Lost? not anymore ...

itboffin

For those of you who own a Garmin of some form will be all too familiar with how useless the base maps are especially for navigation.

Last Sunday myself at Attica decided to go off course, this is something garmin 705 don't like, trouble is Attica map was about as useful as mine both (http://www.openstreetmap.org) OSM I think, what ensured was much head scratching a doubtful looks all round.

I decided today to sort out my OSM once and for all, there is the option to download dozens of files from OSM and build your own custom maps, I looked at that and frankly duh! why is it so complicated???

I could always pay for commercial maps :shock: wot me! pay for software ...? :?

I had been using OSM maps from mapsource which looked fine on the website but frankly nothing like the real world on the 705, then I discovered this site http://talkytoaster.info/ukmaps.htm

AWESOME!!! work fella, not only do I have fully routable OSM maps it actually looks like where I'm standing

I'm off out to test turn by turn nav before the rain comes.

Enjoy peeps

Edit: BTW it also has contours for those that have hills

itboffin

Two laps of the village first testing the visual maps then following a route, both worked perfectly in fact that's the first time my 705 has followed a route with the map pointing in the right direction and the turn by turn directions correct with road names.

Pufftmw

Loading now...

itboffin

Anyone using a mac get thee a copy of trailrunner, most of the early bugs have gone, it's faster, offers a load of background map options and have very very very cool diary stats like time spent in each HR zone, gradient and speeds

mmmm stats

rjsterry

So these fancy Garmin GPS jobbies give you crap maps with no detail to be able to identify your location from landmarks, throw a wobbly if you change your mind about the route and give up altogether if you go under some trees. I'm starting to think my scan-an-OS-map-and-save-the-file-on-my-phone was ahead of the game.

/luddite

Wrath Rob

Garmin 800 came with the CityNav maps which gives great turn-by-turn navigation. They've been fantastic, but for the extra price of the kit I'd hope so! If I only had the base 800 I'd be doing the same thing.

prj45

itboffin wrote:

Edit: BTW it also has contours for those that have hills

You mean girls? Why would girls specifically want the contour maps and not boys as well?

prj45

rjsterry wrote:

So these fancy Garmin GPS jobbies give you crap maps with no detail to be able to identify your location from landmarks, throw a wobbly if you change your mind about the route and give up altogether if you go under some trees. I'm starting to think my scan-an-OS-map-and-save-the-file-on-my-phone was ahead of the game.

/luddite

I have to say, sometimes with the garmin maps I'm left wondering where the heck I am as it's difficult to link up what you see in the real world with the map itself.

il_principe

rjsterry wrote:

So these fancy Garmin GPS jobbies give you crap maps with no detail to be able to identify your location from landmarks, throw a wobbly if you change your mind about the route and give up altogether if you go under some trees. I'm starting to think my scan-an-OS-map-and-save-the-file-on-my-phone was ahead of the game.

/luddite

I have a 705 with a European map loaded via a memory card. Works for me (most of the time).

Also, why would you need to locate your info from landmarks if you have GPS telling you where you are?
:?:

rjsterry

Il Principe wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

So these fancy Garmin GPS jobbies give you crap maps with no detail to be able to identify your location from landmarks, throw a wobbly if you change your mind about the route and give up altogether if you go under some trees. I'm starting to think my scan-an-OS-map-and-save-the-file-on-my-phone was ahead of the game.

/luddite

I have a 705 with a European map loaded via a memory card. Works for me (most of the time).

Also, why would you need to locate your info from landmarks if you have GPS telling you where you are?
:?:

Wot prj45 said.

itboffin

Might just be around here but damn there's a lot of roads not on the map, paper or digital, i'm not talking little foot paths I mean actual roads you can drive a car down.

Why is that ?

il_principe

itboffin wrote:

Might just be around here but damn there's a lot of roads not on the map, paper or digital, i'm not talking little foot paths I mean actual roads you can drive a car down.

Why is that ?

Are you sure your navigational issues can't be attributed to riding with Attica...

prj45

Il Principe wrote:

Also, why would you need to locate your info from landmarks if you have GPS telling you where you are?
:?:

When you're making it up on the fly. Was out the other week in the chilterns and could see a masshoofy hill far in the distance I wanted to climb, but working out where it was on the garmin so I could get it to get me there was more difficult than it should've been really.

il_principe

prj45 wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Also, why would you need to locate your info from landmarks if you have GPS telling you where you are?
:?:

When you're making it up on the fly. Was out the other week in the chilterns and could see a masshoofy hill far in the distance I wanted to climb, but working out where it was on the garmin so I could get it to get me there was more difficult than it should've been really.

Fair enough, I tend to pre-plan. But always have iPhone as a backup anyhoo.

itboffin

Il Principe wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Might just be around here but damn there's a lot of roads not on the map, paper or digital, i'm not talking little foot paths I mean actual roads you can drive a car down.

Why is that ?

Are you sure your navigational issues can't be attributed to riding with Attica...

Nope, seems most of the land around here is in private hands still including the roads, it very odd riding along a forest trail to suddenly stumble across a tarmac road leading to nowhere.

WHITE ROADS • 7000kms? Most roads on Ordnance Survey (OS) maps have colours to denote their status. White roads have no colour so are not recorded as having any rights-of-way status. When looking at an OS map they can appear to be farm tracks or private roads when, in fact, they might be public highways. Of the estimated 7000 kms of 'lost' white roads many of them are great, totally legal trails for use by cyclists just waiting to be 'found' and put onto the 'definitive map'.

davis

itboffin wrote:

Might just be around here but damn there's a lot of roads not on the map, paper or digital, i'm not talking little foot paths I mean actual roads you can drive a car down.

