Google Earth Maps to Custom Garmin Map

[rws]

Here's a quick video tutorial that plays in Windows Media player to get you started making basic maps by tracing map features in Google Earth and then making and installing the map into your Garmin GPS. Once you learn the basics add more detail to your maps. Search this site and the internet for more advanced map making help. Note: use unique numbers for each .img file you create in GPSMapEdit and unique Product Code numbers in MapSetToolKit.

 

Download Video Tutorial Here

 

You'll need the following software packages (all are Freeware):

Google Earth...trace features you want to appear on your Garmin map

GPSBabel...used to convert kml to gpx

GPSMapEdit...program used to make your map

cGPSMapper...used by GPSMapEdit and MapSetToolKit

MapSetToolKit...program used to install your map into Mapsource

 

Go from Google Earth map to Garmin Custom Map

 

Custom Map installed in Mapsource

 

Screenshot of Custom Map from a Garmin 276c

Edited July 25, 2007 by rws

[+Knight2000]

Any idea if it works for with Magellan?

Edited July 25, 2007 by knight2000

[rws]

The tutorial/software packages will not work for making Magellan maps.

Edited July 25, 2007 by rws

[rws]

Tutorial 2....adding more detail to the previous Tutorial map....roads, airstrip, resort and parking lots.

 

Download Video Tutorial 2 Here

 

from Google Earth map

 

to Custom Garmin map (screenshot from Garmin 276c)

[+Bus36]

Tutorial 2....adding more detail to the previous Tutorial map....roads, airstrip, resort and parking lots.

 

Download Video Tutorial 2 Here

 

from Google Earth map

 

to Custom Garmin map (screenshot from Garmin 276c)

Just an idea to golfers out there. You can trace your local golf course and use the data when you play.

[JoeMugs]

First off, a BIG thanks for the information. Your posts in another thread got me started on this and the information is very helpful.

 

However, I am unable to view the videos. There is something about the codec used that will not allow it to run on my system (I am on a Mac). Have tried both the Mac Windows media player and running the .wmv under emulation. The codec is probably a newer version that is not supported on my systems. Is there any way you could provide this in another, older format (or even Quicktime?).

 

BTW - I was really stuck on polygons and them not transferring to MapEdit. Your pictures in this thread really helped - the polygons are actually lines (paths) that are converted to polygons in MapEdit.

 

With that last piece of information, I was finally able to create a map (tracing GE, using MapEdit under emulation, creating the .img and copying to the SD card in USB mode). I cannot believe it actually works.

 

Thanks again

[+Ole Cache]

Hi, I build my maps using a similar technique, although I think mine is somewhat shorter. Also I beleive you have to pay Google $20 in order to be able to trace polygons and polylines in GE.

 

The software (freeware) you need with my workflow is:

GoogleMapViewer (GMV2) and GpsMapEdit.

 

GMV lets you capture GoogleEarth imagery directly to an OziExplorer .map (image/data pair, you don't need Ozi), which can be directly imported into GpsMapEdit, where all features can be traced using the native map creating features.

Rest of your procedure should be the same.

 

Cheers,

C

 

Here's a quick video tutorial that plays in Windows Media player to get you started making basic maps by tracing map features in Google Earth ...

 

You'll need the following software packages (all are Freeware):

Google Earth...trace features you want to appear on your Garmin map

GPSBabel...used to convert kml to gpx

GPSMapEdit...program used to make your map

cGPSMapper...used by GPSMapEdit and MapSetToolKit

MapSetToolKit...program used to install your map into Mapsource

 

[rws]

Hi, I build my maps using a similar technique, although I think mine is somewhat shorter. Also I beleive you have to pay Google $20 in order to be able to trace polygons and polylines in GE.

 

 

The latest free version of Google Earth allows tracing...

[+txmusic]

I was able to do this and it worked great! I just followed the video step by step. Thanks for the post!!! My only question is is there any way to get the text "Map created with...." to disappear?

[rws]

I was able to do this and it worked great! I just followed the video step by step. Thanks for the post!!! My only question is is there any way to get the text "Map created with...." to disappear?

 

possibly with one of the paid versions of cGPSMapper...contact the author for confirmation

[rws]

 

However, I am unable to view the videos. There is something about the codec used that will not allow it to run on my system (I am on a Mac). Have tried both the Mac Windows media player and running the .wmv under emulation. The codec is probably a newer version that is not supported on my systems. Is there any way you could provide this in another, older format (or even Quicktime?).

 

 

Do a Google search for a .wmv to .mov converter.....

