Garmin 60CSX GPS: The Best Tricks

This is a guide to save you time on the 60CSX. Before we get to the good stuff, I'd like to point out that in a perfect world you would not be reading this page. You would turn on your 60CSX and you'd be able to do all the things you expect to do with a well-designed GPS, such as transfer multiple maps through an intuitive interface. Ahhh... But you're here, so you already know a thing or two about Garmin. Yes, it's an amazing company. On the one hand it makes products that many people love to use for the features that do work. On the other hand, it makes design choices that waste hours and hours of many people's time, adding up to a cost that might range somewhere in the hundreds of millions. If you've used Mapsource, you know what I'm talking about.

And on the hardware side, Garmin is the most stingy consumer electronics company I know. It chronically skimps on essential features and components. For instance, it leaves obsolete products on the market for years and years and years. As I write, you can still buy the basic yellow Etrex. I remember when I upgraded from that unit to the blue Etrex Legend, five years ago. At the time you could buy a 256MB USB key for twenty dollars. How much memory did Garmin ship with the Legend? Eight megabytes! And could you transfer maps via USB, the standard already for many years? No, you had to use a Serial port at one tenth of the speed... if you had the good luck to have a computer still equipped with such an antique port. One word for Garmin: Scrooges.

I love the 60CSX. But I don't love how long it takes to zoom in and out of a map. Would it break Garmin's bottom line to use a chip that can honorably provide this basic function? It would probably bump up the unit cost by something like 94 cents. And why can't we upload maps that have no tile limit, instead of the skimpy 2025 Garmin lets us have? Hello Garmin, it's not 1978, we can do these things nowadays. And why doesn't the unit let us switch to a different mapset without having us connect to a computer and rename the files on the card? Somewhere at Garmin, an engineer probably wrote that basic firmware upgrade for himself long ago. But you know the rant. It's here less for you than in the hope that someday Garmin will start respecting their customers.

It took me days and nights to understand certain aspects of the 60CSX. Hoping to spare other people that ordeal, on this page I share what I gradually learned. Certain aspects will apply to other Garmin units besides the 60CSX.

How to Deselect Multiple Map Tiles in Mapsource

So you thought you were in the zoom tool and you've dragged your mouse across your map. But you were in the Tile selection tool, and now your whole map is pink. You try to unselect, but all you can do is click the tiles one by one, all 976 of them! Arrgh, isn't there a faster way?

There is! Press "Ctrl" while you drag across the maps you want to deselect.

16GB MicroSD card on the 60CSX

Yes, since recent firmware upgrades, you can now have large cards in your unit. I have a Sandisk 16GB MicroSDHC in my 60CSX. I am using firmware version 3.90. I have read that large cards have been working since firmware version 3.20. What changed with 3.90 is that your map can now be as large as 4GB. However, Garmin still limits you to 2025 map tiles, so you're unlikely to have a map that large. Before attempting a transfer in Mapsource, do yourself a favor and count the number of tiles: look at the bottom left of the screen (the list of selected tiles). It will say something like "944 Map(s) - 670 MB".

Although the card says 16GB, the true capacity is 14.8 GB. That will hold a lot of maps but I am not sure this is the best strategy, because the 60CSX interface does not let you switch directly between map files (see "Multiple Maps" below). As long as you have access to a computer, this is not a problem. However, I am starting to think that the most elegant solution might be to carry a collection of smaller cards (256MB to 4GB), each with a single map file (the "gmapsupp.img" file).

A word of caution about fast cards (class 4 and above): Garmin warns against the Sandisk "Ultra" series. I've read a report that the 60CSX fries these cards. However, I've also read reports from users who use Kingston's class 4 cards without issues. Perhaps Garmin's warning no longer applies since recent card-related firmware upgrades? Would the Sandisk Extreme (class 6) gets toasted? I don't know, but class 2 is fast enough for me, and it's way cheaper. As I understand, the speed benefits of class 4 and above would be felt while transfering files to the unit, not in the unit itself, where the limit is Garmin's chip, which can slow down to a crunch when zooming in and out of large maps.

