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Canadian maps for Magellan eXplorist?


mikey_b

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Hi there, I've been trying to decide on what to do about map software. Last I heard the Mapsend TOPO Canada package was a few years old, likely missing some significant detail for cities, so I didn't want to commit to spending $115 to unlock the software that came with my unit unless it's possible to update it regularly. Spending $50 just to get Sask/Man seems a little pricey when double that gets me the whole shebang.

 

Also, I noticed there are some Garmin maps that are free for downloading. Has anyone tried to convert them to a Magellan-friendly *.imi format? Is it even possible? I know there are some utilities floating around and wouldn't mind giving them a shot, I downloaded the source "free" maps but they don't do anything on their own.

 

Does anyone else make maps that can be uploaded to an eXplorist?

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Hi there, I've been trying to decide on what to do about map software. Last I heard the Mapsend TOPO Canada package was a few years old, likely missing some significant detail for cities, so I didn't want to commit to spending $115 to unlock the software that came with my unit unless it's possible to update it regularly. Spending $50 just to get Sask/Man seems a little pricey when double that gets me the whole shebang.

 

Also, I noticed there are some Garmin maps that are free for downloading. Has anyone tried to convert them to a Magellan-friendly *.imi format? Is it even possible? I know there are some utilities floating around and wouldn't mind giving them a shot, I downloaded the source "free" maps but they don't do anything on their own.

 

Does anyone else make maps that can be uploaded to an eXplorist?

 

Free Canadian TOPO maps for eXplorists -- Magic Maps

 

I post the link because frankly, I own Mapsend Topo Canada 1.0 and can't really say the maps are worth the money. Pure garbage comes to mind.

 

My eXplorist 600 can *barely* handle displaying the map and if I get up to highway speed with the map on high detail it is not uncommon to see the unit lag several kilometers behind me as it tries to draw the map. The good news is the hydrography (rivers, lakes) are really accurate (in Ontario anyway) and the POI database is good. The contour lines are absolutely useless and normally only one or two will appear on the screen .... giving you no idea whatsoever if it's a hill or a valley coming up. There are places that the Niagara Escarpment isn't displayed.... I don't know about you, but I consider a 200' cliff to be an impediment to travel.

 

Topo 1.5 uses the same contour interval with the new style draconian product activation and the ability to use full length POI names. Big whoop.

 

Try the free maps above - if your area is covered - and stick to DirectRoute 2.0 (not 3!) on the eXplorist for your primary maps if you want to throw money at Magellan.

 

I almost wonder if I should include a <rant> tag on the above :P

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I certainly agree with the rant tag! MapSend Topo Canada seems out-of-date and there is no indication that it will be updated any time soon. The MagicMaps site is good for being free, but there is no Manitoba detail outside of Winnipeg, which is my main stomping ground. That why I was hoping to make my own maps or convert someone else's maps to *.imi format.

 

I'm going to e-mail Magellan and Navtek and see what they say. $5 says Magellan won't respond and Navtek will refer me to Magellan!

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Are you keen and computer literate? If so, there is a way...... but it would be time consuming to do a large area.

 

Keen, depends on how much coffee I've had! Computer literate, I'm an Information Security contractor so I think I should be okay ;) As long as the computer has to do most of the work, anyways!

 

I seem to ba having a chronic double-posting problem here though :(

Edited by mikey_b
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OK................

 

This is what I would try......

 

1) Download Ibycus' topo maps for the Garmin units. See thread on that subject.

 

2) Open up a bunch of the .IMG files into GPSMapedit. http://www.geopainting.com/en/ This is to get some tiles merged together, as converting them individually would be a real PITA. Maybe try a group of 16 first to see how it goes.

 

3) Go to http://www.msh-tools.com/magellanmapseng.html and carefully read through everything.... Take the file created in step 2 and convert it to SHP files and follow the instructions to make maps.... Lines and polygons are fairly simple. POIs are a PITA....

 

4) Convert the Magellan map to the Explorist format. http://www.msh-tools.com/exploristmain.html

 

Have fun..... It is a convoluted and not well documented process....

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OK................

 

This is what I would try......

