Cheap OS topo maps on a Garmin with no microSD card slot?

[JackT]

A bit of a niche question, but as has been discussed on here, there are OS topo maps available on eBay for about £40. They come on a microSD card. Some have questioned whether they are legit or not, I guess we just don't know for sure.

My question is more practical - is it possible to load this product onto a modern Garmin unit that lacks a microSD card slot? E.g. edge 530, 830 and 1030plus? If it is, how do you do it? If it's not possible, what is the most functional Garmin unit that does have a microSD slot? Is that the 1030 (non-plus)?

[PaulB2]

If you’ve got a SD card reader you can just connect your garmin to a pc and then just copy the .img file from the SD card to the Garmin folder on the garmin device

[mskinner]

Not sure if this will work, but it’s how I got free maps on my edge 810. Might be worth a look

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/08/how ... -edge.html

See how you get on

[Lazarus]

Some have questioned whether they are legit or not, I guess we just don't know for sure.

I am pretty sure we all know the answer to that one
You can put OS on a 530 ,but never bothered, and not sure if you can put that version on one { mine is equally questionable and 15 years old.
IME the Garmin screen is so small its better to not be cluttered by OS and its better to have OS on a phone than a tiny 2" x 2 " screen.
YMMV

[Dyffers]

Yes, I've got those maps and successfully put the file onto the Garmin internal storage and have OS mapping on my 530.

My eyes are obviously in good condition because despite the small screen I find OS maps on the 530 to be a big improvement over the standard Garmin maps or open source maps.

[Dave Barter]

I have OS maps on my 530. Unlike dyffers I prefer vector formats but they are useful when detail is missing.

[JackT]

Many thanks for the replies - really helpful!

[Dean]

Some have questioned whether they are legit or not, I guess we just don't know for sure.

I know a group were buying Garmin GPSMAP devices secondhand in the UK to take to Bulgaria/Romania and resell (as Garmins were considerably more expensive in Lev/Leu than in Sterling), so would recoup some money flogging the unneeded map cards. Most would be illegitimate copies I expect.

Combined 1:50k and 1:25k for England, Wales and Scotland is 14gb. I don't remember how big the files are just for 1:50k (probably 3 or 4gb?).

[JackT]

Some have questioned whether they are legit or not, I guess we just don't know for sure.

I am pretty sure we all know the answer to that one

I know it's more a moral defence than a legal one, but I already have two paid-for OS maps subscriptions: one a grandfathered Viewranger purchase via Outdoorsactive and another via my monthly sub to cycle.travel. I am loath to pay for a third at £350 or whatever it is that Garmin charges for its OS product.

[fatbikephil]

I think the issue is that you can't by OS maps for Garmins 'officially' anymore as they don't have SD card slots.
I can get two blocks of mapping on my 530 at once but not the whole of the UK.

[Lazarus]

I know it's more a moral defence than a legal one,

MIne was £20 and copyable .
There is no way Garmin lost a customer, if its not legit, as I would never have paid what they wanted for OS mapping

[stevenmcco]

It’s a different question but has anyone managed to get the OS map file off one of these SD cards to be viewable on any app (either Apple or android) on a mobile phone.

I am aware of the OS app but I was hoping to find an app which would allow me to view the OS files off the SD card whilst offline.

[johnnystorm]

It’s a different question but has anyone managed to get the OS map file off one of these SD cards to be viewable on any app (either Apple or android) on a mobile phone.

I am aware of the OS app but I was hoping to find an app which would allow me to view the OS files off the SD card whilst offline.

A one off subscription to Back Country Navigator on Android would be cheaper and allow you to store offline OS mapping (and others if you're going abroad) at various scales in hi-res vectors.

[JackT]

At the risk of revealing my ignorance, aren't OS Landranger (1:50k) and Explorer (1:25k) products *only* available as raster/image format, not vector. The OS makes vector products at those scales, but the cartography is quite different.

[johnnystorm]

At the risk of revealing my ignorance, aren't OS Landranger (1:50k) and Explorer (1:25k) products *only* available as raster/image format, not vector. The OS makes vector products at those scales, but the cartography is quite different.

No, I think you're right. I should probably have said that the maps on BCN hold up better to zooming in on than the ones on a Garmin card. Having said that, I'm only basing that on the classic iOffer sd cards of yore.