Using Garmin world wide

[kevb]

Hello and apologies if this is a basic question but can anyone offer a definitive answer on using my Garmin Streetpilot 111 GPS world wide? I have the Europe version and it suits my needs very well but we visit the US quite often and are planning a trip next year. I got hold of a memory card loaded with Utah & Arizona maps and the GPS unit seems to work here using the indoor function but I wont know for sure until we get over. I seem to recall reading somewhere on the garmin site that units were only suitable for the continent they were sold in but wonder if that is the case and if it is possible to unlock.
Thanks
kevin

 

[cruiser guy]

GPS is world wide. The "restriction" is probably only that you wouldn't have maps pre-loaded.

 

[Schattenjager]

I would stick with the Garmin software. (There are some European offerings for Garmin units made by third parties.) If you do, you should be just fine.

 

[edgear]

Hello and apologies if this is a basic question but can anyone offer a definitive answer on using my Garmin Streetpilot 111 GPS world wide? I have the Europe version and it suits my needs very well but we visit the US quite often and are planning a trip next year. I got hold of a memory card loaded with Utah & Arizona maps and the GPS unit seems to work here using the indoor function but I wont know for sure until we get over. I seem to recall reading somewhere on the garmin site that units were only suitable for the continent they were sold in but wonder if that is the case and if it is possible to unlock.
Thanks
kevin

You should be fine travelling internationally since most new GPS units are defaulted to the international datum of WGS84 -- and since everyone around the world is using the same 24 satellites orbiting the Earth. And especially since you have preloaded maps of UT & AZ!
The only thing to watch out for is if you are cross referencing with older USGS quads, since some of them are based on NAD27.

 

[kevb]

Thanks for the replies guys, I was fairly confident that the gps would receive a signal but wasn't sure if the US mapping software would work on a european bought unit.

 

[DaktariEd]

I took my Garmin on a driving trip through Great Britain last year. Worked fine!
I should think the reverse would be true...

 

[kevb]

reassuring, thanks Ed

 

[craig]

If you plan to only use the maps that you download into the unit from Mapsource then you definately don't have anything to worry about.

If you want to use them with paper maps in far flung countries then you need to be careful. The official datum/projection used by small governments for their maps is not always available as an option on the GPS. As someone mentioned earlier, in the US, you shouldn't have any trouble getting the on-screen coordinates to match any paper maps you are using as long as you verify that the GPS is set to output coordinates in the projection of the paper map being used (Sometimes UTM/NAD27 on older maps).

Craig