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Making Custom Topo Maps w/ MapSetToolKit, Rev 3


eaparks

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You can download and add as much data as you want. We simply have instructions for topos with waterways. If you find roads, cities, waypoints, trails(that you find and that you have mapped) you can add all of these to your maps. The easiest for roads would be to download them as .shp files the same as the waterways. The sky is the limit here for your maps. Autorouting on the other hand is a story for another day.

 

OK, I figured as much for the roads (via .shp files) and I knew autorouting was flat out, but I'm still clueless on how I'd do some of the "sky's the limit" things, like adding the following to my custom maps:

- trails that I capture (by walking/riding around with the GPSr logging them)

- POIs or Waypoints (l know...probably best to keep em outta the map file, but I'm curious if this is possible)

- User-defined Polygons (to mark Public Hunting areas, for example)

- others...

 

From going through this once, it seems like in general you download a bunch of data, batch-process it with about 3 or 4 tools, then load it into the GPSr. I don't see/know how to edit the data to do these things. Is there some point where you'd do something graphically? Like add a rectangular boundary around an area, or pull in a stored track file, or plop in some waypoints?

 

What am I missing?

 

Thanks for helping out a newb-

RenHoek

 

It really is unlimited what all you can add. Personally I'd suggest having a seperate Custom Map for your addtional data other than the topo contour lines and water data. Both Custom Maps can be transparent and you can view both Custom Maps on your GPSr at the same time. This makes it easier to update only the addtion of new tracks, waypoints, POI's, etc. If you want to create a Custom Map using only tracks and waypoints I'll be glad to post my instructions in addtion to my instructions posted at the beginning of this thread on Cyphermans website and you can custom the look of the roads/tracks using the .TYP file modification. The steps are basically the same without the topo data.

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It really is unlimited what all you can add. Personally I'd suggest having a seperate Custom Map for your addtional data other than the topo contour lines and water data. Both Custom Maps can be transparent and you can view both Custom Maps on your GPSr at the same time. This makes it easier to update only the addtion of new tracks, waypoints, POI's, etc. If you want to create a Custom Map using only tracks and waypoints I'll be glad to post my instructions in addtion to my instructions posted at the beginning of this thread on Cyphermans website and you can custom the look of the roads/tracks using the .TYP file modification. The steps are basically the same without the topo data.

 

I for one wouldn't mind seeing the additional instructions. And let me say again THANKS for sharing your expertise!!! <_<

Edited by dsshepard
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I have a T-1 conection
Figured as much. :(

Well, problem is that their server keeps timing out on me 1/2 thru the upload. Pooo

Did you compress the file into a zip file? If so how large is your zip? The only time I have had problems is when I forgot to compress the .mp into a zip folder.

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I have a T-1 conection
Figured as much. :(

Well, problem is that their server keeps timing out on me 1/2 thru the upload. Pooo

Did you compress the file into a zip file? If so how large is your zip? The only time I have had problems is when I forgot to compress the .mp into a zip folder.

 

Ya - named the .mp file "source.mp" and zipped it to an archive of 10.72Mb.... I'll try her again today because if it works, wow would that ever save time on my 15 arc dry maps!

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I have a T-1 conection
Figured as much. :(

Well, problem is that their server keeps timing out on me 1/2 thru the upload. Pooo

Did you compress the file into a zip file? If so how large is your zip? The only time I have had problems is when I forgot to compress the .mp into a zip folder.

 

Ya - named the .mp file "source.mp" and zipped it to an archive of 10.72Mb.... I'll try her again today because if it works, wow would that ever save time on my 15 arc dry maps!

It should load fine then. I have loaded larger ones I think like 32Mb zipped with no problems.

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This is a really good process, although it is time and labor intensive. At first I did not think I would like the results because there are no trails, roads, peaks or other data, but, but you can overlay the result over Garmins US Topo and it integrates together rather nicely.

 

Great work to the Developers.

 

Also, the Map Tool Kit is so much easier to use than to edit the registry.

