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AERIAL MAPS FOR 60CSX

Started by fishtales, March 29, 2009, 07:05:19 AM

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fishtales

Hello folks, I new on here so please bear with me. I'm trying to find aerial maps to down load to my garmin 60csx if possible. Garmin offers maps for the water but not for land it looks like. Does anyone know if this is possible without alot of hassel?
            thanks,
                      Fishtales

leszekp

Although some Garmin marine GPS units are designed to display aerial photography, the 60CSx is not.

There's a program called Moagu (http://moagu.com) that can convert raster imagery into 60CSx-compatible format, but it's a bit of a hack (and as the guy who wrote it, I should know :). The display draw times range from slow for USGS topo maps (~15 seconds) to  painfully slow for aerial imagery (40-60 seconds). Once drawn, the display can keep up with changes in your position as long as you're not moving too fast.

fishtales

Hey thanks for the reply guys, Well to tell the truth I'm not sure what I need. I think I need aerial maps so I can really tell where I'm at. I'm using the GPS while ATV riding and when we stop for a break its good to see where we are and whats around, like is a field close by or whatever. Sometimes we ride in unfamiliar areas. I'm not too worried about the map updating while I'm riding as much as when we stop. Topo maps just don't do it for me.
                    Thanks again,
                                       Fishtales

Boyd

Quote from: leszekp on March 29, 2009, 08:51:55 AMThere's a program called Moagu (http://moagu.com) that can convert raster imagery into 60CSx-compatible format, but it's a bit of a hack (and as the guy who wrote it, I should know :).

Wow - very cool to have the author of MOAGU here in the forums. Welcome!  :)

-Oz-

Yea, MOAGU is probably the way to go.  I haven't been super pleased with MapWel which has a similar ability.

and welcome leszek :)
Dan Blomberg
Administrator - GPSFileDepot
GPS Units: Garmin Dakota 20, Garmin GPSMap 60csx, Nuvi 255W, Nuvi 250W, ForeRunner 110, Fenix 2, Tactix Bravo, Foretrex 401
See/Download My Maps!

Boyd

The way things currently stand, what I really think you need is a different GPS. The Oregon can now support raster-based maps but nobody has yet figured out how to create our own maps in this new format. If you want aerials here and now, take a look at the DeLorme PN-40. I haven't used one myself, but it has a very loyal user base. For a relatively inexpensive yearly subscription you can download all the imagery you want.

The 60csx just isn't going to be a good platform if you want raster imagery. It only supports vector based maps and limited kinds of filled polygons. Couple that with a relatively slow processor, a low resolution screen with only 8 bit color depth, and you are going to be fighting the hardware even when using MOAGU.

fishtales

OK thanks for all the help, I think I'll keep what I have , its not a big deal but if I could get aerial maps it would have been nice.
        Thanks for all the help,
                                Fishtales

leszekp

Quote from: -Oz- on March 29, 2009, 01:29:11 PM
I haven't been super pleased with MapWel which has a similar ability.

MapWel's vectorization works really well on graphic maps that have sharp transitions in color, and not a lot of fine detail. On those maps, the draw speeds are more than acceptable. But on maps with lots of fine detail, or on photos, the results aren't as good, and draw speeds can be comparably slow with those for Moagu maps. But it's worth noting that MapWel has more features than that - it lets you create your own vector-based maps with custom types.

There's a free vectorization utility called BMap2MP that can convert raster imagery to Garmin vector format, but it's even more limited than MapWel: it's a command-line utility, requires converting maps to OziMap format, and is more limited in terms of number of colors. Moagu has a front-end to BmaP2MP that makes it somewhat easier to use, and gets around the OziMap format requirement.

For true, high-speed raster display, you'll need to either go with the deLorme PN-40, or buy a Windows Mobile PDA and use one of the many programs available that can display raster imagery along with a GPS-derived position.

Boyd

#8
Quote from: leszekp on March 29, 2009, 03:06:50 PMBut it's worth noting that MapWel has more features than that - it lets you create your own vector-based maps with custom types.

Indeed, I was going to point that out too. I have been using Mapwel advanced for awhile and am really impressed. I have never tried to use the raster conversion features myself. But the custom styles editor is worth the price of admission for me. There is just no practical way that I could have created maps like these using "ASCII art" with cgpsmapper!



The Mapwel compiler is also very impressive. I found it was 3 to 5 times faster than cgpsmapper in my project. It does have some quirks and limitations though. The custom styles are applied individually to each map segment and there doesn't seem to be a way to just drop one .typ file into a whole mapset. I have posted about this on the Mapwel list and the author said he would look into it. I know that one of Oz's issues is that it doesn't play nice with Mapsource. For me, that's not a big deal but I can see why it would be a problem for some people. I wrote about my Mapwel impressions here: http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/topic,152.msg1045.html#msg1045

OziExplorer CE is one of those solutions for Windows Mobile and Windows CE. I have used this extensively as well, and it's really cool. Works great on my HP iPAQ 310.

-Oz-

Yea, Boyd's maps are amazing but the MapSource thing just raises the bar too high for most people...
Dan Blomberg
Administrator - GPSFileDepot
GPS Units: Garmin Dakota 20, Garmin GPSMap 60csx, Nuvi 255W, Nuvi 250W, ForeRunner 110, Fenix 2, Tactix Bravo, Foretrex 401
See/Download My Maps!