Using Multiple Maps on the Garmin 60CSX

Say you have a map of Australia and a map of New Zealand. Can you upload the files separately to the 60CSX and give them different names, as on some Garmin units, such as gmapsupp.img, gmapsup2.img, etc? The answer is no. Am I sure? Yes. So does that mean no? Yes, it's a "no". Forget it. Sorry everyone, the 60CSX can only use one "img" file at a time. Thank you Garmin. You'd imagine that this would be a simple thing to fix in firmware upgrades. My feeling: it is, they just don't want to do it.

But there is good news. Before we get into this, let us state for the record that the one and only active map file that the 60CSX will use is called gmapsupp.img. It is located in the Garmin folder, in the root of the SD card. Forget about other kinds of files, like "unl" files, they are for other models.

Now the good news. It is that you can store multiple mapsets on the card. Upload mapsets to the card via Mapsource. Rename the gmapsupp.img files that you are not using to something descriptive, such as "NewZealand.img". With a large card, you should be able to store all your maps. Now, whenever you need to switch maps, you just need to rename the file. First, rename the current gmapsupp.img that you will no longer be using to something descriptive. Next, rename the file you want to use to gmapsupp.img.

How to rename a file? There is no direct way to do so on the GPS unit. Some people remove the SD card, pop it into their cell phone, and rename it from the cell phone interface. A second method is to take out the SD card and plug it straight into your computer. My favorite way to rename the file is to hook-up the GPS to the computer and switch it to USB mode. How? Press Menu twice, then select "Setup", then select "Interface", then choose "USB Mass Storage" at the bottom of the screen.

The benefit of storing mapsets on the card is that you don't need to use Mapsource again to generate those mapsets. As you know, it can take hours to generate and transfer a large mapset. So once you have a good mapset, rename the file and store it. If your card is too small, you can back it up to your hard drive or to a DVD, and transfer it again when you need it. The fastest way to transfer files is to take the SD card out and pop it into your laptop's card reader. But if you're not in a rush and prefer not to mess with the card all the time, switch the GPS to USB mode (see instructions above); it should only take about twice as long.

The first time you transfer a mapset to the device, do yourself a favor and use Mapsource only. You can try to generate the img files using other software, but more than likely you will waste a lot of time trying to do so. The Mapsource-generated gmapsupp.img file will work. And the great news is that you can take several of these Mapsource-generated files and glue them together into a single large gmapsupp.img file. How? Read on.

How to Combine Multiple Maps

Here is the typical problem as it happened to me. I own Australia City Navigator and New Zealand City Navigator. I wanted to have both at the same time on my unit. After all, aren't Oz and NZ almost the same country? :) All I needed to do was to select both maps in Mapsource and transfer them to the unit as a single mapset, right? Wrong. That didn't work for me. The maps uploaded to the unit, but I couldn't zoom into the maps.

And yet there is a way to do it. It is a brilliant little piece of software called GMapTool, which you can download from the author's Polish site here. Here are the instructions:

1. In Mapsource, upload your first mapset (eg, Australia) to the 60CSX. Copy the gmapsupp.img file to your PC, rename it (eg, australia.img).

2. In Mapsource, upload your second mapset (eg, New Zealand) to the 60CSX. Copy the gmapsupp.img file to your PC, rename it (eg, newzealand.img).

3. Run GMapTool.exe. Click "Add Files". It may take you a while to navigate to your directory. (Your best bet might be to put the img files in a folder right below C:\, where it will be easy to find. Or, if you are good at navigating the tree structure of your computer, click "Favorites" then "Add to Favorites" when you get to your folder. Later, you will be able to navigate to that folder in one click by clicking "Favorites" again.)
Add the two maps (or more) that you want to join. However, make sure that together they do not contain more than 2025 tiles! (You can check that in Mapsource by selecting the tiles on the original maps.)

4. Click "Join". Under "Output File", type in a file name, eg newmap.img. Under "Mapset Name", you can type a descriptive name. Leave everyting else blank. Click "Join all".

5. Upload the new img file to your unit. Rename it gmapsupp.img. It should work!

Note that you can use GMapTool for the reverse operation: splitting a gmapsupp.img file into several IMG file, one for each map included in the Mapset.

