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Routable Maps

Started by MountainWoods, May 13, 2013, 10:44:21 AM

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MountainWoods

I noticed that all of the wunderbar maps on this site are topos, which is great because that's what I use the most.  I was wondering if there are any routable maps also.  I've done a browse, but I don't see them.

I've downloaded a map from the Open Street Map site, but it is only in the unit and not visible in BaseCamp or MapSource unless my unit is plugged in -- in which case those programs are actually reading the map on the unit.  Yes, there are instructions on how to possibly get them to be recognized by MP or BC, but they are excessively complex!  Too bad that they don't have installers like this site uses, but that is their (OSM) issue.

So I was just wondering if I'm missing them or if the real goal of this site is just to handle the great topos.  (Don't think I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth.  I love this site.  Just making sure I didn't miss something; which is possible in my old age...)

popej

Look for OSM map compiled for Mapsource. For example here:
http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/

Actually OSM offers nice tools for creating maps for Garmin. Download splitter, mkgmap and you will be able to do it all yourself.

MountainWoods

Well, that's the kind of OSM that I'm talking about.  But note that they don't install in such a way that MapSource or BaseCamp recognize them.  Yes, I'm aware of all of those tools listed in the OSM sites.  Still very confusing to take a gmapsupp.img (or renamed) and figure out how to make the .tdb file and registry settings so that MapSource and BaseCamp can recognize it on the local PC.
One of the main issues is trying to figure out what to use for a family ID.  I wouldn't want to accidentaly pick one that is already being used by one of the other maps.  I wonder how folks choose family IDs so that they don't clash.

Seldom

#3
AFAIK the only routable topos on this site are the ones I made.  If you plan to hike within 200 miles of Kanab, Utah you may find them useful.  They are called Desert Southwest, BRCA-ZION-CARE Hikes, and ARCH-CANY Hikes.  Desert Southwest covers the other two areas and a good deal more.

Regarding popej's comments about OSM tools.  I use splitter and mkgmap often to create routable road maps, but I've never had any luck using other OSM tools to generate contour data.  If I need contour data in OSM format, I use Global Mapper (not a free tool).

Note: splitter is a tool to split contiguous OSM data into useful sized tiles.  mkgmap is a compiler that will convert OSM data into a form which can be installed in BaseCamp.  mkgmap has a help command which is pretty informative.  You can call it up thus, and create a text file of the commands.

java.exe -Xmx512M -jar "c:\program files\mkgmap\mkgmap.jar" --help > mkgmap_help.txt
pause


If you have mkgmap installed someplace else, you'll need to modify the path.

There's no systematic approach to FIDs or 8 digit map names, so there's a probability of conflicts.  I avoid it by mostly using my own maps, with a few additions from Garmin, Boyd, -Oz-, and OSM.


popej

Quote from: MountainWoods on May 13, 2013, 02:06:02 PM
Well, that's the kind of OSM that I'm talking about.  But note that they don't install in such a way that MapSource or BaseCamp recognize them.

Please note, that site that I have advised, offers installers for BaseCamp/Mapsource. Have you even tried to request a map there?

Quote from: MountainWoods on May 13, 2013, 02:06:02 PMOne of the main issues is trying to figure out what to use for a family ID.  I wouldn't want to accidentaly pick one that is already being used by one of the other maps.  I wonder how folks choose family IDs so that they don't clash.

They choose at random. There is no good solution, but there are places, which tries to gather all used ID, for example:
http://www.javawa.nl/mapids.html
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Garmin_ID

Seldom

I notice a few 5 digit FIDs at the bottom of each list.  I thought 4 digits was the limit.

popej

#6
Limit is 4 hexadecimal digits, up to 65535.

MountainWoods

#7
Ok.  I was actually talking about http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/Download, which does not have installers for BaseCamp or MapInstall.
When I went to http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ earlier, I thought it was the same thing, except nothing seemed to be working.  Today I went back and saw that I'm not supposed to use IE, so I tried it again.

The drop downs don't work (I tried using the North America dropdown and selecting United States, but it didn't do a thing).  So I enabled manual selection and chose the area that I'll need the most.  When I get the emails I'll give it a try.

One difference is that the OSM site I had gone to allows you to choose the whole US and Canada.  But when I tried to just select the segments for the US on the garmin.openstreetmap.nl site it told me that it was too much, so I had to backpeddle and choose just the areas I was likely to need.  Not a big deal.  It's worth it to have a routable map in BaseCamp without having to have the unit plugged in.

Thanks.

MountainWoods

By the way, it worked.  I now use the open streem map from the garmin.openstreetmap.nl site for viewing in BaseCamp alone (since it doesn't have all of the US), but I use the map from the wiki site on my device, since it is all of the US.

Anyway, none of this has anything to do with this site.  I like the workings of this site better than either of the others.  Still it is good to know that one can also obtain routable maps from the public domain data.  And I still use the topo data from this site much more than the routable data.

Thanks again.