Digital maps



J

John Harrison

Guest
Can anyone give advice about which supplier of digital maps and combined GPS software to get. I
would want to print maps with routes for hill walking in Lakes, Snowdonia and Peak District mainly
and upload the waypoints to my eTrex.

I have looked at Memory map, Anquet, Fugawi and Tracklogs. Thanks

John
 
John,

Have a look at this page of our site

http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com/gps-software.html

In October 2003 we used Memory Map Navigator (version 2003) in SW England and I can tell you that it
is great. This version came with
1:50k maps. The new 2004 version even has 1:25k OS maps. Should even be better for your purpose.

Hope this helps

--
Andreas van Hooijdonk http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com

"John Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Can anyone give advice about which supplier of digital maps and
combined
> GPS software to get. I would want to print maps with routes for hill walking in Lakes, Snowdonia
> and Peak District mainly and upload the waypoints to my eTrex.
>
> I have looked at Memory map, Anquet, Fugawi and Tracklogs. Thanks
>
> John
 
"John Harrison" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Can anyone give advice about which supplier of digital maps and combined GPS software to get. I
> would want to print maps with routes for hill walking in Lakes, Snowdonia and Peak District mainly
> and upload the waypoints to my eTrex.

I'm using MMap and I've just upgraded to the 2004 version which is excellent. One slightly gimmicky
thing on the new version is an ability to make the section on screen into a 3D representation of the
landscape and then spin it around so you get to look at all angles. This way you get to see how
steep the route might be from the comfort of your own home. Buy the aerial photographs of the
topography too and you can overlay these onto the 3D bit and get a complete picture of the landscape
in photograph form!

The upgrade cost me £92 inc of p&p and I understand the full package is £129. For that you get
either 'northern', 'central' or 'southern' Britain.

Not tried Anquet but I understand their new maps are due out in April so might be worth waiting a
while. Register an interest on their web site and they'll keep you informed of progress on the new
version, apparently.

--
Dave Newton

Lake District Walk&Photo web site
http://www.daves-lakeland-mountains.co.uk
 
In article <[email protected]>, Dave Newton
<[email protected]> writes
> Buy the aerial photographs of the topography too and you can overlay these onto the 3D bit and get
> a complete picture of the landscape in photograph form!

NB not available for the Scotland maps.

Bernard Hill Selkirk, Scotland
 
In a recent message <[email protected]>, John Harrison
<[email protected]> wrote.

>Can anyone give advice about which supplier of digital maps and combined GPS software to get. I
>would want to print maps with routes for hill walking in Lakes, Snowdonia and Peak District mainly
>and upload the waypoints to my eTrex.

I'm holding off buying digital maps just at the moment because the signs are that it might soon be
possible to obtain digital 1:25,000-scale OS maps centred as one requires, see

http://www.memory-map.co.uk/maps_uk_onland_1_25000.htm

right at the bottom of the page.

I guess the other suppliers will be doing much the same sort of product, too.

Regards, Nick.

--
Nick Hopton and Anne Hopton Caversham, Reading, England <[email protected]
 
I have a "home made" map of the peak district. You are welcome to a copy. It's a bit cluttered
because everything is at the same zoom level and I cannot guarantee its accuracy (although I managed
not to get lost using it). It's got every road and village in the OS map of the main peaks area. The
level of detail in the outer areas (ie. the bits which aren't really part of the peak district but
have to be included in the map to make it rectangular) is at least as good as the base map. Footpath
coverage is limited to the areas I personally knew I would be walking in.

If you want a copy of the .img file, send me a personal email to [email protected] and I'll
send you the img by return.

In exchange, if you do find a decent walker's map of Snowdonia, I would quite like a copy. I'm off
to Snowdonia in a couple of months.

Bore da!

Keith
 
Nick Hopton wrote:

> I'm holding off buying digital maps just at the moment because the signs are that it might soon be
> possible to obtain digital
> 1:25,000-scale OS maps centred as one requires, see
>
> http://www.memory-map.co.uk/maps_uk_onland_1_25000.htm

Well I've been playing with the demo software and maps and I'm quite impressed. Exceedingly nice
of them to provide Swansea-Neath-Port Talbot as the demo area. I'm not sure why some have
dismissed the 3D visualisation as a gimmick of not much use. Not only does it look very pretty but
it helps considerably in visualising the shape of an area, and not only for photographic purposes,
but for planning walks. There are a couple of localish hills which I haven't yet climbed which
I've been planning to, and the 3D visualisation with aerial imagery has made it so much easier to
assess the steepness of paths and the nature of the terrain. By alterning the light source it
brings out the relief excellently well thus giving a much clearer idea of the shape of the terrain
than contours alone.

