Do-it-yourself maps

For the most part, GPS manufacturers have a lock on the market when it comes to maps that can be uploaded to their receivers. GPS receiver owners must use proprietary maps distributed by the manufacturers.
However, a small group of technically adept GPS and map enthusiasts have found ways around this map monopoly. They have created free tools such as GPSMapEdit and Mapdekode with which Garmin GPS receiver owners can create their own maps and upload them to their receivers. Similar projects are under way for Magellan GPS receivers.
At the present, creating your own do-it-yourself GPS receiver maps is a somewhat complicated process, but a number of tutorials are available on the Internet. (Here’s one for starters:www.gpstm.com/eng/dekode_eng.htm.)
If you’re really interested in this topic, check out the Yahoo! Group devoted to GPS map authoring at groups.yahoo.com/group/map_authors.

Lowrance MapCreate Review

Lowrance was the first manufacturer to offer a GPS receiver with uploadable maps. (For you trivia buffs, it was the GlobalMap100, which first came out in April, 1998.) The company continues the electronic map tradition with its current line of iFINDER handheld GPS receivers; which use memory cards to store maps.
If you own a Lowrance GPS receiver or are considering purchasing one, here are the map products you can use:

• MapCreate: MapCreate is Lowrance’s primary map program for creating GPS receiver maps of the United States. In addition to street maps and points of interest, MapCreate also has an extensive database of navigation aids, wrecks, and obstructions for marine use. One nice feature of MapCreate is that you can select polygon map regions to upload, which maximizes map storage space. Although MapCreate currently doesn’t offer autorouting and turnby-turn directions, Lowrance does plan to offer this feature in the future. Several versions of MapCreate are available. If you’re using an iFINDER GPS receiver, be sure you get Version 6 or later.
• FreedomMaps: In addition to maps on CD-ROM, Lowrance also offers the FreedomMaps product line, comprising memory cards preloaded with maps of the United States, Europe, and Canada. Regional maps come on 128MB and 256MB memory cards that you just plug into your GPS receiver; no software or CD-ROMs are required.
  
• Navionics charts: Navionics (www.navionics.com) is one of the largest producers of electronic nautical charts. Navionics Gold and Classic charts and fishing HotMaps are all available on MMC memory cards and are also compatible with the iFINDER Pro GPS receiver.

Magellan MapSend Review

Magellan manufactures the popular Meridian and SporTrak GPS receiver lines. The Meridian receivers use memory cards for map storage, and the SporTrak models have a fixed amount of internal memory to store maps. (You can upload maps to all SporTraks with the exception of the basic model.) Software products that you can use with Magellan mapping GPS receivers include the following. Information about all these products is available at the Magellan Web site.

• MapSend DirectRoute: This software package provides street maps, POIs, automated street routing, and turn-by-turn directions for most Meridian and SporTrak receivers. With automated street routing (also called autorouting), you can enter a starting and destination street address, and the GPS receiver will provide you with a route, including street directions. Most GPS receivers give you a straight-line route between two points, but Magellan upgraded the firmware on a number of their receivers to support both straight-line and street routes when MapSend DirectRoute maps are uploaded. Versions of the software are available for the United States, major cities in Canada, and Europe.
• MapSend BlueNav charts: These are nautical charts with detailed coverage areas and enhanced marine navigation information, such as currents, tides, and port services. Charts, available for a number of coastal areas in North America and Europe, can be purchased on CD-ROM or preloaded SD memory cards.
• MapSend Topo: The Topo product is designed for outdoor recreation use and features 1:100,000 scale topographic maps of the United States, including trails, roads, rivers, lakes, coastlines, and POIs. After you upload the maps, you can display elevation profiles on your GPS receiver for roads, trails, and user-created routes.
• MapSend Streets & Destinations: Magellan’s original road map software package has versions available for the United States and Canada. If you’re looking for street navigation software for your Magellan, I recommend MapSend DirectRoute because of its autorouting features and more current NAVTECH maps. Choose Streets & Destinations if you have an older GPS receiver that isn’t compatible with DirectRoute or if you’re on a tight budget. (Streets & Destinations is a bit cheaper than DirectRoute.)
• MapSend Streets Europe: Magellan also offers street-level maps of Europe for its GPS receivers. Like with Streets & Destinations (see the preceding bullet), if your GPS receiver is compatible with DirectRoute, I suggest going with the European version.
• MapSend WorldWide Basemap: This map software package expands your GPS receiver’s built-in basemap coverage to other international regions. Each basemap region has basic map features such as cities, highways, waterways, railroads, national boundaries, and shorelines. Don’t expect street-level detail, but there’s enough information to help you get around.

