Sunday, 9 January 2011

Experimenting with the Oregon 550 GPS

When we purchased the Garmin Oregon 550 in Sheffield back in 2009 it came without maps.  I’ve been playing around with it ever since.  The first thing I did was add an 8GB micro SD memory card.  This gave me plenty of room for storage and the ability to double the  maximum number of map sets the gps could hold from 2 to 4.  I also worked out how to add some personal details to the the start-up screen.

gps2

My name, location and mobile phone number

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The 3.2 megapixel lens for the camera is on the reverse of the unit

gps3

This is the first screen in topographic mode.  The other modes in the unit include marine and automotive.  I’ve yet to try the marine mode, however the automotive mode does work.  It has no speech function; so unlike our Garmin Nuvi there are no voice “turn by turn” instructions.  Instead the Oregon “beeps”

gps1

The next thing I should do is explain how I loaded the free topographical maps onto the unit.

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