[+Bus36]

 

However, I am unable to view the videos. There is something about the codec used that will not allow it to run on my system (I am on a Mac). Have tried both the Mac Windows media player and running the .wmv under emulation. The codec is probably a newer version that is not supported on my systems. Is there any way you could provide this in another, older format (or even Quicktime?).

 

 

Do a Google search for a .wmv to .mov converter.....

rws had a quick question. I just got some .shp files of park borders. They are polygons. I am trying to get them into the gps and be able to see city navigator roads, waterways, etc through the polygons. I tried to make a .typ file using cyphermans gentyp but had not luck. I set the color scheme then set the priority of the polygon to 8. Thought this might work but my custom map again was on top of all city navigator items. Know of any work around?? Thanks for the help.

[rws]

rws had a quick question. I just got some .shp files of park borders. They are polygons. I am trying to get them into the gps and be able to see city navigator roads, waterways, etc through the polygons. I tried to make a .typ file using cyphermans gentyp but had not luck. I set the color scheme then set the priority of the polygon to 8. Thought this might work but my custom map again was on top of all city navigator items. Know of any work around?? Thanks for the help.

 

...typ draw order I believe only applies to draw order on your custom map...with your transparent map over another map solid polygons will cover anything below. You could use a semi-transparent polygon like 01 (and a few others) that would allow the underlaying map to show through the polygon. Another option instead of using a polygon use a polyline to define the perimeter of the park.

 

Edit:

I just thought of another option...typ a polygon with a custom bitmap with a transparent background...info on how to do it is in the latest cGPSMapper manual.

Edited July 29, 2007 by rws

[rws]

rws had a quick question. I just got some .shp files of park borders. They are polygons. I am trying to get them into the gps and be able to see city navigator roads, waterways, etc through the polygons. I tried to make a .typ file using cyphermans gentyp but had not luck. I set the color scheme then set the priority of the polygon to 8. Thought this might work but my custom map again was on top of all city navigator items. Know of any work around?? Thanks for the help.

 

Here's a screenshot with a semi-transparent polygon custom map on top of City Select. I created the example polygon to cover water, land and roads to show how they show through. I used a typ file to alter the State Park polygon (x20) using a bitmap to color in green leaving some transparency to allow the City Select map to show through. The bitmap can be adjusted to let more (or less) of the underlaying map show through.

 

Page 55 and 56 in the cGPSMapper manual covers how to typ a polygon.

 

Edited July 31, 2007 by rws

[+VWDave]

Is Googlemapviewer a separate program you need to download, or is it part of one the programs mentioned?

[+Bus36]

rws had a quick question. I just got some .shp files of park borders. They are polygons. I am trying to get them into the gps and be able to see city navigator roads, waterways, etc through the polygons. I tried to make a .typ file using cyphermans gentyp but had not luck. I set the color scheme then set the priority of the polygon to 8. Thought this might work but my custom map again was on top of all city navigator items. Know of any work around?? Thanks for the help.

 

Here's a screenshot with a semi-transparent polygon custom map on top of City Select. I created the example polygon to cover water, land and roads to show how they show through. I used a typ file to alter the State Park polygon (x20) using a bitmap to color in green leaving some transparency to allow the City Select map to show through. The bitmap can be adjusted to let more (or less) of the underlaying map show through. The example should maybe have a little less transparency to give it more green and the bitmap would have to be adjusted some to get rid of the blank lines.

 

Page 55 and 56 in the cGPSMapper manual covers how to typ a polygon.

 

Thanks for the example. It looks pretty good. I use cyphermans gentyp program to do this stuff. I find it more user friendly and less learning curve. I will look at page 55&56 of cGPSMapper to see if I can translate that to gentyp program. Unless you know already how to do this?? Thanks for the help.

[rws]

Thanks for the example. It looks pretty good. I use cyphermans gentyp program to do this stuff. I find it more user friendly and less learning curve. I will look at page 55&56 of cGPSMapper to see if I can translate that to gentyp program. Unless you know already how to do this?? Thanks for the help.

 

I re-did the bitmap and updated the screenshot picture above.

 

I used GenTYP to typ the polygon in the example above...click the ADD/EDIT Image button to import your .xpm image. I used Photoshop Elements to create the image and converted it to .xpm with XNView...then imported it into GenTYP. There are better instructions for this typ/xpm stuff Here Download the CutomTypes.zip file

 

Edit:

 

I just looked at cypherman's site...no need to convert to xpm...you can create image and save as bmp and when imported into GenTYP it is converted.

