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Mapping software


Curious George

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I was going to refer you to a similar thread in the General section but when I checked it was you. icon_biggrin.gif

 

I know that someone in the other thread refered you to Joe Mehaffey's excellent site for a review of the mapping programs but did you see the review of the Etopo maps?

 

Have you looked at Spectrum Digital Imaging maps? The CD's appear to be a little more expensive but a package deal is offered on Ozi purchased with a map CD. I haven't used either so can't say anything about differences between the two. I know at one point SDI would allow you to pick individual maps to make up the CD which could prove handy if you're interested in different areas

 

[This message was edited by PDOP's on November 17, 2002 at 11:26 PM.]

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I use OziExplorer and E Topo maps. They work seemlessly together and are great when I need the detail of a 1:50 000 or 1:250 000 map.

 

I also use Garmin Mapsource with the Enhanced Canada base map (in Alberta it has 90% of all the back roads used in the Oil & Gas and Forestry industries, so I find it very usefull while driving and planning driving routes.

 

I have tried Softmap but am not a fan. See the other threads about Softmap.

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quote:
Originally posted by Cdn Geoquester:

I use OziExplorer and E Topo maps. They work seemlessly together and are great when I need the detail of a 1:50 000 or 1:250 000 map.

 

I also use Garmin Mapsource with the Enhanced Canada base map (in Alberta it has 90% of all the back roads used in the Oil & Gas and Forestry industries, so I find it very usefull while driving and planning driving routes.

 

I have tried Softmap but am not a fan. See the other threads about Softmap.


Cdn Geoquester, where do you obtain "E Topo maps". I've never heard of them.

Also what Garmin unit do you use the enhanced base map on?

 

Thanks, Olar

 

"Pi 'r not square, Pie 'r round you dummy!"

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Hey Curious George:

 

quote:
Oh yeah, I'd like to check out your cache on Mt. Prevost. Any idea what shape the road is in?

 

The road is a little steep, but in good shape. Even the lowly cachecruiser makes it to the top without difficulty. The cache itself is easy, and has 3 really great views. I believe the views to be the best on the Southern Island..hmm I might even have to go with you.. icon_biggrin.gif

 

If I ain't sweatin', I ain't cachin. Are we there yet?

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Hi Curious George,

 

That was a good setup you had on your notebook. If you don't mind me asking how much did Ozi and those maps cost? Do you have buy them for a specific area, or how do they work? Also, where does one buy them, I haven't seen them around.

 

I've seen SoftMap Topo50 at a map shop here in Vancouver. That looked nice. But I think your setup is better because of using the maps with Ozi.

 

Thanks

 

RobertM

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The SDI maps are scans of the paper topographic maps which are precalibrated for use in Ozi Eplorer. They're a bargin compared to paper maps ($10/sheet) but come in prepackaged groups. This can be a good thing if you want all the maps on a particular CD but if the area you're interested in is split between two or more CD's it's a pain.

 

SoftMaps are cheaper then SDI but can only be used with SoftMap's software or FUGAWI.

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Which should I get, or which is better?

 

I live in Vancouver but often go to Vancouver Island. e-Topo comes with Vancouver and southern Vancouver Island maps all on the same CD. SDI has one CD with maps of Vancouver to the Okanagon and another CD with the entire Vancouver Island.

 

So there are 2 options here, each different prices. icon_smile.gif

 

1) e-Topo $99.95 and then I get everything I need, I think, I hope. Then with Ozi for $129.95, a total of $229.90.

2) SDI, 2 CDs for $129.95 each = $259.90.

Then there's still the $110 for OziExplorer. So a total of $369.85.

 

Suggestions?

 

RobertM

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Toporama maps are great basic maps to start with. They're lower resolution and don't have as much detail as SDI or Etopo but the price is right icon_smile.gif . In some instances the maps are also more up to date than the paper or SDI or Etopo CD's (which are both scans of paper maps)

 

If you don't want to take the time to download and calibrate the toporama maps sheets there is another option. The maps are available on CD from a private individual with calibrations for Ozi or FUGAWI. I am not connected to this enterprise in any way other than that I can appreciate how much time it could save. As far as I know there's nothing illegal about this. The costs involved are to cover the calibrations and the CD's

 

Two CD's cover all of Canada south of the 52nd parallel. The CD's are nice because you can simply import the maps and they end up properly organized on your machine. One covers east of the Ontario Manitoba border, the other west.

 

Currently CD's are shipped C.O.D. at $35 (Canadian) each.

 

Contact cgale@playground.net

 

[This message was edited by PDOP's on January 04, 2003 at 07:14 PM.]

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I'm using Toporama maps on my iPAQ, and older Spectrum maps on the PC. Trouble with Toporama is they look like they were drawn with a crayon, but the price is right! The 50k:1 orthophotos are pretty cool too.

 

On the flip side, my Spectrum maps are huge: each map is a .tif file, about 15 megs. I see on Spectrum's website that their new maps must be smaller and are also calibrated for Ozi3D. I presume that means they include elevation data. That would be worth something.

 

Has anyone tried Quo Vadis maps? They appear to be the least expensive. I'm curious as to how the quality compares to Spectrum.

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Hi Goodguys,

When I was doing my mapping software research (2 years ago now!) I compared OziExplorer and Quovadis v1.6. I found Quovadis to be the superior program at the time and I'm still using it today. I bought the topo maps of Southern Ontario. The maps are identical to what is described above, a whole slew of 1:50,000 scale topo maps and then a few 1:250,000 that offer a zoomed out view, all maps in .png format, with a calibration file to work with Quovadis. I think it's a great program, it has great waypoint and track management features.

 

Touratech Quovadis Website

 

Quovadis Canada

 

Quovadis Canada Maps

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quote:
Originally posted by PDOP's:

If you don't want to take the time to download and calibrate the toporama maps sheets there is another option. The maps are available on CD from a private individual with calibrations for Ozi or FUGAWI. I am not connected to this enterprise in any way other than that I can appreciate how much time it could save. As far as I know there's nothing illegal about this. The costs involved are to cover the calibrations and the CD's

 

Two CD's cover all of Canada south of the 52nd parallel. The CD's are nice because you can simply import the maps and they end up properly organized on your machine. One covers east of the Ontario Manitoba border, the other west.

 

Currently CD's are shipped C.O.D. at $35 (Canadian) each.

 

Contact cgale@playground.net


Canadian Information Systems is also now offering calibrated copies of Toporama maps. The CDs have both the 1:50000 and 1:250000 maps with calibrations for use with Ozi, Fugawi and Memory Map.

 

PDOP's GPS Pages

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