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...If you want to create a Custom Map using only tracks and waypoints I'll be glad to post my instructions in addtion to my instructions posted at the beginning of this thread on Cyphermans website and you can custom the look of the roads/tracks using the .TYP file modification. The steps are basically the same without the topo data.

 

Thanks! That'd be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

 

-RenHoek

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I have a T-1 conection
Figured as much. :laughing:

Well, problem is that their server keeps timing out on me 1/2 thru the upload. Pooo

Did you compress the file into a zip file? If so how large is your zip? The only time I have had problems is when I forgot to compress the .mp into a zip folder.

 

Ya - named the .mp file "source.mp" and zipped it to an archive of 10.72Mb.... I'll try her again today because if it works, wow would that ever save time on my 15 arc dry maps!

It should load fine then. I have loaded larger ones I think like 32Mb zipped with no problems.

 

Could just be today... but HEY! I have 4 completed 15' .IMG files already and they are beautiful :P

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Cypherman has revised his MapSetToolKit to v1.15 making it even easier to use now. The entire Step-by-Step Instructions for making Custom Topo Maps, Rev. 3, has never been easier. Most anyone should now be able to make Custom Topo Maps.

 

Cypherman has a new revision for MapSetToolKit v1.17a on his web site. This new version has a new option of "Blank overview maps". What does this option do?

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If you want to create a Custom Map using only tracks and waypoints I'll be glad to post my instructions in addtion to my instructions posted at the beginning of this thread on Cyphermans website and you can custom the look of the roads/tracks using the .TYP file modification. The steps are basically the same without the topo data.

I am trying to do something very simple: Just make a map of my accurate tracklogs to use instead of the highly inaccurate trails shown on the USGS maps. I found a good summary at How To Make Your Own GPS Map, and combining this with the MapSetToolkit for installing things was able to see my new maps in MapSource. I was, however, unable to send them to my GPSmap 60CSx; even sending a single segment of about 24 KB (yup, K, not M :anibad:) gave me a message: "The mapset is approximately 0.0 MB, but only 59.4 MB is available on your device. Please choose a smaller mapset and try again"

 

Since MapSource can see them I would suspect that I have installed them correctly on my PC. Any suggestions??

 

Just to check that there is nothing wrong with my GPSr I have just sent a 45.6 MB mapset of pure Garmin maps; it was transferred with no problems.

 

And yes, even if my problem is solved I would love to see instructions for making tracks and waypoints only with a .TYP file; I would like to color my correct trails red to distinguish them from the inaccurate ones on the topos.

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If you want to create a Custom Map using only tracks and waypoints I'll be glad to post my instructions in addtion to my instructions posted at the beginning of this thread on Cyphermans website and you can custom the look of the roads/tracks using the .TYP file modification. The steps are basically the same without the topo data.

I am trying to do something very simple: Just make a map of my accurate tracklogs to use instead of the highly inaccurate trails shown on the USGS maps. I found a good summary at How To Make Your Own GPS Map, and combining this with the MapSetToolkit for installing things was able to see my new maps in MapSource. I was, however, unable to send them to my GPSmap 60CSx; even sending a single segment of about 24 KB (yup, K, not M :blink:) gave me a message: "The mapset is approximately 0.0 MB, but only 59.4 MB is available on your device. Please choose a smaller mapset and try again"

 

Since MapSource can see them I would suspect that I have installed them correctly on my PC. Any suggestions??

 

Just to check that there is nothing wrong with my GPSr I have just sent a 45.6 MB mapset of pure Garmin maps; it was transferred with no problems.

 

And yes, even if my problem is solved I would love to see instructions for making tracks and waypoints only with a .TYP file; I would like to color my correct trails red to distinguish them from the inaccurate ones on the topos.

 

I'll be glad to email you the instructions when I get back home in a week, I don't have access to them while I'm out of town. If you'll send me a PM with your email address I'll get it to you next week. Or, you can go to Cyphermans website and print out the ones for the custom topo maps I have there and leave out all the steps for the topo and hydrography data and have basically the same instructions. There are several colors that look good for customizing trails on a custom map. I'll also include an excel color chart for colors that lood good on the GPSr with their corresponding sRGB numbers if you would like to use it for your .TYP file.