Edited July 31, 2007 by rws

[+Bus36]

I tried this out and got something but didn't like how it looked. I used photoshop at work. The problem is I can only make it at work then bring it home and try it out. Is there a way to use a free program on windows to do this. I am running xp. If not I will have to make it at work and try it at home. Also I made a square box but it didn't look to good. Can you send me your .bmp file. I will pm you my email. I would like to look at somthing in case I have to do this at work.

[rws]

I tried this out and got something but didn't like how it looked. I used photoshop at work. The problem is I can only make it at work then bring it home and try it out. Is there a way to use a free program on windows to do this. I am running xp. If not I will have to make it at work and try it at home. Also I made a square box but it didn't look to good. Can you send me your .bmp file. I will pm you my email. I would like to look at somthing in case I have to do this at work.

 

I'd Google a freeware graphics or icon editor to install on your home computer.

 

bmp was emailed to you.

I imported the bmp into GenTYP and set the x's to green and the dots to transparent (NONE).

 

Here's what the bmp image looks like blown up to 256x256 to better show the pattern that produces the semi-transparent polygon in the GPS screenshot below.

 

 

Here's another pattern

Edited August 1, 2007 by rws

[rws]

I tried this out and got something but didn't like how it looked. I used photoshop at work. The problem is I can only make it at work then bring it home and try it out. Is there a way to use a free program on windows to do this. I am running xp. If not I will have to make it at work and try it at home. Also I made a square box but it didn't look to good. Can you send me your .bmp file. I will pm you my email. I would like to look at somthing in case I have to do this at work.

 

Try this free paint program Paint.NET v3.08 I tried it and worked great. A little bonus is it has a bunch of brush patterns. I did a little test with it...created a 32x32 file...turned the grid on so I had a guide to follow with the brush...zoomed it to 800%...selected the brush tool...set brush to 4 pix...tried several of the brush patterns and whipped up many different images in no time. Of cource you can draw freehand images too.

Edited August 1, 2007 by rws

[+Bus36]

I tried this out and got something but didn't like how it looked. I used photoshop at work. The problem is I can only make it at work then bring it home and try it out. Is there a way to use a free program on windows to do this. I am running xp. If not I will have to make it at work and try it at home. Also I made a square box but it didn't look to good. Can you send me your .bmp file. I will pm you my email. I would like to look at somthing in case I have to do this at work.

 

Try this free paint program Paint.NET v3.08 I tried it and worked great. A little bonus is it has a bunch of brush patterns. I did a little test with it...created a 32x32 file...turned the grid on so I had a guide to follow with the brush...zoomed it to 800%...selected the brush tool...set brush to 4 pix...tried several of the brush patterns and whipped up many different images in no time. Of cource you can draw freehand images too.

Thanks for the help and tips. This got me on my way. I am understanding the process better now. Now to find the perfect design so I can see the borders and get the most transparent maps

[RenHoek]

So, I've been playing with MapEdit et al in my quest to make some usable hunting maps for the upcoming hunting season. KS puts out an atlas (PDF format) that shows where all of the various Walk-In-Hunting-Access (WIHA!!) land is that is open to public hunting. My 1st whack at this was to screencapture a page into a BMP, then into OziExplorer, then outline each WIHA area with a polygon in MapEdit, yada yada yada...

 

The problem with my first attempt was that I used a solid polygon, and so the topo features beneath each polygon are obscured. So then I used a TYP file (similar to the one detailed here) to create a "transparent" polygon. Well, since these areas are relatively small the transparent version doesn't show up that well when you're zoomed out to about 15 mi or so, and the edges are kinda hard to make out, since it uses a semi-solid pattern...so that gave me idea #3:

 

I think it's possible to have BOTH solid and Transparent polygons at two different zoom levels - solid for when you're zoomed way out, and then transparent when you get close enough to care about the finer details.

 

I haven't played around with MapEdit enough to figure this out, so I was hoping some ol' map sages here could give me some pointers -

 

1) How do you assign the level on which each polygon is drawn (and therefore NOT drawn)?

2) Is there an easy way to specify that you only want the BORDER of the polygon a certain color, and not be filled (either with a solid color, or a patterned bitmap)?

3) Is there a way to specify a polygon with a border AND a fill pattern? something like a cross-hatch pattern that would have hard-defined edges at the border?

4) Is there a good mapmaker forum out there in the internets that I should go read up on?

 

Thanks-

RenHoek

[+imajeep]

That's pretty cool!

