Topo maps

[n4khq]

National Geo- Topo states and Back Roads Explorer are available for OS X.
http://www.ngmapstore.com/jump.jsp?item ... &itemID=76
They both had the street overlays. Sounds like RouteBuddy is already suffering from feature creep.

[GPSNavX]

I use TOPO! 3.3 and I am very happy with it. Unlike MacGPSPro that requires me to manually load the maps as I scroll around, TOPO! does a nice job of automatically loading and displaying them.

I have refrained from upgrading to TOPO! 4.X because it is another legacy app that has not been made Universal.

Where TOPO! is weak, is the interfacing to the GPS. Seems not to work sometimes.

I wish I had the time to travel all 50 states, but I am happy to have the Western states (CA, OR, WA, MT, ID)

[Geocat]

I use TOPO! 3.3 and I am very happy with it. Unlike MacGPSPro that requires me to manually load the maps as I scroll around, TOPO! does a nice job of automatically loading and displaying them.

I have both programs, too, Neither is perfect but if I had to choose between them it would be MacGPS Pro because the developer answers questions and updates the product, the app is Universal Binary, supports the latest receivers and works with GPX & KML formats (the last item is evidently "easy" to implement but is lacking in RB). Handling topos is less seamless than in TOPO! but is semi-automatic if set up properly; there are features to trim map boarders, open several topos at once, and auto-open maps when a receiver is attached.

TOPO!--I detest that exclamation point in the name which mirrors my reaction to the app's bizarre behavior--has so many interface, operational and documentation problems that I wouldn't know where to start describing them. I would give the developer some slack except that they won't answer questions. For some things it is easier to use than MacGPS Pro so I keep it around, just hoping that they will improve it.

[n4khq]

National Geo sells Back Roads Explorer with all 50 states for $49. The scale is 1:100,000 and it takes 17 CD for that amount of data. I have searched delorme's Topo usa page and can not find the scale listed but the maps they show are 1:100,000 for the grand canyon. You can tell by the scale and number of contour lines. It would take about 140 CD's to have the US at 1:24000 scale. Are we comparing apples to apples?[/img]

Seems a little off topic but the nice folks at Routebuddy gave us our own folder.

[Geocat]

National Geo sells Back Roads Explorer with all 50 states for $49. The scale is 1:100,000 and it takes 17 CD for that amount of data. I have searched delorme's Topo usa page and can not find the scale listed but the maps they show are 1:100,000 for the grand canyon. You can tell by the scale and number of contour lines. It would take about 140 CD's to have the US at 1:24000 scale. Are we comparing apples to apples?

Seems a little off topic but the nice folks at Routebuddy gave us our own folder.

Comparisons between mapping apps is inevitable and we will measure RB to some extent by how it stacks up to those we are familiar with. It would be nice to be able to at least overlay topos and aerials on RB road maps.

As for the size of raster images, in this day of image compression and GB micro-cards it is not a big deal to have a large area at your fingertips. With topos I don't typically need the huge areas required for road maps so I don't see that as a problem.

[GPSNavX]

Neither TOPO! or MacGPSPro is a model in User Interface design, however I find these benefits in TOPO!:

- Elevation is given where ever I move the cursor
- I can draw a line or track and an elevation profile is created
- TOPO! does not always reset the map window right on top of the Dock.
- Automatic loading of maps without need for a GPS receiver
- Printing of maps
- Overview window makes picking section of map easy

I cannot comment on TOPO! 4.X as I have not moved to it.

[n4khq]

The question is what map scaled are used for delorme topo that sell for $99? If it 1:100000 as the screen shots on the web page appear to be, then Topo States Back Roads explorer is basically the same offering for $49. Why can't I find the scale listed on delorme web page. Am I just over looking something.

As for the size of raster images, in this day of image compression and GB micro-cards it is not a big deal to have a large area at your fingertips. With topos I don't typically need the huge areas required for road maps so I don't see that as a problem.

[Dair Grant]

Are there any plans to provide topo maps for RouteBuddy?

Support for topo maps is on our todo list, however we don't have anything to announce regarding pricing or availability at present (other than we recognise there's a demand for it, and is something we would like to support too).

[Geocat]

Neither TOPO! or MacGPSPro is a model in User Interface design, however I find these benefits in TOPO! ...