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I finished my first 15' map - perfect!

 

It took 5 hours 15 minutes to complete the cGPSMapper export.

 

Question: Can I export 2 maps at the came time using cGPSMapper export? It would seem that I can (opening two 15' polish format maps and having them export individually at the same time - I am doing it now). Anyone tried this? I am doing 2 simultaneous exports now just to see if it works and what kind of total export time I get doing it, but wondered if anyone else has tried it. If my threaded processor is a champ and I get both exported in roughtly 5 hours total well then yay for me. If it simply doubles the total time at roughly 10 hours, that's ok too as I can load it up and walk away. However if this causes cGPSMapper to throw errors this will not be a good thing so just wondering if anyone else has tried this.

 

Wow - 15' is big! These maps will be such a sweet resource for people in my area! I am not doing waterways because its the desert and I really don't care about dried spillways, etc., however I am keeping all the original file sin the event that I want to go back and add waterways in the future.

If you have a highspeed connection(it saves time this way) you can upload your .mp file(zipped) to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ and they will compile your file to .img. I load a bunch of .mp files in the evening and then the next day I download the .img file from them. Just another way to do it and saves time and shares your maps easily.

 

I have 25 of my 30 maps done and expect to have the rest done by tomorrow. I want to share them to the world and so http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ seems perfect, however for the past couple weeks I have had the same issue ... it times out on upload. I have tried from work and from home. On a Mac and PC and with IE and Firefox - same result each time. There is no documentation on that site for what kind of file to upload. One of the FAQ's mentions naming the source .mp file source.mp and so I did that and zipped it as source.zip. But it times out every time. Am I doing something wrong? I have emailed the site designer and also asked for membership to their Yahoo group to see if I can get an answer there.

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Hi Friends,

 

I have been reading up on custom map making and following this thread.

 

I have the NG TOPO series for Fl, Al and Ga. I know that you cant use the ".tpo" files for conversion. But it will output a TIFF file of the map.

 

I found a program to add the gps header info to a TIFF file which then makes this a "GeoTIFF".

 

From here I should be able to pick up the directions and convert to a ".mp" file and then to a Garmin ".img" file.

 

If I can get the TIFF outputted to an .mp file and converted I can then edit it with waypoints and so forth using Mapsource.

 

I have a GPSMAP 60cx

 

In fact I believe one could trace there own map using a vector program like adobe illustrator and convert to tiff, add gps header info then save as "geotiff". From there you should be able to pick up the rest of the steps and end up with your own custom map.

 

Can anyone here advise on this theory.

 

I have already posted in the general forum but realized I should be posting on this thread. Sorry for the double post.

 

Thanks

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

 

Also in the instruction pdf, it says to click on the GNIS_Name tab (when importing waterways) -- I think thats just a sorting tab and doesn't do anything functional?

 

Now we need a website to break the country into the specific 15m quads / specify name/map id so we could all share in this bounty.

Edited by bansheegeo
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is there a way i can just convert my magellan region to a format i can use on my garmin gpsmap 60cx? if so can you tell me how right now its a .rgn file. can someone here send me a sample of thier map if possible? i want to see one. im still stuck on getting the info from the usgs site it wont let me see the map.

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Cypherman has revised his MapSetToolKit to v1.15 making it even easier to use now. The entire Step-by-Step Instructions for making Custom Topo Maps, Rev. 3, has never been easier. Most anyone should now be able to make Custom Topo Maps.

 

Cypherman has a new revision for MapSetToolKit v1.17a on his web site. This new version has a new option of "Blank overview maps". What does this option do?

 

This option, make a empty global IMG file (overview maps). Use this option only to make some test. The generation of a mapset is faster with this option.

 

Cypherman

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

 

Also in the instruction pdf, it says to click on the GNIS_Name tab (when importing waterways) -- I think thats just a sorting tab and doesn't do anything functional?

 

Now we need a website to break the country into the specific 15m quads / specify name/map id so we could all share in this bounty.