[rws]

So, I've been playing with MapEdit et al in my quest to make some usable hunting maps for the upcoming hunting season. KS puts out an atlas (PDF format) that shows where all of the various Walk-In-Hunting-Access (WIHA!!) land is that is open to public hunting. My 1st whack at this was to screencapture a page into a BMP, then into OziExplorer, then outline each WIHA area with a polygon in MapEdit, yada yada yada...

 

The problem with my first attempt was that I used a solid polygon, and so the topo features beneath each polygon are obscured. So then I used a TYP file (similar to the one detailed here) to create a "transparent" polygon. Well, since these areas are relatively small the transparent version doesn't show up that well when you're zoomed out to about 15 mi or so, and the edges are kinda hard to make out, since it uses a semi-solid pattern...so that gave me idea #3:

 

I think it's possible to have BOTH solid and Transparent polygons at two different zoom levels - solid for when you're zoomed way out, and then transparent when you get close enough to care about the finer details.

 

I haven't played around with MapEdit enough to figure this out, so I was hoping some ol' map sages here could give me some pointers -

 

1) How do you assign the level on which each polygon is drawn (and therefore NOT drawn)?

2) Is there an easy way to specify that you only want the BORDER of the polygon a certain color, and not be filled (either with a solid color, or a patterned bitmap)?

3) Is there a way to specify a polygon with a border AND a fill pattern? something like a cross-hatch pattern that would have hard-defined edges at the border?

4) Is there a good mapmaker forum out there in the internets that I should go read up on?

 

Thanks-

RenHoek

 

 

Sample screenshots from a Garmin 276c of a simple map I created to show a solid polygon at one zoom level...semi-transparent at another level...both with a border outline.

 

1) draw polygons on different levels

2) if you only want a border with no fill...change polygon to a polyline

3) draw polyline around the perimeter of the polygon...create a bitmap to make a pattern of your choice

4) map_authors

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2007 by rws

[RenHoek]

RWS-

Thx for the tips. I finally realized that the level you've currently got set as "Viewing" is the level that the new objects will be set to. For any other budding map authors out there, here are some other tips I've learned over the past couple of days:

 

- Open up the XXXX.mp file in a text editor (ie Notepad) and study the file structure. Read the cGPSMapper's manual (it details all of the various options/sections for the polish notation .MP files - VERY INFORMATIVE!!!)

- Go to this site: http://rwsmaps.griffel.se/. Download the "Features Test" map there and install it into your MapSource. Then, download it into your GPSr to see how all those objects REALLY show up on your particular unit. I was kicking myself trying to get a particular shade of green for the standard types - turns out the 60CSx just uses ONE anyways...(BTW RWS - is this your site, or just coincidence??)

- It's sometimes easier to edit the .MP file in a good text/code editor instead of graphically in MapEdit. You can do Search/Replace to try out different things on a group of objects. It's also VERY easy to outline a bunch of polygons in a text editor - just copy the polygon blocks, paste them back in (now you have 2 copies), then rename "POLYGON" to "POLYLINE". Now, open this new file in MapEdit and select all of the polylines (select by type), zoom in on one of them and then select "Close Polyline" from the right-click context menu. All of them will be closed in one fell swoop.

- Create a POI for each Polygon by simply making another copy of the POLYGON blocks again using the text editor, and changing them to "[POI]" blocks. Change the POI's Type to something you like and save it off. Load this file into MapEdit, and do a Save As... back out to the same filename. If you open the .mp file again in the text editor, you'll see that MapEdit has done the grunt work of deleting off all of the extra lat/lon points for the POI sections, leaving only the 1st one for each Polygon.

[rwsmith123]

I was able to do this and it worked great! I just followed the video step by step. Thanks for the post!!! My only question is is there any way to get the text "Map created with...." to disappear?

 

Use an older version of cgpsmapper such as 0085.

[TopangaHiker]

I cannot get Google Earth to open.

I've downloaded it like 5 or six times. I have no trouble installing it, or so i think but I get always get the same error messages.

Here's the first one when I open it:

 

and then I get this:

 

Any experts out there know what's wrong?

[RenHoek]

@TopangaHiker:

Looks like your ATL.DLL is hosed somehow.

 

Googling "google earth c0000142" comes up with possibles like this:

 

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Application...ml&p=761322

which refers to running "sfc /scannow". For more info on System File Checker, read up here:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...r.mspx?mfr=true

 

also, I saw a reference to deleting "GoogleEarth.exe.loc" which is a 0kb file, then re-running GE....

 

Good luck-

RenHoek

[TopangaHiker]

@TopangaHiker:

Looks like your ATL.DLL is hosed somehow.

