Get more detail with the NZ Open GPS Project

I might like all maps, but I really love FREE maps!

 

Back in 2009, I wrote how to get free street maps from the NZ Open GPS project loaded into a Garmin Edge 705. As I look to venture into more mountain biking and perhaps even do a little more tramping I have found other maps from the NZ Open GPS Project that provide more detail and as such are far more useful when leaving tarmac.

 

For best results:

• Build UltraMaps (Free Open GPS NZ Combined mapset) with Mapsource and send to your GPS. Make sure that the ~700Mb gmapsupp.img file is copied to the Garmin folder of your Micro-SD card.
• Copy the gmapsupp.img file from  “Free Open GPS Autorouting” mapset into the Garmin directory for the internal memory of your GPS
• When on the road for latest maps and less screen clutter to help read street names disable the “Free Open GPS NZ Combined” mapset in Setup –> Maps
• When in the mountains or trails enable the “Free Open GPS NZ Combined” mapset in Setup –> Maps

Free Open GPS NZ Autorouting (~38Mb)

The Free Open GPS NZ Autorouting Maps (updated every weekly) are a well known and heavily used mapset. It includes all the NZ roads and are suitable for road navigation from a car, or a road based cycle tour or brevet. You can download the latest image from http://www.nzopengps.org/public/Direct_gmapsupp/ and copy it onto your GPS [instructions]. This mapset is about 30Mb is size.

 

 

Use this mapset if:

• You have limited storage
• You do not have Mapsource or Basecamp software
• Your journey is entirely on the road.

Free NZOGPS_DOC_SRTM (~220Mb)

For mountain biking or tramping, a little more detail may be cleaned from the NZOpenGPS_DOC_SRTM map set (last updated 2010) – this adds Department of Conservation tracks, streams, rivers as well contour lines from the NZ Topomap series, increasing the size to over 200Mb.

 

 

This mapset is updated infrequently. Probably best to miss this one.

I would generally recommend that you use either the Free Open GPS NZ Autorouting (above) or UltraMaps (below). But use this mapset if:

• You are venturing away from the roads and have limited storage capacity on your GPS.
• You don’t mind some old data and the screen is too cluttered, even after reducing detail when using the “UltraMaps” mapset

 

UltraMaps / Free Open GPS NZ Combined mapset (~700Mb)

 

“UltraMaps” or NZ Open GPS Combined set. Fully integrates the NZ Topo series with the routable street maps. This mapset is very complete at about 700Mb in size and may in some situations provide too much detail for a handheld GPS screen. It is not available prebuilt as a GMAPSUPP.IMG file, so it is more complex to install. You will need to have Garmin’s Mapsource or Basecamp software to build it and transfer it to your GPS.

 

This mapset was a little hard to find, but after delving into the forums of the NZ Open GPS project I came across a post from “Mr Purple” – thankyou sir. When installing it will be worth looking at more recent posts in the same forum to look for newer versions of this mapset.

MrPurple wrote:

LATEST VERSION includes latest changes to zoom levels, typ skin, and a recent road update.
Ive combined all the different ones I've made including Nevs improvements to the typ skin with the offical OS maps and provided an updater as a seperate program to grab any new OS road map you might install. To be clear the OS road updater doesnt update the OS roads, it grabs the OS roads you have installed and copies them into the combined map. You need to update the OS road maps yourself first.
Once you unzip the archive with 7zip you've got an installer with topo/title boundaries/OS roads/residual tracks
Part 1 of 4
Part 2 of 4
Part 3 of 4
Part 4 of 4
OS road updater
If you dont want any of the maps on your device just dont select them when you transfer, or better yet prepare multiple mapsets by renaming the gmapsup.img which you create to make mapsets that you can switch between.

 

 

This detail is fabulous when in the hills, especially on foot. In urban areas with a small  GPS sized screen it can be cluttered and getting the detail right so you see all the street names you desire can be a challenge.

 

Use this mapset if:

• You have plenty of storage
• You have Mapsource or Basecamp software
• You are spending time in the mountains or trails

 

 

The Ultimate Combination…

As per the “for best results” summary at the beginning of this post, I am now having my cake and eating too. When navigate the cities and towns of New Zealand I am disabling the “Free Open GPS NZ Combined” mapset. There may be other ways to achieve these same means but this is a simple and easy to understand method of achieving this result. Alternatively, if only routing from the “Free Open GPS Autorouting” mapset there may be more pure topomap sets to load which I will investigate over time.

 

I have tested this process on both a Garmin Etrex 30 and a Garmin 705 GPS.

 

For best results:

• Build UltraMaps (Free Open GPS NZ Combined mapset) with Mapsource and send to your GPS. Make sure that the ~700Mb gmapsupp.img file is copied to the Garmin folder of your Micro-SD card.
• Copy the gmapsupp.img file from “Free Open GPS Autorouting” mapset into the Garmin directory for the internal memory of your GPS
• When on the road for latest maps and less screen clutter to help read street names disable the “Free Open GPS NZ Combined” mapset in Setup –> Maps
• When in the mountains or trails enable the “Free Open GPS NZ Combined” mapset in Setup –> Maps

First outing: Memory-Map Toughprint Paper

I went on my first tramping trip in a long-time last weekend. One of the things I tried out for the first time was Memory-Map’s Toughprint™ Waterproof paper.

 

Most of my maps, are now on a projection that is no longer used so I used the Memory Map software, and my inkjet printer to print the maps of where I was going, instead of trying to track down the correct map sheet in one of the tramping shops in town. I printed the 40km journey on two sides of the same sheet of Toughprint™ paper.

 

I was dubious, as to whether, regardless of the waterproof paper my run of the mill Brother Inkjet printer could really print waterproof maps. To my surprise, it worked out far better than I ever imagined. Even a deliberate dunking in the Mangatoetoe Stream at the end of the trip has failed to cause ink to run, or the paper to tear. I was quite impressed.

 

When printing your own maps, ensuring the hardcopy that comes out of your printer is at the correct is one of the challenges. The Memory-Map software addresses this, by changing the selection order in that you first select your paper-size and your margin-size before offering you the opportunity to select the area of map that fits those dimensions. When measuring with the ruler on the compass I could distinguish any scale inconsistencies in either the lounge, or out in the hills.

 

Not worried about map destruction, and a smaller size with less unfolding it was certainly far more convenient to keep a copy of the map in my pocket to constantly refer to throughout the weekend - especially in the less than perfect weather.

 

Following the trip, I have noted black ink has run through the paper, in that it now visible from the opposite side – particularly in the blue (sea) areas of the map. This is possibly related to the dunking in the stream.

 

I also think, one needs to be careful at not being too minimalist when printing their own maps. The coverage on two sides of A4, at 1:50,000 is not great, and if inclement weather, or an injury changed route plans it is possible that you may want to travel outside of your self-printed  map sheets. Including escape routes is vital.

 

Ultimately, I think in future I will use a mixture of official map sheets, and self-printed map sheets depending on the nature of the trip and the size requirements of the map sheets.

 

I am without doubt, that an A4 waterproof map in my pocket will be invaluable in critical navigation portions of future backcountry journeys.