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good. As for the GNIS_Name tab if you click on it and your waterways come with names then this will import the names into your maps.

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is there a way i can just convert my magellan region to a format i can use on my garmin gpsmap 60cx? if so can you tell me how right now its a .rgn file. can someone here send me a sample of thier map if possible? i want to see one. im still stuck on getting the info from the usgs site it wont let me see the map.

I do not think you can convert from Magellan to Garmin. The .imgs are different. As for the usgs site are you using the new IE? I have heard of a lot of people having problems with it. Try firefox.

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I finished my first 15' map - perfect!

 

It took 5 hours 15 minutes to complete the cGPSMapper export.

 

Question: Can I export 2 maps at the came time using cGPSMapper export? It would seem that I can (opening two 15' polish format maps and having them export individually at the same time - I am doing it now). Anyone tried this? I am doing 2 simultaneous exports now just to see if it works and what kind of total export time I get doing it, but wondered if anyone else has tried it. If my threaded processor is a champ and I get both exported in roughtly 5 hours total well then yay for me. If it simply doubles the total time at roughly 10 hours, that's ok too as I can load it up and walk away. However if this causes cGPSMapper to throw errors this will not be a good thing so just wondering if anyone else has tried this.

 

Wow - 15' is big! These maps will be such a sweet resource for people in my area! I am not doing waterways because its the desert and I really don't care about dried spillways, etc., however I am keeping all the original file sin the event that I want to go back and add waterways in the future.

If you have a highspeed connection(it saves time this way) you can upload your .mp file(zipped) to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ and they will compile your file to .img. I load a bunch of .mp files in the evening and then the next day I download the .img file from them. Just another way to do it and saves time and shares your maps easily.

 

I have 25 of my 30 maps done and expect to have the rest done by tomorrow. I want to share them to the world and so http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/ seems perfect, however for the past couple weeks I have had the same issue ... it times out on upload. I have tried from work and from home. On a Mac and PC and with IE and Firefox - same result each time. There is no documentation on that site for what kind of file to upload. One of the FAQ's mentions naming the source .mp file source.mp and so I did that and zipped it as source.zip. But it times out every time. Am I doing something wrong? I have emailed the site designer and also asked for membership to their Yahoo group to see if I can get an answer there.

I will pm you my email address. Send me your file that you are trying to upload exactly like you are uploading it. I have no problems with it so maybe it is something little.

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redneck,

 

From what I have seen, using the instructions provided at the top of this thread yields maps with much more TOPO detail than the NG product contains. Why not get the maps from the USGS site and run them that way?

National Geographic TOPO! State Series maps ARE USGS 1:24,000 maps, so they have the same detail as the maps on the web site. That being said, I don't think it is possible to do, anyway.

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I will pm you my email address. Send me your file that you are trying to upload exactly like you are uploading it. I have no problems with it so maybe it is something little.

Thanks - I tried emailing you but the attachment at 12Mb was too large for your account so I PM'd ya a url where I put the archive on my website for you.

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I will pm you my email address. Send me your file that you are trying to upload exactly like you are uploading it. I have no problems with it so maybe it is something little.

Thanks - I tried emailing you but the attachment at 12Mb was too large for your account so I PM'd ya a url where I put the archive on my website for you.

I hate email sometimes. Anyways I got your file and uploaded it to mapcenter. You can see it under recent uploads. I called it western desert. I uploaded it from a pc. I will try and upload it here from a mac to see if it makes a difference. Not sure why you are having problems?

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I will pm you my email address. Send me your file that you are trying to upload exactly like you are uploading it. I have no problems with it so maybe it is something little.

Thanks - I tried emailing you but the attachment at 12Mb was too large for your account so I PM'd ya a url where I put the archive on my website for you.

I hate email sometimes. Anyways I got your file and uploaded it to mapcenter. You can see it under recent uploads. I called it western desert. I uploaded it from a pc. I will try and upload it here from a mac to see if it makes a difference. Not sure why you are having problems?

Anyways..I just uploaded the same file here from a mac and called it western2. No problems at all. I used firefox for the mac. Maybe try it again? Are you trying to do more than one file at once?

