OSM maps for Garmin GPS

[north-north-west]

At a guess, scree or seasonal pools.

[andrewp]

Hi Andrew Just download your Tasmania map and it looks great! Just wondering though do you have a page or document that shows an index or what colour/pattern each item is? I'm finding all these large pink spots on the map and have no clue what they are!

Can you please be more specific about exactly where this is. What device is this from? It doesn't look like anything I've seen before. I don't see any watercourses, which surprises me.

[Graham17]

Pink is areas of farmland on my andrewp (oruxmap

[wook]

Many thanks for your awesome efforts Andrew.

Just wondering if it would be possible to make cliff lines more obvious?

In some areas they are shown with some shading, but in many places they are not. The attached screenshot shows Mt Banks walls in the Blue Mountains. This is the tallest cliff in Australia. This and most other areas in the Blue Mountains are just showing this sort of blank space between contours.

It seems something like... vegetation renders over the top of the cliff line shading... in other places where vegetation isn't marked, the cliff line at least has some mild shading. The cliff lines should surely 'win' when it comes to rendering, and personally I'd love to see them with even more emphasis...!

Thanks again!

[icefest]

Many thanks for your awesome efforts Andrew.

Just wondering if it would be possible to make cliff lines more obvious?

In some areas they are shown with some shading, but in many places they are not. The attached screenshot shows Mt Banks walls in the Blue Mountains. This is the tallest cliff in Australia. This and most other areas in the Blue Mountains are just showing this sort of blank space between contours.

It seems something like... vegetation renders over the top of the cliff line shading... in other places where vegetation isn't marked, the cliff line at least has some mild shading. The cliff lines should surely 'win' when it comes to rendering, and personally I'd love to see them with even more emphasis...!

Thanks again!

I think the issue is with the lack of cliffline data in the mapset.
This is mount cobbler in Vic with the cliffs nice and clear!

[andrewp]

I've just released new versions of all maps with current OSM data.

Just wondering if it would be possible to make cliff lines more obvious?

That's strange. Here is how it is shown in QMapShack:

Selection_001.jpg (99.25 KiB) Viewed 37827 times

This only affects NSW because the cliffs are areas directly from Six maps. Other states cliffs use OSM data and are shown as lines, as pointed out by icefest. I don't do too much walking in NSW so I've never really taken too much notice of the cliffs.
Anyway I've increased the display order of cliff areas to show above other vegetation. It now looks like this and should be the same in Basecamp.

Selection_002.jpg (90.89 KiB) Viewed 37827 times

[bernieq]

NSW map works in Basecamp 4.2.6 (haven't loaded the current version of Basecamp (4.7.4) so can't test that) - ie cliff lines are hatched, as in the post above.

However, something is a bit screwy. For me, in Basecamp 4.6.2, no cliff lines in either of the VIC maps (either 18/10/2020 or 29/07/2021).
As well, I'm guessing the change below was unintentional - new bright green overlay as well as reduced detail (fewer contour values) around Mt Spec.

[andrewp]

For me, in Basecamp 4.6.2, no cliff lines in either of the VIC maps (either 18/10/2020 or 29/07/2021).

This is how it looks in QMapShack...

Selection_001.jpg (94.69 KiB) Viewed 37733 times

...and on the GPX

test_cliff.jpg (21.14 KiB) Viewed 37733 times

Can't explain why it doesn't show in Basecamp. I've tried a few different options in the typ file, but still doesn't show. Maybe you should use better software...

new bright green overlay as well as reduced detail (fewer contour values) around Mt Spec.

The new green is scrub. I wasn't rendering scrub previously. I can't see any reduction in contour lines around Mt Spec though, and I haven't made any changes to contour lines either.

[peregrinator]

Showing scrub seems like a useful idea. But can the software keep up with the scrub's growth?

As I am also a BaseCamp user, this might be good time to ask for suggestions about what software is better (for Mac).

Oh, also thanks to you andrewp for the updates.

[Warin]

Showing scrub seems like a useful idea. But can the software keep up with the scrub's growth?

The software can only show what is in the data base.
The OSM data base can be edited by you to keep it up to date. Go for it.
Some OSM based maps are updated monthly ... that is a lot of work.

Andrew .. it would be handy to know about when you up date your maps .. so people can do any editing they want before hand.

[bernieq]

Poor, much maligned, Basecamp. It is, actually, quite good for drawing / editing tracks. Personally, I'm not much fussed about missing cliff lines.

Not a reduction in contour lines; a reduction in contour labels (ie the height data).

Not sure the scrub thing works, though. There is not much scrub around the Mt Spec summit plateau (ie none at all). The scrub is down in the gullies and that's still the old green.

[andrewp]

As I am also a BaseCamp user, this might be good time to ask for suggestions about what software is better (for Mac).

AFAIK the only software that reads Garmin maps is QMapShack (runs on Linux, Windows and OS X) and Orix maps (Android only).
Being a Linux user I use QMapShack.

Not a reduction in contour lines; a reduction in contour labels (ie the height data).

AFAIK the img map has no information about displaying contour labels. I.e it's up to the displaying software.

Not sure the scrub thing works, though.

Well I think I added it for the NZ maps, so this is just a bonus. In this case I think it means that it's not treed.

it would be handy to know about when you up date your maps .. so people can do any editing they want before hand.

I don't really plan these updates. I usually do them when there is some change in the rendering and I update the OSM data at the same time. The best plan is to update OSM when you have the data.

[tom_brennan]

Hi andrewp - is it possible to modify the style for unclassified roads to be the same/similar to residential? I've noticed recently that the unclassified ones seem to get a style more akin to tracks.

