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60CSX or OR550 Which is better for map making?

Started by Seldom, October 11, 2009, 08:04:11 PM

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Seldom

Apologies for the crosspost also in Groundspeak, but I realized this is probably a better place to ask.

I don't cache. I make maps. I've been watching the buzz about the new Garmin Custom Maps and trying to convince myself that I should spring for an OR 550.

Then I read that I could probably only get 10 miles square of imagery into the unit, so I know that's not going to cover an entire vacations hikes.

For me it will come down to geotagging with the built in camera, the nifty new file management features, but mostly whether the OR 550 will give me better accuracy than a 60CSX with an antenna in my hat.

I've looked at Penrod's and G-O-Cashers reviews of the 550 but I can't find any accuracy measurements. Do such things exist?

Indrid Cold

#1
Quote from: seldom_sn on October 11, 2009, 08:04:11 PM
Then I read that I could probably only get 10 miles square of imagery into the unit, so I know that's not going to cover an entire vacations hikes.
You can quite a bit more than 10sq Miles of imagery into a unit.

Seldom

10 miles square = 100 square miles.  Maybe bathymetry for a medum lake, but likely only one days hike.

Indrid Cold

Quote from: seldom_sn on October 12, 2009, 02:49:10 AM
10 miles square = 100 square miles.  Maybe bathymetry for a medum lake, but likely only one days hike.
Sure is. 10 sq miles was from the post I saw on the geoforum. More than 100 sq miles can be loaded, it all depends on on the images. 1m images or 28m images will cover very differently. Generally, you don't need the highest resolution available for everywhere, just areas of interest, with a lower resolution covering a broader range. That being said, 100 tiles is where the first beta release is starting from. I believe even a DeLoreme PN-40 can only have <250 maps loaded.

Boyd

It is very limiting, but cool nonetheless, and if I were buying a new unit I would want this capability. I don't think it will ever come to the 60csx because it just doesn't have the "chops". I made a custom vector map with lots of detail and tested on the Oregon and 60csx. It is really slow to zoom and scroll on the 60csx, but pretty snappy on the Oregon. The processor is much faster in the Oregon.

I just made a 24k USGS topo map of the whole state of New Jersey for use in OziExplorer. It looks really nice at 10 feet per pixel. When I sampled it at lower resolution, details started dropping out. But at 10 ft/pixel you could make a 20 mile x 20 mile (400 square mile) custom Garmin map.

OTOH, I posted screenshots here of 1 foot per pixel digital orthophotography which was great for hiking around and exploring. I could only get a 2 mile x 2 mile area at this resolution with the custom map limits.

Hopefully they will sort it out in future updates and let us make bigger maps, this is still beta software. I use OziExplorer CE on a Magellan Triton and Maestro and have digital orthophotography of most of Southern NJ (over 3000 square miles) at 4 feet per pixel in a single 5 gb ozfx3 file. It zooms and scrolls very quickly.

Indrid Cold

Boyd, have you had the chance to do any vector overlays to the orthos?

Boyd

I have only played with the map files which I already had on the memory card and the built-in US Topo. Funny - I had several unused mapsets on the card which I had just re-named to something else while the active map was named gmapsupp.img. Had not updated firmware for awhile until now, and after the update, all those previously invisible mapsets became available which confused me at first.  ???

Here are a couple examples. The screenshot on the left is from my own map with 5 foot contour intervals, TIGER roads and NHD water. The one on the right is from Garmin's US Topo 100k, which has much less detail.



I think I will make some custom mapsets for areas I plan to explore with just enough vector detail in the right colors to enhance the map. Also, I mentioned that tracking seemed broken to me when using the raster images. I just realized that this is probably because I had disabled all the vector mapsets. Will put this to the test in the field when I get a chance, but I'm guessing that tracks are somehow tied to vector maps, and they don't work if you don't have one enabled?

Indrid Cold

Thanks for the images, the hybrid adds a lot to the ortho. Have to add one of these to my Xmas list :o

-Oz-

Wow, that is really really cool; I will have to get one as well... just another xmas item (just in time to use it).
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!

Seldom

This link:
http://gps.wmsar.info/oregon/
Made up my mind. Seems the 60CSX is the best I can do for accurate tracks.

Boyd

Caveat emptor.... Garmin is now using a different chipset in the 60csx (it is no longer the SiRFStar III which was being used when that article was written) so those tests are probably no longer valid. I don't know if the new chips are better, worse, or the same.... but they are different. Seems to be the luck of the draw as to whether a newly purchased unit will have the new or old chips, and it may be hard to determine which you have.

http://www.mediatek.com/en/news/info.php?sn=15

QuoteGarmin Selects MediaTek GPS Chipsets for Outdoor Navigation Devices

Hsin-Chu, Taiwan --May 25, 2009-- MediaTek, Inc., the leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced MT3329, its advanced single-chip all-in-one GPS solution. This product in mass production has also been integrated by a wide range of Garmin outdoor navigators, the Garmin GPSMAP 60 series

Seldom

Thanks,
But mine is 3 1/2 years old.  Firmware 3.00"s".