However, I'm a bit baffled by the areas on offer at the moment. In Wales they are only offering the
Beacons, Pembrokeshire and Snowdonia in 25k scale, yet the demo is of the Swansea area. Is Swansea
only available at 25k in demo form? I want the whole of Wales in 25k!!!

And while I'm on the subject, £100 for Snowdonia in 25k is a bit steep isn't it? The 50k mapping
represents good value for money, being much cheaper than buying all of the equivalent Landrangers,
but I can buy 25k maps of Snowdonia for just £21. Yeah I know it's got the height data and aerial
photos too, but the height data is included with the 50k mapping and the aerial photos can be
purchased relatively cheaply separately (covering the whole of the UK apparently), so the 25k
mapping seems to be a bit of a rip off at the moment. Limited coverage, excessive price.

Maybe if nobody buys them they'll drop the prices to something a bit more sensible. I'd prefer to
wait until they have better coverage at a reasonable price.

> I guess the other suppliers will be doing much the same sort of product, too.

Anquet is promising limited coverage at 25k (selected nat parks) for £80 each. No aerial or 3D
though. Cheaper but still too expensive and even less useful.

Paul
--
Calendars for 2004
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/cal/cal.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
Another option, although slightly more labour intensive...

I am currently working on an enhancement to my "MapMan" mapping software package which will allow it
to automatically download any number of map tiles from the OS Get-a-map web site and glue them
together into single (jpeg) image. If that would be of use, let me know and I can let you have a
beta when it's ready. What's your deadline for getting hold of the maps?

Keith
 
> Anquet is promising limited coverage at 25k (selected nat parks) for £80 each. No aerial or 3D
> though. Cheaper but still too expensive and even less useful.

Have you seen the latest article on the Anquet site regarding the launch of the 1:25k maps on
2nd March?

They will have 3D mapping through the Anquet Virtual Landscape. Will allow you to view maps from any
angle etc. and will allow you to fly across your route!!! Also has split screen capability.

Info at http://www.anquet.co.uk/news_item.asp?news_id=42

Cheers

Andy
 
Keith Sheppard wrote:

> I am currently working on an enhancement to my "MapMan" mapping software package which will allow
> it to automatically download any number of map tiles from the OS Get-a-map web site and glue them
> together into single (jpeg) image.

Why jpeg? Jpeg is for photos, gif is far better for maps. Non-lossy compression *and* it compresses
better than jpeg for maps. I've seen maps saved as jpegs and they are ghastly, the nature of jpeg
compression destroys the quality of the map and you can't get it back by resaving as a gif. In fact
if you do resave as a gif it ends up larger than the jpeg, whereas it would be smaller if it weren't
saved as a jpeg in the first place. Gifs can compress to a very small file size for maps, especially
if the bit depth is reduced. There really aren't many different colours used in a map.

Paul
--
Calendars for 2004
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/cal/cal.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
Andy Laycock wrote:

>> Anquet is promising limited coverage at 25k (selected nat parks) for £80 each. No aerial or 3D
>> though. Cheaper but still too expensive and even less useful.
>
> Have you seen the latest article on the Anquet site regarding the launch of the 1:25k maps on
> 2nd March?

No, and I looked at the site earlier today.

> They will have 3D mapping through the Anquet Virtual Landscape. Will allow you to view maps from
> any angle etc. and will allow you to fly across your route!!! Also has split screen capability.

Excellent!

> Info at http://www.anquet.co.uk/news_item.asp?news_id=42

How did I miss that?

I really like the fact that the 3D map is continuous unlike the Memory Map "tile", however there's
no mention of aerial photos. :-(

What is good is that there's none of that stupid upgrading nonsense, you can continue to use the
maps you've already bought.

