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Free Software Recommendation?


NeWcS

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I have a bunch of scanned lake maps which have dots on them and each dot has GPS coordinates. (NAD83). I'm looking for some software that will allow me to calibrate the dot's and be able to place my own GPS Waypoints.

 

I hope this makes sense.

Thank you

-Jay

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There are a few apps that do this... only one i have used though is expertgps... i imported a map many years ago.. i needed to know the coords of a few points on the map.. i remember it being more work than i wanted to put into it.

 

sounds like you already have the coords for the dots.. sounds like cake. i think.

 

I did register my version of easygps to expertgps.. not sure if you can do the maps inthe free version (easygps)

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ArcGIS Explorer may work for you. There are several freeware GIS platforms out there. I'm not sure if GE can do the datum switching that you'll need to do to get the coords into WGS84, but you may not even need to do that (I think any decent GPS unit can plot in most of the recognized datums). But, any "normal" map reference you find online (Google Maps, GPS File Depot, Open Street Maps, etc.) will be in WGS84, and your coords will prolly not plot correctly. GE may have that capability, I honestly don't know. I have ArcGIS at work, so that's what I know how to use. Arc Explorer is the freeware version, and to be honest, I don't know how capable it is. I know you can display data with it, and very little else. MapWindowGIS is another freeware one I've looked at, but I haven't really done a lot with it.

 

Wish I could be more helpful. Good luck with it.

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1) reset your GPS to the NAD83 datum; and reset your coordinate format to match the map, if needed

2) enter the waypoints from the map into the GPS

3) reset your GPS to WGS84 and your waypoint format, if needed.

 

The difference between NAD83 and WGS84 is miniscule. In fact it's so small that some GPS receivers consider them to be the same.

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1) reset your GPS to the NAD83 datum; and reset your coordinate format to match the map, if needed

2) enter the waypoints from the map into the GPS

3) reset your GPS to WGS84 and your waypoint format, if needed.

 

The difference between NAD83 and WGS84 is miniscule. In fact it's so small that some GPS receivers consider them to be the same.

I agree. But if I understand the OP correctly, there is little need for any website or third-party software (especially some of the expensive third-party software) to convert coordinates from one datum to another when many GPSrs can do it themselves. I would still suggest the three simple steps, regardless of the lack of difference; the OP already has the conversion tool in-hand.

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Google Earth maybe? It lets you load an image and align it onto the surface of the earth. The you can place waypoints on the loaded map and it will tell you the coordinates (or do whatever else with it).

I agree with using Google Earth. Convert your scanned maps to .jpg format (if they aren't already) and make a best fit by positioning the maps with the dots w/coords, or visually pull, rotate, and stretch it to fit. It's not perfect but if your maps were to a scale and not distorted it will work well. You can then drop Placemarks where you want, save them as a .kml file, and convert that to a .gpx file for uploading.

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I have a bunch of scanned lake maps which have dots on them and each dot has GPS coordinates. (NAD83). I'm looking for some software that will allow me to calibrate the dot's and be able to place my own GPS Waypoints.

 

I hope this makes sense.

Thank you

-Jay

 

Can you send me one of the scanned maps and the coordinates of the area it covers and I can take a crack at it.

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I use Google Earth for calibrating scanned maps and it works great. Very easy to do. Just select Add and then Image Overlay. Select the image, most popular image formats are supported and it will display the types Google Earth accepts. A sample video can be found here.

 

No I don't think that will work. This is for fishing so in some cases I will need to get within feet of a spot.

Oziexplorer looks to be just what I'm looking for.

 

-Jay

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Use Mapsource and a detailed map.

 

If you don't have Mapsource/detailed map...

 

Get a copy of Mapsource using this link as a guide.

 

Get a free detailed topo map which includes Colorado using this link

 

Install Mapsource and the Topo map.

 

Start Mapsource.

 

Go to the lake where you are gonna plot your GPS locations.

 

Optional...In Mapsource click Edit tab...Preferences...Position...change Datum.

 

Click Edit tab...New Waypoint...type in a name...choose a symbol...edit position..click OK

 

Do the same for the remaining locations...now that you have one waypoint entered you will only have to edit a few digits for the remaining locations.

 

When done save it.

 

You can then upload the waypoint file (and the Topo map too if you want) to your GPS.

 

Screenshot showing a sampling I entered into Mapsource....

 

plotgpswaypoints.jpg

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