 

1) Download Ibycus' topo maps for the Garmin units. See thread on that subject.

 

2) Open up a bunch of the .IMG files into GPSMapedit. http://www.geopainting.com/en/ This is to get some tiles merged together, as converting them individually would be a real PITA. Maybe try a group of 16 first to see how it goes.

 

3) Go to http://www.msh-tools.com/magellanmapseng.html and carefully read through everything.... Take the file created in step 2 and convert it to SHP files and follow the instructions to make maps.... Lines and polygons are fairly simple. POIs are a PITA....

 

4) Convert the Magellan map to the Explorist format. http://www.msh-tools.com/exploristmain.html

 

Have fun..... It is a convoluted and not well documented process....

 

I think it might be a little bit easier than that. Instead of downloading the Garmin maps that Ibycus created and converting them to *.shp files, the NTDB has the data available for download in *.shp format from this location.

 

Using those, I should be able to go straight to step 4 to convert the *.shp files into eXplorist format (I hope!).

 

We'll see if this works out or if I "whoops" something up :ph34r:

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I think it might be a little bit easier than that. Instead of downloading the Garmin maps that Ibycus created and converting them to *.shp files, the NTDB has the data available for download in *.shp format from this location.

 

Using those, I should be able to go straight to step 4 to convert the *.shp files into eXplorist format (I hope!).

 

We'll see if this works out or if I "whoops" something up :ph34r:

 

No, it is MUCH harder that way. The shape files from the Government come in a whole bunch of files to represent each entity. Mobilemapper wants a single shape file for lines, polygons and points, which the method I have shown creates. In addition, the method I have shown merges the maps together so that you only do this once. The government data is by individual 1:50000 tiles. There is no way to merge within Mobilmapper, so this must be done in advance.

 

Regardless, you must do step 3 first.

 

Now possibly Magicmaps has custom utilities to automate the process, but I have not looked into it.

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I think it might be a little bit easier than that. Instead of downloading the Garmin maps that Ibycus created and converting them to *.shp files, the NTDB has the data available for download in *.shp format from this location.

 

Using those, I should be able to go straight to step 4 to convert the *.shp files into eXplorist format (I hope!).

 

We'll see if this works out or if I "whoops" something up :D

 

No, it is MUCH harder that way. The shape files from the Government come in a whole bunch of files to represent each entity. Mobilemapper wants a single shape file for lines, polygons and points, which the method I have shown creates. In addition, the method I have shown merges the maps together so that you only do this once. The government data is by individual 1:50000 tiles. There is no way to merge within Mobilmapper, so this must be done in advance.

 

Regardless, you must do step 3 first.

 

Now possibly Magicmaps has custom utilities to automate the process, but I have not looked into it.

 

Excellent! :D Magic maps indicates they are not adding any more developers right now so I don't have access to any of their tools or documents but will give it a shot this weekend - hopefully with some free topo and DirectRoute my mapping needs will be cared for :drama:

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Excellent! :drama: Magic maps indicates they are not adding any more developers right now so I don't have access to any of their tools or documents but will give it a shot this weekend.

 

That is quite sad really, especially with how slow they are putting out the maps.

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Hmm... seem to be having some issues doing the conversion to Polish Text format from the Garmin *.IMG files using MapEdit, I must be missing something here. PTxt2shp gives me some errors trying to convert to *.shp, I'll have to try the conversion using the TXT2SHP app and see if the txt file will convert properly.

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What exactly is the error you are getting? And what steps did you take to get there? I've never encountered any problems with ptxt2shp.exe

 

It appears to have been a problem with my source file, something must have happened when I saved the file as Polish Text. I was able to recreate my map segment and save it in Polish Text fomat again, and this time ptxt2shp coughed up the required *.shp files. Now to work out POI.

Edited by mikey_b
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I'm getting stuck at one part of the conversion process. I take the .img files, save them as 'Polish text', then open them in the txt2shp program, but I end up with an empty screen in TXT2SHP. Can anyone direct me please?

 

edit---I've managed to find the shp files....on to the next step....

Edited by tangerineman
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I'm getting stuck at one part of the conversion process. I take the .img files, save them as 'Polish text', then open them in the txt2shp program, but I end up with an empty screen in TXT2SHP. Can anyone direct me please?