You can also play around with GMapTool to try to join the tiny img files in some of your folders in C:\Garmin folder. It may or may not work. For me, I find that GMapTool works perfectly to glue gmapsupp.img files that were first generated and transfered to my GPS by Mapsource. I've also read that if you ever buy a card preloaded with a map (I'm unsure what the benefits of that would be), you can use GMapTool to load the gmapsupp.img file into Mapsource.

Overlapping Maps

You can use the technique above in GMapTool to create one big gmapsupp.img file with two map files of the same area. Or, if you don't yet have the two maps' image files, you can use Mapsource to create a mapset of the two overlapping maps. When is this useful? I use this for an area where I want to go hiking and have both a topo map for the hike and a routable map for the drive (turn-by-turn directions) such as City Navigator. I also use this when I want to compare two maps, such as Mapsource New Zealand and the free map of the same area, which may well be superior. To switch between maps on the 60CSX, go to the Map page. Press Menu, then Setup Map, then press the Right rocker button until you get to the icon with an "i" in a circle at the top of the screen. On that screen, you can select or unselect maps tile-by-tile, which may not be so useful on a 1000-tile map. Press Menu again, and you will be able to hide or show entire maps from within the mapset (not from other img files on the card, of course, but from from the big gmapsupp.img file you created).

How to Install Mapsets on Multiple Units

This situation arises in hiking clubs (in Australia they're called bushwalking clubs). Typically, one member is very knowledgable about GPS'es. Other members buy the same maps and the same unit. They have a hard time installing maps on their units, so they ask the club's GPS wizard. This poor bloke or gal has to sit for hours while Mapsource generates the very same maps that he or she already has! Isn't there a faster way? There is! This assumes that the members are using the exact same version of the map, and that Garmin has already given them the code that unlocks the map for their particular unit.

Now what to do? Simple. The club's GPS wizard can take his or her img files and substitute the unlock code with the unlock codes of the members who just bought the map. How? Again, GMapTool.

Open GMapTool. Open the working img file. Click Join. Click "Remove unlock code". Click "Add new unlock code" and type in the member's 25-letter code. In "Output File", give a name for the new map, eg map2.img. Click "Join all". Take the new map and transfer it to the member's 60CSX, renaming the file to gmapsupp.img if it will be used immediately.

I read on discussion forums that you can download a "Garmin Unlock Utility" to unlock maps on any unit, but I am a tad too conservative and virus-wary to set foot in that world. Besides, I already have all the maps I need, many of them high-quality open-source maps, and I didn't mind paying for the few I bought. What is money for?

Strange Error Message: Not Enough Space

With a custom map that I downloaded (desert tracks), MapSource gave me a strange error message telling me that there wasn't enough space on my 8GB card for a tiny 3MB map. If you use Mapsource, you will see this message regularly:

"This mapset is approximately xx MB, but only yy MB is available in the destination. Please select fewer maps and try again."

Typically, xx is very small and yy is very large. After you get the hang of it, you start to appreciate the humor of Garmin software engineers. So I gave up trying to transfer to the unit. Instead, I asked MapSource to transfer the mapset to a USB key, then I took the img file from the key and copied it to the GPS. It worked fine. I also tried to ask Mapsource to transfer the mapset to an SD card plugged into the laptop. It worked too. But as the next topic explains, I would not do this with commercial maps.

Transferring Commercial Maps Straight to the SD Card

With the exception of free maps (see previous topic), I advise against asking MapSource to transfer maps to USB keys or to SD cards that are plugged into the laptop. Instead, I advise transferring straight to the 60CSX recognized as such by Mapsource ("60CSX"), i.e., not in "USB Mass Storage" mode. Why? For some maps, transferring straight to the SD card has not worked for me. The map transferred, but once I placed the card in the device, the map did not work. This may be because for some maps, MapSource will not embed the map's unlock code unless it is transferring to the 60CSX. All Mapsource maps have their quirks, so it may well work for your map. Nevertheless, for me, the potential time saved does not justify the potential time lost. More than half the time of transferring maps from Mapsource has to do with building the mapset: You will have to spend that time regardless of how you move the maps. I also prefer not to unscrew the back of the unit all the time.

Fix Mapsource Installation and Registry Problem

If you install new maps in Mapsource, sooner or later you will have a message like this:
"There is a problem with the MapSource registry. Please re-install Mapsource and start again."

