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Messages - Boyd

#1
Maps must be properly installed on your computer before you open Basecamp. Almost all maps here include an installer program (.exe file). Run the installer and follow the instructions.

Now open Basecamp and you should see the map on the menu.
#2
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Overlander - free detailed maps
November 28, 2023, 02:48:28 PM
Cool!  8)

Actually, I was getting the Overlander confused with the Tread, which has a 10" screen and costs $1500 USD

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/732617/pn/010-02509-00

But now I see that the Overlander has a 7" screen for $700 USD, so now I understand how you were able to find a used device at an affordable price.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/685257

But tell us more about Android on the Overlander, does it have a regular web browser, such as Chrome?

I use iOS myself, but have a few Android devices for experimenting/testing. I install Termux which gives me a Linux subsystem on Android where I run a local webserver. I can then access maps stored on the SD card using a web app in Chrome with no internet connection.
#3
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Overlander - free detailed maps
November 26, 2023, 08:14:52 AM
My own map-making concentrates on the Northeastern United States, so I'm not sure what might work well for you, sorry. However oruxmaps might be an option, since it does not use Google Play and offers various downloadable maps.

Quote from: dessmo on November 26, 2023, 05:05:42 AMI have used my iPhone and iPad with different apps which works fine, but I was looking for a unit that don't need an internet connection and have all maps you need preloaded.     

You can install maps on iOS devices and use them without an internet connection. I used to make maps for iOS and Android devices but stopped a few years ago because the process was too complicated for most people and used Mobile Atlas Creator - a free open source program that was just too quirky and buggy for me. But you might take a look, it runs on Windows and Macs and allows you to download maps from a number of sources and format them for many different apps on both iOS and Android.

https://mobac.sourceforge.io

Anyway, if you would like to revisit using your iPad/iPhone, here are apps that I verified as working with Mobile Atlas Creator, the apps themselves probably offer maps that you can download and and use without the internet as well

Guru Maps
Map Plus
TwoNav
VectorialMap
OkMap
DiY MAP GPS

Mobile Atlas Creator should also be able to make maps for those other Android apps you have installed but are unable to purchase maps for.

There's also the HERE and TomTom apps for iOS devices. They have the option to download maps and use with no internet, but they're just for on-road navigation.

FWIW, the Guru Maps app for the iPhone also supports Apple CarPlay. Have been using it recently with my own maps installed on my phone - no internet connection needed and it lets me use my maps on the car's built-in screen.
#4
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Overlander - free detailed maps
November 25, 2023, 10:25:23 AM
Well, there are a lot of Android GPS apps, not sure if they would work on something as locked-down as a Garmin device however. And none of them really work with Garmin-format maps. Orux Maps attempts to open Garmin .img files, but the support was very poor when I tried it (long ago). It used some kind of open source library for displaying the files that basically converted them to raster-format maps on the fly. But you could check it out, there's an APK version

https://www.oruxmaps.com/cs/en/more/downloads

There are other map formats that work better with the app, see this

https://www.oruxmaps.com/cs/en/maps

Othewise, unfortunately, it sounds like you may have chosen the wrong GPS if you aren't happy with the maps that Garmin officially provides for it. I mean, if you want to use Android, you can get a pretty nice tablet for under $300 instead of Garmin's outrageous price! :) I got a 10" rugged Android tablet on Amazon from a Chinese company for around $200 to test a GPS app I'm working on myself, for example.

But just to confirm, have you tried copying the working .img files from your Astro to your computer, then copying them to the \Map folder on the Overlander? The "can't unlock maps" error message is bogus if you're using a free map of some kind, since they are not locked in the first place.


