In addition to Maptech and its topographic mapping programs, DeLorme and National Geographic also offer software that’s suited for off-road use. As previously mentioned, most topographic map programs have the same basic features; the biggest difference is their user interface. Because I don’t have the time to cover the other mapping programs in detail, this section provides a brief description of a few popular programs, shows some screenshots to give you an idea of what the user interface is like, and provides manufacturer Web sites to get more product information. When it comes to choosing a topographic map program, you really can’t go wrong with any of the programs mentioned in this chapter.
You can’t upload detailed maps to your GPS receiver from any of the programs discussed in this chapter. GPS receivers that display maps can use only proprietary maps (sold by the GPS manufacturer), and these tend to show considerably less detail than maps you can display on your PC. Several topographic map software companies do offer products that you can use with a Pocket PC/Palm PDA and GPS receivers that can display detailed topographic maps just as they appear on a PC screen.

Charting elevation profiles in Terrain Navigator

Although the 3-D map view gives you a visual sense of how steep your hike is, you can get even more detailed information by using the Terrain Profile tool. This feature shows you the elevation gain/loss of your hike in pictures and numbers. Here’s how to use this tool:

1. Make sure that the map is displayed in 2-D.

2. Click the Information tool on the toolbar (an arrow with a question mark).

3. Right-click the track and select Profile from the pop-up menu.
A Profile dialog box opens that displays an elevation chart of the trail as well as how many feet you’ll be climbing and descending over the course of the trip.

Vertical profiles may have a lot of vertical exaggeration to show relative steepness. This can make terrain appear steeper than it actually is.

Using a 3-D map image in Terrain Navigator

Use Terrain Navigator to display 3-D, shaded relief images of a map to help you better understand the terrain. To show a 3-D image of the map that’s currently displayed onscreen, click the 3-D View button on the toolbar. (It looks like mountains with a small bar underneath.)
The topographic map of Fuji Mountain ) is displayed in 3-D.
A red rectangle appears on the overview map, showing you the general location of the terrain, based on the current 3-D view of the map.
To control the view of the 3-D map

• Click and drag the cursor on the map to rotate the image.
• Use the trackball control to the left of the map to rotate up, down, left, and right. You can also use the keyboard navigation arrow keys.
• Use the Elevation slider bar control (it has a picture of a truck, a helicopter, and an airplane) to adjust the height you’re viewing the map from.
• Use the zoom arrows above the Elevation slider bar to control how close forward or backward your view of the terrain is.
• Use the Vertical Exaggeration buttons beneath the trackball control to increase and decrease the vertical scale so elevation differences are easy to distinguish.

To toggle back to a 2-D version of the map, click the 3-D View toolbar button. If you want a true 3-D experience, Terrain Navigator comes with a special pair of red-and-blue-lens, stereoscopic glasses. If you click the 3-D Glasses icon, the map is colored so it appears to have three-dimensional depth when you’re wearing the glasses.

Other Maptech products

In addition to Terrain Navigator, Maptech has several other topographic map products that you might find useful, including

• Terrain Navigator Pro is Maptech’s high-end version of Terrain Navigator targeted toward professional map users and is priced around $300 per state. Use its enhanced features to
• Display aerial photographs downloaded from the Maptech’s Internet servers.
• Locate street addresses.
• Link digital photos, spreadsheets, and other files with locations on maps.
• Export maps for use with Geographic Information System (GIS) programs such as ArcGIS and AutoCAD.
• National Park Digital Guide has topographic maps of all the National Parks in the United States, including photos and information about sights and services both inside and outside the parks. The guide costs around $50.
• Appalachian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest Trail products contain topographic maps for the areas around each one of these classic trails and cost under $100. The Appalachian Trail software, priced around $50, has extensive guidebook information along with maps.
• Outdoor Navigator is a mapping program for Pocket PCs and Palm PDAs that lets you load detailed topographic maps on your PDA. The product is priced around $100.

You can find more about these products and their features by visiting: www.maptech.com

Planning a Trip with Terrain Navigator

Suppose that your friends gave you some vague directions about taking a series of logging roads to get to the trailhead. The trail wasn’t very well marked, but when they found it, it climbed steeply for a couple of miles to the summit. However, the last time you listened to your friends, the short pleasant hike that they described turned into an eight-hour death march through thick underbrush and straight up a rock face. This time, you decide to use Terrain Navigator to get a better picture of this little outing.

