Aerial Imagery for Oregon 45

[+Driddy]

I would like to be able to view aerial imagery on my Oregon 450 and am trying to figure out the best way to go about doing this. I am primary interested for now in obtaining imagery for the Washington-Baltimore-Nova region.

 

One obvious option is to purchase a subscription to Garmin's Birdseye imagery. However, I have read numerous complaints about very slow downloads and poor image quality relative to Google imagery. Are these concerns still valid or has the situation improved?

 

Is there any easy way to download Google imagery, align it (or is register the term?) and transfer it to my GPSr? If so, can you point me in the right direction?

[snowfleurys]

Eary on Garmin had a 'tutorial' on how to get Google imagery in kmz format. Garmin has mentioned increasing the size limit of non-Birdseye imagery; however I have not heard that they have done so, thus the max file size would be limited to 100 cells of 1024 by 1024 pixels. Depending on the resolution you would like, about 10,000 by 10,000 pixels will not cover that large of an area, i.e. 1 meter resolution would be limited to about 10km by 10km - or 6 by 6 miles; or 3 by 12, etc.

[+dfx]

you can create custom maps out of any raster images for the oregon, either by yourself in google earth or via applications such as http://mobac.dnsalias.org/

 

however, such custom maps are very limited in size and resolution.

 

it's still true that birdseye imagery isn't up to par with google imagery, but i wouldn't say that it isn't worth the money. $30 for a year isn't a whole lot and i think it's well worth that money.

[mtbikernate]

Topofusion is WELL WORTH the $60 for unlimited map transfers. It will put scanned topos (including MyTopo), color sat images, b/w sat images, urban aerial images (where available), Landsat imagery, and open street/cycle maps.

 

All the GPS can handle, whatever image source you want (the program even has the ability to add more WMS seamless imagery servers).

[+Driddy]

Thanks for the input. I tried several solutions for making custom maps but they all seemed to complicated. I decided to give BirdsEye a whirl given that it only cost $27 (with 10% registration discount code). The slow download speed is not such a big deal because I almost always cache within 20 miles of home and it won't take more than 1-2 days to download the maps. I am underwhelmed by the imagery. It doesn't look to bad in Basecamp, but is pretty fuzzy on the 450. I do think it will be useful for finding parking lots in large parks, locating meadows, etc.

 

I look forward to the day when Google-quality maps are easy to install and look good on a GPSr I own.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I agree with mtbikernate that TopoFusion is a good choice. Definitely the easiest way I have found to load custom maps.

[+twistyipper]

I agree with mtbikernate that TopoFusion is a good choice. Definitely the easiest way I have found to load custom maps.

might have a look at Mobile Atlas Creator

Prepare online maps for your mobile device----seems to work well and its FREE

[+cliptwings]

I gotta add my thumbs up to Topofusion. It is very quick to download all kinds of imagery (aerial, topo, street), easy to install on a GPSr, and looks great on my Dakota. It's a mature program, but the developer is always looking for ways to improve it. I couldn't be happier with my $60 spent.

 

A free alternative is still Google Earth, but involves some massaging of the image you capture.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

It takes literally just a few seconds to create a .kmz custom map file to transfer with TopoFusion. For anyone who thinks they might be interested in the Pro version (I think its actually $69.95), I highly recommend downloading the free trial version and checking out the available imagery.

[mtbikernate]

I agree with mtbikernate that TopoFusion is a good choice. Definitely the easiest way I have found to load custom maps.

might have a look at Mobile Atlas Creator

Prepare online maps for your mobile device----seems to work well and its FREE

 

Topofusion does far more than just load maps. The "Network" feature alone is worth some dough.