 

Googling "google earth c0000142" comes up with possibles like this:

 

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Application...ml&p=761322

which refers to running "sfc /scannow". For more info on System File Checker, read up here:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...r.mspx?mfr=true

 

also, I saw a reference to deleting "GoogleEarth.exe.loc" which is a 0kb file, then re-running GE....

 

Good luck-

RenHoek

 

I wish I knew what you are talking about but thanks for looking.

[TopangaHiker]

oops.double post

Edited August 20, 2007 by TopangaHiker

[RenHoek]

I wish I knew what you are talking about but thanks for looking.

 

ATL.DLL is a Windows XP system file - it stands for "Active Template Library". It typically lives in C:\Windows\System32. It might have been corrupted by something in the past. You can either restore it manually, or with Microsoft's tool called "System File Checker" or "SFC". It can be used to restore your ATL.DLL file as illustrated in that link I posted. You'll need your original WinXP CD, however.

 

To restore it manually, you'll have to turn off the System Restore feature in Windows temporarily, reboot in Safe Mode, copy the good ATL.DLL into C:\Windows\System32, reboot, then turn System Restore back on.

 

Also, in that link above are the following instructions that might help instead of messing with ATL:

===============================================

do you have google earth if you do then......1) Uninstall Google Earth

2) verify the install directory (..\Google\Google Earth\ directory has been deleted.

3) re-install the latest version available

 

delete the msvcrt file

 

If you are running one of these OS's please let us know if you ever see DbgHelp.dll, MSVCRT.dll, or ATL.dll None of these should be installed with the latest versions.

 

To resolve the issue, delete the file: msvcrt.dll in your Google Earth installation directory (default: C:\Program Files\Google\Google Earth\)

===============================================

 

Try doing that first (easier than running sfc...) and see if that helps.

 

If not, go over to Google Earth's forum and post a help request there...

http://groups.google.com/group/earth-help

 

If any of this is over your head, call in a favor with a techie friend to help, or you might botch your system up further...

 

-RenHoek

[TopangaHiker]

Thanks RenHoek.

I think that I'll choose the latter and take the phone a friend route.

[+txmusic]

I am using this process to create hunting areas at a nearby lake. It's working great except for one thing. In GPSMapEdit I am defining the polygons as different types so that when two polygons are next to each other on the map I can set them at different types based on their colors. I don't really care what the actual type is i.e. airport, building, park, etc. I only want to be able to tell when I am leaving one hunting area and entering another because they are 2 different colors. I was able to do this within GPSMapEdit and it worked great, but once I got it to my Rino 530HCx, depending on what type I had previously defined, some of the polygons wouldn't show up or they would all be the same color. Hopefully that all makes sense. Does anybody have any ideas why MapSource won't recognize all the colors that are available in GPSMapEdit?

[RenHoek]

txmusic:

Check out my "tips" post a few lines up...go here (http://rwsmaps.griffel.se/) and download the "Features Test" test map. When you install it and then use MapSource to push it out to your GPSr, you can see what each type really looks like (in MapSource and then in your GPSr). Sounds like you picked one that is available in MapEdit, but not really supported in MapSource/GPSr.

 

I used this test map to find out that the 60CSx doesn't have that many different colors in it...unless I'm doing something wrong with some setting somewhere....

 

I ended up using State Park (0x1e) for the transparent areas, (TYP'd them to change them to transparent), and Airport (0x0e) for the solid areas in black.

 

Here's what my hunting .MP file ended up looking like. From the "Level 1 Copies" on, I used a source code text editor to block search/replace/tweak instead of doing it all manually in MapEdit.

 

LblCoding=9

ID=54540032

Name=KS WIHA 2007

Preprocess=N

TreSize=511

TreMargin=0.00000

RgnLimit=127

Transparent=Y

POIIndex=N

Levels=3

Level0=20

Level1=17

Level2=15

Zoom0=0

Zoom1=1

Zoom2=2

[END-IMG ID]

 

;;;;;; Level 0 Areas (transparent when zoomed in close - so topo shows thru)

[POLYGON]

Type=0x1e

Label=3-158

Data0=(39.42169,-98.32901),(39.41482,-98.32901),(39.41482,-98.32077),(39.42169,-98.32077)

[END]

 

.

.

.

 

;;;;;; Level 1 Copies (for when zoomed out - easier to see black than semi-transparent)

[POLYGON]

Type=0xe

Label=3-158

Data1=(39.42169,-98.32764),(39.41345,-98.32764),(39.41345,-98.31940),(39.42169,-98.31940)

[END]

 

.

