adrosor Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 I just ordered a Garmin 60CS and am looking for Maps of Okinawa. Went to the English Garmin website and saw a lot of blue charts for Japan. Saw a Japanese website that I can’t read with a number of Mapsourse Maps of Japan. I’m not sure 1) how to get the maps, 2) if the maps are in English, and 3) if Okinawa is included. If anyone has any information on any of the Mapsource maps and which include Okinawa I would appreciate it (including the worldmap and what detail it has). Thanks! Quote Link to comment
+matz Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 You can not load the Japanese detail maps into your English version GARMIN60CS as I can't (I've eTrex Legend English version). If you want to load Okinawa area maps, all you can choice is WORLDMAP(from GARMIN). But I think it will not satisfy you(poor map). Japanese map is loadable only into Japanese version GARMIN products. It is very expensive. For example 60CS Japanese version is over $1000. It can display Japanese character. Many of Japanese geocacher do not use Japanese version. But there must be some solution, When I have other information about this, I'll e-mail you. And I'll ask to other Japanese geocachers. Quote Link to comment
adrosor Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 Thanks Matz, Just got my Garmin yesterday and headed out on the road. The Okinawa map it came with was very skimpy. I went online and downloaded a map from the following link: http://www011.upp.so-net.ne.jp/mametaro/index-e.html The map includes central Japan and Okinawa. The Okinawa map seems to have all the main roads and even some points of interest loaded. It will have to do for now. Even with the limited map it’s still a great tool and will be fine for caching and tracking on island. Having the unit makes me homesick (Hawaii). Looks like it will do a lot more with some good maps loaded. At any rate I will keep my eyes open for a commercial English map too and may even explore the idea of making some of my own. Quote Link to comment
+budd-rdc Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Although I don't use a 60c series, my brother does, and he used the same link to get a usable map loaded into his GPSr. I believe this is the best known solution outside of using the $expensive$ Japanese language version of the GPS at the moment. Both Matz-san and I've had good luck using "Car Navi" or Automotive GPS Navigation Systems for Geocaching. I was lucky enough to rent a car with a "Car Navi" which accepted coordinate input by hand (Tokyo datum), which was better than nothing. Quote Link to comment
adrosor Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 GOOD NEWS!!! I found a gentleman who has made a map covering all of Japan (including Okinawa) that works with Garmin and Mapsource. He sent me a chunk of Okinawa to sample and the detail was much better than what I had before. The detail of mainland Japan looks fantastic. Only drawback is that it is not very efficient at routing. Other than that it looks fantastic. I will be getting the full version which is viewable in Mapsource soon. Will let everyone know how that goes. In the mean time check out his site yourself. http://uud.info/ Quote Link to comment
+Explorer99 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Went to http://uud.info/, and the map of Tokyo looks a lot like the one you can get for free at http://www011.upp.so-net.ne.jp/mametaro/index-e.html. I’m sure that if you live outside the area that is covered on the free map, central Japan and Okinawa, it is worth the $75. Thankfully the free map works fine for me. Quote Link to comment
adrosor Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 I live in Okinawa and have compared a sample of uuds Okinawa map with the free one. The Okinawa map uud did definitely has more detail than the free one. I’m not sure how much accurate the detail is but will have a better idea today after I hit the road! The biggest overall difference is that the one uud is offering covers all of Japan including the southern islands and is not free. Won’t know for sure just how different they are until I get the complete product. Once I get the product loaded in Mapsource I will be able to accurately compare the two. I haven’t been looking for long (maybe a month) but from what I can see uud has the only product out there that covers all of Japan, includes roads, has topo, and is in English. If Garmin had something I would have bought it from them. After searching this forum it was abundantly clear that other people were facing the same problem. Hopefully in the future Garmin will get with it and deliver on an obvious customer need. In the mean time I hope UUD (or anyone else) capitalizes on the situation and improves on what’s out there. Quote Link to comment
+atc Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I am using the free Japan map for Garmin right now, but the uud maps look real good. Let us know how it turns out, adrosor! The uud website do say their maps are not routable, though. Quote Link to comment
adrosor Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 I am happy with the product. The maps all installed and work nicely in Mapsource and on my Garmin 60CS. I’ve never had the opportunity to purchase additional maps from Garmin but from what I gather they can do a lot more i.e. routable and more names for the smaller roads. This map outlines a lot of roads (even the small ones) but only the main ones are titled. So it works well for tracking and you could draw routes out in Mapsource and load them to your device (just no auto route or turn by turn directions). Only problem with that is you don’t really know if they are one way roads or not. The topo maps this comes with are nice. Again I don’t have a Garmin product to compare it to but they seem accurate (I have an altimeter to compare it to). I loaded both the road and topo maps for Okinawa to my handheld and they seem to mesh together nicely. The detail for mainland Japan also seems nice and even more detailed than Okinawa. I don’t live there so I haven’t had a chance to use the free version and compare. Good thing about this product is that it covers all of Japan. Nice if you would like the topo info as well. All in all I am happy with it and have not been able to find anything that even compares in English. Technically the maker could make it routable but it would be very time consuming. Initially I was doing research on how to make a map myself. I found a link to UUD from one of the mapmaking software providers out there. Rather than trying to spend the time and energy into creating something myself I decided to give UUD a try. From what I see the maker is accurately representing the product. I’ve yet to find any discrepancies between what it says on the website and what you get. The product arrived priority mail within a week of placing the order on the website. The POC is also very quick to answer any questions if you email him. I would have to say it was worth the $75. I’ll get good use out of it and won’t have to rack my brain trying to make a map myself. Quote Link to comment
+ibnfe2 Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 I'm on deployment at Kadena, and my computer died, so I bought a new one. The problem is that I don't have my MapSource CD with me to load it onto my new computer, so management of GPS data is difficult. I have a couple shareware programs that get me by, but they don't work as well as MapSource, nor will they upload map files (only Waypoints & Routes). If anyone has a MapSource CD that I could borrow, I sure would appreciate it! Quote Link to comment
+Explorer99 Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 If anyone has a MapSource CD that I could borrow, I sure would appreciate it! I'd like to help you out but I'm way up north near Yokohama. How long are you going to be there? Quote Link to comment
flyaway320 Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I am also in Japan on deployment trying to find some cache's. Have you had many troubles finding some, or are there any quick ones you suggest since I have very limited free time? Quote Link to comment
+Explorer99 Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I am also in Japan on deployment trying to find some cache's. Have you had many troubles finding some, or are there any quick ones you suggest since I have very limited free time? Where in Japan are you located? If you are in the Tokyo/Yokohama area I can give you a lot of them to find. Quote Link to comment
+budd-rdc Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 I am also in Japan on deployment trying to find some cache's. Have you had many troubles finding some, or are there any quick ones you suggest since I have very limited free time? If you can obtain the coordinates of whichever base you are going to be stationed at, you should be able to find some "nearest", especially if you plan to drive your own motor vehicle. There are many near Misawa, some near Iwakuni, and even one near Sasebo. For Yokosuka/Yokota, I'd go ahead and take up on Explorer99's offer (I met him at the HANAMI event last year). Quote Link to comment
+The4Sheas Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 I am in Okinawa and currently we have over 100 caches on island. A rental car is going to be a must if you are here for a short time. Most of the people tell you if there is a fee in order to get the caches. A few have been placed on islands and parks. Worth the money though. Semper Fi Quote Link to comment
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