 

Try using Ptxt2shp instead of TXT2SHP, all you need to do is select your *.mp source and it will create the shape files based on the name you enter, and it's really quick.

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"In need of clarification"? Maybe not for some, but I nearly coughed up my coffee when I read that....I was working things through, word by word, line by line even got to MapMaker, but realized at that point that I really was missing important information with POIs. I'm guessing they need to be split out of the files I downloaded from Ibycus, just haven't figured that one out yet.

 

There's reference to a second file and second map.

 

I'm so over my head with this, but the reward of maps on my gps is pretty inspiring.

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"In need of clarification"? Maybe not for some, but I nearly coughed up my coffee when I read that....I was working things through, word by word, line by line even got to MapMaker, but realized at that point that I really was missing important information with POIs. I'm guessing they need to be split out of the files I downloaded from Ibycus, just haven't figured that one out yet.

 

There's reference to a second file and second map.

 

I'm so over my head with this, but the reward of maps on my gps is pretty inspiring.

 

I think that's what most people have problems with, those instructions are referencing two different maps which are being used for the topo and POI information. I was scratching my head for a while until I finally broke it down in a spreadsheet to determine what was being one with which file. I'm still just looking at a bunch of *.shp files myself, I find my time is a little monopolized at the moment but hopefully will have a chance to work on this more on the weekend.

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I've managed to get .shp files. They come in 4 types for each .img file: P, L, S and A types of .shp. I'm beginning to suspect that the .shp files with a P are the POI files....but not positive.

 

I can get the .shp files loaded into MobileMapper Office, but can't get it to create a map with them. I assume I need to see that to send it to the gps.

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I'm beginning to suspect that the .shp files with a P are the POI files....but not positive.

 

Cough, cough..... ;)

 

When you make the Shape files, there should be one labelled *_P.shp Those are the POIs. They are called "points" in GPSMapedit and Ptxt2shp.

 

Take that file and convert it to a CSV file using Excel or similar in the proper format as described in the tutorial. Each type (category) needs to be under its own heading. See http://www.msh-tools.com/creator.html

 

I don't include the POIs in my Magellan maps because this is quite labour intensve... It really needs a simple program written to get from Shape format to the proper CSV format.

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Worst $115 ever spent was on mapsend topo canada

 

 

Hi there, I've been trying to decide on what to do about map software. Last I heard the Mapsend TOPO Canada package was a few years old, likely missing some significant detail for cities, so I didn't want to commit to spending $115 to unlock the software that came with my unit unless it's possible to update it regularly. Spending $50 just to get Sask/Man seems a little pricey when double that gets me the whole shebang.

 

Also, I noticed there are some Garmin maps that are free for downloading. Has anyone tried to convert them to a Magellan-friendly *.imi format? Is it even possible? I know there are some utilities floating around and wouldn't mind giving them a shot, I downloaded the source "free" maps but they don't do anything on their own.

 

Does anyone else make maps that can be uploaded to an eXplorist?

 

Free Canadian TOPO maps for eXplorists -- Magic Maps

 

I post the link because frankly, I own Mapsend Topo Canada 1.0 and can't really say the maps are worth the money. Pure garbage comes to mind.

 

My eXplorist 600 can *barely* handle displaying the map and if I get up to highway speed with the map on high detail it is not uncommon to see the unit lag several kilometers behind me as it tries to draw the map. The good news is the hydrography (rivers, lakes) are really accurate (in Ontario anyway) and the POI database is good. The contour lines are absolutely useless and normally only one or two will appear on the screen .... giving you no idea whatsoever if it's a hill or a valley coming up. There are places that the Niagara Escarpment isn't displayed.... I don't know about you, but I consider a 200' cliff to be an impediment to travel.

 

Topo 1.5 uses the same contour interval with the new style draconian product activation and the ability to use full length POI names. Big whoop.

 

Try the free maps above - if your area is covered - and stick to DirectRoute 2.0 (not 3!) on the eXplorist for your primary maps if you want to throw money at Magellan.

 

I almost wonder if I should include a <rant> tag on the above :(

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