You will uninstall, re-install and it will not work. This happened to me with a 2009 map. After hours trying to fix this (twice!), I am pleased to share the exact sequence that works for me:

1. Do a "System Restore" to the restore point before you installed the map that caused the conflict. (Run rstrui.exe under Start / Run, and read up on "System Restore" first so you don't wreck your system.)
2. You will then need to edit the registry, which can also wreck your system, so if you are not familar with this topic please research how to do this safely. Remove these three Garmin keys and their subkeys: HKLM/Software/Garmin, HKLM/Software/Wow6432Node/Garmin, HKCU/Software/Garmin.
3. Reinstall and see if the problem is fixed. If not, there may be some keys leftover. They may perhaps be located with a little tool called Mapsource Fix. Run Mapsource Fix. Click "Check". Click "Show Results". Click "More Details". The keys are there. Hopefully, when you reinstall Mapsource this time, it will work.
4. Wish yourself good luck!

Point N' Sight is greyed out

If this happens to you, you probably need to calibrate the compass. Lucky you, you'll be dancing in circles. Press Menu on the compass page, select the option and follow instructions.

Navigation: driving directions are too slow!

At some stage, and for a few weeks, my unit's navigation's instructions slowed down to a crawl. I had made a huge mapset that contained many maps. It took me a while to find the solution. When I hid all the irrelevant maps (such as the maps of New Zealand and Venezuela, since I was in Europe), navigation resumed at a brisk pace. Note that the huge mapset is not the problem (I am still using it); rather, how many maps in that mapset are active. See Overlapping Maps above for how to hide certain maps in a mapset.

Navigation: the unit tells me to drive on a trail!

When this happened to me, I thought the problem was that navigation was set up for Pedestrians, not Cars & Motorcycles (under Main Menu / Setup / Routing / Follow Road Options / Calculate Routes For). This was not the case. It took me a while to understand that I had two maps enabled in my mapset: City Navigator and Topo. When I hid the topo map, everything returned to normal. See Overlapping Maps above for how to hide certain maps in a mapset.

Which map datum?

When you use the 60CSX with a topo map, you need the GPS data to stick to the map; that means telling the unit what datum to use. I am looking for a site that lists what datum to use for the standard maps of various countries (please email if you know of a good one). In the meantime, I'll list the few I know. Australia: depending on the map, you'll need AGD66, AGD84, GDA94 and WGS84. USA: NAD83 or NAD 27 CONUS for USGS 7.5 topo maps. France: WGS84 for recent IGN maps. In these three cases, display the position as UTM/UPS coordinates.

If you ever need to convert between degrees and UTM, try this tool (there is a link to a java version for models other than WSG84).

Summary of Waypoint Functions

Pressing Mark creates a waypoint at your current location. Pressing Enter (from the Maps page) creates a waypoint at the position of the cursor. If you have the coordinates of a new waypoint you'd like to create, press Mark and edit the coordinates. Pressing and holding Find creates a "Man Over Board" navigation to the position that you just left (if you are moving) as you were pressing Find. (Some people use this feature to measure distance.)

New 60CSX: What tweaks?

Apart from setting up the map datum, killing the "beeps" and setting the unit's north to Magnetic, I've made a few tweaks that improve my experience with the unit.

Truly Uncluttering the Display. On some City Navigator maps, the GPS shows you so many pizza parlors and fire hydrants that you can't see the streets. The 60CSX has a "declutter" option (under Menu on the maps page), but it also removes the names of streets. Can you have the street names without all the clutter? Absolutely. On the Maps page, click Menu. Select "Setup map". Press the left arrow on the rocker until the icon that looks like a flag is selected (this page is called "Max Zoom"). Navigate down to the first option ("Map Points"). Set it to something like 50 meters, leaving everything else on "Auto". See if that works for you.

Removing pages to improve the interface. Doesn't it take forever cycling through all the unit's pages before you can get back to the map? Under Menu / Setup, you can remove Pages. I removed the Menu page because I access it by hitting the Menu button twice from any page. I removed the tri computer because I never use it, and the Altmeter because the Compass page shows me the altitude anyway. This leaves me with the Satellites page (for reception), the Compass and the Map.