Paul
--
Calendars for 2004
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/cal/cal.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
Paul,

It's still very possible to use old maps with the new Memory Map 2004 Navigator ;)

"Paul Saunders" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Andy Laycock wrote:
>
> >> Anquet is promising limited coverage at 25k (selected nat parks) for £80 each. No aerial or 3D
> >> though. Cheaper but still too expensive and even less useful.
> >
> > Have you seen the latest article on the Anquet site regarding the launch of the 1:25k maps on
> > 2nd March?
>
> No, and I looked at the site earlier today.
>
> > They will have 3D mapping through the Anquet Virtual Landscape. Will allow you to view maps from
> > any angle etc. and will allow you to fly across your route!!! Also has split screen capability.
>
> Excellent!
>
> > Info at http://www.anquet.co.uk/news_item.asp?news_id=42
>
> How did I miss that?
>
> I really like the fact that the 3D map is continuous unlike the Memory Map "tile", however there's
> no mention of aerial photos. :-(
>
> What is good is that there's none of that stupid upgrading nonsense, you can continue to use the
> maps you've already bought.
>
> Paul
> --
> Calendars for 2004 http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/cal/cal.html http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
> http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 10:56:52 -0000, "Paul Saunders"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> yet the demo is of the Swansea area. Is Swansea only available at 25k in demo form?

The Swansea area seems to have been selected by OS as the location where they make a sample of their
digital products available. Complete digital tiles at 1:50k and 1:25k are there on the OS website,
if you know where to look.

--
Pete Bland
 
>>gif is far better for maps.
The problem with GIF is the licencing issue. You can't release software with GIF encoding in it
without being hounded by the patent owners for royalties. JPEG is at least "open source".

I freely admit that the main reason I went for jpeg is that I already had some jpeg encoding code.
My initial assumption was that so long as the map was legible enough to sketch around, top quality
wasn't an issue. However, you're not the first to comment so maybe I am wrong in this respect.

When I have time (what am I saying? I never have time) I may put in a TIFF option. You must
remember, though, that this is a hobby project. Projected income from sales: nil, R&D budget: nil.

Keith
 
Keith Sheppard wrote:

>>> gif is far better for maps.

> The problem with GIF is the licencing issue. You can't release software with GIF encoding in it
> without being hounded by the patent owners for royalties. JPEG is at least "open source".

I realise that, but then isn't this kind of software a bit naughty anyway? Didn't someone else write
something like this (was it called Mapgrabber?) and he was forced by Streetmap (I think) to stop
distributing it because it breached copyright?

> I freely admit that the main reason I went for jpeg is that I already had some jpeg encoding code.
> My initial assumption was that so long as the map was legible enough to sketch around, top quality
> wasn't an issue. However, you're not the first to comment so maybe I am wrong in this respect.

Well I once tried the software mentioned above and I was so disgusted with the quality that I never
used it again, I just went back to copying and pasting. Doing it the hard way was preferable from a
quality point of view. It's all moot now anyway. I've since bought Anquet Maps and that solved all
my problems.

> When I have time (what am I saying? I never have time) I may put in a TIFF option.

That would be much better. Compression is not much of an issue if you are saving to hard drive. What
about png?

> You must remember, though, that this is a hobby project. Projected income from sales: nil, R&D
> budget: nil.

Well don't go to any extra effort on my account because I have no need for such software. I just
thought I'd point it out.

Paul
--
Calendars for 2004
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/cal/cal.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 23:19:34 +0000, pete bland wrote:

>On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 10:56:52 -0000, "Paul Saunders" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> yet the demo is of the Swansea area. Is Swansea only available at 25k in demo form?
>
>The Swansea area seems to have been selected by OS as the location where they make a sample of
>their digital products available. Complete digital tiles at 1:50k and 1:25k are there on the OS
>website, if you know where to look.

They used to do Southampton. Perhaps they got scared of terrorists using their maps to locate their
premisses and bomb them. That word "ordnance" surely means it's a military target doesn't it?
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"
 
pete bland wrote:

> The Swansea area seems to have been selected by OS as the location where they make a sample of
> their digital products available.

I remember buying a sample pack of maps many years ago centred around the Neath/Port Talbot area.

> Complete digital tiles at 1:50k and 1:25k are there on the OS website, if you know where to look.

Actually they show Neath and Port Talbot.

I presume they've chosen this area because it's quite varied, showing a lot of different terrain
types in one small area - urban, motorway, factories, rivers, estuary, marshland, beaches, hills,
forests, farmland etc.

Paul
--
Calendars for 2004
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk/cal/cal.html
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=118749
 
In article <[email protected]>, Keith Sheppard
<[email protected]> writes
>>>gif is far better for maps.
>The problem with GIF is the licencing issue. You can't release software with GIF encoding in it
>without being hounded by the patent owners for royalties. JPEG is at least "open source".

The gif licence has now expired apparently.

Bernard Hill Braeburn Software Selkirk, Scotland