Check periodically for current information about Magellan map products; go to www.magellangps.com.

GPS Manufacturer Software Reviews

GPS receiver manufacturers have a number of software products available for their models that support maps. So you have a better understanding of what types of maps are available, here are the different map software packages that the major GPS receiver manufacturers offer. Read on to discover what types of maps you can upload to the three main brands of GPS receivers. For more information and in-depth reviews of GPS receiver manufacturer map products, including screenshots, visit http://gpsinformation.net. GPS receivers sold in different parts of the world typically have different basemaps. For example, a GPS receiver sold in Germany will have a more detailed basemap of Europe, compared with the same model of receiver sold in the United States.
I want to clarify a point that sometimes confuses current or prospective GPS receiver owners: Each of the major GPS receiver manufacturers has their own line of map products that all sound pretty similar. Here they are:

Magellan (www.magellangps.com) MapSend
Lowrance (www.lowrance.com) MapCreate
Garmin (www.garmin.com) MapSource

MapSend, MapCreate, and MapSource all refer to the respective PC programs that allow you to view maps on your PC, upload maps to your GPS receiver, and manage GPS waypoints, routes, and tracks. Magellan, Lowrance, and Garmin ship these programs with their respective map products. Just remember that MapSend, MapCreate, and MapSource are not maps nor map data but simply the programs that interface the map data. In addition to map products, several GPS manufacturers sell waypoint and route management software. If you don’t care about uploading maps but want to transfer and save waypoints, routes, and tracks, I recommend using the free G7ToWin program (which works with most all GPS receivers) that you can download at www.gpsinformation.org/ronh.
Some manufacturers offer GPS receivers bundled with map software and other accessories. These bundled products are usually cheaper than separately purchasing the GPS hardware and map software, so shop around. Just like any other software line, GPS receiver manufacturers roll out new products, drop outdated ones, and add new features to existing products. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s Web site to get the latest information on what map software is available for a particular model of GPS receiver.

Getting maps to GPS receivers

All GPS manufacturer map programs upload maps to your GPS receiver in similar ways. Although the user interfaces are different and the commands vary, you load a map onto a GPS receiver by using the same basic process.

1. Run the map program and zoom in on the area that you want to upload to your GPS receiver.
2. Choose which parts of the map you want to upload to the GPS receiver. This usually means selecting one or more rectangular areas on the map. Depending on the program, you either draw a rectangle that defines the areas that you want to upload, or you select grid squares that appear on the map that correspond to the areas you want to upload.
3. Connect your GPS receiver to your PC. You use a special cable for this data transfer connection. To read more on connecting your GPS receiver to a PC, go to Chapter 9. If the GPS receiver uses a memory card to store maps, you can skip this step.
4. Set the communications parameters in the map program. This comprises the COM port, baud rate, and other settings that are needed so that the GPS receiver can successfully communicate with your PC. This is usually a one-time setup, so you don’t need to repeat this each time you want to upload a map. Again, you can skip this step if your GPS receiver uses a memory card.
5. Upload the map to your GPS receiver. The program extracts the information that it needs from the map data CD-ROM and builds a custom map of the area that you select. When this process finishes, the program either starts uploading the map to the GPS receiver or saves the map to your hard drive where you can copy it to a memory card (if applicable).