#5
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Overlander - free detailed maps
November 24, 2023, 03:36:31 AM
Happy to help, hope you're having a good holiday weekend as well! Let us know if this works for you, it might help someone else.
#6
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Overlander - free detailed maps
November 22, 2023, 04:06:56 AM
The Map folder needs to be in the root directory. IIRC, Garmin started doing this with the Nuvi 3xxx series sometime around 2009 and continued with the Drive series.I have several of these devices myself, the newest is a DriveTrack which I got around 5 years ago. It works fine with maps I've made myself.

This FAQ suggests that it can be done...

".IMG files must be located in a "Map" folder on the microSD card and/or the device for your device to display them."

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=wu1trGsT6C2hm8ZnKUmSu9

#7
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Overlander - free detailed maps
November 21, 2023, 01:08:53 PM
Sounds like Garmin has done something strange with the Overlander. Too bad - but they've been trying to discourage third party maps for awhile across their products. I stopped making Garmin-format maps myself, just got tired of their closed system.

Anyway, you may have already thought of this, but have you tried making a folder named Map and putting your .img file(s) in it? IIRC, some newer automotive devices still recognize maps in the Garmin folder, but others require you to use the Map folder.


#8
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Tread Overland XL Opinions
November 12, 2023, 09:18:12 AM
Was curious about this, did a quick search and found the following. They mention waypoints and tracks, but not maps.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=5EX3AoGRsW6SE82Rylklb9

"BaseCamp™ software can also be used to manage waypoints and tracks, but Basecamp does not support route creation for the Tread devices."

Then there's this

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=21G3VnXffc3fvlt4Ru9Yg7

So, apparently it's possible but - if I understand this - you would need a compiled .img file that works directly on the device itself. Those are (generally speaking) not available from GPSFileDepot. Most of the maps here must be installed on your computer and sent to the GPS with MapInstall. Also found this, but it does not suggest compatibility with MapInstall

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=nhXr5UAzup3p4OrM4vsJn7

If MapInstall doesn't work, you could try installing the third party map on an old GPS (like your Nuvi) and copy the .img file from the /Map folder on that device (or /Garmin folder for older devices).

#9
GPSr Units / Re: Garmin Tread Overland XL Opinions
November 11, 2023, 04:46:12 PM
They are interesting units but $1500 for a gps is way beyond my budget. I have spent so many thousands on Garmin devices over the years already, I think I'm done.

I believe these devices are completely different animals from the traditional Garmin GPS units we have discussed here in the past. I'm really not sure if you can use third party maps - my guess is that you can't (but just a guess). I don't think it is even compatible with Basecamp, I believe you have to use their online portal to manage the device. So I don't know how you would install a third party map.

Pretty sure you can import/export tracks and waypoints using that app, then send to the GPS. But I just haven't followed these newer units very closely. I don't think it will be anything like your "trusty old Nuvi", the Nuvi series was discontinued around 10 years ago so you will definitely have to learn new ways to do things.

If you get one, come back and post your "review"!
#10
It was moved to the national map long ago (this is an 8-year-old thread) :) . I've been consuming large amounts of 1-meter LIDAR DEM, just re-processed this map to fix some problems with my original version

https://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/topic,2579.msg27076.html#msg27076

But also downloading a substantial amount of additional 1-meter DEM to expand that map to cover all of New England. I'm using a 2tb SSD to process the files and have to constantly do housecleaning to keep any free space at all. Archiving all the original USGS source files to an 8tb hard disk that is almost full now, just got another disk yesterday.

If you know what you're looking for, it's much better to go directly to the source. The USGS has been moving all their files to Amazon S3. You can download directly there, it's very fast. Here are direct links to the geoTIFF downloads, they also have .img versions (arcgis .img, NOT garmin .img  ;) )

1 arc-second
https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=StagedProducts/Elevation/1/TIFF/

1/3 arc-second (these have been updated with LIDAR imagery)
https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=StagedProducts/Elevation/13/TIFF/current/

1/3 arc-second (legacy version)
https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=StagedProducts/Elevation/13/TIFF/historical/

