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Satellite map of your track...


bradtal

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I use GPS Utility.

http://www.gpsu.co.uk/download.html

 

I download aerial images from Mapquest (pasting together several by hand for large area) and calibrate them using two known points on the image. At this point you can view your tracks over the images ... if you're using a laptop, you can walk around (or drive) and view your current position.

 

Obviously, this is not a quick and easy solution but once you've done it a couple of times, it works very well.

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I would think that track support would be kinda handy.

 

For example, while geocaching, I usually leave my GPS on while walking around. It would be nice to be able to download my track log and see on the satellite image where I walked.

 

Also, I think this would be cool when golfing. If I leave my gps on and it records my track log, and then I could view that on a satellite image of the golf course, I could basically see where each of my drives went. I know, sounds corney, but you could imagine being able to compare last weeks round of golf with this weeks round of golf and see where I need to improve.

 

Just a thought...

 

Brad

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quote:
Originally posted by bretley42:

What you may be looking for is PhotoMaps available at http://jdmcox.com.

 

EasyGPS is great, but for viewing your tracks over an image, this will work out very well.


 

This is excellent. Terra Server imagery is more out of date and B/W that Mapquest images in the DC area but this will work great for quick looks. Thanks for the tip.

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quote:
Originally posted by DisQuoi:

 

This is excellent. Terra Server imagery is more out of date and B/W that Mapquest images in the DC area but this will work great for quick looks. Thanks for the tip.


 

Just wondering if you had any more info on where Mapquest gets its imagery... I checked it out for the 43130 zip code, and it appears to be identical to the MS Terraserver data that USA PhotoMaps uses.

 

Rubbertoe - Webcam - Image Archives

--== http://www.bigfoot.com/~rbatina ==--

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quote:
Originally posted by bretley42:

What you may be looking for is PhotoMaps available at http://jdmcox.com.


 

This is what I use and it works great for me. The images are downloaded from MS Terraserver so they're not exactly new. It can display waypoints and tracks and I think the author may be working on routes as well.

 

I've used it to display MTB rides, geocaching hikes, golf outings, walks around town, and other stuff. I find it very useful for geocaching and benchmark hunting as it can give an impression of the area and terrain where the the objective is located.

 

I'm not lost!

I just don't know where I am.

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quote:
Originally posted by Rubbertoe:

Just wondering if you had any more info on where Mapquest gets its imagery... I checked it out for the 43130 zip code, and it appears to be identical to the MS Terraserver data that USA PhotoMaps uses.


 

I have no idea where Mapquest gets their aerial imagery. I was using it to look at the Boise ID area and found that it is very old and black and white. However, if you look in the counties around Washington DC, it's color, hi resolution, and recent. The TerraServer imagery around DC is decent enough for every day use. ... especially with this tool since it is programmed to do all the downloading and pasting for you.

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quote:
Originally posted by DisQuoi:

 

I have no idea where Mapquest gets their aerial imagery. I was using it to look at the Boise ID area and found that it is very old and black and white. However, if you look in the counties around Washington DC, it's color, hi resolution, and recent.


 

I went and checked out the DC images like you said - and man is there a difference. Unfortunately, I'm about 20 miles southeast of Columbus Ohio - and the color imagery for my area only exists in non-detailed very high images... once you zoom in very close at all, it goes to the black and white images.

 

http://www.globexplorer.com/

 

Apparently those folks supply the images to Mapquest... hopefully MS's terraserver will start updating their maps as well.

 

Rubbertoe - Webcam - Image Archives

--== http://www.bigfoot.com/~rbatina ==--

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quote:
Originally posted by Rubbertoe:

 

Apparently those folks supply the images to Mapquest... hopefully MS's terraserver will start updating their maps as well.

 


 

That is correct. It defaults to the older USGS NAPP data when no newer imagery is available. The GlobalXplorer data would be a little difficult for USAPhotomaps, etc., because of registration issues. That is, it is tricky to accurately plot coordinates on some of the images.

 

-jjf

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I must say I am surprised I didnt see this posted earlier. It seems everyone uses "GPS Utility" which is fine for share-ware, but it will only accept a certain amount of waypoints from your tracks, therefore leaving you with only partial information (that is till you buy the full version)

 

However, there is another utility, just as powerful and even more so and it is completely free. No limitations!! (not that I have found!!)

 

Check it out at www.gpstm.com I think you'll find it does what you are looking for and more. (Like Insert your own maps!)

 

Enjoy and have fun!! Kar (Team Shibby!)

 

TEAM SHIBBY!!!!

 

Krs, Kar & Na

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quote:
Check it out at http://www.gpstm.com I think you'll find it does what you are looking for and more. (Like Insert your own maps!)

I also downloaded this. It seems to work great. I like that it will plot the geocaching.loc data with the waypoint number or the cache name. However, one drawback I've noticed is that to calibrate a map image, you have to know the top left corner and bottom right corner coordinate. In GPS Utility, you can use any two points and it will even rotate the grid if necessary.

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quote:
Originally posted by DisQuoi:

 

However, one drawback I've noticed is that to calibrate a map image, you have to know the top left corner and bottom right corner coordinate. In GPS Utility, you can use any two points and it will even rotate the grid if necessary.


 

Where would one fine the coordinates of a two points on a map. Is there a realitively easy way to do it?

 

Chip

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But my GPS doesnt handle maps, so I dont have any to experiment with.

 

I use this program to look at all the tracks it has created for me while out caching, or traveling. When I used GPS Utility it did the same, but always cut off more than half of the waypoints from the trip. So insteading of spending $40 on GPSU, I found the GPS TM for free!

 

Kar of Team Shibby!

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quote:
Originally posted by Seay me:Where would one fine the coordinates of a two points on a map. Is there a realitively easy way to do it?

 

What I do is ...

 

1) If I'm out in the area that I want to calibrate, I drive to a convenient intersection of streets or other landmark that is identifiable by air, and store a waypoint. I repeat this somewhere else that will show up on the aerial image (but not too close ... the farther the better).

 

or

 

2) You can get coordinates for an street intersection from MapBlast (or MapQuest if you're creative), MapSource, STreets & Trips ... any other map software.

 

Then in UPS Utility, you import the jpeg or bmp file that is the aerial image, and follow the instructions to calibrate using two points. The cool thing is, the image doesn't have to rotated to north and the calibration points can be anywhere in the photo (not just the two opposite corners). If you want to get funky, you can use three calibration pojnts and it will warp the image as necessary to make it fit.

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