RouteBuddy, a new Mac application, made the news today on a number of sites. High Earth Orbit’s coverage caught my eye due their extensive list of GPS mapping resources for Macs.
Related post: Macs, Maps and GPS
Technorati tags: GPS
GPS mapping solutions for Macs
July 25, 2006 By 1 Comment
Extracting TOPO (.tpo) track files
July 12, 2006 By 3 Comments
Yesterday I posted about being able to convert National Geographic TOPO (.tpo) track files to .gpx using GPSBabel. This is something that will excite quite a few people, as it overcomes what (IMHO) is TOPO’s biggest disadvantage. Let’s take a look at the whys and hows.
When I first discovered GPS and mapping software, I went wild mapping trails in our area. I mountain bike with my wife every weekend, but the area we ride is private land, and there are no good trail maps. My first software purchase was National Geographic TOPO! Not only did I record tracks of rides, I started adding logging roads that show on aerial photos, trails that only showed up on 1:100,000 scale maps, etc.
Convert National Geographic TOPO (.tpo) files
July 10, 2006 By 6 Comments
GPS Babel, Robert Lipe’s conversion utility, has recently been updated to version 1.3.0. This newest version, I am extremely happy to say, converts National Geographic TOPO (.tpo) files. Yes TOPO users, you can now extract track data, converting it to .gpx or the format of your choice. It will work with TOPO versions 2 and 3, but not 4.x.
For those of us with a mass (mess?) of data in TOPO, this is welcome news indeed. I tried it out this morning and it works flawlessly! Congratulations to Robert and the entire team of Babel-heads, especially Alex Mottram, who appears to be their NG TOPO expert. (CORRECTION: Apparently Curt Mills deserves the credit here.)
National Geographic TOPO (Amazon) is a wonderful product, and remains my favorite in terms of CD/DVD-based mapping software. As I noted in my book, GPS Mapping – Make Your Own Maps, the difficulty in exporting tracks is one of the few disadvantages of this program (and the only major one). Finally, we have an elegant solution that allows you to extract your data.
Related post: Extracting TOPO (.tpo) track files.
Technorati tags: GPS
About GPS firmware updates
May 22, 2006 By 7 Comments
Firmware is software that is embedded in hardware. You can update your firmware in most GPS receivers. Firmware updates are frequently issued by the manufacturer to fix bugs and add new capabilities to your unit. For example, here is the change history for the Garmin 60CSx.
I recommend that you always install the most recent non-beta firmware upgrade. Garmin has made the whole process a little easier recently with their WebUpdater feature.
Here are lists of current firmware versions for Garmin and Magellan GPS receivers.
Technorati tags: GPS
GPS Maps of Mexico
May 1, 2006 By 2 Comments
GPS Information.net has some excellent new pages up on various GPS maps of Mexico. They include a great page on DRG’s that can be used with OziExplorer. A 1:50,000 scale topo map image from that page is shown at left. They also show examples of Baja Expeditioner maps, which are compatible with Garmin GPS units. Finally, the articles also compare BiciMapas Mexico Atlas maps with Garmin City Select Mexico NT maps (available from Amazon
Related post:
GPS for your car: Factory-installed or aftermarket unit?
April 21, 2006 By 15 Comments
GPS navigation systems for cars are becoming quite popular, and there are some basic questions that prospective buyers are asking. One is, should I buy a factory-installed GPS, or an add-on (also known as aftermarket or OEM) unit? Let’s look at the arguments for and against each approach:
Factory installed GPS
Pros
- A better appearance, as units are built into the dash or located on the instrument panel.
- Theft is generally not an issue (unless they take the whole car!).
Cons
- The cost is typically considerably more than an aftermarket unit.
- Getting updated maps may be difficult and expensive.
- Fewer options are available.
- Units cannot be moved from one vehicle to another.
Alphabet soup – AIO’s, CE and GPS
April 12, 2006 By 2 Comments
In case you’ve been seeing it in reference to GPS receivers and are wondering, AIO stands for all in one. In my last waypoints collection of shorts, I mentioned a new Pioneer GPS receiver that runs Windows CE. Now you may be wondering why you would want Windows CE on your GPS. Today, GpsPasSion fills in the details:
While they have yet to break through in the US, WinCE based AIOs are selling like hot cakes in Europe, likely because they do the job and have the added bonus of letting you install many different applications once they’ve been "customized".
They go on to discuss some other interesting hacks:
Forum member PsiDOC has posted guides on how to (legally) install GPS favorites, TomTom and OziCE on a Packard Bell GPS400 or other AIOs.
I should add that the GpsPasSion post title mentions customizing Magellan and Mio receivers too.
Technorati tags: GPS
Nuvis, pocket queries and a US geocache database
April 4, 2006 By 21 Comments
I received an email the other day from a reader (Mike) looking for an automotive GPS he could transfer geocaching info to. He asked about doing this via POIs, with a possible goal of getting all U.S. geocaches loaded. I pointed Mike towards some resources and we corresponded a bit more. He ended up buying a Garmin nuvi, and I asked him to keep me posted on his quest. I heard back from Mike today and he’s given me permission to share his experience:
Iraq maps for your Garmin GPS
March 26, 2006 By 2 Comments
LeadDog Consulting and Global Map have released what appears to be a new version of their Garmin compatible maps of Iraq. Complete with major roads, freeways and secondary roads, detailed street maps of 13 cities, and contour lines, it is also MGRS compatible.
Open source mapping software
March 20, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Slashgeo carries a story today about open source mapping software. They specifically mention three programs — GMap, Roadster and Roadnav. What a great idea! The three programs appear to all utilize public domain TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system) data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Hmm, wonder how hard it would be to translate these into auto-routing maps that could be transferred to your GPS. I’d love to see the folks at some of the custom GPS mapping message boards (Map Authors, MobileMapper 2, MapCreate Format) take a look at this.
Technorati tags: GPS