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I will pm you my email address. Send me your file that you are trying to upload exactly like you are uploading it. I have no problems with it so maybe it is something little.

Thanks - I tried emailing you but the attachment at 12Mb was too large for your account so I PM'd ya a url where I put the archive on my website for you.

I hate email sometimes. Anyways I got your file and uploaded it to mapcenter. You can see it under recent uploads. I called it western desert. I uploaded it from a pc. I will try and upload it here from a mac to see if it makes a difference. Not sure why you are having problems?

Anyways..I just uploaded the same file here from a mac and called it western2. No problems at all. I used firefox for the mac. Maybe try it again? Are you trying to do more than one file at once?

 

Good lord - I can't think of what I am doing wrong as I tried it on Mac and PC with IE and Firefox. Maybe it's my ISP or my firewall... hmmm, I'll do some tinkering. REALLY appreciate the help - I can't wait to get all 30 of these bad boys up there :P

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is there a way i can just convert my magellan region to a format i can use on my garmin gpsmap 60cx? if so can you tell me how right now its a .rgn file. can someone here send me a sample of thier map if possible? i want to see one. im still stuck on getting the info from the usgs site it wont let me see the map.

I do not think you can convert from Magellan to Garmin. The .imgs are different. As for the usgs site are you using the new IE? I have heard of a lot of people having problems with it. Try firefox.

i dont have the new IE im running on windows 98 which could be part of the problem and the dial up is a problem im sure

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

Edited by bansheegeo
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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

 

I have noticed that while it may look "funky" in mapsource, it looks beautiful in my 60CSx. FWIW :huh:

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

 

I have noticed that while it may look "funky" in mapsource, it looks beautiful in my 60CSx. FWIW :huh:

 

I noticed the same thing. I have not had a chance to load it into my unit, yet, but in mapsource my rivers look like squares and triangles rather than nice flowing shapes.

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

 

Hi!

 

Can you send me your 10010110.img please. I'm not sure that MSTK can create this bugs. Your Level bits in your img file it's not correct or to low bits level (15-14)??

 

email: cypherman1 AT gmail.com

 

Cypherman

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

 

Hi!

 

Can you send me your 10010110.img please. I'm not sure that MSTK can create this bugs. Your Level bits in your img file it's not correct or to low bits level (15-14)??

 

email: cypherman1 AT gmail.com

 

Cypherman

 

I will let Bansheegeo send his. I am not going to bombard Cypherman, at least not yet. :( . The problem may be with the original .img, file, but the output of Mapset Toolkit includes a [Mapset name].img file. If you open that with Map edit, you get a very rough low res image of the area.

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

 

Hi!

 

Can you send me your 10010110.img please. I'm not sure that MSTK can create this bugs. Your Level bits in your img file it's not correct or to low bits level (15-14)??

 

email: cypherman1 AT gmail.com

 

Cypherman

 

I will let Bansheegeo send his. I am not going to bombard Cypherman, at least not yet. :( . The problem may be with the original .img, file, but the output of Mapset Toolkit includes a [Mapset name].img file. If you open that with Map edit, you get a very rough low res image of the area.

 

I hate to reply to my own message but I am going to. I found a workaround. Open the [Mapset name].img, then delete all the internal objects, just not the background or the definition area. Then re-export it through cGPSmapper. Just to be clear, you are not opening the ########.img that you created earlier, but rather the [Mapset name].img that Mapset Toolkit creates for you. Then when you view it on mapsourse, the low res objects are gone!

 

It worked for me, YMMV!

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This is great. I just did the San Francisco 15m quad. Topo works fine, but I have an issue with my waterways: I get two lines for creeks/rivers one of which is fine, the other follows the general path but is very jagged (ie: a low res version of the former).

For the waterways are you downloading the high resolution data. I think the waterways look pretty good.

