Handheld GPS with editable maps?

Hello all, for walking, bike-riding and off-roading I'd like to be
able to load maps of my own making onto it. From the look of it,
Garmin maps are pretty poor and you can't edit them, is that still the
case with the newer machines? Ideally I'd be able to load OS maps
from something like memory map or scans of my own maps into it.

I'm aware of memory map being able to run on a pocket PC etc, but
while that works OK for walking and driving, it's pants for cycling as
it gets rattled to bits. Battery life is also an issue for PDA/GPS
combos.

Ideally something waterproof and tough, the size of an etrex with a
scrolling OS map would be nice. Anything available yet? I've just
come back from wandering through google groups to see what's
been mentioned in here before but nothing concrete.

Thanks all!

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

Thanks, I know about memory map's limitations, but am trying to find
any handheld gps with any software, memory map/garmin or otherwise.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

Ian Rawlings wrote:

You can make your own maps in Garmin format (eg. Etrex, 60/76 series). BUT
its a huge task to make a complex map. Start by looking up Cgpsmapper.com
and Geopainting.com and read the manuals, follow links out to various other
tools. You're entering an area where people have reverse engineered the
Garmin data format, and then produced tools to compile maps into that
format.
You cannot edit Garmin produced maps, but any you make yourself can be
transparent over-lays and sit above the Garmin ones in the device.



The only option for easy screen dumps of OS maps are the PDA types hardware
and software.


Before you dispare and give up, ask yourself whether you'd seriously go
off-road biking or walking with only a piece of fragile electronics for
navigation (even an Etrex is fairly easy to break). If not, you'll still be
carrying some form of paper map. Thus, full OS map on the display screen
is, perhaps, unnecessary ?

Secondly, have a try at some map reading experiments with a small screen.
Take a 1:50,000 paper map and a big sheet of cardboard. Cut a 2in*2in hole
in the cardboard. Place cardboard over map. Now use map to navigate. I
think you'll find its quite awkward. Even if you allow yourself zoom to see
wider areas (hold cardboard at arms length, place map on floor), its pretty
difficult.



I find that just having basic data on the GPS - summits, some contour data,
and my own key markers added to be all I need on the GPS screen (key markers
being things like: cols, descent routes, key stream crossings, entry points
to forest, ends of tracks, etc). For cycling use I usually turn off the
contour data, it gets in the way on the screen.
From the above I can quickly relate those marker points, and my own
position, to a detailed paper map if I need to.

I've made some limited DIY maps for an Etrex Vista C using the tools
mentioned above, and other associated tools.


- Nigel



--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Thanks, I'll have a peek at that.


No I wouldn't, however given that the Garmin maps are slated for being
inaccurate and lacking in detail it would be nice to be able to put
together a map of a given area myself. When I'm walking or pedalling
I don't tend to cover much ground so a highly detailed map of the
local area would be useful rather than a low-detailed map of a larger
area.

As for the useability of a map on a tiny display, agreed, on my
desktop machine I open maps across two monitors, or have one monitor
displaying a large area map and the other showing a detailed area, it
makes a big difference. However when tootling around on the bike it's
so easy to be able to just zoom in and out on the GPS and see where
I'm supposed to be going, especially when the GPS isn't being
particularly accurate. The alternative is to have a paper map mounted
on the bike (where it gets in the way and hit by vegetation) or to
stop and whip the map out. Most of the time I can figure out where
I'm supposed to be going even on my first-generation etrex by zooming
out to view the track log that I've pre-prepared and downloaded,
having that overlaid on a proper map would be even more useful.

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

Hi Ian,

This will do what you want:

http://store.elecdata.com/trimble/trimble_2005_geoxh_standalone.aspx

It can use JPG, BMP and TIF background map image formats. Do check the
price!

Eddy [UK]