1. Look on the map for a trail. You want the one that goes to the summit of Fuji Mountain. (Only one trail goes to the top.) As you follow it down, you see that it intersects with an unimproved road — probably the logging road your friends told you about. The symbol for a trail on USGS maps is a single dashed line. Lines with two sets of dashes indicate an unimproved road.
2. Click the Marker tool on the toolbar, move the cursor to where the road intersects the trail, and click to create a waypoint for the trailhead (the beginning of the trail). The Marker tool looks like a pyramid. This creates a GPS waypoint at that location named Mrk1. Click the name and rename it Fuji Trailhead.
3. Use the Marker tool to create another GPS waypoint at the end of the trail. This marks a waypoint at the summit of Fuji Mountain. Rename this one Fuji Mountain (see how in Step 2). With these two GPS waypoints set, you now know where the trail starts and ends. If you’re using a GPS receiver, the first waypoint will help you find the trailhead, and the second waypoint will help you reach your final destination. You can manually enter the waypoints in your GPS receiver or have Terrain Navigator upload them for you. Be sure that the map datum matches the datum your GPS receiver is using.You can set the map datum in Terrain Navigator by choosing File➪Preferences➪General.
4. Click the Track tool on the toolbar to draw your planned course of travel on the map. The Track tool, which looks like a pencil, works by drawing a line from the last place you clicked. However, it doesn’t allow you to freehand draw like with a real pencil.
5. Follow the trail by clicking the mouse (like playing connect-the-dots). Trace the trail that heads up Fuji Mountain, starting at the road intersection. After you click, the current length (in feet or miles) of the track is displayed in the status bar below the map.
6. When you’re finished, right-click and choose Finish Track from the pop-up menu.
7. Edit the track, giving it a name and changing its color if you like. Move the cursor on the track that you just created, right-click, and choose Edit from the pop-up menu. You can now name the track (use Fuji) and change its color if you like. You can upload the waypoints and track data to your GPS receiver before you leave on the hike to help with your navigation. Use Terrain Navigator to turn a track into a route. A route is a course of travel that’s broken up into a series of waypoints that define segments of your trip. You navigate between the route waypoints to reach your final destination. Typically the number of track points is reduced when you convert a track to a route. Thus, there’s not as much detail, and you end up with straight lines instead of curves. If you want to upload a course of travel to your GPS receiver, it’s more efficient to use a route than a track. To convert a route, right-click a track and choose Create Route from the pop-up menu. Even if you don’t have a GPS receiver to which you can upload waypoint, route, or track data, you can use Terrain Navigator to find a trail, print a map of that trail to take with you, and determine the distance of your hike. Just remember to bring your compass!

You can upload data from topographic map programs to your GPS receiver or download waypoints, routes, and tracks from your GPS receiver to the map program. For example, you could overlay a track you recorded with your GPS receiver on the electronic map to see where you had been. Check the map program documentation or online help to find out how to interface your GPS receiver.

Changing the map size

Terrain Navigator offers two ways for you to change the size of a map and show more detail or area.

• Zooming: The toolbar has two icons bearing a magnifying glass: one with a plus sign and the other with a minus sign. When the plus sign magnifying glass is selected, you zoom in when you click the map. When the minus sign magnifying glass is selected, clicking zooms you out.
• Changing the scale: Maps can be displayed in either 1:24,000 (more detail, smaller area) or 1:100,000 scale (less detail, larger area). Note the map scale command in the toolbar that displays a menu for selecting the scale of your choice.

Moving around in a map with Terrain Navigator

More than likely, you’ll want to move around the map and check out the countryside that currently isn’t being displayed onscreen. Here’s how:

• Move the cursor to one of the edges of the map. The cursor turns into an arrow; click to scroll the map in the direction that the arrow points.
• Click the Drag tool on the toolbar. (It’s shaped like a hand.) Move the cursor to the map and hold down the left mouse button; then scroll the map by dragging.
• Click the Center tool on the toolbar. (It’s shaped like a bull’s-eye with crosshairs.) With this tool selected, wherever you click the map, the map is drawn so it’s centered at that location.
• Move the rectangle in the overview map. A small overview map appears to the left of the main map. A blue rectangle shows what part of the map is currently displayed onscreen. You can drag the overview map rectangle to show a new location onscreen.

As you move the cursor around the map, the coordinates and the elevation under the cursor location are displayed in the toolbar. This is useful for determining the exact locations of features on the map.