- Elevation is given where ever I move the cursor
- I can draw a line or track and an elevation profile is created
- TOPO! does not always reset the map window right on top of the Dock.
- Automatic loading of maps without need for a GPS receiver
- Printing of maps
- Overview window makes picking section of map easy

All these things sort of work, when I'm lucky, in an awkward, cartoonish interface. Just as often I get messages like: "elevation data missing," "file name too long," "install maps for this region" (they ARE installed as shown in the preferences), etc. At best a clumsy port from the PC version.

[Geocat]

The question is what map scaled are used for delorme topo that sell for $99? If it 1:100000 as the screen shots on the web page appear to be, then Topo States Back Roads explorer is basically the same offering for $49. Why can't I find the scale listed on delorme web page. Am I just over looking something.

I don't use Delorme but Garmin supplies medium-res (1:100,000) topos for the entire country on 3 CDs ($117). MacGPS Pro has low (1:250,000), medium & high-res (1:24,000) topos for the state of Oregon on 2 CDs ($30). TOPO! requires 6 CDs for Oregon at high-res ($100) and also has their low-res Back Roads ($50, only 1:250,000 in Hawaii and Alaska). Of course, CDs are low-capacity media these days. Different feature sets with the above programs but it gives an idea of what's available.

[GPSNavX]

All these things sort of work, when I'm lucky, in an awkward, cartoonish interface. Just as often I get messages like: "elevation data missing," "file name too long," "install maps for this region" (they ARE installed as shown in the preferences), etc. At best a clumsy port from the PC version.

Can't say I have had those troubles. Guess I am lucky. Agree just as MacGPS Pro is a port from Classic (Carbon), TOPO! is a Windows port. Neither good.

[MacGPS Pro]

[quote="GPSNavX"]Neither TOPO! or MacGPSPro is a model in User Interface design, however I find these benefits in TOPO!:

- Elevation is given where ever I move the cursor
- I can draw a line or track and an elevation profile is created
- TOPO! does not always reset the map window right on top of the Dock.
- Automatic loading of maps without need for a GPS receiver
- Printing of maps
[/quote]
As of 11/27/06, the following is true:

- MacGPS Pro provides elevation for any point in a state when the MacElevation data for that state is installed.

- MacGPS Pro will plot an elevation profile for any track or route.

- The map window respects the dock.

- MacTopos USGS topo maps can be opened automatically by double-clicking at any point in the map window.

- The map window can be printed or saved to a PDF file.

Dr. Lawrence W. James
James Associates -- home of MacGPS Pro

[GPSNavX]

TOPO! 4.2.7 is a great improvement over TOPO! 3.3. It now is a universal binary. Offers better GPS connectivity and fantastic scrolling and displaying of the maps. The road overlay is a nice touch.

I find the MacGPS Pro use of topo maps clunky. Having to manually load the maps as I scroll or zoom and not being able to just move the cursor any where to get an elevation reading. Furthermore having to buy yet another CD to get elevations seems a bit of nickle diming by the developer.

I look forward to RouteBuddy supporting TOPO maps.

[mike]

What is the status on Topo maps for the US?

Granted raster data is large.

As far as the rest of this thread went,

I like the tiling/auto opening of maps as I pan in TOPO!

I've seen some Garmin topo maps that are free and in vector format. (created by others)

The USGS is slowly converting their topo maps into geopdf format, and the next version of the geopdf will have 37(or so) layers.

It seems you could more or less create a vector topo map using free data from the US gov. (elevation, landcover, geonames, etc)


Just some thoughts. But I'm still wondering about topo maps in the US (and perhaps canada).

-Mike

[neil]

What is the status on Topo maps for the US?

Granted raster data is large.

As far as the rest of this thread went,

I like the tiling/auto opening of maps as I pan in TOPO!

I've seen some Garmin topo maps that are free and in vector format. (created by others)

The USGS is slowly converting their topo maps into geopdf format, and the next version of the geopdf will have 37(or so) layers.

It seems you could more or less create a vector topo map using free data from the US gov. (elevation, landcover, geonames, etc)


Just some thoughts. But I'm still wondering about topo maps in the US (and perhaps canada).

-Mike

As you indicated Mike, the raster data is large...

Yes, we are looking to support raster data but cannot put a date on this yet. Where to start the project, and with which data, is something we need to consider well. When we've made our decisions we'll post here.


Neil