This is the official support thread for the Arizona topo map.
In addition, support requests can be posted at the Geocaching.com forums if you don't have a username here.
Great stuff, but how do you go about creating these topo maps? I live in SC, so the idea is intriguing.
Thanks!
I use a program called Global Mapper to process the contours.
This is how I get the DEM data: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/NED_data.pdf
This is how I get the hydrological data: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/NHD_data.pdf
This page outlines another way to do it: http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm
Shortly I will be creating an article that has sheets with 100k quads for many states I'll repost when I have created south carolina.
I made an excel sheet with all the quads for south caroline. I'll be writing an article soon on how best to utilize it but here it is if you'd like to see it:
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tools/quads/south_carolina.xls
Hey guys,
This is great work - very excited to have full contours on my GPS for use in the field.
I plan on coughing up some dough to support this effort.
I have noticed one problem so far, in southern AZ. Take a look at these two screen shots.
http://topofusion.com/images/diary/lemmon_aztopo.png (http://topofusion.com/images/diary/lemmon_aztopo.png)
http://topofusion.com/images/diary/lemmon_topo2008.png (http://topofusion.com/images/diary/lemmon_topo2008.png)
The road in that shot is the Catalina Highway and it appears to be shifted north and slightly west compared to its actual location. Garmin's topo 2008 (second image) has it in the right location. The first screen grab also has a GPS track that shows the right location.
Is this a datum conversion error, or? Topo lines and point features seem to be right on, but roads, at least in Pima County, are off (I have found other maps in western Tucson that are off). Other roads (e.g. Northern AZ) seem to be ok.
Any insight would be great. Even with this small flaw I'll still use these basemaps for my exploratory rides, and will still donate some bucks to the cause.
Thanks and great work.
Scott Morris (of topofusion.com)
That is very interesting. If you can email me that track log (
[email protected]) I will compare it to the new roads data I am processing for the Arizona map.
GPX file sent.
Thanks.
I have your email. Sorry for the delay. This weekend I will look at the new roads and probably process them early next weeks.
Just found these a few weeks ago and finally was able to upload them to the compy tonight. This looks amazing. I can't wait to see how it performs in the field tomorrow. I live in Northern Arizona so we will see how it goes.
Great job and thank you for your hard work.
Looking for any data (gpx, shapefiles, dlg, etc) for Piestewa Peak, Phoenix (Squaw Peak) for a global mapper topo project I'm working on for Phoenix Mountain Preserve, any data for the preserve would be welcome. Thanks.
What type of data do you want? I can give you the topo data and water data for just that area if you give me an area (coordinates for the corners). If you had trails I would love to add them to this topo.
Any update on the road errors? I'm not impatient for the fix, but was wondering if you figured out the problem or not.
Thanks.
Yes, as I type this my computer is creating the new quads. Then cgpsmapper has to compile them all. Wednesday I would say. The first compilation had huge errors (huge chunks of roads missing) so it took me a bit to fix that. As long as these line up with the tracklog it'll be out soon.
Obviously I got behind. Some part of the map kept crashing. But as of right now just over 50% has been converted to .img files so it should be uploaded Monday as long as the roads appear to be in the correct position.
The map has been updated. Lots of pretty major updates.
Version 1.1 (16 Jun 08)
* Updated to 2007 National Tiger Road Data
* Updated to 2007 National Tiger Railroad Data
* Added major powerlines
* Included airport runways (2007 Tiger Data)
* Included Native American Reservations
* Updated Grand Canyon Trails (removed duplicates)
* Fixed trails marked as roads
* Fixed road locations in Pima County
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/1/
Nice work. Just downloaded the latest update and can confirm that the roads in Pima look correct now. I'll upload them to my GPS post haste and give them a try in the field immediately.
Thanks for all the work on this.
Glad to know it works since I'm not in Arizona right now.
Pima county roads still look a little off. Just wanted to show you some data I collected, looks like the river path in the data I am sending is 100 percent correct, but the surface streets are still a bit off to one side. It looks good in Garmin TOPO.
BTW, I love these maps! Thanks so much for all your hard work. I am definitely donating some bucks! Just want to help get them correct! Am also sending you Green Mountain Trail (off Mt Lemmon/Santa Catalinas). Compressed with RAR.
Thanks for all the great stuff!!! ;D ;D :D ;D :)
I have three items:
1) SMorris identified a shifting of the data in the Southern half of the ArizonaTopo. I too observe the same issue; If you select Broadway in Tucson it is approximately 73 feet due south of the location that Garmin Navigator 2009 and my GPS reports it. I was wondering if there has been any headway in correcting this.
2) I have GPS tracks and routes data for all the trails in the mountain ranges around Tucson. I would be happy to share them with GPSDepot or SMorris. I have already created a Mapsource enabled package of imgs, but I would love to learn how to create a redistributable install or have you add them into ArizonaTopo. I started the project of mapping the trails about 7 years ago so I am in the process of using more accurate tools to improve them. Some I admit are 10-50 feet off, but the trailset is very comprehensive. Let me know if you are interested.
3) I also have created some interesting other packages - Using government redistributed shape files, I have created maps that display all the geological zones of Arizona (non transparent, descriptive marker), Coronado National Forest Fires historical fires (non transparent, descriptive marker with name, year), geological faults (transparent, unmarked) of Arizona, and mines (transparent, descriptive marker of name, type) of Arizona. I use all of them on my 60Cx along with your ArizonaTopo. I am considering adding climatic information into a dataset. Let me know if you are interested.
1. I haven't had time to look into the 73 ft issue in Tucson. I'm wondering if its the same everywhere because when I remade the transportation data I didn't just replace the Tucson area I remade the entire state so it all should be on the same datum. I could shift everything 73ft but there has to be an error. Global Mapper normally handles projections on its own so maybe one wasn't there and I picked the wrong default.
2. I would absolutely love them. Trails are the most important thing on a topo and this one is lacking. I now know how to get all the Forest Service points (ranger stations, trailheads, etc) so I have those all set to be added for Arizona now too (they're in Mississippi). I saw your email so I'll reply there as well.
3. The last set is somewhat interesting. I wouldn't want to add it to the topo (except maybe the mines) to avoid information overload but I would want to help you distribute it to other interested people.
To create the self extracting installs the tutorial is right here and all the software is completely free: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-create-garmin-topo-maps---part-9---compiling-data/
Thanks for all the info. I appreciate you looking into the Arizona Topo.
I am going on vacation for a week, but when I get back I will post a file on my website (http://members.cox.net/klaporte/dp_map.html) with better trail data for Sabino Canyon, Saguaro National Park and Redington Pass. I will also be posting my other Mapsource maps. Thanks again.
New update released; fixes bugs introduced in version 2.0 and brings searching (use the find feature) to the map.