Zumo User Forums

Hi there
I have just purchased a Zumo 590. It is a Chinese market version (I live in Beijing) and as far as the seller has told me, it has China, Russia and parts of Europe maps on it. I'll know for sure when it arrives. I will be using it to ride around China, my Pamir Highway trip June/July 2024 and my possible ride back to the UK the summer of 2025.
I am busy devouring as much information as I can from this forum. First thing I think I need to do is download Basecamp and Express. One is for updating the unit and one is for mapping, have I got that right?

Then I need to add maps for Krygzstan and Tajikistan. Would I be right in assuming OSM would be best?
Are there any obvious things I'm missing, any tutorials on here or youtube that I should be following.

Yes, I am using the search function on this forum and reading as much as I can but maybe there is that simple trick or must do item I missed.
Thanking you all in advance.
Cheers
Brendan

Congratulations on your new-to-you Zumo 590. This, in my opinion, is the most reliable of the Zumos that have been produced in recent years. It has its flaws - the screen is a tad dim, but it is perfectly ok in most situations, and the battery doesn't seem to hold its charge for very long. It is possible to convert it to a 595, but really, I wouldn't bother - it introduces some issues that still exist on the XT. I just replaced my broken 590 with a second hand 595, and I have put the 590 software on it.

The link below contains a pdf of a document that I wrote once I had stopped banging my head against a brick wall trying to work out how to program it for best results. Chapter 4 is a bit heavy going, and you don't really need to know it.


Download the pdf in the first post.


viewtopic.php?t=521

If you want data from your phone to be displayed on the screen - eg traffic - then there is a utility called Smartlink which is a free utility from Garmin that sits on your phone. You can also get weather information - but that requires a one of subscription of £3.99, paid through the smartlink app.

Whatever anyone else says, Basecamp is still (in my opinion) the tool to use for planning routes.

Osm maps are pretty good, but the last time I used them, they did not have speed limit data for the roads. This makes the timing of your routes very inaccurate. It is OK to have both the standard maps And the OSM maps on the zumo at the same time, but make sure that when OSM maps are selected, the other standard road map are unselected in 'mymaps'. Weird things happen if they are both selected.

Thank you for your reply. I will read your manual and watch your videos. It's many months before my planned journey so plenty of time to learn the quirks of my new toy.
Cheers

@jfheath

My Zumo 590 arrived last night and looks new, battery doesn't hold a charge and I was told this when I bought it. Have ordered a new battery.
The unit was all in Chinese and I have changed it to English. It is a Chinese market 590, no lifetime maps. The maps installed on it are China and Western Europe. I used your tutorials to make a route west of Beijing, in the mountains. Saved it on the memory card and then spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get the Zumo to see and use the route. I most definitely have things to learn before I go off on a big adventure.

Anyways, a big thanks for your guides and videos and sorry to say but do expect some dumb questions from me in the future.

litesport wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 12:20 am @jfheath

My Zumo 590 arrived last night and looks new, battery doesn't hold a charge and I was told this when I bought it. Have ordered a new battery.
The unit was all in Chinese and I have changed it to English. It is a Chinese market 590, no lifetime maps. The maps installed on it are China and Western Europe. I used your tutorials to make a route west of Beijing, in the mountains. Saved it on the memory card and then spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get the Zumo to see and use the route. I most definitely have things to learn before I go off on a big adventure.

Anyways, a big thanks for your guides and videos and sorry to say but do expect some dumb questions from me in the future.

See this thread -> viewtopic.php?t=2, chances are it's not the battery.

Thank you @rbentnail
Tried that but not much luck. There is a sticker on the battery pointing out it was assembled in 2016. So might be done for.

Still going through my steep learning curve and reading all I can on here but I have a problem.

Now should I continue here or should I delete this post and start a new thread???

here goes

I have downloaded the maps for Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan from https://www.userbeam.de/ and have added them to my SD card.
Then using JaVaWa device manager, I have moved them to the main memory of my device. When my Zumo is connected to Basecamp, I can see the maps present on the left hand side, I can also choose a map from the menu at the top and I can zoom in and make a route with it.
But...
When I try to choose these maps on my Zumo I get a list of maps with the checkboxes except the names for the Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are blank although there is a check box. Just no name after the check box.
And when I try to view the maps on my device, they don't show up.
I have tried to rename the maps using JaVaWa - but no luck.
I have read this thread but equally no luck; viewtopic.php?t=2441&hilit=routable+maps&start=10

Any ideas?

If the maps don't overlap, you can check both boxes. If routable maps do overlap, the route will probably appear properly on the screen, but you can expect to lose navigation instructions, both audible and at the top of the screen. Other "misbehaviors" are possible.

Continuing in this thread is OK !

When your maps were on the SD card, did the names of the maps show up correctly ?
And did the maps themselves display correctly ?

Firstly, thank you everyone for taking the time to help sort this out.
Hopefully some pictures will help me to explain the issue and make it a bit clearer for everyone.

Picture 1 Basecamp - Shows my device on the left and you can see what maps are installed and where. I am looking at China and am obviously I am zoomed out. Picture 2 Basecamp - Shows a zoomed in view of Dushanbe OSM. You can see that there is detail there so it is not the base map thing. Picture 3 Zumo - The maps on my Zumo have checkboxes but no names showing. Picture 4 Zumo - This is Tajikistan and there is no detail. If I zoom in there is very little detail. I am assuming this is basecamp. Yes, I have checked the boxes that have no names assuming these are maps for Tajikistan OSM and Kyrgyzstan OSM. But no matter what I check/uncheck, I never see detailed maps for those countries on my Zumo.

Thanks for the update and the pictures. I don't know - but I have a question.

How do you know what map Basecamp is showing on the screen?

There is a drop down menu available on the Basecamp menu bar, that you haven't turned on.
From that menu, you can select the map that is showing - including the ones that are on the Zumo

I don't know if it would provide any additional information, but it doesn't help not having that tool visible.

I can't remember how to show it. A right click on a blank part of the menu bar perhaps ? Im not at my PC at present to check.