~ Captain Paul's response to: ~ Pirogue D. ~

Lucky you! The Garmin Oregon 450 is a fantastic GPS unit. Santa treated you very well. You must have been a very good boy this year.

Before you decide on a mapping program, you should download Garmin’s data transfer program that is called BASECAMP. It is available as a FREE download from the Garmin web site at http://www.garmin.com/en-US/shop/downloads/basecamp This program allows you to transfer images and more importantly Data, waypoints, tracks and routes to and from you computer and your GPS unit. This program gives you the ability to get the most out of your Oregon GPS unit.

There are several different Garmin mapping programs for your unit. You can check them all out on the GARMIN web site at
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=145&pID=63349

On this site you will note the available mapping programs for your unit.

These Garmin programs include the TOPO U.S. 24k for the southeastern US, which includes topo quad scale (1:24000) type maps for Louisiana, MS, AL, GA, SC, NC, TN, KY, WV, VA and FL. This is the map that I would recommend for your primary map for the Oregon 450 GPS unit. It will give you detailed topo map like images of the features you navigate.

The unit can also accommodate the Garmin g2 Marine software for marine navigation. Although you may be in a boat, I recommend the TOPO version as it covers the basin in much greater detail than the NOAA marine chart g2 mapping charts do. The TOPO mapping depicts all of the small cuts, bayous, canals and lagoons in the area.

In addition to the TOPO version, I suggest that you also purchase the Garmin BirdsEye Satellite Imagery for the unit. This when coupled with the TOPO program offers you the best of all mapping for your unit.

The BirdsEye Satellite Imagery is sold by yearly subscription which allows you to download whatever aerial views you may need for your needs. It is about $30.00 for a year’s worth of downloads.
It is shown on their web site at https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=70144

Use your BirdsEye Satellite Imagery subscription with BaseCamp™ software to quickly transfer an unlimited amount of satellite images to your Garmin device and seamlessly integrate those images into your handheld’s maps whenever you need them.

Unlike your smart phone that is constantly downloading aerial and map images as you move between cell towers, the GPS unit must store all of the map images within the unit. This is usually done by means of a memory card or with some units in the internal memory of the unit. A standard memory card can hold most of the TOPO maps you may need for a day’s trip, but it is possible that you could “RUN off the MAP” with aerial photo maps. These types of maps require a tremendous amount of memory. They are designed for a hiker, hunter or boater who does not travel 40 or 60 miles on one trip.

The aerial photos are usually stored in a memory card that is inserted into the unit. The BirdsEye mapping is similar to “Google” type aerial images, but offer a corrected, ortho, view of the topography of the selected area. But because of the memory size of the aerial images only a limited area can be stored on a memory card at one time. Of course you can load several areas on different cards and have a wide area of photo map coverage.

Adding more maps to the Oregon unit is easy. You can load TOPO U.S. 24K maps, plug in BlueChart® g2 preloaded cards for a great day on the water or load City Navigator map data for turn-by-turn routing on roads, add satellite images to your maps with BirdsEye Satellite Imagery.

The bottom line is that you would best be served by having the TOPO 24000k AND the BirdsEye program for your unit.

Check them out and then visit a stocking Garmin dealer to view the actual images in one of their GPS units.
Captain Paul