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Mapsource Tracklog Features?


MtnHermit

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Looking at this tracklog, is their a way I can determine the layer order of the tracks in Mapsource? Which is on top of each other?

 

Can I create a track with direction arrows? Using time ascending, have arrows embedded into the track to show direction of travel? Can I create a legend, a small section of track with text off to the side?

 

090204_7mileLoopTracks.gif

 

Thanks

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Thanks ALL.

 

At least I now know what Mapsource can't do, so I'll stop looking in vain. I lament having to have yet another piece of software to do obvious tasks, sigh. :)

 

I assume that neither TopoFusion or ExpertGPS allow me to view the map like Mapsource? Therefore, while I'll be able to manipulate the tracks, I'll not be able to view in the context of the map. So I would have to re-import the tracks into Mapsource for map context? Please correct any wrong assumptions.

 

All-in-all a tedious multi-step process.

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....sigh......

....tedious....

Me thinks somewhat overly dramatic.

 

Forget the almost useless Mapsource (except for loading maps) and just use Expert GPS for everything else. Only one step....download from GPS into EGPS.

 

Not only will you have standard USGS quad maps but also aerial photos , and about the best track editing and all around data conversion software going.....IMHO.

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Not only will you have standard USGS quad maps but also aerial photos , and about the best track editing and all around data conversion software going.....IMHO.
You and I see things differently, I view Mapsource as quite useful. While aerials and USGS Quads have some appeal, the fact I must download them, slow 3X dialup connection, AND I can only see them on my PC, almost worthless.

 

The single most compelling part of the 21st Century GPS is the maps you see in that screenshot are in my GPS's, all three (CO, eTrex, & Nuvi). I'm using the 24K topos from Above the Timber, so I have all of CO and UT at 24K 24/7. As a bonus I can view those same maps in Mapsource. So the fact that ExpertGPS cannot view those maps is a huge negative. While tracklog management would be a plus, it's not why I use a GPS.

 

You should download the free sample maps and see for yourself.

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You seem to be "knocking" what you apparently don't know anything about.....

 

The maps in EGPS are 1:24000 and on the aerials you can zoom in and clearly distinguish trails that are not even shown on Above the Timber maps, or Topo 2008, or Mapsource Topo, or NG TOPO.....I know, because I have ALL of them.....and also have 1:24000 maps on my gps.

 

In EGPS, once the maps are downloaded onto your computer as you pan around, they are stored on your computer. It's an automatic process and is not overly time consuming, even with a dialup connection.They do not have to be re-downloaded again the next time you view something in that area.

 

Download the free trial of EGPS and try it before you knock it.

 

If you would like, attach your gdb file or as a gpx file here on the forum and I'll display it in EGPS and attach some images of it displayed over aerials from EGPS.

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But Grasscatcher, what is the use if you can't also put those maps onto the GPS? It's all well and good to be able to look at pretty pictures on the PC but if the reason you bought the GPS is to use it, and its maps, it seems like having to use two completely different sets of maps is a real pain.

 

This is especially a problem if the entire point of manipulating those track files is so you can use them on the GPS. Now you're faced with the issue of having to convert back and forth.

 

What am I missing?

 

...ken...

 

eTrex Legend HCx, Topo Canada, Ibycus Topo 2.1

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It is a "given" that the only maps that can be put on a Garmin are the Mapsource ones and Custom maps that work thru Mapsource . Like it or not, we don't get to vote.

On the small GPS screens you really can't tell squat about details anyway.

On the PC, I zoom way in and pick out trail intersections and hidden trails on the aerial photos, then hand trace in EGPS and save and send to the GPS. Then when I actually travel the road or trail, logging the track, I come back and download the "actual" and delete the previously "hand drawn". Now I have an accurate actual track overlayed on an actual accurate map.

 

I don't understand what you mean by "converting back and forth" ????? You download data from GPS to PC or upload data from PC to GPS. Mapsource uses gdb format files or will open and save files to gpx file format. EGPS uses gpx format files. Very straightforward simple transfer. Transfer single or multiple waypoints, or single or multiple tracks or routes.

 

Neither do I understand "having to use two completely different sets of maps is a pain"......you can use whatever maps you want on your GPS and whatever maps on your PC. You don't transfer maps back and forth. What you are working with is the waypoint,track,route DATA. That's the only thing that you are working with or moving.