 

Ok I found the issue. When I'm using mapsettoolkit (1.17a beta) to install the IMG file, whatever I use as the "Mapset Name" is created as a low res IMG file (this is used when you're zoomed out). So for example if I start with 10010110.img and run mapsettoolkit using the MapsetName "Test", when MSTK is done, C:\Garmin\Custom contains 4 files: 10010110.img, Test.img, Test.TDB, and Test.reg. When I choose to display "Test" in mapsource, it displays both Test.img (low res) and 10010110.img (high res original).

 

What am I doing wrong here? How do I inhibit mapsource from displaying the global img when I'm zoomed in? Is this is MSTK bug? [i haven't d/l to the gps so I'm not sure what it looks like there yet.]

 

Hi!

 

Can you send me your 10010110.img please. I'm not sure that MSTK can create this bugs. Your Level bits in your img file it's not correct or to low bits level (15-14)??

 

email: cypherman1 AT gmail.com

 

Cypherman

 

I will let Bansheegeo send his. I am not going to bombard Cypherman, at least not yet. :( . The problem may be with the original .img, file, but the output of Mapset Toolkit includes a [Mapset name].img file. If you open that with Map edit, you get a very rough low res image of the area.

 

I hate to reply to my own message but I am going to. I found a workaround. Open the [Mapset name].img, then delete all the internal objects, just not the background or the definition area. Then re-export it through cGPSmapper. Just to be clear, you are not opening the ########.img that you created earlier, but rather the [Mapset name].img that Mapset Toolkit creates for you. Then when you view it on mapsourse, the low res objects are gone!

 

It worked for me, YMMV!

 

[Mapset name].img is a global maps (overview maps), it's normal that a low res maps. MapSetToolKit can create a empty low res maps. Checked the Blank overview maps box. It's make a same workaround.

 

Cypherman

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[Mapset name].img is a global maps (overview maps), it's normal that a low res maps. MapSetToolKit can create a empty low res maps. Checked the Blank overview maps box. It's make a same workaround.

 

Oh maybe the problem is that because these are transparent maps the highres versions are drawing over the lowres version? And indeed that is the case. If I replace one of the IMG with a non-transparent IMG I see only the highres version.

 

So its no one's bug, but simply a step to add to the instructions:

 

If you're using transparent maps, check the "Blank overview maps" checkbox in MSTK when importing your IMG to mapsource.

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The course jagged lines are the higher level lines. A Garmin topo usually has 3 levels containing the same line for certain features such as trails and streams. The first level which you see at a close zoom in on the unit, appears smooth as it should be. The jagged lines will appear on the unit at a high zoom out level, but will not look jagged at this level.

 

Text will be placed independently on each polyline. This prevents all the text appearing at close zoom ins to also appear at high zoom outs.

 

Do not start erasing the jagged lines unless you don't want them to appear when you zoom out. When you zoom in, the line should appear, but be dicated by the mapset setting for levels text descriptions.

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Another thing to be aware of when downloading hydro data is that highres data is not available for all locations. You'll get a file with zero Flowlines. When you import it in gpsmapedit, you'll see a blank area with no rivers. If this happens, go back and try medium hydro data.

 

If you're a good person you'll check the square boxes on the hydro site and look at the data before downloading it, but I just grabbed swaths of CA.

 

I've got about 2/3 of the SF Bay Area done in 15m quads but I have to go backfill Pittsburg and Mount Diablo with medium res hydro.

 

Anyone manage to run two instances of cgpgmapper? I've got multiple cpus but one of the copies always dies with an access violation.

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Well I got out hiking today and these new maps are the bomb. I think I will change a few things from the instructions: dem2topo with 500/100/25 and then alter the layers to have the intermediate lines appear for one more zoom level before the minor lines appear.

 

Thanks so much for posting these instructions!

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I will pm you my email address. Send me your file that you are trying to upload exactly like you are uploading it. I have no problems with it so maybe it is something little.

Thanks - I tried emailing you but the attachment at 12Mb was too large for your account so I PM'd ya a url where I put the archive on my website for you.

I hate email sometimes. Anyways I got your file and uploaded it to mapcenter. You can see it under recent uploads. I called it western desert. I uploaded it from a pc. I will try and upload it here from a mac to see if it makes a difference. Not sure why you are having problems?