Why is that ?

It's 'cos the road/track/path/thingy isn't in OSM yet.

You can add it yourself (think of it like Wiki-editing a map) and it'll appear on the main site in about 10 minutes (sometimes a little longer depending on load etc). "Export" sites like Cloudmade, TalkyToaster's site, and OpenCycleMap take a little longer (sometimes up to a week to get the updated exports). Don't copy from other maps, except where they've given their permission.

Even if you don't want to edit it yourself then the project can still use your GPS traces to help complete the OSM map.

it's possible to get into hideous levels of detail/debate/drudgery and it can get fantastically dull, but I think it will get to a "complete" map of the UK soon, and any help you can provide makes that date sooner (you've still got some time on your hands, correct? )

itboffin

davis I get the not being on digital but not on OS maps is a little weird, I have a 1940s map of this area which has more roads than now, I also have a copy of a 1700s map which doesn't show the petrol station for some reason :-)

davis

ITB: oh. That is odd. Seeekrit military base?
.

rjsterry

www.old-maps.co.uk

I love old maps, me.

I've just found a Russian military map of where I live on there, dated 1985! :shock:

itboffin

davis wrote:

ITB: oh. That is odd. Seeekrit military base?
.

Loads around here, some I remember from my own service others just abandoned some even converted to secure data centres, much like those at greenham common.

FeynmanC

Ok - stoopid newbie question.

I got an edge800 recently with the GB OS maps.

Am I able to have this and the open source maps on the same microSD card and choose which to display from the 800 when i'm out and about, or will I have to rename the OS map's image file so I can rename the open source one and use it?

As usual, garmin help isn't very helpful. :oops:

itboffin

FeynmanC wrote:

Ok - stoopid newbie question.

I got an edge800 recently with the GB OS maps.

Am I able to have this and the open source maps on the same microSD card and choose which to display from the 800 when i'm out and about, or will I have to rename the OS map's image file so I can rename the open source one and use it?

As usual, garmin help isn't very helpful. :oops:

you might be able to copy the .img file to your SD card and rename it as gmapsupp2.img give it a go you have nothing to lose.

FeynmanC

It works! I can choose to turn maps on or off and layer them.

Brilliant

itboffin

FeynmanC wrote:

It works! I can choose to turn maps on or off and layer them.

Brilliant

Glad to be of assistance

itboffin

Update:

Testing out the different routing options on my garmin 705 with OSM, no matter which options I select when routing mode is set to bicycle it insisted on sending me along the canal path, which is totally unsuitable for road bikes.

Switched to motorbike/car mode with all the routing options ticked and it actually plotted a good short direct route home, almost!

Interesting to note that turn by turn has a tendency to go quiet at key turns, best to follow the map rather than rely of instructions.

I know this is normal for a GPS anyway but when riding along it shows my position as a few feet left or right of the road, not really and issue just looks weird.

itboffin

Maps updated 23/04/11 not sure what's changed

These maps have so far proved very useful, good detail and fast routing - noice! 8)

Specialized Needs

Freaky - I had just looked up this thread because of the mention of the Garmin 800 @ £275 at Handtec.

I am trying to find out whether it is worth getting the navigation pack, or whether some open source mapping would suffice - as it seems to cost another £75 plus? Any comments on that?

itboffin

If the garmin specific maps are the same as the Nuvi unit then I personally wouldn't bother, if its topo maps then I would.

I've also found selecting motorbike/car in the routing preferences is much better at NOT sending me down unpaved barely walkable tracks.

optimisticbiker

Specialized Needs wrote:

Freaky - I had just looked up this thread because of the mention of the Garmin 800 @ £275 at Handtec.

I am trying to find out whether it is worth getting the navigation pack, or whether some open source mapping would suffice - as it seems to cost another £75 plus? Any comments on that?

If you want the Ordnance Survey maps then get the 800 with the OS Discoverer bundle as this is cheaper than sourcing them seperately (£199). If not, get the base unit and use the free OSM maps... most of them have bike paths on and are no less accurate than the OS maps - you can always by the Garmin maps later (£75) but they dont have all the bike paths. One thing to note - the search facility only works on Garmin maps. So if you want to use it as a satnav "get me to x" then you'll need the garmin maps. For routing and turn by turn navigation on a pre-prepared route the OSM maps are fine.

I use the OSM ones alongside the OS Discoverer maps. The great advantage is, if you do find a mistake in the mapping, you can go correct it at the OSM site and, if you are using the talkytoaster downloads, it'll be reflected in a download within a week or so. I've since worked out how to do the download and tile conversion myself but I still use the talkytoaster downloads as its convenient.

itboffin

I've used the OSM maps to do satnav directions, this week in fact. Worked just fine thankfully otherwise I might still be somewhere in the new forest.

optimisticbiker

itboffin wrote:

I've used the OSM maps to do satnav directions, this week in fact. Worked just fine thankfully otherwise I might still be somewhere in the new forest.

Sorry, let me clarify... if your destination is on the base map - i.e. a large town - then the search facility works. If you are searching for a street name and only have the OSM maps loaded the search wont work... If I turn the Discoverer maps on then search works, if I turn them off it doesnt....

Or is your experience different?