.

.

 

;;;;;; Borders (Black line around Level 0 areas)

[POLYLINE]

Type=0x0

Data0=(39.42169,-98.32901),(39.41482,-98.32901),(39.41482,-98.32077),(39.42169,-98.32077),(39.42169,-98.32901)

[END]

 

.

.

.

 

;;;;;;; POIs (don't have a hunting symbol, so I chose the "Zoo" Elephant)

[POI]

Type=0x2c07

Label=3-158

Data0=(39.42169,-98.32901)

[END]

[+txmusic]

In case anyone else is having the same problem here are some other polygon types that seem to show up ok in MapSource.

 

0x0007 - Airport

0x0017 - City Park

0x001e - State Park

0x004e - Orchard/Plantation

0x0052 - Tundra

0x0051 - Wetland/Swamp

0x004f - Scrub

[upmm019]

Hi.

 

I am looking for expert help with an attempt to map E911 Streets/Avenues for the county in which I live.

 

So far the Garmin maps do not have our E911 Street/Avenue name yet so they show up like CR-15 but really should be 61st, etc.

 

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to somehow map the E911 street names in to the NUVI model so that the Garmin picks up the new E911 street names??

 

I watched the two videos on this thread and exchanged a few emails with RWS which were helpful but I cannot seem to get the GPS to recognize the fact I put in a E911 street name.

 

I can see it on the map but if I drive on that road or try to do a lookup I still see the county road name as CR-15 vs 61st, etc.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

-Kris

[rws]

Hi.

 

I am looking for expert help with an attempt to map E911 Streets/Avenues for the county in which I live.

 

So far the Garmin maps do not have our E911 Street/Avenue name yet so they show up like CR-15 but really should be 61st, etc.

 

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to somehow map the E911 street names in to the NUVI model so that the Garmin picks up the new E911 street names??

 

I watched the two videos on this thread and exchanged a few emails with RWS which were helpful but I cannot seem to get the GPS to recognize the fact I put in a E911 street name.

 

I can see it on the map but if I drive on that road or try to do a lookup I still see the county road name as CR-15 vs 61st, etc.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

-Kris

 

Make a custom map using US Census Bureau Tiger/Line Shapefiles for the county you live.

[upmm019]

I am new to this so I am not sure what I am exactly looking for in the link you posted or what program i need to convert it into something I can work with.

 

Below is the list of items that come up when I pick my county for Minnesota, county of Rock.

 

Files for: Rock

All Lines

Area Hydrography

Area Landmark

Point Landmark

Current Block

Census 2000 Block

Census 2000 Block Group

Census 2000 Census Tract

Current County Subdivision

Census 2000 County Subdivision

Census 2000 Voting District

Address Range-Feature Name Relationship File

Address Ranges Relationship File

Feature Names Relationship File

Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Hydrography Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Landmark Relationship File

 

Also, I went out today on a few roads that I put a custom map on but the gps unit just showed the CR road names vs. what I had mapped in.

 

Any guidance would be greatly.... apprecaited.

 

-Kris

[rws]

It would be the All lines.

 

I took a look at Rock County and the roads are not 911 labeled so this is of no use for your project...they evidently haven't gotton to Rock County to do an update.

 

 

I am new to this so I am not sure what I am exactly looking for in the link you posted or what program i need to convert it into something I can work with.

 

Below is the list of items that come up when I pick my county for Minnesota, county of Rock.

 

Files for: Rock

All Lines

Area Hydrography

Area Landmark

Point Landmark

Current Block

Census 2000 Block

Census 2000 Block Group

Census 2000 Census Tract

Current County Subdivision

Census 2000 County Subdivision

Census 2000 Voting District

Address Range-Feature Name Relationship File

Address Ranges Relationship File

Feature Names Relationship File

Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Hydrography Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Landmark Relationship File

 

Also, I went out today on a few roads that I put a custom map on but the gps unit just showed the CR road names vs. what I had mapped in.

 

Any guidance would be greatly.... apprecaited.

 

-Kris

Edited June 30, 2008 by rws

[upmm019]

I do have access to the E911 map which is provided by the land management office. Would this be sufficent for creating the map or do I have to wait until this Tiger database is updated?

 

I believe our county has been E911 for two + years and when I search surronding counties (Pipestone and Nobles) they show on the Garmin as already being mapped. How long does it normally take for Garmin to get these updates? Is there a process flow that propagates until it makes it into the Garmin maps?

 

 

It would be the All lines.