Anyways..I just uploaded the same file here from a mac and called it western2. No problems at all. I used firefox for the mac. Maybe try it again? Are you trying to do more than one file at once?

 

Good lord - I can't think of what I am doing wrong as I tried it on Mac and PC with IE and Firefox. Maybe it's my ISP or my firewall... hmmm, I'll do some tinkering. REALLY appreciate the help - I can't wait to get all 30 of these bad boys up there :rolleyes:

 

Re uploading my mas to http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/:

 

Yeah, I'm really confused as to why this isn't working for me. I have now tried at home and at work on a Mac and PC using Firefox, IE and Safari (Mac) and I get a "Connection has been reset" error every time. Obviously it is working to upload for many other users at the site so seriously I am just at a loss. The same file worked for you so it's not the file itself. Agh.

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Lets make sure you are doing it right. Probably are but have no idea why it isn't working. Are you trying to load more than one file at a time?

 

So you go to the site then click on "your account"?

Log in

Choose your action

Add new map

Map name(anything you want)

Description(anything)

Catagory(topo?)

Country(USA)

Region(state maybe?)

Allowed uses(whatever you choose)

Modified versions(whatever)

Homepage(if you want)

 

check Upload Local Zip (find it and upload one zip(with one file in it) at a time)?

 

Let me know if this sounds right to you. I can't figure out why you can't upload them. If you want I am willing to upload them for you if you give me the info you want entered and we can give you credit in the description. Let me know. Hopefully we can get this worked out.

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Yeah - I'm really scratching my head here.

 

I am doing one file at a time, yes.

 

And I do this progression exactly:

So you go to the site then click on "your account"?

Log in

Choose your action

Add new map

Map name(Greater Coachella Valley 1 of 30)

Description:

30 15' maps from 34deg 30' N to 33deg N and 117deg 15' W to 115deg 15' W. There are no waterways defined, just detailed topo data for desert hikers.

 

Catagory(Topographic)

Country(USA)

Region(California)

Allowed uses(Not Public)

Modified versions(Gotta pub it on this site)

Homepage(http://maps.ericvforsberg.com)

 

I rename the .mp file "source.mp" and zip it. I have tried calling the .zip "01.zip" and "source.zip" on separate tries.

 

check Upload Local Zip

 

ERROR :rolleyes:

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Yeah - I'm really scratching my head here.

 

I am doing one file at a time, yes.

 

And I do this progression exactly:

So you go to the site then click on "your account"?

Log in

Choose your action

Add new map

Map name(Greater Coachella Valley 1 of 30)

Description:

30 15' maps from 34deg 30' N to 33deg N and 117deg 15' W to 115deg 15' W. There are no waterways defined, just detailed topo data for desert hikers.

 

Catagory(Topographic)

Country(USA)

Region(California)

Allowed uses(Not Public)

Modified versions(Gotta pub it on this site)

Homepage(http://maps.ericvforsberg.com)

 

I rename the .mp file "source.mp" and zip it. I have tried calling the .zip "01.zip" and "source.zip" on separate tries.

 

check Upload Local Zip

 

ERROR :rolleyes:

Hmmm...no idea. The zip you sent me before I had no problems uploading it. I assume if you make them that way there should be no problems. Firewall?? Did you contact the moderators at the site for suggestions? Hopefully you can get it.

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Cypherman has revised his MapSetToolKit to v1.15 making it even easier to use now. The entire Step-by-Step Instructions for making Custom Topo Maps, Rev. 3, has never been easier. Most anyone should now be able to make Custom Topo Maps.

 

The instructions can be printed in PDF from Cypherman's website: http://cypherman1.googlepages.com/Creating...hMapSetTool.pdf

 

Hi,

I just bought a GPS and am very much a greenhorn. so I'm sorry in advanced for stupid questions.

I saw the Creating Custom Topo Maps, and was going through it and saw the IDL Virtual Machine (IDL VM). Do you have to purchase the IDL in order to use the IDL VM? I couldn't tell from their site. Thanks !!!

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