2021_09_01_16_30_25_QMapShack_Version_1.16.0.png (113.54 KiB) Viewed 36680 times

Thanks as always for your work on this!

[andrewp]

is it possible to modify the style for unclassified roads to be the same/similar to residential?

Hi Tom, I will check it out, but I'm pretty sure that they used to render the same as residential. I changed unclassified to look more like tracks because there were quite a lot of them in areas I was walking and found the residential style was difficult to see properly on my GPS (especially with my poor reading vision). In the scrub I confused them with contours or boundary lines.

I know it looks odd in areas that are generally residential, but AFAIK they aren't any other distinguishing features to help differentiate. There are often some difficult decisions to make when deciding how to render features.

Cheers
Andrew

[tom_brennan]

Thanks Andrew - handy to know it's a decision and not an oversight! Yes, styling maps is not the easiest exercise.

In the areas you are walking, are the unclassified roads generally unpaved? If so, would the surface tag be any use (I know it's not universal)?

[andrewp]

Hi Andrew,
Another user here very thankful for your OSM Garmin maps. For your list of mods. Sydney harbour is mostly light yellow, seems to be a boundary across the heads maybe at fault. Is ok on OSM, but on yours seeing yellow in both Basecamp and QMapShack.

cheers,
Michael

Hi Michael, I think this should be in the forum, rather than handled as a PM.
What version of map are you using? The current version was generated on 29/7/2021. You can see the version info in Basecamp by going to Maps/Manage maps products and viewing the Copyright.
I am seeing Sydney Harbour as blue in Basecamp (very old version). What about other inlets? Are they blue or yellow?

[MikeB62]

Hi Andrew, I am using current version 29-07-2021, I was seeing same on last couple of versions also. Basecamp version is 4.6.2. Other inlets are mostly blue, I can see small areas yellow on some. Sydney Harbour is the most affected. cheers

[MikeB62]

seems to be council boundaries coming into play. See middle harbour near Castle Cove.

Sydney harbour.png (1.04 MiB) Viewed 36571 times

[bernieq]

FWIW, yellow harbour for me too (Win10, Basecamp 4.6.2, map 29-07-2021). It is also the same (ie yellow) in Oruxmaps (Orux 7.4.23, Andriod 11) and QMapShack (1.11.1)

[peregrinator]

Well, there is a Yellow River in China.

[andrewp]

FWIW, yellow harbour for me too (Win10, Basecamp 4.6.2, map 29-07-2021).

Yes, yes, yes. I agree that it is in yellow. I was looking at Botany Bay .
The issue is that I exclude all the OSM water features and use SIX maps for the hydro, and of course the harbour doesn't appear in any LGA.
I will build a new version shortly.

[bernieq]

: ) (so did I, need to get out more!)

[andrewp]

Hi all,

I've just uploaded a new version of the maps.

Sydney Harbour now rendered in blue, rather than boring old yellow. I'm surprised that no-one had mentioned it before. It has been missing since Feb 2020.
Unclassified paved roads now render the same as residential roads, but unclassified unpaved roads will still render as a red dashed line.
Hope I haven't broken anything with the changes.

Cheers
Andrew

[tom_brennan]

Thanks Andrew, looks good for the unclassified roads

[Andrew P]

Sydney Harbour now rendered in blue, rather than boring old yellow. I'm surprised that no-one had mentioned it before. It has been missing since Feb 2020.

Well, this is a bushwalking forum...

[wildwanderer]

Hi Andrew,

I've been using your maps in my Garmin Fenix 6x watch. Very handy.

One thing I've noticed is they heavily prioritise the contour height labels and don't feature many land feature names such as ridges, mountains etc.

This is likely not much of an issue on a larger screen but it's more challenging to orientate oneself without land feature names when using the smaller watch screen.

I was wondering if this is something that could be tweaked? (Maybe a watch varient?) If it's possible within the confines of the map data available.

A couple of screenshots to illustrate. Comparing the NSW gov topo with your map on my watch.

As you can see the ridge, crown and mountain names are not present in the watch map. If I zoom in a bit further the watch displays the yalpur gully creek but still doesn't display the other land feature names.

[andrewp]

One thing I've noticed is they heavily prioritise the contour height labels and don't feature many land feature names such as ridges, mountains etc.

I don't think a watch is really suitably for a full topo map.

The features in your example show up fine on an ETREX. Labels are not a feature of the map. The GPS makes all the decisions about what to label and when. There may be settings in your watch that affect this. You can certainly change the detail displayed, but I'm not sure if it affects labels.

[wildwanderer]

Thanks Andrew,

I do find the watch adequate for topo maps. Not as the only navigation aid but good for the quick position check when it's hard to stop to pull out a map/phone or in the cold where a phone can shut down.

I've done a bit of reading and apparently there is something in the IMG files called a typ file that controls the labels. No idea if that's what is causing the issue and as you said it seems specific to the watch so maybe the watches read the IMG differently or need some change to this typ file.

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recre ... -and-icons

https://www.gmaptool.eu/en/content/map-appearance

I've taken all the map themes and other stuff off and am in high detail mode.

Sounds like the key issue is Garmin setting up the watch for town use rather than backcountry. I noted all the streets display fine

[andrewp]

Hi all,

Yet another version of OSM maps, etc. Main change is to VICMAP with new road data, and added place labels, caves and cliffs.

Cheers
Andrew

[Biggles]

Hi all,

Yet another version of OSM maps, etc. Main change is to VICMAP with new road data, and added place labels, caves and cliffs.

Cheers
Andrew

Link(s)?
OSM maps are the default on my GPSMap 64s.