino 530 HCx a couple years ago and the Topo U.S. set to down load.....interesting to visit places before you get there. I'm not much of a gadget guy, but last summer as I was planning a trip to the Trinity Alps wilderness, it was fun to get an idea of the projected highway route and sites to take in along the way....turned out to be a good trip.. after 20 days in the Alps, we even took in the Redwoods and a little California Pacific surf before heading home.....hadn't been there since 25 years before.....good to go back to another place and time once in a while

Hey,
I noticed that this thread really has 2 threads coing.  In the interest of clarity, I'm going to start a new thread about things that can be done with the files from (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) & we can leave this one for helping WW get his GPS going.
-Tom

Woods_Walker wrote on May 18^th, 2009 at 9:15pm:

NP, you could try starting with the Minnesota Topo: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links). It is wrapped in an installer. So, all you need to do is download and double click. Once the install is finished you should be able to fire up MapSource and see the results. If you do run into problems there are help tutorials on the site. Hopefully that helps.

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Thanks a million, just tried that & in 3 minutes now have mapsource.... now I can see if I can figure some maps out.

Troy

Woods_Walker wrote on May 16^th, 2009 at 9:16am:

Have you tried the steps outlined on the GPS File Depot site for loading MapSource? My old MapSource CD that came with the GPS didn't work for me either. But, I was able to install MapSource following the websites instructions on 64-bit Vista without any issues.

Thanks so much everyone, I did go buy an Upper-Midwest topo micro chip for the Garmin.... but I am leaving for Ely right now so time to play with it will be limited... maybe tomorrow.

These things are harder to figure out than I thought.

My unit came with a MapSource Trip & Waypoint Manager CD, but I can't get it to load. I think it is a Windows Vista issue, the unit is an older one that has been on the shelf a while. I tried to load an update from Garmin, but since I don't have it on the PC yet it won't let me. 

I may have to call Garmin next week.

Troy

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Here is a list of all the map data available for Minnesota: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links). There are several maps available including snow mobile trails, county boundaries, and topos. The Minnesota specific Topo is available here: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links). It is a simple installer that only needs to be double-clicked to add to MapSource. And, here is a tutorial on how to send the maps from MapSource to the GPSr: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links). All of it is about as easy as it gets.

plafromboise wrote on May 15^th, 2009 at 5:45pm:

That sounds very cool & I may try such things -- does it help WW right now?  You know, when you first get your GPS is seems intimidating just to get it to work right, much less try new cool new stuff -- if there's a nice step by step list for WW (or others) to follow for loading MN data (and a simple way to get the data)?  If so, it might be used by many of us.
-tom

PS: or it could show up as an Inukshuk perk...

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I haven't tried the map for Maine but I do have most of the Mid-west loaded on my GPS including the map for Minnesota. It works great and the topo detail is better than the 24k National Parks for Garmin. I do not have the Lakemaster so I can not compare it. I did notice some shore line errors in the Minnesota map from the gpsfiledepot. But, so far, any error that I have found has been minor. The map doesn't contain any bathymetric data for the lakes. I'm sure that is there is a good public source for that sort of data the map authors would be willing to add it to their maps.