 

I took a look at Rock County and the roads are not 911 labeled so this is of no use for your project...they evidently haven't gotton to Rock County to do an update.

 

 

I am new to this so I am not sure what I am exactly looking for in the link you posted or what program i need to convert it into something I can work with.

 

Below is the list of items that come up when I pick my county for Minnesota, county of Rock.

 

Files for: Rock

All Lines

Area Hydrography

Area Landmark

Point Landmark

Current Block

Census 2000 Block

Census 2000 Block Group

Census 2000 Census Tract

Current County Subdivision

Census 2000 County Subdivision

Census 2000 Voting District

Address Range-Feature Name Relationship File

Address Ranges Relationship File

Feature Names Relationship File

Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Hydrography Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Landmark Relationship File

 

Also, I went out today on a few roads that I put a custom map on but the gps unit just showed the CR road names vs. what I had mapped in.

 

Any guidance would be greatly.... apprecaited.

 

-Kris

[rws]

You could use the Tiger shapefile for Rock County and modify the road labels using your 911 road names. Rock County is not that large and wouldn't take too long to do the editing.

 

I do have access to the E911 map which is provided by the land management office. Would this be sufficent for creating the map or do I have to wait until this Tiger database is updated?

 

I believe our county has been E911 for two + years and when I search surronding counties (Pipestone and Nobles) they show on the Garmin as already being mapped. How long does it normally take for Garmin to get these updates? Is there a process flow that propagates until it makes it into the Garmin maps?

 

 

It would be the All lines.

 

I took a look at Rock County and the roads are not 911 labeled so this is of no use for your project...they evidently haven't gotton to Rock County to do an update.

 

 

I am new to this so I am not sure what I am exactly looking for in the link you posted or what program i need to convert it into something I can work with.

 

Below is the list of items that come up when I pick my county for Minnesota, county of Rock.

 

Files for: Rock

All Lines

Area Hydrography

Area Landmark

Point Landmark

Current Block

Census 2000 Block

Census 2000 Block Group

Census 2000 Census Tract

Current County Subdivision

Census 2000 County Subdivision

Census 2000 Voting District

Address Range-Feature Name Relationship File

Address Ranges Relationship File

Feature Names Relationship File

Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Hydrography Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Landmark Relationship File

 

Also, I went out today on a few roads that I put a custom map on but the gps unit just showed the CR road names vs. what I had mapped in.

 

Any guidance would be greatly.... apprecaited.

 

-Kris

[upmm019]

RWS thanks again for the reply. much apprecaited.

 

Since I'm new to gps and this idea of creating a custom map.... I am wondering what software I'd need to use to modify the shapefile for Rock County and once modified how would it load on the the Garmin unit?

 

Additionally, once loaded would the new map be "routeable", meaning if I had an address on one of the new roads, e.g. 1579 61st Street the garmin with the new map would route the correct path, etc?

 

I like the garmin unit and I know someday the map will update but proabably not for quite sometime so I'm wondering if the TomTom with it's MapShare technology would be useful versus the Garmin??

 

You could use the Tiger shapefile for Rock County and modify the road labels using your 911 road names. Rock County is not that large and wouldn't take too long to do the editing.

 

I do have access to the E911 map which is provided by the land management office. Would this be sufficent for creating the map or do I have to wait until this Tiger database is updated?

 

I believe our county has been E911 for two + years and when I search surronding counties (Pipestone and Nobles) they show on the Garmin as already being mapped. How long does it normally take for Garmin to get these updates? Is there a process flow that propagates until it makes it into the Garmin maps?

 

 

It would be the All lines.

 

I took a look at Rock County and the roads are not 911 labeled so this is of no use for your project...they evidently haven't gotton to Rock County to do an update.

 

 

I am new to this so I am not sure what I am exactly looking for in the link you posted or what program i need to convert it into something I can work with.

 

Below is the list of items that come up when I pick my county for Minnesota, county of Rock.

 

Files for: Rock

All Lines

Area Hydrography

Area Landmark

Point Landmark

Current Block

Census 2000 Block

Census 2000 Block Group

Census 2000 Census Tract

Current County Subdivision

Census 2000 County Subdivision

Census 2000 Voting District

Address Range-Feature Name Relationship File

Address Ranges Relationship File

Feature Names Relationship File

Topological Faces (2-Cells With All Geocodes) Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Hydrography Relationship File

Topological Faces-Area Landmark Relationship File

 

Also, I went out today on a few roads that I put a custom map on but the gps unit just showed the CR road names vs. what I had mapped in.

