Route mapping software.

[William Higley]

I am curious about what software is being used to map route profiles (elevation gains). I have used
the "Delorme TOPO!" product. It is easy to use and inexpensive.

What other products do you suggest. My main concerns are price and ease of use.

Thoughts?

William Higley, Sr. Vision R-50 RANS Rocket

 

[Cletus D . Lee]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> I am curious about what software is being used to map route profiles (elevation gains). I have
> used the "Delorme TOPO!" product. It is easy to use and inexpensive.
>
> What other products do you suggest. My main concerns are price and ease of use.

All I've tried are pretty crappy. Delorme's TopoUSA is probably the most useful. However tracking
roads is nearly useless. Roads on the map rarely agree with the contours in reality. Here are some
pretty interesting maps and 3-D Aerials from Topo USA of MoM http://www.clee.org/MoM2002/MoM.cfm

Magellan MapSend Topo works fairly good integrated with the Meridian, however the same road issues
apply. Compare: http://www.clee.org/MoM2002/image029.htm With
http://www.clee.org/MoM2002/image030.htm Both Pictures were taken at the same place. The sign says
the elevation is 2400'. Now I don't think the NPS (our federal government) would lie to us about
something as simple as the elevation of a scenic look out. The Photo of the GPS suggests 2100' at
the nearest road. My GPS location is about 50' North of the mapped road location. The road is 50'
wide. The road is pretty flat where these pictures were taken.

--
Cletus D. Lee Bacchetta Giro Lightning Voyager http://www.clee.org
- Bellaire, TX USA -

 

[Bill Anton]

Both Garmin and Magellen GPS units come with mapping software for your PC. I have a Garmin GPS-V
deluxe, which has recently been reduced to a street price of about $400 (down from $500 when I
bought mine). Garmin sells a real nice handlebar mount for it. It comes with road maps, but they
also sell Topo maps. You install the maps from CD-ROM to your computer then download the maps to the
GPS via serial port. Since the GPS tracks your position in 3-D, you can download your "tracks" after
the ride and use the PC mapping software (comes with the unit) to view your ride either in map mode
or in profile mode that allows you to see elevation change over the course of the ride or a selected
section of it. Also, you can pre-program your route into the unit before the ride begins and it'll
beep and tell you where to turn and when--like having a backseat driver along for the ride, but
without the added weight!

If you decide to get a GPS, you'll never again have to mess with printed maps on a long tour. Of
course, GPS map memory is limited, so for a VERY long multi-state tour, you might need to take a
laptop along for the ride to re-load map segments. Better units are coming out all the time though.
It's just a matter of time before you'll be able to buy a GPS with every road, alley, stream, motel
and restaurant in the world pre-programmed in. I'm waiting for the GPS/PDA/Cell phone/Heart rate
monitor all built in to a wrist watch ;-)

--
Bill Anton 2001 Vision R-40 26x26 SWB OSS Lubbock, TX, USA

"William Higley, Sr." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:LMKdnTd3-s9ec7jdRVn-
[email protected]...
> I am curious about what software is being used to map route profiles (elevation gains). I have
> used the "Delorme TOPO!" product. It is easy to use and inexpensive.
>
> What other products do you suggest. My main concerns are price and ease of use.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> William Higley, Sr. Vision R-50 RANS Rocket

 

[Mark Leuck]

"Bill Anton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:74CVb.16373$Q_4.6751@okepread03...
> Both Garmin and Magellen GPS units come with mapping software for your PC. I have a Garmin GPS-V
> deluxe, which has recently been reduced to a street price of about $400 (down from $500 when I
> bought mine). Garmin sells a real nice handlebar mount for it. It comes with road maps, but they
> also sell Topo maps. You install the maps from CD-ROM to your computer then download the maps to
> the GPS via serial port. Since the GPS tracks your position in 3-D, you can download your "tracks"
> after the ride and use the PC mapping software (comes with the unit) to view your ride either in
> map mode or in profile mode that allows you to see elevation change over the course of the ride or
> a selected section of it. Also, you can pre-program your route into the unit before the ride
> begins and it'll beep and tell
you
> where to turn and when--like having a backseat driver along for the ride, but without the
> added weight!

The only problem with Garmin is they don't seem to like updating the MapSource software very often,
Many times I ride on roads that have been around for at least 10 years but are still not on the map

> If you decide to get a GPS, you'll never again have to mess with printed maps on a long tour. Of
> course, GPS map memory is limited, so for a VERY long multi-state tour, you might need to take a
> laptop along for the ride
to
> re-load map segments. Better units are coming out all the time though. It's just a matter of time
> before you'll be able to buy a GPS with every road, alley, stream, motel and restaurant in the
> world pre-programmed in. I'm waiting for the GPS/PDA/Cell phone/Heart rate monitor all built in to
a
> wrist watch ;-)

Good luck squinting at that tiny screen

 

[Freewheeling]

William:

I don't bother with maps with elevation data for all the reasons Cletus mentions, plus the fact that
the elevation data reduces the area of the map that can be held in the memory of the GPS device by
at least a factor of 2. I use the Mapsource program and data that Garmin sells, althought the chief
problem with that is that it doesn't have metro stops or bike trails. It would be really nice to
have a mapping system that could tell you how to get to point B using designated bikeways and
trails, if possible. It wouldn't add that much data to the maps, and would vastly increase their
usefulness. Maybe the next generation of Mapsource...

--
--Scott
"William Higley, Sr." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am curious about what software is being used to map route profiles
> (elevation gains). I have used the "Delorme TOPO!" product. It is easy to
> use and inexpensive.
>
> What other products do you suggest. My main concerns are price and ease of
> use.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> William Higley, Sr.
> Vision R-50
> RANS Rocket

 

[Keith]

The ETrex Summit has a built-in barometric altimeter. If you use MapSource you can take the Track
Properties and copy and paste them into Excel and generate elevation profiles that way. The Etrex
Summit doesn't display maps though. Keith.

 

[Freewheeling]

Keith:

I have a Vista, which also has a barometric altimeter. Pretty accurate if you remember to callibrate
it. (Not worth a damn inside a pressurized plane, of course.)

--
--Scott
"Keith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> The ETrex Summit has a built-in barometric altimeter. If you use
> MapSource you can take the Track Properties and copy and paste them
> into Excel and generate elevation profiles that way. The Etrex Summit
> doesn't display maps though.
> Keith.

 

[Alan Weiss]

For those of us who use Macs, I believe that the only option is to use Topo! by National Geographic.
The street maps are somewhat out of date (perhaps 10 years or so), but the elevations I have traced
here in NJ seem quite accurate. You can purchase this software at a discount from http://macintosh.digital-topo-
maps.com/ or directly from National Geographic. The retail price is $99 per region, and there are
dozens of regions in the country. I have Northeast (everything north and east of NJ, including all
of NY), Mid-Atlantic (Maryland, Delaware, Virginia), and California.

For what it's worth, I recently purchased a Rayming TN-200 GPS unit (one of the only GPS that
connects directly to a Mac via a USB cable). It works fine with Delorme Street Atlas USA 6.0, but I
have not yet been able to get it to work with Topo!

Alan Weiss NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider

"William Higley, Sr." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<LMKdnTd3-s9ec7jdRVn-
[email protected]>...
> I am curious about what software is being used to map route profiles (elevation gains). I have
> used the "Delorme TOPO!" product. It is easy to use and inexpensive.
>
> What other products do you suggest. My main concerns are price and ease of use.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> William Higley, Sr. Vision R-50 RANS Rocket