In EGPS I see the data on USGS topos or aerial photos and save the file ...as a gpx file. Then I can open that same gpx file with Mapsource and see the same data displayed over their "cartoonish" (IMHO) maps. Tracks that look like colored strings of pearls are not my idea of a quality looking map.

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Grasscatcher,

 

What I'm hearing is that you have one set of maps in EGPS that you can't use on the GPS. And you have another set of maps in the GPS and Mapsource that you can't use in EGPS. That's two different sets of maps.

 

I'm hearing that the maps in EGPS have different details than the maps in the GPS and Mapsource. That can be helpful or confusing, depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

 

I'm hearing that you have to save the track file(s) out into a different file format from Mapsource's default to move them from Mapsource to EGPS and then you have to open them in a different format than Mapsource's default format to get the track file(s) back into Mapsource. That's "conversion" in my thirty year IT professional experience. Not rocket science. Not even particularly complicated if you're already familiar with the process. But if you aren't already familiar with it, it might as well be rocket science because you're going to need some help to get it figured out.

 

The process you use -- using the extra detail in the EGPS maps to create a track before you actually travel the planned route, so you can basically use it as a route to follow the very first time -- makes a whole bunch of sense. But the original poster was asking about working with an existing track file.

 

I do apologize for splitting hairs because it appears that what the original poster wants to do can't be done in Mapsource anyway. I just wanted to clarify whether I was hearing and understanding the process with EGPS correctly or if I was missing something crucial.

 

...ken...

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Ken,

 

No conversion !

Mapsource wil open and use GPX files, just like EGPS., so there's no conversion necessary. It's just using gpx instead of gdb. I can create a gpx file in EGPS and open it in Mapsource. I can create a new file in Mapsource and save it either as a gdb file or a gpx file.....I choose gpx as my Mapsource "default" filetype so that I can use that file directly in EGPS.

 

What the original poster wanted really cannot easily be done in Mapsource except maybe by using Chuy's workaround. However, in EGPS I can "select" a track , it will turn yellow and the individual trackpoints will be visible, and there will be an arrow displayed at the selection point showing the direction of travel at that point. Note, I can't print that "yellow selected" track but I can make notes accordingly and add arrows to the map. Add notes and labels to my heart's content.

 

A user can have whatever maps installed on their GPS that they personally like the best. They can also have Mapsource with Custom or Above the Timber maps on their PC.

 

If you start using EGPS, before long you will probably find yourself using Mapsource only to send maps to your GPS. You'll download your GPS data directly into EGPS and display it over those maps or aerial photos, and when you need to print data or send tracks, waypoints, or routes back to the GPS, you'll use EGPS.

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That's the reason for the "quotes" , I just always select "files of type"=gpx when I open a file in/with Mapsource and always use "save as" and select gpx when saving any file opened in Mapsource.

 

I've got very few gdb files. Really, only different groups of maps selected for different areas or, as I call them, and have named them, "Mapset W Colo Topo 2008 and CNV8", "Mapset Custom Topo CO_Ut_Az", etc

 

Mapsource sometimes remembers it's supposed to be set on gpx from one time to the next, but sometimes it doesn't.....??? Haven't figured that one out.

Edited by Grasscatcher
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Looking at this tracklog, is their a way I can determine the layer order of the tracks in Mapsource? Which is on top of each other?

 

Can I create a track with direction arrows? Using time ascending, have arrows embedded into the track to show direction of travel? Can I create a legend, a small section of track with text off to the side?

 

Thanks

 

Not in Mapsource but you could make a custom map with directional arrows for upload to your GPS...

 

GPS screenshot

ScreenshotArrow3.jpg

Edited by rws
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But Grasscatcher, what is the use if you can't also put those maps onto the GPS? It's all well and good to be able to look at pretty pictures on the PC but if the reason you bought the GPS is to use it, and its maps, it seems like having to use two completely different sets of maps is a real pain.

 

This is especially a problem if the entire point of manipulating those track files is so you can use them on the GPS. Now you're faced with the issue of having to convert back and forth.

 

What am I missing?

...ken...

 

Yes, only the maps (maps, aerials, topos) inside my GPS are meaningful. Anything only on a PC, meaningless. However excellent ExpertGPS might be, the fact it's maps are PC only has no value to me.

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Not in Mapsource but you could make a custom map with directional arrows for upload to your GPS...

