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Basic questions from a gps newbie

Started by trailstomper, August 17, 2011, 12:14:55 PM

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trailstomper

I'm not sure this is the best site to be asking all of these questions but I have to start somewhere. Please do suggest other sites that might be relevant if you have any ideas.

I don't have a gps yet but may buy either a garmin dakota 20 or a garmin GPSMAP 62. Or...see last topic.

I wanted to try to get an idea whether I can skip buying garmin maps altogether, they just seem overpriced. So I downloaded and installed garmin's basecamp and then mapsource, and then downloaded 53-2653-My_Trails_install.exe from this site and installed.

When I open mapsource what I see is two white rectangles in the main area with some dots. There is nothing like a map. I don't get it. From what I read here, the img files that come with the download are supposed to register with mapsource...why no map? Why a bunch of dots? Obviously I'm missing something. I have looked and the mapsource help file and it seems to assume that maps are 'just there'. I read the included readme with the 'maps' and it assumes that you know more than I do. The mapsource "open" dialog does not suggest that img files are candidates for loading. Besides the img files have numeric names. How would I know what img to open to find trails in Desolation Wilderness?

I hike mostly in the Sierras. Will the maps here provide good trail maps for that area?

The last question is about whether to get a dedicated gps or to try to use a smartphone. I have never seen a smartphone used on a trail, but I am due for a new phone and it might be very cool to get a smartphone and skip the dedicated gps altogether. But I'm still kind of incredulous that a phone can get gps info from satellites. Of course most hikes take one into areas where there is no cell coverage. I know some phone need cell towers to gps (or I heard that anways) but as far as I can gather your average smartphone can work off satellites for coordinates without cell provider access. I just need to hear that it's real from someone. I know a cell phone's battery would not last as long. I heard that some smartphone have a setting that allows them to stop seeking cell networks when out of range, which would help reduce battery draw down. Anyways just interested to hear about this. I generally don't backpack, just day hikes.

Seldom

Quote from: trailstomper on August 17, 2011, 12:14:55 PM
I wanted to try to get an idea whether I can skip buying garmin maps altogether, they just seem overpriced. So I downloaded and installed garmin's basecamp and then mapsource, and then downloaded 53-2653-My_Trails_install.exe from this site and installed.

When I open mapsource what I see is two white rectangles in the main area with some dots. There is nothing like a map.

I hike mostly in the Sierras. Will the maps here provide good trail maps for that area?

Quality trail data is hard to find.  AFAIK MyTrails is about as complete as you can get, although there is also a really good file of Northwest Trails downloadable here, or from Switchbacks.com  From the looks of it, however, its coverage doesn't extend to California.

Most trail maps on this site are transparent maps, meant to overlay topos.  Unfortunately, none of Garmin's map viewers permit viewing a topo and an overlay at the same time.  The only place you can do that is on your GPSr.  If you zoom in to one of the dots on MyTrails to 5 miles or less you should see a trail network.

Most trail maps on this site are not routable. So you won't be able to tell how far you have to go unless you are trackbacking a track.  I have read that Garmin's 24k maps are routable, but I have also read that the trail data on them are pretty skimpy.

If you are looking for a routable highway map you should seriously consider City Navigator North America.  If you are looking for a free routable highway map, Garmin compatible maps are available at http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

Regarding use of a smartphone.  In addition to whether it needs cell tower access to get a location there are a few other things to consider, like where will you find trail and topo maps for it?

Boyd

MyTrails is a transparent map that only contains trails and POI's - it's intended to be used along with another map that provides roads, water data, elevation contours, etc. So you won't see much using mapsource. Mapsource and Basecamp can only display one map at a time, but Garmin GPS'es allow you to combine more than one. So this map is really only useful on the GPS itself, where it can be combined with another one.

I am not familiar with your area of interest, so I can't help much there. But you could just try the free maps and see if you like them for starters.

The maps on this site are not going to work on a smartphone - unless you want to be on of the very few people who bought a Nuvifone or Garminfone (if they are even still available)  ;D But yes, a decent smartphone with internal GPS should work on the trail. You would need the correct kind of application and maps to make good use of this. There are a variety of them on the iPhone, and probably also on Android. But again, this site is dedicated to Garmin maps and they will not work.

I have an iPhone 4 (iPhone 3g before that) and have played with GPS software on it. Works fine, but I just don't care for it. I prefer a unit that was designed for rugged outdoor use where I don't have to worry about dropping it or getting it wet.

You are correct that .img files (map files) cannot be "opened" in mapsource. They must be installed, which is not trivial. Most of the maps on this site include installer scripts to do all of this for you.

trailstomper

#3
Thank you both for those very helpful replies. Without any hands on at all with any gps it is really hard to know what is being discussed, or even what the capabilities are of the units.

So to use the My Trails overlay, if I had a garmin unit I could download one of the topo maps from this site, and apply My Trails to it?

A routeable map would be a map which would allow one to select a trail/route that's in the map, and have the gps tell you how far you have left to go and so forth? I think that would be cool but maybe not essential for my needs.

I read enough to know that there are topo and trail maps available for android etc. For casual use I thought it might be nice to be able to use the very nice screens one gets with smartphones, as long as they were not too terribly hard to use.

It is a drag to hear that the garmin 24k topo maps don't have a lot of trail data.

I guess it's really hard to know the various pros and cons would play out for my purposes. I think I have a lot of learning curve either way. Your replies were very helpful.

jbensman

Right above where you click to downlaod the map in bold underlined text your question was answered:

Note on using the maps.  This map is transparent.  In MapSource and BaseCamp you have to zoom in to 7 miles with detail set to highest before you can see the map in MapSource and BaseCamp.

My Trails has good coverage for the Sierras.  I've got all of the FS trail data.