Essential GPS software

[walkinTas]

Ok! So what is essential software you can't do without and what is just nice to have?

My list is only a few hours old so its very short.

StitchMap - simply joins scanned maps together - don't know how good this is or what is better.
OziExplorer - Mapping Software to upload/download waypoints, routes and tracks on most brand of GPS. Seems to be well like.

[Joe]

Ok! So what is essential software you can't do without and what is just nice to have?

My list is only a few hours old so its very short.

StitchMap - simply joins scanned maps together - don't know how good this is or what is better.
OziExplorer - Mapping Software to upload/download waypoints, routes and tracks on most brand of GPS. Seems to be well like.

OZI rules. my favourite mapping software by far...and it runs under Wine ok so i can still have it in my superior operating system The collection of maps I have means ozi is pretty much all i use.
Ozi3d is also awesome. It enables you to render any map that you can open in ozi as a 3d projection of the area. Speculator has posted some examples of this in the gallery forum.

I quite like Garmin Mapsource too. I have a number of free map sets for this and they are all very good. Shonky Maps is one in particular that is produced by a guy on mainland but I have contributed a lot of Tassie data to him to be included. The shonky maps now have most tasmanian roads (outside major cities/towns) and many many tracks throughuout the bush. All of tasmanias waterfalls, caves, and giant trees are also marked on them (thanks to the datasets I make available on my website)

Although I believe shonky to be better Tracks4Australia is also good. I disagree with the way the owner asks for community contirbuted tracks but then charges for the permium version. I believe if community is contributing the product should be free. As shonky maps are. but it pays to have both, can be run side by side and are still a good resource

Contours Australia is antoher garmin mapsource product worth getting. 25k contours for the whole of country I believe.

For communicating with a GPS nothing beats GPSBabel. its pretty much what all the other programs that do so are based on so why not use the orriginal. It runs on every platform you can think of, is open source and is just damn good.

If you are considering GPS purchase then i reccomend GARMIN gps purely for the sheer amount of free mapsets out there. Magellan dont even come close for community driven mapping projects. Anyone with a garmin gps wanting to learn more about the free mapping products available dont hesitate to ask

[corvus]

Just aquired a cable to connect my yellow etrex to my pc ,I subscibe to Google Earth Plus now I need a helping hand in easy language to download info to the gps and vice versa if this is possible and the map downloads mentioned in these posts are they easy to use and what do they cost

[prickle]

Just aquired a cable to connect my yellow etrex to my pc ,I subscibe to Google Earth Plus now I need a helping hand in easy language to download info to the gps and vice versa if this is possible and the map downloads mentioned in these posts are they easy to use and what do they cost

Hi Corvus

Unfortunately you can't download from Google Earth to your GPS ... unless you pay the super dooper rate ... beyond mere mortals I'm afraid ie $400 US per year (from memory)

Up loading is easy Select"tools" Select "GPS" Select your "device" ie Garmin .... I have a feeling you may also need to download some software from the Garmin site first so that your computer recognise the GPS when you first plug it in.

See how you go ....

Stuart

[Joe]

GPSBABEL is your best bet for comunicating with GPS and pretty much any format you want. Its a touch hard to use but once you get hang of it its just so good. You can save place markers etc from google earth as KML then convert and send to GPS. Same with oziexplorer and any number of a million other formats. You wont get maps on your etrex if its a yeller. They are very basic unit. But for waypoint upload and download the cable is awesome. Saves having to use the clunky type interface.

Perhaps on the snake night I could run you through it all. Or sooner if you are desperate. Im not up to much this weekend apart from party on Sat night for Mr Spec.

[corvus]

Thanks for that info, I did need to download drivers and all of that side is working ok it was help and advice with the other bits I needed and twf has headed me in the right direction.

[Joe]

GSAK (geocachers swiss army knife) is also good for massive uploads of waypoints etc. Its aimed at geocaching but is a very versatile program. Its totally based on GPSBABEL and merely provides a nicer interface and database capabilities...but its still pretty sweet software. It was one of the few software packages I've ever paid for in my time. The developer is very helpful. However when i bought it he claimed my license would last me for life...then couple years on he changed this and slung all users for upgrade fee. This was around time i stopped geocaching anyway so i never continued...but it was disappointing. If you can get the hang of GPSBABEL then you are pretty much set. And with it being Open Source Free Software you should feel better about yourself for using it over comercial offerings

[corvus]

WOW just looked at GPSBABLE and after a nice Pinot Grigo and a couple of Ports I will need to checked it out in an abstemious moment with assistance
Gees I only learned how to turn on my Yellow etrex last year thanks to tasadam
twf I sent you a PM

[prickle]

GPSBABEL is your best bet for comunicating with GPS and pretty much any format you want. Its a touch hard to use but once you get hang of it its just so good.

It's a cracker bit of software ... very handy

Stuart