 

GPS screenshot

ScreenshotArrow3.jpg

Doesn't look like a Garmin screenshot. So how did you create the arrows? If not Mapsource, what?

 

Thanks

 

Screenshot is from a Garmin 276c...

 

arrows are created with a bitmap image...then imported into genTYP to make a custom Garmin map using cGPSmapper

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Yes, only the maps (maps, aerials, topos) inside my GPS are meaningful. Anything only on a PC, meaningless. However excellent ExpertGPS might be, the fact it's maps are PC only has no value to me.

MtnHermit, have you considered turning your track files into transparent overlay maps? Some people do that. In a couple of other threads Red90 and a couple of others have described methods and pointed to tools. The reason I mentioned it is that going through that process might give you more flexibility to do some annotation along the way.

 

Of course the simplest, as someone else mentioned earlier in the thread, is just to assign different colours to the individual tracks in Mapsource and load them back to the GPS. You still won't get direction but at least it will be easier to distinguish them.

 

On my iQue 3600 I can change the setting for "Display on map" to turn it on or off, on the fly, right on the GPS for each individual named track file. That helps avoid confusion when I have multiple tracks with significant overlap. I just turn off the ones I don't want displayed at the moment. I haven't messed with my Legend to see if I can do that on the fly on individual named tracks.

 

...ken...

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MtnHermit, have you considered turning your track files into transparent overlay maps?
Actually this whole thread has taken on a life of its own. I started the thread hoping I was missing some obvious tools in Mapsource. Well Red90 immediately popped my bubble, so I thought that was the end.

 

Then their were several suggestions for alternative software, but those wouldn't display Mapsource vector maps, only raster maps, which of course won't display on the GPS. As with you, I'm only interested in the GPS maps, not PC maps.

 

Those tracks are from a recent bushwhack, up a mountain side. I always take a different random path whenever I bushwhack so no need for a line on the map. The uncertainty of bushwhacking is my passion, verses trail hiking.

 

The attached map and tracks aren't really that important, but since I had three overlapping tracks, I thought it would be cool to change levels and add direction. Not to be, no big deal.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

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Looking at this tracklog, is their a way I can determine the layer order of the tracks in Mapsource? Which is on top of each other?

 

Can I create a track with direction arrows? Using time ascending, have arrows embedded into the track to show direction of travel? Can I create a legend, a small section of track with text off to the side?

 

Thanks

 

Yes you can change the layer order in Mapsource...CHUY! answered it correctly.

 

Look at your track names...they are listed in alphabetical order (or by number) and are layered on the map with the first track listed drawn on the bottom, the second track listed drawn next and the last track listed drawn on top.

 

Let's say your track names are:

black colored track is Track 1

blue colored trail is Track 2

red colored trail is Track 3

 

That is how they are now layered on your example. Say you want to have the black trail on top...rename it to Track 4. Now blue will be on the bottom, red will be next and black will be on top.

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Looking at this tracklog, is their a way I can determine the layer order of the tracks in Mapsource? Which is on top of each other?

 

Can I create a track with direction arrows? Using time ascending, have arrows embedded into the track to show direction of travel? Can I create a legend, a small section of track with text off to the side?

 

Thanks

 

Since you aren't interested in making custom maps with a TYP modified line (using arrow bitmap) here is a way to make direction arrows in Mapsource.

 

split the track at desired point with Track Divide Tool

use Track Draw Tool to make arrow

use Track Join Tool to join the split track back together

 

Arrow Tutorial Video

 

 

.

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split the track at desired point with Track Divide Tool

use Track Draw Tool to make arrow

use Track Join Tool to join the split track back together

 

Good idea - but you don't even need to split the tracks. Just draw arrows on top of the track (with the track draw tool), wherever you want them.

 

And since the arrows you draw with the track draw tool are actual tracks, they can be loaded to the GPS.

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split the track at desired point with Track Divide Tool

use Track Draw Tool to make arrow

use Track Join Tool to join the split track back together

 

Good idea - but you don't even need to split the tracks. Just draw arrows on top of the track (with the track draw tool), wherever you want them.

 

And since the arrows you draw with the track draw tool are actual tracks, they can be loaded to the GPS.

 

Splitting the track, making the arrow and then joining the tracks will not add to the track count. With Garmin's limited track storage limits (usually 20 tracks or less) by adding arrows on top of the tracks you will be over the limit real quick.

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