[GeoStL] Re: Free high quality transparent Garmin Mapsource Topo and trail maps
- From: Michael Rogers <mrogers07@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 14:41:07 -0800 (PST)
-
This is great! I just added the Mark Twain Lake TOPO to my 60 CSx...it is
wonderful...
Just a note for all those competing with me in the 4-man competition...get
this if you can...it helps!
The only thibng I would say about these maps is...sometimes, especially near
the water...the topo lines don't quite match the water line on the Mapsource
maps...
Jim Bensman <junkmailno@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
-
I have previously pointed out I make high quality transparent Garmin
Mapsource Topo and trail maps. They are posted at:
http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/maplist.php?author=4216
They are a bit complicated to set up the first time. But after that they
are extremely easy to use. These are extremely high quality maps that I
have spent hundreds of hours making and they are far superior to what you
can buy from Garmin. And they are free.
Some have indicated they want to take me up on my offer to bring my laptop
and CDs with everything needed to install and use the maps and show people
how to do it. (You can bring your laptop and set it up then.) Once I get
you set up, it will be extremely easy after that.
Since I have topo maps for the MOGA area, I am going to try to set up a
lunch/dinner before MOGA. So if anyone else wants the free maps and lesson,
let me know ASAP (and when you are free) so I can set a time.
They only work on Garmin and will show in MapSource. You send the maps to
your GPS just like other maps. You can also turn them on and off in your GPS
like any other map set.
If you want to see how they look in mapsource and on the 60csx compared to
Garmin's Topo USA, here is a pdf of the comparision.
http://webpages.charter.net/jbensman1/Temp/Maps.pdf
I have three types of maps:
Topo: These are transparent maps that show up on top of City Navigator
which you still use for route calculation. They have topo lines and
hydrology (streams, rivers, lakes, etc). The topo lines are from the USGS
and they are more accurate than what is on the 24K USGS maps. I generally
use a 10 foot contour interval. Most of the hydrology is high resolution
(equal to or better than the 24K USGS). Some places do not have the high
resolution data). I have also done lots of corrections to the hydrology by
looking at ExpertGPS, Google Earth, and field checks. What it looks like in
the GPS is City Navigator with topolines and much better hydrology. This is
great for caching as many times it helps you figure out how to get to a
cache as you can see the terrain and where the water is. That makes it
easier to figure out how to get to a cache as a straight line is not always
the best way.
Trails: These are transparent trails and points maps. They are meant to
show things City Navigator does not have. My St. Louis Area Trail map has
over 1000 points and over 1100 trail/road segments. They are trails,
parking areas, roads not shown on City Navigator (for example, I have all
the roads in Bush Wildlife Area), scenic areas, buildings, shelters, and
various other things not shown in City Navigator. They are transparent so
they show up over City Navigator like the topo lines. One problem I had
with them was trails were sometimes hard to see when there were lots of
close topo lines. Someone taught me how to use a new program that allows
you to make Garmin display the trails as a thin red line. Now the trails
show up extremely well. I will bring the freeware program and show people
how to use it. Most of the things in these maps, I have GPSed. Some come
from Google Earth, ExpertGPS, maps of areas scanned into ExpertGPS, and the
STL County Parks Department gave me some trail shape files. Hopefully
others can contribute more trails.
POIs: These are maps that contain points that are displayed on the 24K USGS
maps. They are also transparent. I have also added other things. I found
a file with the locations of 54,000 springs in MO and about 50,000 sink
holes. I have included them.
Jim Bensman
1802 Main Street
Alton, IL 62002-4724
(618) 463-0714
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Missouri Caches Scheduled to be Archived http://tinyurl.com/87cqw
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