Kyle_freemason Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 (edited) I am in need of a topo map for my county including the gravel roads, state highways and rivers and creeks. I have followed the methods describing going to the usgs website and selecting a portion of the national map. This however, did not allow for me to obtain my entire county. Is there an easier way to get this info and convert it to a format my gps can use? Is there a way to take topo data from topo software such as national geographic topo cds and convert it to be able to be used on my gps? Hopefully, there is a way to go about getting my entire counties info without having to do it in sections (this would be hard to know where one section left off and where to begin another for seamless mapping). Kyle Edited August 18, 2008 by Kyle_freemason Quote Link to comment
MtnHermit Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Have Fun Making Custom Topo Maps Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hi MtnHermit, I searched last night on the forum but failed to pull that up....Thanks! Kyle Quote Link to comment
-Oz- Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I have another tutorial that might help you out on top of that topic: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-...rmin-topo-maps/ Quote Link to comment
ryleyinstl Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 (edited) Also here as well: http://home.cinci.rr.com/creek/garmin.htm Do the free Ibycus topo maps have the detail your looking for on the roads/water? If so you can just do the topo data and lay that on top of the Ibycus maps on the GPSr. Saves time. Edited August 18, 2008 by ryleyinstl Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hi Ryley, I am not sure if the IBYCUS maps carry the detail I am looking for. I was after mainly the gravel roads in my county and the rivers and creeks. I am still waiting on my sd card to arrive, once it comes tomorrow I will look at the ibycus maps and see how it works, if it does not have what I am looking for, I will continue on with creating my own maps. Kyle Quote Link to comment
ryleyinstl Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 You don't need the SD card to look at the maps on your computer. Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 (edited) I have a question: my map from the usgs came in 4 downloads. Each download I converted the tiff to .mp. The hydrological data for the rivers and lakes I want came in 5 downloads. My question is, do I need to import the shape file for the rivers and lakes to each of the .mp files or just to one? Edited August 18, 2008 by Kyle_freemason Quote Link to comment
ryleyinstl Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Can’t really help you here as I never really got this far being as I used the Ibycus maps for the base layer. My understanding is that the water data will need to be imported separately into each mp file and may need to be trimmed. Quote Link to comment
-Oz- Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I have a question: my map from the usgs came in 4 downloads. Each download I converted the tiff to .mp. The hydrological data for the rivers and lakes I want came in 5 downloads. My question is, do I need to import the shape file for the rivers and lakes to each of the .mp files or just to one? You will need to import them into each .mp file that covers the area with the shapefile. Since you don't know which water files cover which DEM areas I would open the dem, then add all the water data, then trim it to the dem area and then save it as a .mp file. If you have a registered version of gpsmapedit or global mapper you can load all the data at once and then have it output it to different files (you can tell it to split the data in 1'x1' blocks or whatever). Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hi Oz, Thanks for the information. Once, I get the water data imported to each .mp file where then can I obtain the gravel and county roads for my county? I have yet to find a place to download the shapefile for my roads. Quote Link to comment
-Oz- Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) If you look at my tutorial you'll see I suggest the U.S. Census Bureau. I"m not sure they'll cover gravel roads though but the rest of them will be good. http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/geo/shapefiles/national-files You can also google for your county's name and "gis" or "gis clearinghouse" and see what they offer. Edited August 19, 2008 by -Oz- Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 Hello Everyone, I wanted to thank everyone for all of their generous help and patience. I was finally able to make the map and now have to upload it to my gps unit. Thanks again to all that helped along the way. Kyle Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 Converting my file using the mapper program from .mp to img is taking forever...my .mp file is right at 250mb. Is this too large to handle? Also, will mapsource decline my img file for being this large? If so how can I break it up to make the progress faster between .mp to img? Quote Link to comment
