Free Maps

[Joe]

Hey guys....just a heads up...a fellow geocacher has made some maps of australia which are nice scale. Work with all garmin mapping GPS units...as well as just the mapsource software for use on PC.

I have mirrored the file at:

http://www.taswaterfalls.com/files/shonkymaps_3.20.zip

Enjoy

[tasadam]

The file is 336Mb.
Cheers!

[Joe]

The file is rather large..in less than a day my websites transfer has gone from just under 1 gig to just under 20gig....luckily im allowed 3600gig...which I would really love to have a go at hitting one month...just need a file the world would be interested in

[frank_in_oz]

We used Shonky maps with our Garmin GPS on Hinchinbrook Island earlier this year. Up till then we had used the Tracks4Australia pro maps but found them lacking in detail for bushwalks. The Shonky maps were much better (but I still find the tracks don't accurately reflect the actual track walked.)

If interested, check out the link below. I did 3 screen shots off Mapsource of part of the Hinchinbrook Island track comparing where we actually walked with the Mapsource base map, Tracks4Australia map and Shonky map. There is a big difference.

We also occasionally use digital (scanned) maps in OzExplorer but find it a bit clunky and have not worked out how to load an index map so the 1:25000 are a pain to find!

http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2007/10/gps-question-which-one-for-hiking.html

[Joe]

We used Shonky maps with our Garmin GPS on Hinchinbrook Island earlier this year. Up till then we had used the Tracks4Australia pro maps but found them lacking in detail for bushwalks. The Shonky maps were much better (but I still find the tracks don't accurately reflect the actual track walked.)

If interested, check out the link below. I did 3 screen shots off Mapsource of part of the Hinchinbrook Island track comparing where we actually walked with the Mapsource base map, Tracks4Australia map and Shonky map. There is a big difference.

We also occasionally use digital (scanned) maps in OzExplorer but find it a bit clunky and have not worked out how to load an index map so the 1:25000 are a pain to find!

http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2007/10/gps-question-which-one-for-hiking.html

rather than using an index map in ozi i just use the 1:250k map. Using this i find the area i want for 25k map, then right click in that area, find maps in region (this isnt how it is in the software...im typing this from memory at work..so cant check) then find the relevant 25k map. Up in the toolbar there is a 4 direction arrow with a button in the middle as well. The middle button does same as what I just described and the 4 arrow buttons find the corresponding map for the next tile in whichever direction you chose.

[tasadam]

have not worked out how to load an index map so the 1:25000 are a pain to find!

You can download the 1:25000 index map (pdf file) for free from the DPIW site - here's the link...
http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/NBON-6TF4K5?open

rather than using an index map in ozi i just use the 1:250k map. Using this i find the area i want for 25k map, then right click in that area, find maps in region (this isnt how it is in the software...im typing this from memory at work..so cant check) then find the relevant 25k map. Up in the toolbar there is a 4 direction arrow with a button in the middle as well. The middle button does same as what I just described and the 4 arrow buttons find the corresponding map for the next tile in whichever direction you chose.

This is good info I will have to try - any tips at all on how to drive Ozi is useful... So many icons and stuff...

[Joe]

have not worked out how to load an index map so the 1:25000 are a pain to find!

You can download the 1:25000 index map (pdf file) for free from the DPIW site - here's the link...
http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/Attachments/NBON-6TF4K5?open

This is good info I will have to try - any tips at all on how to drive Ozi is useful... So many icons and stuff...

That index map is ok...not too hard to calibrate it for ozi...i could give it a go if people are desperate...but to be honest using the 250k map is simplest way. If you dont have the map I believe its free now on GA site so just contact me and ill send you the map and ozi file.

The other thing I use lots in Ozi is the names database. Its not as comprehensive as it could be but still lots of fun. Im not sure of the copyright on this one though...so cant just give it away free. Google is your friend on that though think its out there somewhere.

[frank_in_oz]

Thanks to both of you for the great advice. I will have a play around and see what I can come up with. As someone said, the icons etc on Ozi are sometimes confusing. As much as Mapsource is pretty ordinary, it is also pretty easy to use!

[Joe]

Thanks to both of you for the great advice. I will have a play around and see what I can come up with. As someone said, the icons etc on Ozi are sometimes confusing. As much as Mapsource is pretty ordinary, it is also pretty easy to use!

total different kettle of fish. mapsource is vector, ozi is raster. vector maps have their place...but nothing beats the raster topos imho