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This is so weird.  I worked a couple of summers in the Tetons and I really like the area.  So would you beleive today I have been downloading lots of data off the NPS servers and adding it to My Trails.  I was also just now looking to download data for hydrology.  I just came here to look to see if anyone has posted aobut the new way to download USGS data.  So stay tune.  NW trails has the trails, but the NPS site has so much more. 

Does anyone understand how draw order works when there are multiple transparent maps showing?  I seperate topo and trails in different maps.  I use custom typ files which allow you to specify draw order.  That seems to work fine for that particular map, but when more than one map set is shown together, the order is not respected.  The specific issue is for my trail maps I include Corps of Engineers polygon shapefiles for dams and docks.  I set them at a higher drawing order than the river.  But the river draws on top of the dams and docks. 

Sometimes the site goes down and they don't know.  So if you don't get it in a day or so, email them.

Also, you only need to download the file once.  They are all the same file.  It did not used to be like that.  But a few months ago they changed.  I do not know what they have many links to the exact some file, but they do. 

What you want can be done-but what you want is not exactly clear.  Do you want to load what you trace in GE as a map, track, or a route on your GPS? 

One important thing to remember is many of the photos in GE are not aligned properly.  If you trace on photos that are not aligned properly, it will be wrong on your GPS.  So step one is to find an intersection close to the spot in mapsource.  Make a waypoint at the intersection.  Open the waypoint and copy and paste the cordinates into GE.  If it plots correctly in GE, the photos are aligned properly.  If the intersection does not line up properly, use the history function until you find photos that are correctly aligned. 

I trace stuff in GE all the time to add to my trail maps (My Trails) and my topo maps (My Topos).  After tracing what I want to add, I export it as a KML file (the default kmz does not work).  Then I have a batch file that uses GPS babel to convert the KML file to a mapsource file.  Then you can open the file in MapSource.  Then in MapSource you have what you traced.  If you are just wanting to send a track or route to the GPS, this should get you what you need.  To make it into a transparent map, you just open the file in GPSmapedit. 

Here is the batch file I use (note it is dependant on you always exporting to the same file name):
C:\programs\gpsbabel\gpsbabel.exe -p "" -w -t -i kml -f "C:\Users\Jim\Desktop\Temporary Places.kml" -o gdb -F "C:\Users\Jim\Desktop\Untitled1.gdb"

In Mapsource set detail to highest.  You have to be zoomed in to at least the 7 mile setting.  If you are zoomed out more, all you see is a black dot.  Switch to another map and find the smokies and then switch to my trails.  Then you will see the stuff for the park.

The map is a transparent overlay and designed for use on the GPS.  You need to load it onto your GPS with another street map (such as City Navigator) or a topo map.  Then in your GPS you will see the street or topo map with the maps I made showing on top of the other maps.   

My My Trails has trails and campgrounds in GSMNP.  My POIs has the sumits

Most of my mapsets (which I regularly update and expand)  are pretty small.  However, My Topos is now over 1 gig.  It takes forever to upload a new version of Mt Topos (particularly when I also upload a new MAC version).  It also takes lots of time and bandwith for people to download the new version.  I regularly update My Topos by expanding the area it covers and editing the hydrology of some of the maps (removing stuff no longer there and tracing stuff in GoogleEarth to add to the map).  Is there someway I could make an installer that would just add the new and changed maps and the new mapsettoolkit files?  Then people would only have to download the patch instead of the 1 gig file. 

Since the maps in quesiton are mine, I will point out I have spent many hours trying to figure out what is cauing the problem.  I use identical settings for the various mapsets.  But for reasons I have never been able to figure out, they show up multiple times.  Otherwise, everything works fine.  I gave up on trying to do anything about it.  If you want to turn a mapset off or on, you just need to select them all.

As to the last post, yes there is also a problem with transparent maps in the CO and OR.  It is a draw order problem and I am rather upset Garmin has not fixed it yet.  Please complain to Garmin!!!!  The more they hear, maybe they will fix it.  The problem is they draw on top of things they should not.  For example, transparent maps draw on top of your track.  So if you are out on a lake, you cannot see your track.  They also draw on top of geocaches and some other icons.

How about putting a button with Home, contact us, etc. for "Install/Usage Help" When they click on the button they could be sent to a page with a link for the excellent tutorials on how to Install mapsource and how to install the maps to mapssource and your GPS.  By the way, those are really good tutorials!

Would it be possible to make it much easier for someone to find the tuturial on how to load maps into mapsource and onto thier GPS?  I do not know about others, but people email me on a regular basis about this.  If someone could easily find the tutorial, it would cut down on having to answer emails.  Thanks.

Anyone know where you can upload a file like this? 

I tried the new version and got the same result: garbled map display.

The first time I ran it, the program crashed with an error message of Run time error 62 Input past end of file.  I started the program again and ran it on te same file.  It worked the second time (other than not working on my GPS).

Has anyone been able to get the program to work with a high resoluiton photo?  If so, can you upload a map somewhere so I can try it?

Whenever I use G-raster, I have never been asked for the projection.

I have got graster to work with topo maps and 1 meter color photos.  I also got it to work on a landcover file from IL's website. 

Thanks

I tired 1.5 and still does not work.  I have used data from multiple places so I do not think I just got some bad data.  I have tried IL and MO servers and multiple data types from the USGS server.

Is there someplace I can download and try a high resolution map made with G-raster that works?

I don't really want to upload a map on this site that does not work.  I do not see a way to remove a map once it has been posted.  Are there other places where I could upload a map I made that is causing problems. 

I noticed another problem with g-raster.  I was loading a file and it said it had too many files and it would  reduce the files to 100.  But it did not.  I get a warning message when start up the GPS if I have the file loaded.