Making Your Own Maps

I have never made a custom map. Whaow! The mere idea gives me vertigo. A huge "Thank You" to all the people who undertake the project of making free maps for the rest of us. You are heroes.

I have watched a good video tutorial about how to make a Mapsource map from Google Earth ( part 1, part 2, forum post).

These tutorials look helpful: How to create Garmin topo maps (from GPSfileDepot).
How to make your own maps (scroll down to the middle of the page for the tutorial).

If you know other good tutorials, please paste them in a comment at the bottom of this page.

Scanning a Map and Uploading to 60CSX

I haven't tried this yet. This article looks promising.

Geocaching

For geocaching, you will need to register on geocaching.com to download cache locations ("loc" or "gpx" files), then you will need a free software such as GSAK (the "Geocaching Swiss Army Knife") if you want to upload many geocaches to your GPS. The learning curve on GSAK is a bit steep. You can also upload caches one by one straight from the geocaching website.

How to Navigate with Map, Compass and GPS

I've made a separate map & compass tutorial page for this as it's a little beyond the scope of "just" the 60CSX. Among others, there's a great tip there about how to use your GPS to find out exactly what you're looking at.

Happy trails to you!
Smiles,

Andy

p.s.: If you have found this article useful, please share, bookmark or comment.

Links

I add the GPS resources I like as I become aware of them.

Best Free GPS Maps

Routable map of New Zealand. Judging from the coverage of Takaka, way better than Mapsource City Navigator v3. In Mapsource, you will be able to combine this free map with Australia City Navigator (a commercial map) to make one big mapset of the region.

Free map of Argentina. High quality. You will need to register on the map maker's site. Follow the directions in English.

Map lists. I like this site because the information is well organized. Lambertus is pretty amazing. It uses OpenStreetMap data to build custom maps based on tiles that you select and emails you a download link. Other maps based on OpenStreetMaps are here. For the US, I like GPS file Depot and its free 24K topo maps. The MapCenter map directory on CGSmapper is well-known but I find it harder to navigate. Not free, but probably good quality, a list of third-party map makers for Mapsource on the Garmin site.

Sites that list map sites. Free Geography Tooks has links to a few maps as well as links to other map sites. GPS TrackLog has another list of maps sites, so between all these you should have the free map universe covered.

Various Tips from Other Sources

When you download a free IMG file, how do you view it in Mapsource? This tutorial explains how to do it using MapsetToolkit and CGPSmapper.

How to install a copy of Mapsource when you need it and you're traveling away from your computer? According to this article, you can download the free update from Garmin and do a full install if you click the msi file instead of setup.exe.

When you go home and want to check out the names of what you saw in the field, you can enter coordidantes into Hey What's That to see a panorama. There's also a great tip on using the GPS to identify landscape features on my navigation page.

Best GPS Forums

Groundspeak. Great GPS forum with a focus on geocaching. You'll need to register on geocaching.com and wait a day before you can post to Groundspeak. How to change your signature in the Groundspeak forum? Ahh... You'll have to jump through a few hoops, or just use these two links. First, edit your signature on Geocaching.com. Second, click this link to "Register" your changes to the Groundspeak forum.

Yahoo Group for 60CSX. Three thousand members on this group just for the 60CSX! You'll need a Yahoo account. The group for the 76C units is also excellent for 60CSX owners as several tech wizards participate and the 76C and 60C units share many features. This group also has a brilliant list of links and resources.

GpsFileDepot has a map-making focused forum. MalSingMaps has a focus on Singapore and Malaysia focus, with some very well organized information.

GPS Discussion and GPS Information. Other fine forums.

Best GPS Tools

Apart from the tools mentioned above, this section will link to sites that link tools that seem useful.
Tools on GPSFileDepot. Focus on map-making.

Top GPS Reviews

60CSX reviews. A review, and links to other reviews. This site made me pick the 60CSX.

If you're not sure whether to get a 60Csx or a Colorado, this is a good page to read.

If you'd like to leave a comment or let us know that you've been here and say hello (or whatever you like), you can do so below! (If you have a question, please ask on the forum rather than in the guestbook below, where questions won't be answered.)