1/9 arc-second LIDAR DEM (only available in .img format)
https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=StagedProducts/Elevation/19/IMG/

1-meter LIDAR DEM
https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=StagedProducts/Elevation/1m/Projects/

Moving things to Amazon is a big upgrade from USGS' slow old servers, although it's kind of sad they couldn't do it in-house. This is the root for all the USGS datasets on AWS, there is quite a lot, including historical topo maps, landcover, aerial imagery and more

https://prd-tnm.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=StagedProducts/

It all gets pretty confusing though, to the point that I wrote a database to ingest the USGS indexes so I can search and sort the files the way I want and keep track of what I've downloaded.



#11
General Discussion / Re: Minnesota topo
July 19, 2023, 02:37:45 PM
Sorry, I no longer use Garmin's software and did not install it on my new system. One possible problem might be if you have installed a different map that just happens to have the same id.

You could try using the free GMTK program, it can diagnose a variety of problems and even automatically fix some

https://www.javawa.nl/gmtk_en.html

Unfortunately, the author suffered a stroke a few years ago and although he recovered, he was unable to continue with his software development. So there might be some compatibility issues, but give it a try.
#12
General Discussion / Re: Minnesota topo
July 19, 2023, 07:04:12 AM
It's s little hard to help when you provide so little information. What map are you trying to install? There's this one:

https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/679/

That is a commercial product that you need to purchase from the onX website. You should contact the company directly if you need help.

Then there's this free map:

https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/153/

I don't understand your question about unzipping. The file you download will not be zipped. It's a .exe file, which is an installer. Double-click the file and a dialog will be shown to guide you through the installation process. You should just be able to accept the default answers for all the questions.

I was able to download and run the installer but quit before actually installing.

Now this all assumes you are using a Windows computer... but you didn't tell us what kind of computer you have.
#13
General Discussion / Re: Old maps from years past?
July 17, 2023, 03:20:46 PM
Old maps of what region? I offer a USGS Historical Topo Map with full coverage of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachussets, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia with partial coverage of Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan. It was made from the oldest maps that the USGS has in their archives. They started creating topo maps in 1879, the oldest one in this collection is from 1884. It's a composite made from 1,900 separate quadrangles stictched together into a seamless map. More than half of them are over 100 years old. Houses and buildings are shown in some areas but not others.

Use my web app here, it's free, works on any device, there are no ads and no registration.

https://boydsmaps.com/#14.00/42.359875/-71.057564/historic62k/0.00/0.00

I also have a USGS Legacy Topo which covers the same area and consists of the newer 24k topo maps. But these would also qualify as "old maps" because the USGS began winding them down in 1990 and completely phased them out by 2000. I used the newest versions available, but most are still pretty old. There are a total of about 7,500 individual quads in this map, and 4,500 of them are at least 50 years old. The 24k topo maps are pretty good at showing houses and other buildings.

https://boydsmaps.com/#15.00/42.359875/-71.057564/legacy24k/0.00/0.00

Now, I have a number of historical topo maps from the Southern New Jersey region where I live. This one is interesting, it dates back to around 1885. The little trees are not just decorative, they indicate which areas were forested and the type of trees (coniferous or deciduous).

https://boydsmaps.com/#14.00/39.400482/-75.035955/cook/0.00/0.00

I also have topo maps of the same Southern New Jersey region from 1870, 1889, 1890 and 1949. If you go to the link above, just click the map menu and you will see them listed. But these only cover a small area and have a more limited audience.

