Please help me get rid of banner at top of map page-Etrex and GPSMap Handhelds

[VicKayaker]

New member here and I hope you can help me with something that's been driving me crazy for years with my Garmin handhelds.
On the Map screen, if I move the cursor to pan the map to a different area, I get a space-wasting and useless banner at the top of the screen.
Sometimes it just says 'Area', sometimes gives a name to a feature on the map.

Can I prevent this unwanted banner from appearing?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

I don't think it is possible to stop this happening, as you say, if you are viewing the map 'where you are' you don't get this info. bar, but if you pan away ftom your current position you always get it, usually displaying the distance between the on screen pointer and you current location plus direction, I do have a GPS that can change this display, on the GPSMap60 from the map screen you can select Menu >> Data Fields where you get the options of Map Only or 1/2 Wide Data Fields or 1/2/3 smaller data fields, however this only adds extra display info., so either you have Map Only (with the info. bar you want to remove ), or the info. bar plus extra data fields, so 'Map Only' is not what you get

 

[VicKayaker]

Thanks for that info, and the very quick reply to my question..

It's not as though there's a lot of 'extra space' on the display as it is.

And, none of the manuals or websites seem to explain clearly the 'advantages' of this feature.

I seem to often react with : "What were they thinking???" when dealing with everyday objects and technology 'improvements' .

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

Yes, everything seems to be centred around 'where you are', (older units don't pan at all), I guess they think that you would only be looking at an area you are not currently in for a breif moment, so they reference it to where you are, it is anoying though

 

[LostAgain]

And, none of the manuals or websites seem to explain clearly the 'advantages' of this feature.

One advantage is for viewing distances to various locations on a map without having a waypoint or POI at that particular spot, scroll on the map to the desired place & you get a distance and direction from current location.
It's also handy for projecting to place a waypoint to return to at a later date or time.
I've seen things I've not had the time to check out straight away while travelling past, old buildings or whatever some distance off the current heading, scroll to the estimated location, place a waypoint, navigate back to that point from any direction later on etc. etc..

 

[VicKayaker]

Thanks, LostAgain.

I just can't understand why the 'brains' at Garmin didn't make this feature optional. When I pan the cursor I want to see the map, not a black banner proclaiming 'Area - 7 m' !

Panning the cursor to a location on a map and marking a waypoint isn't very easy either.
I generally use a GPSMap78 or 64 - they have a 'Mark' button (unlike the eTrex whose only advantage is compact size) but it only marks my current location as a waypoint. The method for panning to a location and marking a waypoint isn't intuitive.

Apparenly it is rare for any technology company to test ideas and 'features' with ordinary humans.

 

[LostAgain]

The Montana 600 and 700 series let you scroll the map without that info box appearing.
Perhaps anything not touch screen where scrolling is done with buttons or a controller that info box appears?

On other devices that would only mark current location I used to scroll to the desired location making a note of the coordinates, create a waypoint then edit the created waypoint's coordinates to match where I wanted it.
That worked ok.

 

[VicKayaker]

To set a waypoint on the GPSMap 78/64 I slew the cursor to the location where I want to set a waypoint, and press Enter. Then (ignoring what's on the screen at that point) press Menu. 'Save as Waypoint' appears, select it and press Enter.

Since the eTrex uses the 'joystick' button press as 'Enter', just follow the same sequence (Slew to location, Enter, Menu, etc.) to set a waypoint at a map location.

Why this isn't in the manuals (as far as I can see) is a mystery to me.

As far as the banner at the top of the screen, I guess I'll just have to keep 'living with it'.