Magellean Explorist Topo Map Concerns

[+doingitoldschool]

I just downloaded the BC/Alberta topo maps for my Explorist 500. There are a few oddities:

1. The detail map only works at .4 mile resolution or lower. At .8 miles and higher, I only get the basemap.

2. The refresh rate for the screen is very slow - complete useless for driving. I am assuming this is due to the slow chip in the unit itself.

3. I load the entire map everytime I use it. SHould I be breaking it up into smaller chunks? The software that came with the map is a little buggy, so I haven't been using it.

If any of you all have experience with Maggie topos, I'd appreciate your input.

[+ace862]

I'm using Topo 3D Canada V1.5. I still get the TOPO detail at 0.8mi and then it switches to the basemap at 1.6mi. I'm sure if this is a difference between the versions or not although I've only loaded the majority of Ontario and a small portion of Quebec on to my SD card. For Ontario, I do have it broken down into smaller overlapping chunks. Usually around 26MB to 36MB.

As for the refresh rate, I've found that if you set the Orientation to 'North Up' it works much better than if you have it set to 'Track Up'. It take a bit of getting used to to orient yourself when driving but I find it keeps up very well.

Hope that helps some.

Cheers!

[+trainlove]

#1 is the way it works. Your downloaded maps are detail maps so they show up on the map scales where detail maps are key. Basemaps show up on higher scales, unless you have no detail maps loaded. Your screen would be completely messed up if this were not the case. You can get the switchover point to change depending on your mapmenu setting for detail, highest, high, medium, low, lowest.

#2 depends, if you are on the 0.4 mile scale then it's probably not so useless, if you are on the 35 yard scale , it's too slow to follow even if you are walking. If you have track or course UP in your setting it will be slow since every time you turn the map will be refreshed, north UP is best, I was a Boy Scout afterall.

#3, on my Meridian Gold I make maps that are 64 megs max, I think it used to be 16 megs, but I read some help on the yahoo magellan_meridian user group that's listed in the FAQ's of this forum. Don't bother to make 4 regions on 1 map. I have no idea what that's supposed to do for you. Smaller maps load faster, smaller maps might have faster update rate reguarding #2.

[+D0T-C0M]

you can control how much detail is shown at which resolution by changing the detail level from highest to lowest. If you want to customize how much map data is shown at each of the detail setting by configuring your export.cfg file located in the C:\program files\Magellan\MapSend Topo Canada\Map directory.

 

The export.cfg file instructs the mapsend program to compile the maps to show or hide certain roads, rivers etc at a given detail level setting.

 

I live in a rural area so it was important for me that the secondary roads and rivers be shown at even the lowest detail settings.

 

Here is a copy of a pdf that explains it.

For Experts: Adjusting Detail Map Display

It is possible to influence the display of map detail dependent on the zoom level. You must modify the export.cfg file. You should create a backup of this file before you make changes.

In this configuration file, the zoom level at which certain details are displayed can be adjusted. This happens through lines like the following:

3 = Streets str 0 5 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 BLACK US_STREET_LINE

To read this line, we must break up the 30 numbers into 5 groups of six:

0 5 0 4 0 4

0 4 0 4 0 3

0 4 0 2 0 3

0 3 0 2 0 3

0 2 0 2 0 2

These groups stand for the respective detail levels. MENU>Map Setup>Detail.

A B C D E F

0 5 0 4 0 4 Highest

0 4 0 4 0 3 High

0 4 0 2 0 3 Medium

0 3 0 2 0 3 Low

0 2 0 2 0 2 Lowest

AB describe at which zoom levels the details are visible.(A=lowest B=Highest)CD describe at which zoom level the basemap is invisible.(D=invisible level)EF describe at which zoom levels the names are visible.

There are 17 zoom levels:

[1] 35m

[2] 80m

[3] 160m

[4] 350m

[5] 700m

[6] 1.4km

[7] 2.5km

[8] 5.0km

[9] 10km

[10] 20km

[11] 40km

[12] 80km

[13] 160km

[14] 350km

[15] 700km

[16] 1300km

[17] 2700km

NOTE: There is coding in the basemap that limits detailed zoom to level 7 and under.(This can be edited in the 2MB basemap.) And with MapSend World Wide Basemap you can edit the export.cfg file to turn on the detailed map at any zoom level.

 

DETMAP_START=5 7 6 5 5 5

 

In the example above, it means that when the display is set for the LOWEST amount of detail, the streets appear first at the 80m zoom level. In the HIGHEST detail setting, they are seen already at 700m, the name of the streets are first seen at 350m. You can also adjust colour of any line BLACK,DARK_GRAY or LIGHT_GRAY

The display in the individual Meridian can be adapted therefore by careful manipulation of the corresponding lines in the export.cfg file. If the file was changed, MapSend must be restarted so that the file newly can be read and initialized.

Subsequently you can generate yourself a new detail map and can try the result on your Meridian. The changes do not take effect until you generate a new detail map.

 

OTHER: 4= Trails_4WD trail 0 7 0 5 0 4 0 5 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2

BLACKTRAIL_LINE TRAIL_LINE is always BLACK no matter which colour is used. You can use SINGLE_LINE to change the colour. 6 = Hydro_Polygons hydp 0 7 0 7 0 0 0 6 0 6 0 0 0 5 0 5 0 0 0 5 0 5 0 0 0 5 0 5 0 0 LIGHT_GRAY SOLID_FILL This line determines the colour of rivers and lakes.

Edited October 14, 2008 by D0T-C0M

[+trainlove]

D0T-C0M's information comes from the great yahoo user group called Magellan_Meridian that I mention in my prior reply. Even though your GPS is not a Meridian, the information, and other great information there, is valid for most, if not all, MapSend map products.

[+D0T-C0M]

Oh and If you don't need the TOPO data in your maps, here's a tip. For a greatly improved refresh times in mapsend unclick the little "T" before saving the region to your harddrive. This will noticeably shorten those refresh times at the expense of losing the land elevation data (TOPO). I don't use the TOPO data so I dropped it. Try it it makes a world of difference.