Mapomatic - Applications of Mapping

Here’s a picture of the contents of a box that arrived from Garmin’s UK headquarters a couple of weeks ago.

Inside, a Colorado 300 , and GPSMAP 60CSx. Over the next few days and weeks we’ll be putting both of these receivers through their paces.

As part of the reviewing procedure we’re keen to offer readers the opportunity to ask questions about aspects of either unit, we’ll also be including a side by side comparison of performance and features present.

If you’d like to contribute then please join the discussions in our forum.

GPS Review forum discussion.

GPXView started out as simply as a viewer for the geocaching.com GPX files used by geocachers. However, it’s now expanded, and offers a near paper-less experience for those who own a Nokia Internet Tablet, and even has basic GPS support for those with a Bluetooth GPS or an N810 (with built in GPS).

The author plans to integrate the program into with Maemo Mapper or into navit, but in the meantime head off to his website for more screenshots and the install link.

Story courtesy of UK Gadgeteer.

Over at Pocket GPS World, they’ve published a full and frank review of the SatMap Active 10. They’ve covered all aspects of the device, in fact the only additional “Con” we would add to the Pros and Cons is the overall cost, especially if you want a lot of OS maps on the device. Head over to read the review.

As well as the UK OSM on Garmin Map we have already announced, we can now announce we will also be offering a UK OSM Cycle Map on Garmin devices. This takes the same OSM road data (although all normal roads are made slightly less prominent) and then the data on Cycle routes (NCN, LCN, etc.) is added to this, with these cycle routes given higher prominence.  As you can see on the map above, the South Downs Way (which is a cycle route) is more prominent than the A27 also in the map.

Right now, this is also only available to our beta testers as we look to ensure it’s suitable for a wide range of devices before releasing.

If you want to become a Beta Tester, please follow the instructions here, which will give you access to both maps.

The Beta testing is going well, as the above screenshot shows (screenshot from a Garmin Colorado 300 with our UK OSM on Garmin Map loaded). We’ve also started Beta testing our next project and plans are under way for other OSM / Garmin projects throughout 2008. Strangely the Colorado does not show the streetnames, although other Garmin devices do.

We’re still accepting new beta requests - more information here.

The UK SatMap Active 10 GPS device, which offers a whole range of OS maps (at additional charge) has just received a fairly major software update. The new version, v1.15 features the following updates:

• A blue ‘You Are Here’ dot to distinguish current location from the red track dots.
• The ability to hide inactive routes to avoid ‘clutter’ on a map. (Main Menu > Settings > Routes Control)
• A battery meter that gives a more accurate indication of the power remaining, and an indication of when the unit is connected to an external power source.
• A more accurate record of the trip data.
• The ability to download the raw track data from the Active 10 onto a PC (via SatSYNC).
• The ability to display elevation data derived from the GPS system as opposed to from an in built height data set. (Main Menu > Settings > GPS Settings)
• The ability to calibrate the compass from the compass page.
• A low power mode that automatically sets up the unit up to maximise the battery life. (Main Menu > Settings > Advanced Power Control)
• The ability to reset the track and the trip log simultaneously. (Main Menu >Routes Menu > Reset Data)
• A 15 second screen off option. (Main Menu > Settings > Power Control)

“The new software also has a new power management system that significantly reduces
the overall power consumption of the Active 10, thereby improving battery
performance. It should also improve the GPS acquisition time and upgrade the signal
lock in difficult conditions such as under tree canopies.
The most obvious change is to the start-up operation: when switched on, the Active 10
(with no map card loaded), goes to the GPS status screen first. Yellow blocks appear on
the bar chart whilst the unit is picking up the satellites, which turn orange once they
have acquired the data from each one. Once a sufficient number of satellites have been
acquired, the unit locks on, and then automatically switches to the GPS Map screen.”

About the only thing missing from the SatMap website is information on how to obtain the new software…

[Via UK Gadgeteer]

We’re now beta testing our Garmin OSM map image file. If you asked to join the beta and haven’t got access, please let us know. If you want to join the beta, please follow these instructions, and you should be able to join. A key point is you need to register in our forums, and then contact us (via email, not via comments here please), and we’ll add you into additional areas of the forum.

After a long time (in computing terms) running the same, stable firmware, Garmin have just released a new firmware (v3.60) for the 60Cx, 60CSx, 76Cx and 76CSx models.

The new features / bug fixes are:

• Correct German translation of ‘delete all waypoints’
• Fix data card unlock failure when 2 cards of the same map set are used in one device
• Improve sun times for polar regions
• Fix issue where ETA in non motor vehicle modes can be unreasonably short
• Improve robustness of compass when it would appear uncalibrated until a power cycle
• Increase precision of distance measurement to the cursor on the map page
• Allow backlight adjustment on the track back point selection page
• Fix shutdown when editing Estonian Grid coordinates
• Correct daylight saving time for New Zealand
• Improve selection of the names of cross roads with NT maps
• Correct potential shutdown when viewing a vertical profile

You may not want to apply this update if you are not being affected by the problems listed.

Back in January, Garmin released similar firmware updates for the eTrex HCx range (v2.50) , along with the eTrex HC range (v2.70) and finally the eTrex Cx (v2.90) models.

Even before the Colorado starts shipping in any serious quantities in the UK, Garmin have updated the firmware in these units based on user feedback. The main features added are:

• Displays geocaches on the main screen
• Doubles the number of caches supported to 2000
• Adds the ability to mark the cache as found
• Provides support for Colorado Field Notes, which can be directly uploaded to geocaching.com

[Via UK Gadgeteer]

We’re now ready to start our beta test of our UK OSM Garmin map. If you are interested in trying and providing feedback, on both the actual map file, but also the instructions on how to load them too, then please contact us.

However, please first register in the forums, and then please email us at info@mapomatic.net with the following information;

• Your forum username
• Your Garmin model (or models)
• How much internal or external memory your Garmin has
• Whether you already have additional maps installed

We will then be in touch with you to confirm whether you are able to join the beta test.