gtmaps.co.nz

By accident I found the previous version of NZ Topo for Garmin (v2.04) had the ability to switch the bush colour on and off by using the zoom - as in this screen shot of the Map page > Menu > Setup Menu > Map Setup - Point tab:



Here for example, when the map is zoomed into the 12m scale the bush colour switched off if the Land Cover Max Zoom setting is 8m or less but shows if 12m or above.

However the new Topo 3.03 does not have that function. Another option for those not wanting bush colour at all would be a transparent or almost transparent bush + small building custom file.

The new version (3.x) maps use a new form of customisation. Some background info is on the customisation page.

Unfortunately, I suspect that the inability to turn off land cover is a bug in the Garmin firmware (the software in the GPS unit). They possibly just forgot about that when they developed the ability to customise. Garmin certainly aren't immune to bugs, and usually fix them pretty promptly.

I was unfortunately unaware of this limitation when I made the change to using customisation.

Since these maps are not Garmin maps, it is unlikely that Garmin will fix the issue. There are very few (if any) Garmin maps that use customisation yet.

It may also be possible that if you 'turn off' the customisation, you may get back the ability to turn off the land cover. You would then also loose the other benefits, such as the red tracks and zigzag cliffs. I'll do some testing and see if this is actually the case, and post a message here about how to do it, if people want to do so.

Hi Gary, thanks for reply. Please excuse me but Im a little confused.
Re bug in garmin firmware. If the "turn on/off" worked just fine with your earlier version how does the garmin firmware stops it working in your latest version? From a laymans point of view I thought it to be a feature of the version, not Garmin firmware...have I misinterpreted your previous posting?
best regards

The old version just used the 'default' display that is hard-wired into the firmware - and I guess that the land cover on/off interacted with that to control the way that it is displayed.

The new version uses customisation - which means that there is a different bit of the firmware that is displaying the maps in a different way - and they may have forgotten to 'connect' the land cover on/off control with that piece of the program.

So ANY map map that uses customisation would be unable to turn the display of land on and off. This does appear to be the case - as I have had confirmation from someone in Sweden that saw the same thing.

Hi Gary, That makes it clearer. Many thanks Regards