GPSFileDepot.com
 

News:

Welcome to GPSFileDepot!

Main Menu

100 K Question

Started by rburns4147, March 09, 2011, 06:26:54 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

rburns4147

Hey folks, great forum! I have been using handheld GPS for nearly 20 years, my first (I believe) was a Garmin 12. I have also owned the 12XL, 38, 76MAP, and recently ordered the 62s.

My question: I have searched the forum and files and haven't found it yet. Is there a map that is equivalent (or close) to the the Garmin 100K maps that come pre-installed from the factory?

Thanks,
Ron

Boyd

The Garmin 100k topo product covers the whole US seamlessly. You will not find anything like that here, just topo's that cover a state or maybe a region and they may not always overlap nicely when going between different maps.

However, for the most part, the maps you will find here will be higher resolution (24k or better) than Garmin's 100k map. But if you want the whole country available all the time on your GPS it might have made more sense to get the 62st with the pre-loaded maps. The DVD version of the 100k topo has about 6600 map segments but the 62s can only use a total of 4000 segments, so it won't be possible to load the whole US. If you purchase either the download or pre-loaded card version of US topo, it only has about 500 segments (like the map on the 62st) so you can use the whole country.

maps4gps

When Indyjpr made his first State (Colorado) topo map four years ago his purpose was to make a more detailed map than Garmin's 100k (and wider coverage than their 24k of National Parks).  About a year later, OZ developed this site with tutorials to help others build mapsets and to share the maps.  About a year later nearly all the States had some type of mapset and some as many as four.  About then Garmin started releasing their 24k topos.

Most map authors are building for more complete, detailed and/or current mapsets.  The more detailed data we use would have to be generalized; or the 100k data from USGS would have to be used.  The 100k paper maps were digitized about 20 years ago; the paper maps being 'panneled' from the 7 1/2', 24ks which averaged 20-30+ years older; neither of which have many street names.  It might be an interesting project for a 'budding' map author; however, I do not think it would be a good use of an experienced map author's time to 'duplicate' what Garmin already has available.

As Boyd mentioned; if they are a necessity, consider purchasing a unit which includes them as a built-in mapset.


rburns4147

Thanks for the valuable information; it was very informative. I chose the 62s because I wanted to save some money and because I don't actually need maps for the whole country. I probably do 90 percent of my hiking and fishing in two states, but I can always download other states from your site as I need them. I upgraded my GPS mostly because the 62s has a more sensitive receiver and picks up better under tree cover than does my old 76MAP. The topos are a bonus and the color screen is another bonus.

I am semi-retired now so who knows, I may try to author a map.

Ron

maps4gps

For your purposes the State topos (which are close in detail to the 24ks) would be a good choice.
Garmin has multi States on each of their 24k topo product.  If the States you are interested in happen to be all on the same DVD, the price (at discounters) is reasonable and they include features which have not been reversed engineered by others. 

babj615


quote maps4gps: "they include features which have not been reversed engineered by others."

Might I inquire as to what features you are referring to?

Thank You!
Garmin GPSMap 60cs, Dakota 20, Colorado 400t, Oregon 300/400t/450/550t/650/650t, Montana 650, Lowrance Endura Sierra, nuvi 3790, iPhone 3G/4/4s
Geocaching ID: Atlas Cached
OpenCaching.com Ambassador

maps4gps

I believe you can do address searches and there is 'imbedded' elevation data for 3D views.  They are also routable and include people type (resturants, lodging, etc.) POIs.  The first two have not been reversed engineered; few maps here a routable as it takes considerable more effort to create; Garmin's POIs likely come from some proprietary source (their transportation data is provided by Navteq).  Some of that type of POI data is available from the POIfactory. 

Boyd

I posted some screenshots here that compare the Garmin 24k topo's to City Navigator: http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/topic,1844.0.html