Kyle_freemason Posted August 20, 2008 Author Share Posted August 20, 2008 Finally got the conversion done from .mp to .img and uploaded the map to my gps...it works very well. Thanks to all that helped! Kyle Quote Link to comment
andmijo Posted September 9, 2008 Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hi, there's a site, which lists basicalls all free maps for Garmin GPS devices available on the Internet.... maybe that's where you find what you need: http://www.mapsntrails.com Enjoy! Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 I would like to make a map for my garmin that is only tracks, either from my GPS or tracks I created in Google Earth. I can get the .gpx from the kml, not a problem. I was trying what was documented in GPSSledmaps.com but my problem is the empty map for GPSMapEdit does not have the right bounds in for my area. So my question is how do I set the map bounds in GPSMapEdit, or is there another procedure for creating a track only map floating around somewhere? TIA, Jim Quote Link to comment
+macnetz Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 or is there another procedure for creating a track only map floating around somewhere?Hi Jim, the easiest way: http://antyong.com/?page_id=13 Regards - Anton Quote Link to comment
+trainlove Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 You don't mention your GPS's manufacturer. Try the various yahoo user groups, map_authors Mapsend mapsend_format Magellan_Meridian mobilemapper2 mobilemapper2 All have information and tools on making your own maps, you have to supply your time, thousands of hours of it I think. Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 or is there another procedure for creating a track only map floating around somewhere?Hi Jim, the easiest way: http://antyong.com/?page_id=13 Regards - Anton Sounds good, but when I try it I get Error:E032 Level 0 can not be empty, or something like that. There is no manual, so I have no clue. I was using a track I made in Google Earth and converted the resulting .kml to .gpx. Is there anywhere I can get some user info? Is there any way of bringing in multiple tracks? Jim Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 or is there another procedure for creating a track only map floating around somewhere?Hi Jim, the easiest way: http://antyong.com/?page_id=13 Regards - Anton Sounds good, but when I try it I get Error:E032 Level 0 can not be empty, or something like that. There is no manual, so I have no clue. I was using a track I made in Google Earth and converted the resulting .kml to .gpx. Is there anywhere I can get some user info? Is there any way of bringing in multiple tracks? Jim Well I did get it to run to completion. Don't know what to do with what it generated, mapsource won't read it. So with a complete lack of documentation this doen't seem like a very easy way. Jim Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 So any one have any suggestions on how to process tracks to make a transparent map for a garmin? Jim Quote Link to comment
rws Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Custom Map Making Tutorial I have created a video tutorial that uses Cypherman's Mapset Toolkit and genTYP...very nice front ends for cGPSMapper...making it real easy to make and install maps with custom color trails into Mapsource. The zip file contains a video that plays in Windows Media Player showing how to make a transparent map from Garmin track files using GPSMapEdit, cGPSMapper, MapsetToolkit and genTYP. Included in the zip file is a READ_ME_FIRST.txt file that has step by step text instructions to follow along with the video. Creating Custom Garmin Maps from Google Earth Maps Here's a 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. Uses the same software as in the Map Making Tutorial above. Creating Custom Garmin Maps from Google Earth Maps II Tutorial 2....adding more detail to the previous Tutorial map....roads, airstrip, resort and parking lots. Once you learn the basics you can add all the detail you want to your maps. Uses the same software as in the Map Making Tutorial above. Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Thank you rws! You Custom Map Making Tutorial looks like exactly what I was looking for. One question, I assume in my map making the .gdb I start with is the one I would save from mapsource after importing the tracks from the GPS? TIA, Jim Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) Thank you rws! You Custom Map Making Tutorial looks like exactly what I was looking for. One question, I assume in my map making the .gdb I start with is the one I would save from mapsource after importing the tracks from the GPS? TIA, Jim I got my first map created! It is a bit rough around the edges, but over all the process went quite smoothly. Exactly what I wanted. It looks like a little experience in following the procedure and noting where I need to change will make it just peachy. Thanks again for your post and concise answers. Edit: Is there any way of removing the copyright statement? It clutters up things. Jim Edited October 25, 2008 by jholly Quote Link to comment
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