BC 4x4 Forums banner

GPS and Forest Service Roads..

13K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  lars 
#1 ·
I'm considering buying the GPS add on for my laptop.. It comes with microsoft streets and tips which gives you all the maps for north america... What about forest roads? Is there anything available that has the maps of BC backroads?
 
#2 ·
I am by no means an expert in this as I just got a GPS myself.
My brother has downloaded Ozi Explorer into his laptop www.oziexplorer.com and uses that with his GPS connected to it. Then he can upload the map to his GPS. He downloads the maps from the internet somewhere. I'll try and find out where. They are Canadian topographic maps and are quite detailed. They do show logging roads and trails but are very out of date. (1970's!) and some of the roads and trails don't exist anymore.
Once the map is uploaded to your GPS you can compare the roads on the map to your actual track as shown on your GPS. Then download your track back to Ozi and update your maps with the new trails and roads in Ozi Explorer. We do this all the time and we now have excellent up-to-date topo maps of our favourite areas, with fishing and hunting spots, campsites and cool trails.
This doesn't answer your original question, though. I will try and find out where the maps come from. It would be good to know just for myself.
Stay tuned :)
 
#6 ·
I've been running the Kootenay Version of the Backroads Cd through Ozi on my laptop in my truck and it's OK. They are useful in a general way.

Despite the dated nature of the basemaps I much prefer Softmap GPS. The georeferencing seems to be much more rigourous and a bit of countour reading should let a person figure out where the road will be going anyway. The maps are also seamless which I find to be a big plus. The GPS module is not as featured az Ozi but I find it doesn't need to be.

Keep following what is happening with Online Cadastre. When it is done,it is going to be an awesome tool. The ortho overlay is fantastically helpful where it exists.
 
#10 ·
slyman said:
I am by no means an expert in this as I just got a GPS myself.
My brother has downloaded Ozi Explorer into his laptop www.oziexplorer.com and uses that with his GPS connected to it. Then he can upload the map to his GPS.
OziExplorer doesn't upload maps into a GPS. The reason being is that Ozi works with bitmap graphics where as the maps uploaded into GPS units are vector based AND use a proprietary format. I think Ozi makes a program that allows you to build maps (by hand) for the Eagle/Lowrance GPSrs. But it isn't as simple as loading a bitmapped graphic into Ozi, and then uploading into the GPS. FWIW, there are third party tools that also let you create uploadable maps for the Garmin GPSrs, and _maybe_ also a tool for Magellans. But in all cases, it requires a fair bit of effort to construct uploadable maps.

...lars



 
#13 ·
Chet said:
I tried out Garmin Mapsource Canada Topo on the weekend and it seemed pretty good. Without color though it was hard to distinguish roads from contour lines.
When I was considering getting the topo maps for my Garmin III+, I was wondering if the mono screen would be a problem. Now I know. ;-)

BTW, if anyone wants to see what their map detail is like, you can go to the cartography section at garmin.com and have a look. They have an on-line viewer for most of their map products.

...lars



 
#15 ·
HiThere said:
What about Canada TopoMap software sold by Magellan and Garmin for their respective GPS receivers?

Does anyone have experience with this software?
I have an eTrex Legend and Garmin Topo Canada software. Being able to download maps and upload tracks is so worth it. In October I downloaded an entire hunting management unit and tracked where I went for 10 days. When I got home I uploaded the tracks and could see where I went and where I should check next year. I haven't figured out how to annotate maps but I haven't really looked either.

I use it to check out areas on the computer and you can print what's in the display window too.
 
#16 ·
Road Dog said:

I have an eTrex Legend and Garmin Topo Canada software. Being able to download maps and upload tracks is so worth it. In October I downloaded an entire hunting management unit and tracked where I went for 10 days. When I got home I uploaded the tracks and could see where I went and where I should check next year. I haven't figured out how to annotate maps but I haven't really looked either.

I use it to check out areas on the computer and you can print what's in the display window too.
In case you want to spend more money on map products, buying something like OziExplorer and then a set of topo maps (http://bc4x4.com/pr/ozi/ozi.cfm) might be more suitable for what you're trying to do. The reason I suggest this is because Ozi does support annotations.
The downsides are:
  • Maps aren't seamless like the Mapsource maps. This could be an annoyance if you spend a lot of time at the edges of map areas.
  • Because the maps used by Ozi and similar programs are scanned, they don't print as well as the vector based maps used in Mapsource.
  • And of course, you can't upload the maps to your GPS.

...lars



 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top