There are a lot of other map resources on my site, including historical aerial imagery for some areas. New York City has some very cool aerials from 1924, for example

https://boydsmaps.com/#17.00/40.730794/-73.997581/nyc1924/0.00/0.00

New Jersey has aerial imagery from the 1930's covering the whole state

https://boydsmaps.com/#16.00/40.720237/-74.228107/njgin1930/0.00/0.00

There are also aerials of the Jersey Shore from the 1920's

https://boydsmaps.com/#16.00/39.351034/-74.453718/njgin1920/0.00/0.00

If none of these cover the areas you're looking for, you can try the USGS Historical Topo Map Explorer. It will show what historical maps are available for any location in the US, but it's not a "seamless" map like the ones on my site, they are scanned copies of individual paper maps that you can download.

https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/topoexplorer/index.html
#14
Map Making Support / Re: Experiments with LIDAR
July 06, 2023, 12:25:50 PM
Quote from: Boyd on June 07, 2022, 11:45:24 AMBelieve it or not, ten years have passed, I'm still here and still doing "Experiments with LIDAR"!

Another year has passed... still doing "Experiments with LIDAR"  :)  You can also do some "experiments", just click the button with the blue cube on my site to open the Terrain Viewer. You can also link directly to the viewer, for example:

https://boydsmaps.com/terra/#37.823766/-79.914004/-877/1766/1578/0/292/0/2000/775/-2000/56.99999999999999/2/3d/shader40/0/2/z15



The Terrain Viewer takes a "slice" of the map and exports it as a 3d model where you have many options for controlling the appearance.

There are sliders for the XYZ coordinates and intensity of the "sun" (a directional light source). Observe the effect as you move the sliders, the changing lighting will reveal different details in the terrain. Another slider changes the vertical scale of the terrain (vertical exaggeration) in realtime, which can make a big difference in appearance.

You can choose 6 different map types: aerial imagery from NAIP (the National Agriculture Imagery Program)

https://boydsmaps.com/terra/#40.615801/-74.822234/-1273/1059/-2/0/46/0/1000/437/1014/75/2/3d/ortho/0/0/z15




The grayscale option is just a white surface and the shadows create the shading.

https://boydsmaps.com/terra/#41.460554/-71.944232/-676/454/891/0/250/0/0/465/-1577/52/2/3d/grayscale/0/0/z17



The shaders (5, 10, 20 or 40 colors) use my own code to set the color of each pixel based on its position between the minimum and maximum elevation of the map.

Each map consists of 4.2 million elevation samples in a 2048 x 2048 grid. The spacing between samples determines the map resolution and size, the highest resolution has a sample spacing of 4 feet (1.2 meters) and coverage area of about 1.5 x 1.5 miles (about 2.5 km).

https://boydsmaps.com/terra/#39.251821/-76.735124/0/67689/0/0/314/0/-986/600/-986/45/3/2d/shader20/0/0/z17



The viewer uses webGL with the three.js API and the same RGB-encoded elevation dataset as my main web app. I use the MapTalks API to cover an HTML canvas with RGB tiles, then populate an array using elevation values decoded from each pixel's RGB values. That array is then used to create a 3d mesh. For the color shaders, I iterate through the array, creating another HTML canvas where each pixel is colored according to its elevation. That canvas is then mapped onto the 3d mesh.

The detail available in the terrain viewer revealed some major flaws in my original Mid-Atlantic elevation dataset that were not so obvious before. Took quite a bit of troubleshooting to understand the problem, but eventually I found it. The issue was caused by re-sampling artifacts when I exported the RGB elevation tiles with Globalmapper. Using "nearest neighbor" sampling would have fixed the problem, but that is not an option in Globalmapper. Finally, I discovered that exporting my DEM files at the *precise* resolution for each zoom level would prevent Globalmapper from re-sampling.

I ended up re-processing my entire elevation dataset from almost 2 terabytes of uncompressed TIFF source files, producing 9 million 256x256 map tiles.Took around a week of 24/7 processing but made a huge difference in the quality of the 3d views in both the terrain viewer and the main web app.

My next project is expanding the 3d terrain coverage area to include all of New York, Massachussets, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, which should be available later in 2023. I've expanded the server to 2 terabytes of disk, so we'll see how much space is left when this is completed!
#15
Great - glad you got your data back!  8)