How long building a map takes depends on the size of the area that you select, how much map detail you want to include, and how fast your PC is. This can range from a minute or less for small areas (such as a metropolitan area) to five or ten minutes for a large map (such as one that includes many different states). For example, when using Lowrance’s MapCreate, it takes a little under five minutes to create a 26MB map of the state of Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle on a typical PC that’s been manufactured within the past several years.
How much time it takes to upload a map into a GPS receiver also depends on the size of the area you select and how the receiver stores maps. If you’re uploading a large map from a PC via a serial cable, it can take hours to transfer the map between a PC and your GPS receiver. GPS receivers that support Universal Serial Bus (USB) communications are much faster. For GPS receivers that use SD or MMC memory for storage, after the map has been created and saved to the memory card, it’s just a matter of inserting the card into the receiver.
After you purchase GPS receiver map software, be sure to check the manufacturer’s Web site every now and then to see whether updated releases of the PC software are available. You may be able to download upgraded versions of the program with bug fixes and enhanced features. Keep in mind that when you download the program, updated map data doesn’t come with it. Some GPS receiver manufacturers use different methods for stemming software and map piracy. Both Garmin and Magellan use unlock codes on some of their map products that require you to visit a Web page and get a code to activate the program. Some map products (notably nautical charts) have multiple regions stored on CD-ROM, and you need to purchase an unlock code for each region you want to access. In addition, programs commonly link the serial number of a GPS receiver to a map, meaning that the map will work only with the GPS receiver that the map was originally uploaded to.

Common GPS map software features

Here are some of the features that all GPS receiver map software have in common.

• Upload maps to GPS receivers: The main job of a mapping program on your computer is to upload maps to your GPS receiver. The maps appear the same on your computer and your GPS receiver screen although the GPS receiver displays smaller portions of the map than you can view on your computer screen. (And the map won’t appear in color if your receiver has a monochrome display.) You use the mapping software to select the portions of the maps that you want to upload to your GPS receiver.
  
• Print from and use maps on your PC: In addition to uploading maps to a GPS receiver, you can also use the map software on your PC to view and print maps, measure distances, and plan trips.
• Download waypoints, routes, and tracks from GPS receivers: With GPS mapping software, you can download information that you’ve recorded with your GPS receiver, such as waypoints, routes, and tracks. You can store this data on your PC’s hard drive or display it as an overlay on the maps displayed on your PC.
  
• Upload waypoints, routes, and tracks to GPS receivers: In addition to downloading GPS data, you can also upload waypoints, routes, and tracks from your PC to a GPS receiver. For example, you can plot several waypoint locations on the PC map and then transfer them to your GPS receiver.
• View POIs: Many software packages have Points of Interest (POIs), such as restaurants, gas stations, and geographic features shown on the maps that you view with your PC or GPS receiver.

Three rules of GPS mapping software

Consider these three basic tenets before you start to shop for GPS mapping software.

• Not all GPS receivers can display maps. Lower-cost models (typically under $150) or GPS receivers with very small screens usually don’t support maps. If you already own a GPS receiver, make sure that it’s compatible with the map software you’re interested in using. Manufacturer Web sites are pretty good about listing product compatibility. The same holds true if you’re shopping for a new GPS receiver.
• You can use only proprietary products (made by the same company that manufactures your GPS receiver). For example, you can’t use Garmin maps on a Magellan GPS receiver. Likewise, you can’t use thirdparty maps produced by DeLorme or Maptech on a Magellan GPS receiver. Repeat after me, “You can only use Magellan maps on a Magellan GPS receiver” (or whichever brand you happen to be using). Admittedly, I’m belaboring this point, but a fair number of novice GPS users think that they can load just about any map on their new GPS receiver, which isn’t the case.
• Don’t expect the level of detail in a GPS map to match paper maps. In order to maximize memory space, GPS receivers use vector maps (created with lines and shapes) instead of raster maps (scanned paper maps). And because a GPS receiver has a fairly small screen to display a map, don’t expect the map on your GPS receiver to appear as an identical version of your favorite paper map.

Until GPS receivers incorporate science-fiction like, holographic projection systems where a map appears in midair (and I’m not holding my breath), viewing a paper map will always be easier and more effective than staring at a map on a GPS receiver. Keeping these three rules in mind when you go map shopping, you can generally expect to pay anywhere from $100–$150 for a map software product from a GPS receiver manufacturer. You can easily avoid paying suggested retail for map software if you exploit the Internet for dealers offering better prices. Even if your GPS receiver doesn’t support maps, you can still use a manufacturer’s map program with your receiver to download and upload waypoints, routes, and tracks, as well as access maps on your PC.