Route Transfer to/from Garmin/PC with SD Card

[Ron_Fran]

I just purchased a Garmin 4208 chartplotter. It has an SD card slot so I thought I would be able to transfer routes from my PC made with MapTech Offshort Navigator Lite by writing them to the SD card and reading them in on the Garmin. I have not figured out how to do it. Do I need to purchase some new software? If so, what is the best option? Does anybody else here do that?

Thanks, Ron

[knottybuoyz]

There's nothing about that on the Garmin 4208 FAQ's

Search Support

I've got a smaller unit (540S) and as far as I can tell there's no way to do it that I've found yet. I seem to remember (manual is on the boat) that there might be a way to export your tracks, routes and waypoints. If so then there should also be a way to import them. Look on the "Information" menu for options.

4208 Manuals

[JiffyLube]

I had the same problem, but I figured out a work around until I got a better setup.

I used Maptech Chart Navigator Pro on a laptop to preplan route and waypoint information with, then upload to a Garmin GPS76Cx. I then transfer that information from the GPS76Cx, to Garmin's MapSource program on the laptop. From MapSource I can transfer that information to a data card via a Garmin data card programmer, to be used in my Garmin 3210 plotter.

I now have a special powered adapter designed to be used between a serial port on the laptop, and the 3210 plotter, that allows me to transfer route and waypoint information directly from the laptop to the plotter.

[JiffyLube]

I sent an email to Maptech about this situation, and this is their reply.

"The way the program communicates with a GPS directly is different from the way it would with a card reader, where files have to be written in a particular format. At the moment our programs are not able to store data onto Garmin cards, so a direct connection is the only option.

If you have any more questions let us know.

Jeff
Technical Support"

[Ron_Fran]

I looked at the Garmin website and I don't see any way to connect the 4208 to a PC. I have submitted this question to Garmin support and will let you know if I hear anything back.

Thanks, Ron

[JiffyLube]

Ron, I think you can connect your PC to the 4208, the same way I connect my 3210.

It's a 18 or 19 pin (I forget what it is) plug on one end, (whether it's a male or female depends on the NMEA 0183 plug on the back of your plotter.), and the other end goes to the PC.

In my situation my Power/Data (NMEA 0183) cable in all in one, so I have to use a powered adapter cable to make the connection. In your case they separated the cable, with one cable for power and one cable for data...you will probably use a non powered adapter.

On the PC end of my cable it has a serial connection, because I have a dedicated serial port on my PC (I ordered my PC just for this situation). Unless you have a serial port on your PC, you may have to use a USB to serial adapter on your PC. You might be able to to use just USB, but I think not.

I did a search for the Garmin adapter I was looking for online, and found several sites that I could order it from. Garmin does not sell these adapters from their site, so you have to order them from 3rd party sites.

[Ron_Fran]

Originally Posted by Ron_Fran

I just purchased a Garmin 4208 chartplotter. It has an SD card slot so I thought I would be able to transfer routes from my PC made with MapTech Offshort Navigator Lite by writing them to the SD card and reading them in on the Garmin. I have not figured out how to do it. Do I need to purchase some new software? If so, what is the best option? Does anybody else here do that?

Thanks, Ron

A while back I emailed this question to Garmin and got a response saying that I needed to purchase Garmin's MapSource software. I was little hesitant, since Garmin's website does not list 4208 as one of the units supported, but I purchased the SW and I am now able to transfer routes, tracks and waypoints between my 4208 and PC using an SD card. I do have to have another program, POI Converter, to convert the routes to a format that can be used by my MapTech Offshore Navigator Lite.

Regards, Ron