QTopo Maps and Android Devices

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QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby logicalor » Thu 12 Nov, 2015 10:17 am

If you're like me and use an Android device as a GPS handset while you're bushwalking in QLD, you've probably wondered about a good way to get QTopo maps into a GPS app.

I've hit upon a nice foolproof way to take a PNG export from QTopo, georeference it, and convert it into a format (.mbtiles) that is usable in Locus Maps, one of the best GPS apps for Android.

I've written a blog post with a walkthrough detailing how to do this:

Converting QTopo Maps to MBTiles format for use in Locus Maps

Let me know if you find it useful or would like more information.
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby calliejane24 » Sun 15 Nov, 2015 8:05 am

Great blog post.

Totally love QGIS!
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby Dutch » Tue 17 Nov, 2015 4:19 pm

Interesting. Iv only ever used Orux
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby logicalor » Fri 20 Nov, 2015 7:48 am

calliejane24 wrote:Great blog post.

Totally love QGIS!


Thanks - yeah QGIS is rather awesome! It seems you can export to Garmin Custom Maps (effectively a hobbled kmz) as well, but I don't have a Garmin device to test it on.

Dutch wrote:Interesting. Iv only ever used Orux


If Orux can read the .mbtiles format then you may be able to use this method for Orux as well :)
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby Dutch » Fri 20 Nov, 2015 11:02 am

Interesting, will take a look at Locus.
You may want to take a look at ORUX too.

It appears you can do what you are achieving here, all from the phone and phone app.

. select a source, say "Topo 4Umaps"
. search "Mt Buller"
. tap two box's around the area you want
. select tile resolution and allow download
. set current map to the offline map you just made
. set to airplane mode and GO WALK

I've often done this on the side of the road, before cell coverage disappears.

D
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby Skid » Fri 27 Nov, 2015 12:27 pm

Great thread (and replies)! Thanks guys, I've been looking at getting an app that does this.
I've downloaded ORUX, just need to learn how to drive it :-)
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby ken333 » Mon 07 Dec, 2015 3:00 pm

A lower resolution version of the QTopo maps can be accessed directly by OruxMaps when on-line, and areas selected and downloaded for off-line use.

A new item needs to be added to the file: wms_services.xml in the oruxmaps folder on the Android, in: (USB Drive)\oruxmaps\mapfiles
Connect the Android to a PC, find the file and make a backup copy. Open the file with a text editor, such as Notepad++ (or Notepad - but the file has LF line terminators, so is harder to read with Notepad). Copy and Paste the following into the file below the existing item(s), but before the </wms_services>:

<wms>
<name>QTopo</name>
<uid>701</uid><!--unique identifier in your database cache; >1000 -->
<desc>QTopo WMS Qld Maps</desc>
<url>https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/services/Basemaps/QTopoBase_WebM/MapServer/WmsServer?</url>
<minzoomlevel>4</minzoomlevel><!-- 0 to 20 -->
<maxzoomlevel>15</maxzoomlevel><!-- 0 to 20 -->
<version>1.1.1</version><!-- do not change -->
<layers>Queensland Topographic Map Cache</layers>
<coordinatesystem>EPSG:4326</coordinatesystem><!-- do not change -->
<format>image/png</format>
<cache>1</cache><!-- not in use -->
</wms>

Save the file. Disconnect from the PC. Start Oruxmaps with a data connection. Tap the 'Map' symbol at top right. Tap Switch Maps - Online. Tap the Refresh symbol at top centre. Scroll down to WMS and tap it. WMS:QTopo should show. Tap it. The Qtopo map should open.

To download an area of map for off-line use:
Zoom out so you can see all the area you want to download. Tap the Map Symbol at top right. Tap Map Creator. Tap the top left and bottom right corners of the area required. Tap the blue tick. Type in a map name. Tap the resolution required (usually 15 - the max available). Check the map has downloaded correctly.
Tap Map Symbol - Switch Map - Offline. The map should be there. If not, tap the refresh symbol.

Higher resolution QTopo maps are available, but I havnt found a way for Oruxmaps to access them directly.

The QTopo WMS maps can be viewed on a PC browser via the on-line WMS Viewer (no installation required): http://wmsviewer-rodis.rhcloud.com/
Copy - Paste the QTopo url into the URL: box: https://gisservices.information.qld.gov ... /WmsServer?
Copy - Paste the Layer into the Layer: box: Queensland Topographic Map Cache

See also my post on SIX NSW maps and Android
If you dont want to download and install Notepad++, the wms_services.xml file can be edited in Notepad. It is probably easiest to delete the one Wms item in the original file. It is a set of maps of Spain. Delete everything between and including the <wms> and </wms> tags, leaving 3 tags as below:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><wms_services></wms_services>
Place the cursor between each of the >< and press Enter to force a newline. Then Copy - Paste the QTopo item above, between the <wms_services> and </wms_services> tags. Save and disconnect.
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby Off-track » Mon 03 Jul, 2017 2:29 pm

For me, the hill shading in the Qtopo raster tends to obscure detail. I prefer the cleaner topo maps from NSW sixmaps; and Oruxmaps offers hill shading as an option if one obtains the dem files. In case anyone else wondered if there was a version of Qtopo WMS without hill shading, here is the advice today from Qtopo:

"... there is no additional service of the Qtopo WMS without hill shading, nor are there any plans to release one".
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby ken333 » Tue 14 Aug, 2018 3:11 pm

Adding the Qld QTopo wms data to the wms_services.xml file, as shown in the above post, no longer works in Oruxmaps (Ver 7.3.2). Either copy-paste the url into the manual Add WMS Service, or, if the file is already in Oruxmaps, Long-Press the Qld QTopo Wms button, and tap edit. Then select the layer shown, give it a different name, and tap the tick to save it.
Or, to enter the WMS data manually, tap the Map icon at top right (wobbly square grid), then tap Switch map - ONLINE. Tap + and WMS (ONLINE). Paste the Url into the Url box. Dont paste the https:// in the url. Tap the https box in Oruxmaps. Tap ok. Select the layer shown. Type in zoom range 4 to 17. Select Cache and Downloadable. Give it a name, eg Qld QTopo, and save. Tap the Refresh icon (circular arrows). To see the maps, you may need to move the map location to somewhere in Qld. Tap the Map icon - Switch map - ONLINE - WMS. If the Qld QTopo map is not there, tap Refresh again.
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby Glot » Wed 14 Nov, 2018 3:16 pm

OK. So managed to gain some ground. Next issue is Qtiles and Gdaltools plugin is not available to install in t5he latest version. There does not appear to be an experimental plugin option. Anyone help?
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Re: QTopo Maps and Android Devices

Postby tastrax » Wed 14 Nov, 2018 3:51 pm

QTILES has not yet been ported to V3 - hopefully it will at some stage. Still available for 2.18 so I keep a copy running just for QTILES! I think gdal tools are all under processing in V3 (no longer a separate plugin?). Raster, Georeferencer is a menu item.
Cheers - Phil

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