 

Any guidance would be greatly.... apprecaited.

 

-Kris

[rws]

RWS thanks again for the reply. much apprecaited.

 

Since I'm new to gps and this idea of creating a custom map.... I am wondering what software I'd need to use to modify the shapefile for Rock County and once modified how would it load on the the Garmin unit?

 

Additionally, once loaded would the new map be "routeable", meaning if I had an address on one of the new roads, e.g. 1579 61st Street the garmin with the new map would route the correct path, etc?

 

I like the garmin unit and I know someday the map will update but proabably not for quite sometime so I'm wondering if the TomTom with it's MapShare technology would be useful versus the Garmin??

 

 

Prolly the easiest would be to edit the .dbf file in Excel...using search and replace for the road names...replacing the names with the names from your 911 map. Alternately you could do the same by opening your .mp file created by GPSMapEdit in Notepad doing a search and replace of road names.

 

Unless you have the expensive routing version of cCPSMapper you'll have to compile the map at MapCenter

 

There are several tutorials on the net for making custom maps...Google custom Garmin maps.

 

I don't have any experience with TomTom.

Edited July 2, 2008 by rws

[upmm019]

RWS thanks again for the reply. much apprecaited.

 

Since I'm new to gps and this idea of creating a custom map.... I am wondering what software I'd need to use to modify the shapefile for Rock County and once modified how would it load on the the Garmin unit?

 

Additionally, once loaded would the new map be "routeable", meaning if I had an address on one of the new roads, e.g. 1579 61st Street the garmin with the new map would route the correct path, etc?

 

I like the garmin unit and I know someday the map will update but proabably not for quite sometime so I'm wondering if the TomTom with it's MapShare technology would be useful versus the Garmin??

 

 

Prolly the easiest would be to edit the .dbf file in Excel...using search and replace for the road names...replacing the names with the names from your 911 map. Alternately you could do the same by opening your .mp file created by GPSMapEdit in Notepad doing a search and replace of road names.

 

Unless you have the expensive routing version of cCPSMapper you'll have to compile the map at MapCenter

 

There are several tutorials on the net for making custom maps...Google custom Garmin maps.

 

I don't have any experience with TomTom.

 

Ok. I tried the edit of the DBF file and that seems to work pretty slick. I have not tried the other suggestion but can always if the DBF does not pan out.

 

Where can I find and explanation for the DBF file schema ? Only the Fullname makes sense to me the other columns I do not understand what they are or their purpose.

 

So at Mapcenter I can upload something and the output would be a map that the Garmin will recognize and also be routeable ?

 

Lastly, if I ever get to the point of having the map I desire.... can it co-exist with the Garmin Lower 48 States map that is already pre-loaded ? I can see that on the Tiger files for Rock County some of the new roads are not there but on the Garmin (Navteq) map they are. Just wondering if both maps would feed off of each other or is it only one map at a time.

 

RWS, as always... thanks for your help and understanding.

[rws]

 

Ok. I tried the edit of the DBF file and that seems to work pretty slick. I have not tried the other suggestion but can always if the DBF does not pan out.

 

Where can I find and explanation for the DBF file schema ? Only the Fullname makes sense to me the other columns I do not understand what they are or their purpose.

 

So at Mapcenter I can upload something and the output would be a map that the Garmin will recognize and also be routeable ?

 

Lastly, if I ever get to the point of having the map I desire.... can it co-exist with the Garmin Lower 48 States map that is already pre-loaded ? I can see that on the Tiger files for Rock County some of the new roads are not there but on the Garmin (Navteq) map they are. Just wondering if both maps would feed off of each other or is it only one map at a time.

 

RWS, as always... thanks for your help and understanding.

 

Google .dbf you should be able to find plenty of info.

 

I have not used MapCenter to create any of my maps, but from what I undertand you can get routable maps compiled there. I think the best would to make a non-transparent background map from the Tiger data and add any "new" roads from other sources.

[rws]

Updated links to the tutorials...

 

Tutorial 1

 

Tutorial 2

 

.

[dr_barger]

Updated links to the tutorials...

 

Tutorial 1

 

Tutorial 2

 

.

 

I wonder if your Tutorial would benefit from using my website rather than using Google Earth?

I'm using Google Maps with an interface for drawing golf course maps. You can get 3 different polygons, 2 types of polylines, and point data using this web tool. The text file output is directly compatable with MapEdit. It might save you some time in your conversions.

 

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~don_barger/Map-page.html

 

Don

[Qaswarah]

Can you please re-upload the tutorials?