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Messages - Pooneil

#1
Map Making Support / Re: Ontario Atlas Map
October 01, 2018, 07:00:08 PM
You could handle the whole thing in the open source GIS package, QGIS.  It'll take a bit of work to learn how, but you can output nice geolocated PDF maps or geo tif files that can be converted into KMZ. 

https://www.qgis.org/
#2
Map Making Support / Re: Incorporate tracks in map
August 10, 2018, 06:20:19 AM
I do that using QGIS.  It has a high learning curve but will produce pro quality maps.

Not that mine are pro quality, but here is an example of what you are talking about.  The underlying map is the USGS topo series hill shade.

JPG
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kXwk3U9m3e7azy7E79necvuoO0npL40x/view?usp=sharing

KMZ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NOqOkY0hC2wNwICWzk0knNatKW34UdyP/view?usp=sharing
#3
Map Making Support / Re: Tool for Creating Custom Maps
August 10, 2018, 06:13:23 AM
Quote from: TomGo on July 19, 2018, 06:16:20 AM

Do you know about such tools to make custom maps ?

I use QGIS to produce raster maps as a georeferenced tiff file.  Then convert to garmin compatible KMZ maps using G-Raster.

QGIS will also make georeferenced PDFs.  The 3.2 version is still a work in development but worth getting started on versus the older 2.18 long term release version.
#4
Map Making Support / Re: need a job???
December 25, 2017, 03:48:45 AM
Shapefiles will of course not work on a Garmin.  They need to be converted to GPX. The process of doing that depends on the data in the shapefile.  Sometimes conversion is pretty straightforward, other times the data is highly fragmented.  Other times the data just isn't really something meaningful on a GPS.   

Have you tried QGIS.  It uses the GDAL library and can convert formats for almost any geospatial file.  Or just download GDAL directly and use the command line.  Neither are easy to learn but should work with some effort.

https://www.qgis.org/
#5
In Basecamp, click on the track to bring up the properties window.  Select the start point, scroll down to the final point and shirt click on that one. The window will show a summary of the selected part of the track.
#6
General Discussion / Re: iOS HELP
September 21, 2017, 06:27:26 PM
Quote from: Boyd on September 18, 2017, 06:28:21 PM
It does not offer a standard "track up" mode.
I never use it for driving, so the "in-car" compass offset isn't an issue for me. 
#7
General Discussion / Re: iOS HELP
September 18, 2017, 05:22:45 PM
I am quite happy with an app called Map Plus.  It take many different vector and raster data formats for maps.  The free version does most of what you will need with only a small nag frame for adds.  The developer updates it regularly and is responsive to questions on the web site forum. 

IIRC, the only common raster format it does not accept is geopdf.

http://www.duweis.com/en/mapplus.html
#8
Quote from: RCinSTP on August 06, 2017, 06:50:24 AM
When I make a map for Garmin GPS, do I need to begin with data that has a Coordinate System of WGS84?
Some raster data, such as geo-located park trail maps, use a mercator projection, (it's not a coordinate system) and must be converted into WGS 84 to be used on a GPS.  The only way I know how to do this is in a mapping program like QGIS. 
#9
The single best thing you can do is spend the time to learn how to use the device.  Read the manual and practice practice and practice so you can use it confidently in the field.

Beyond that, what you can do largely depends on what you want to do. So what do you plan to be doing while using it? 
#10
Thanks again Boyd.


I found the way to get the shapefile from the USGS.  It is not identical to the information contained in the 2016 topos but it is a big help.  I can fill in any needed trails manually rather than do the whole area of interest.

This beats scraping from the topos or Google maps. 

The OSM downloads I made lump trails and streets into one XML file.  I'll look at your link for further clarity on the offerings. 



QGIS is a great free program for occasional, recreational map makers.  Recreational meaning those that make maps for fun, rather than for work.  It just so happens that my recreational map making is for recreational use.  It is a major learning curve, in both terminology and functionality.  Thankfully there is a helpful forum on Stack Exchange.

Now I can look at Texas to see if there are any regional trials my group hasn't hiked. 

Thanks again. 

#11
Thanks Boyd for those suggestions.

It is not apparent at first look how to download from the National Map.  My experience with the USGS site is that it is slow, balky and the error messages are not very helpful.

OSM has some trails on the visual map but it did not appear in my initial downloads. There are many ways to download data, so I'll keep trying. 

If you have any pointers I'd appreciate anything you can do. 

I'll keep poking around on both sites to find the solution, because anything is better than extracting data from the USGS geopdfs for a large area.   
#12
Thanks. 

I updated to the latest version and ran a test. The first problem is I am not a registered user so GPSU caps my input at a small fraction of the individual dashes that make up the whole map.  There are thousands per file. 

GPSU does rename them on saving a GPX in a somewhat more orderly way, but maintains the broken nature of the original KML names,  in that a trail may be made of of a series of dashes with non-sequential numbers.  And a series of numbers suddenly goes from one trail to another, sometimes for only one dash.

THe USGS clearly did not design these for reverse engineering. 

I'll look at the options some more.  I don't regularly use the program so I welcome any suggestion on how to make sense of it. 

Thanks again. 
#13
I am extracting the hiking trails data from USGS 2016 Topo PDF maps for an area in Colorado using QGIS.  The extracted information is then saved as a KML.  The KML file contains a series of short lines, with numbers for names, that make up the dashed trails on the map. 

In Basecamp, one can manually join these into a long string for individual trials, but the process is slow and tedious.  The difficulty has several reasons including inconsistent numbering of the segment names and Basecamp's not recognising the numeric order. (ex. 2101 shows between 210 and 211)

I have used the IMGfromGPX program to convert a GPX of the data into a map that shows the dashed lines.  It works OK but each dash has a name displayed, making for an unusably cluttered map.

My goal is have trail linestrings for a Garmin map on my 62ST. 

Ideally, I would like to have a shapefile, GPX or KML of the trail linestrings and be done with it.  The US Forest Service has a shapefile with trails from the Western US but it does not include Colorado and other areas, like Texas.

Short of that, I am looking for suggestions on how to speed up the process, of making a GPX for the map.
#14
Map Making Support / Re: Pdf map
September 07, 2016, 07:36:55 PM
Quote from: Shawnster88 on August 20, 2016, 08:15:43 PM
I got a Garmin 64st and trying to put a map of some recreational property on it. It's a large piece of property at several hundred thousand acres. The map is pdf format and I don't know how to convert it or how to get it to work on my Garmin. I'm not computer savvy at all. Just know the basics. How can I go about doing this? Thanks for any help.

The PDF needs to be converted into an image, tif or JPG.

You will need to georeference the image file to make it work on your Garmin.  This can be done in Google Earth.  Or with special georeferencing functions of map making programs like QGIS. 

In Google Earth, it is called an image overlay.  After you get the overlay right save it as a KMZ file.  The program, g-raster, Boyd mentioned can take the one large image in the KML and divide it into small images our GPS can handle.  G-raster can convert a large tif to jpg tiles too.

Its a bit of trouble to learn but is quite possible to do.
#15
Thanks.  I've run into the tracks being offset from actual trial on some sources.  It makes for a mess sometimes.  For a small area it is not too difficult to double check manually.  For a whole state it would be a lot of work.

As a new member of  Hike Arizona, I've found the website unintuitive, but it is getting easier to use. 

Thanks for your efforts.