I just scored a GPSmap 276c series Garmin. I didnt' realize the memory limitation on these things. It came with a 512mB proprietary memory card which is nothing in terms of storage, and zero onboard memory. What I have currently is a Garmin eTrex 20 with 2GB onboard plus a 16GB external SD card. On this card are 24K North America Topo and City Nav NA. Both maps are several GB in size. The basemap is on the onboard memory but its only 50megs or so. I'd like to get city and topo on the 276c but good grief, what do you do with only 512mB of data anymore? Does anyone here still run the 276 and how do you manage your maps?
I have the 376C, same memory issues. I have acquired a few memory cards over the years and can cover pretty much everything I need with a pair of 512 cards. There is a source on the forum for 2 gig cards (you need a donor Garmin memory card shell), but I'm not sure they'll work on the 276.
so I guess my issue comes down to keeping my area of interest(s) from the topo and city maps down to 512MB... Can I do this in MapSource? I never really used MapSource because I found that it sucks, but I may have to for this application. and whats up with the card not being recognized by Windows Explorer? Is this normal? I want to see what files are on this memory stick but dont have access to its details. When I pull the stick out of the unit and put it back in, the name of the map pops up on the screen of the garmin but I cant tell how big it is or what file format it is or if its city,topo, or what.
The 2gb card mentioned does work in the 276c. Topo is pretty busy to see on the screen when riding, better off to not use it. The 276c has a map segment limit of 900. When you select maps in Mapsource, at the bottom of the map tab screen it tells you how many map segments you have selected and what the size in for all map segments selected. You can also name the map set you are building to give it a descriptive name. There is a way to combine map segments in both the old Topo v3 and Road & Rec, the new map products tend to have bigger map segment sizes. The old product have very small segment sizes to better fit in the older GPS units with very small memory. I can put the whole US of Road & Rec in one 512 meg card with enough space left to load most of Canadian Enhanced basemap.
Lots of info still on the Garmin site https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-water/discontinued/gpsmap-276c/prod233.html
Hey, so I'm still having issues updating City Nav on this unit. I have a City Nav .img file for my Garmin eTrex device which in the past I've just dragged and dropped onto the SD card and the unit recognizes it. This GPSmap unit is much different in that it does not mount itself as a drive when you plug it in. The other thing is I cant get MapSource to see the .img file. Is there a default directory that MapSource uses that I need this .img file to go? How do I (or can I even) update the City Nav map on this device using an existing file? Please help, the current map on this unit is so dated that its practically useless.
City Nav is tied to a specific unit(your Etrex),so cannot be used with the 276. You need to buy a separate copy of City Nav to use with the 276. Also,make sure you have latest firmware update installed in your 276. JR356
Got my 276C in 2008 & it's starting to fail on occasion. I got it for a steal when I was scanning a shops www and they had discounted it by more than 50%. The 128mb card that I used with a 176C sucks. If you can find a larger card you are going to pay lots. My mapping is outdated as well so that would be another cost. Thinking of upgrading to the Garmin 650LM.
I had an old 276C and wanted to send it to Garmin a year or two ago for repair. They asked me to send it back without the battery and antenna. A while later, they called and said it would cost $175/hr to fix it, but they had units on the shelf for the same price. New. I went for it and now have a new 276C, never used, a new battery and a new antenna. They switched the chassis number over for my license. Score for me ... I don't use it, as I have a 60 csx I like better, it's just more rugged.
