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Transparency Problem

Started by grangerman, September 28, 2012, 06:44:22 PM

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grangerman

I downloaded Colorado Topo 2011 and Trail Maps onto my PC and into BASECAMP.
I can open COTOPO11 and locate a desired point, when I open the Trail Maps it shows the trails overlaided over the COTOPO11, but it is not transparent. I must switch back and forth to see both. I thought the Trail Map was to be transparent. Anyone have this problem? Any ideas to solve this?

Boyd

Unfortunately you can only view one map at a time with either Mapsource or Basecamp. So it doesn't matter if a map is transparent, it cannot be combined with another map on your computer.

However on the GPS itself, you can enable both maps and the transparent one should show on top of the other. That's just the way it works....

grangerman

I kinda thought that was the deal. Just wanted to make sure I was not missing something. I plan to buy an Oregon 450 soon and I am just playing around to learn as much as I can prior to the purchase.
Thanks

fcoulter

I was just curious.  Is there a program out there that will display multiple maps, with the transparent ones on top?

Seldom

None I know of, but there have been numerous requests to add that feature to BaseCamp.  Don't hold your breath though, Garmin only sells a few transparent maps.

Boyd

I think MobilePC can do it. It is Garmin's discontinued PC navigation program that makes your computer look like a giant Nuvi. I got a copy a couple years ago, but it may be hard to find today. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=165&pID=13484

It uses map files in the same format as standalone GPS devices and includes City Navigator (gmapprom.img). I believe it also supports two additional map files, gmapsupp.img an gmapsupp.img2 (or something like that). I have only tried it with one additional map myself. You could replace City Navigator with another map and name it gmapprom.img.

It is integrated with Mapsource such that it appears as a GPS device that you can send maps to. Really not such a bad program, too bad Garmin discontinued it.


Boyd


popej

#7
This is very confusing. Here is published tutorial, which explains, how to create mapset:
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-.img-files-into-mapsource-with-mapsettoolkit/

This is exactly the info, that was treated as forbidden in quoted thread  :o

And a small note: MapSetToolKit in this tutorial is used as a GUI frontend for cgpsmapper or Gmaptool.

maps4gps

Agreed, it is confusing, to both users and map authors.

Five years ago, actually its now nearer to six years ago, when OZ and I joined Indyjr in authoring state topo mapsets, they were distributed in a zipped file of individual .img files.  These were sent to the gpsr using sendmap.  Cypherman developed MapSetToolKit and later? OZ provided the self-installer scrip to make it easier for users to get the mapsets available for MapSource (and later BaseCamp) to use.

Most, if not all, of the early mapsets were of the 'stand alone/base type'.  Later a few map authors created some 'special purpose' overlay/transparent mapsets to supplement the 'base' type mapsets available from Garmin and third party sources.  These were intended to be combined on the GPSr as Garmin's software does not provide for it to be done on the computer.  For the past year or so, there has been a growing number of users who are more concerned with viewing the data on the computer (and producing printed maps) than with using the maps on the GPSr as was intended when they were created. 

There are also more and more users who think that since the maps are available at no cost to them, that they can legally use the data however they feel like and simply ignore the license/use agreement and standard international copyright protections.

IMHO it is long past time for that tutorial to be removed as it has/is causing needless confusion to new users trying to install their first mapset; however, OZ has an extremely full schedual and has had little time to even respond to posts as he did for the first 3-4 years of gpsfiledepot's existence.

The original purpose of this website was for map authors to share knowledge and ideas on creating mapsets and for a location where they could be made available to GPSr users.  The other general catagories became necessary later as more and more people were asking non-map authoring questions.

hwstock

I'm having a slightly related problem with my 62stc. There are built-in 100k maps for all states, and I've loaded AZ, CA and NV 24k topos.  On 62stc maps menu, the list shows the basemap, "Arizona Topos" (which actually seems to be all the 24k topos loaded from GPSfileDepot), the internal 100k maps, digital globe,  and "USGS Quads" (the last seems to be trail maps in 24k loaded from the Garmin national parks CD).

My problem is a bit ironic. The AZ, CA, and NV topos are 24k maps on a 100k grid, and each state has a grid block that extends across the border into the adjoining state.  Unfortunately, the NV border areas in the CA maps are blank, and the CA border areas in the NV maps are blank, and so on for AZ.  When all state 24k maps are loaded, the border regions are wiped out entirely.  Unfortunately these are some of the most interesting areas. If I disable "Arizona Topos" (which really has all the 24k topos), the underlying 100k grid shows through in this area.

There doesn't seem to be any way to get the overlapping maps to overlay "transparently."  The border 24k maps for CA wipe out the border 24k maps for NV, and so forth.

Ideas?

Any ideas?


Boyd

#10
The digital globe and USGS quads are samples of Garmin Birdseye products that Garmin pre-loads on the device as a "teaser": http://www.garmin.com/us/maps/birdseye

You can just disable those, or delete all the files in the \Garmin\Birdseye folder to completely remove them. To use maps that have been downloaded from GPSFileDepot, you should disable the pre-loaded 100k topo maps as they may be conflicting.

Unfortunately, there are no standards for coverage when different authors create maps and post them here. Usually this will cause problems along state borders if you enable multiple maps at the same time. Unfortunately, "it is what it is". Unless maps were specifically created to work with each other, you are going to have problems where they overlap. If you want seamless coverage along borders you may have to purchase Garmin's 24k maps.

As far as all of them being grouped together, that is a little odd but not unheard of. The device uses an internal ID embedded in the map to generate the list of available maps in the menu. Again, there are no standards for these numbers and different authors may have used the same ones. Depending on the software used to create the map, it's also possible that a default ID was inserted into the map if the author didn't choose his own. This could cause them all to be grouped together.

Then there have also been various bugs that might cause this to happen with some versions of Garmin MapInstall. How did you send the maps to your GPS? Did you use Mapsource or Mapinstall?

Finally, there was a bug that we've discussed that was caused when an author used a non-standard text-encoding on his map. If the other maps installed on the device used the standard encoding, it caused a problem like you describe. I believe an earlier version of MyTrails caused this to happen but was subsequently fixed by an update.

To troubleshoot, try sending just one map at a time and see how it works on the GPS. Be sure to disable all other maps on the device except the GPSFileDepot maps. If that works, then add a second map and repeat until you can determine which map is creating the problem.

But before doing ANYTHING, make a full backup of all the files on your GPS. Just drag or copy/paste them to a folder on your hard drive. It will take awhile because the 100k topo is almost 3GB. But it could save you a lot of grief later.

hwstock

I used BaseCamp to send the maps.  Actually, I just realized that the 2011 CalTopo maps have real top lines in the areas that overlap with NV and AZ-- it's the NV and AZ maps that cause the problems, so I'll be able to reload, and with luck, solve 80% of the problem.  Thanks for the info!

hwstock

Fairly amusing.  I just reinstalled the utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California 24k maps-- now they are each indicated separately, whereas before they were lumped into one "Arizona USGS" set.  I have to disable NV to see the CA regions in CA near the border.

I "upgraded" to the latest BaseCamp yesterday-- now BaseCamp will absolutely NOT let me install the maps on the SD card (that's where they were before).  Every garmin upgrade, software or firmware, comes with new bombs that explode at random.