TomS wrote:
Anything you buy from Garmin will ONLY read Garmin charts/maps.

I think that this is not the fact... there is a program that lets you
do your own Gamin maps. The program is GPSMapEdit
http://www.geopainting.com/en/
See description at http://plrecgps.pp.org.pl/bin/view/GPS/UserMaps

I have no tested this with a Garmin GPS, but I have used it to convert
Garmin maps to Ozi format, then used another program to convert the
the Ozi files (.bmp and .map) to be used with my Nokia 3230 cell
phone and a bluetooth GPS.
Works fine, the procedure is quite simple and does not require the
time consuming
setting of the chart calibration points manually.

But doing charts from a scanned image for use with a Garmin GPS will
require some more work...

Regards, TomS

He has no Garmin Mapsource maps/charts, that's the whole point of his post.
He has some (unspecified format) digital charts which he wants to use with a
Garmin 172C.

GPSMapedit will not convert scanned raster charts to Garmin img files. It
allows you to change existing img files, i.e. edit them, or, if you fancy a
lifetime's work, I guess you could start off with a blank canvas and compile
your navigation charts in vetor format.

Having used GPSMapedit to add new roads to existing img files, I can tell
you that somewhere in the conversion to/from Polish format, the zoom
facility gets corrupted/lost and you finish up with a map which shows the
new road, as long as you don't zoom in or out on it, which is the whole
point of the excercise.

I am not suggesting that GPSMapedit is a substandard program, the author(s)
are to be commended for a brave try to crack Garmin's img files, but to
suggest that I could scan some detailed raster charts, convert them to
vector, and create img files capable of being used in e.g. a new 60CS, I am
sorry, you must have a different version of MapEdit to mine!

The Mapsource Bluechart files are freely, if illegally, available on many
file-sharing programs, and will run on a laptop, if that is what you want,
but you cannot load them to a Garmin plotter or handheld Garmin without the
unlock codes for that specific device, i.e. the one in your possession, with
it's device number, supplied by Garmin, and tied to it's serial number.

If you have a conversion program to convert bitmaps to vectors and use them
on a GPS or Cellphone, you are indeed fortunate, and we will await your next
post, giving full details, with anticipation.

Dennis.