Messages

46

GPS Discussion / Re: How to get the AC gps route to overlay the North American maps?

« on: July 28, 2012, 05:54:00 pm »

Each route includes an ordered sequence of rtept elements, which repeat the information in the wpt elements.

Route points in ACA files repeat some waypoints. Not all waypoints are present in routes. They are points of interest or reference. For example, in the Green Mountains file, near the beginning of route R01010, near its first route point R01080, there are three waypoints that are not part of the route at all: R0104A (hotel), R01040 (bicycle shop), R01030 (bicycle shop).

To clarify, the sample Green Mountains GPX file I provided was not calculated or created by a computer.

Sure it was, probably by my copy of MapSource, or another volunteer's, maybe by Jennifer's at ACA.

Good catch I meant to say that I did not further process this file, create new content, or use a mapping tool. I simply deleted the waypoints using a text editor.

I took it one step further to see what the 60CS does to a route when a waypoint on it is present and is moved by editing in the GPSR but the route is not edited. When asked to navigate the route, the unit follows the change. I'd summarize it by saying that the 60CS uses waypoints info when present, otherwise uses the route points.

The Edge 705 behaved kept the route intact. I edited the waypoint far off course, and that did not change the route.

What happens when you change a waypoint that does not belong to a route, such as R0104A?

47

GPS Discussion / Re: How to get the AC gps route to overlay the North American maps?

« on: July 27, 2012, 07:07:22 pm »

rather than using the route that the computer creates.

To clarify, the sample Green Mountains GPX file I provided was not calculated or created by a computer. For simplicity, I did the following:

• Downloaded the file from ACA Green Mountains route web site
• Opened the file in text editor
• Deleted the entire first section for the file that contains waypoints within <wpt> tags
• Saved & loaded on the GPS unit. Voilà.

48

GPS Discussion / Re: How to get the AC gps route to overlay the North American maps?

« on: July 27, 2012, 06:44:24 pm »

Mdxix, could you clarify, please?

My suggestion is to put the ACA route on the GPS unit without the waypoints. You can see the route, navigate, and get prompts for directions.

Fred & Bill, can you try loading the Green Mountains file on your GPS? It is at
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30524605/ACA/GM01v003.gpx

I have stripped this file from any waypoints. Can your GPS navigate its routes? Does it show you that it did not add any waypoints?

Let me clarify with some details. ACA files have two main sections in them:

• The top section has a list of waypoints. These are scattered all over the map. They are independent of each other. They are not connected to each other in any way. They are points of interest. These are wrapped with <wpt> tags. They have the coordinates and name for each waypoint as the following example:
    <wpt lat="44.4690527" lon="-73.1807019">
      <name>R01020</name>
      <cmt>Holiday Inn</cmt>
      <desc>Holiday Inn</desc>
      <sym>Lodging</sym>
      <extensions>...
      </extensions>
    </wpt>
  
• The second part of the file has routes (within <rte> tag) connected by route points (within <rtept> tag), not waypoints. They appear as follows in the file:
    <rte>
      <name>R01010</name>
      <extensions>...
      </extensions>
      <rtept lat="44.4745800" lon="-73.2195100">
        <name>R01080</name>
        <cmt>King St/Bike Path</cmt>
  

As far as I can tell, when you choose a route to navigate, you are choosing it from the second part of the file, not the first. I know this because I can completely delete the entire first part of the file and still navigate just as well. Only the GPS memory is not exhausted by waypoints. See the screen images I posted earlier.

Does the same happen to you with the sample Green Mountains file?

49

GPS Discussion / Re: How to get the AC gps route to overlay the North American maps?

« on: July 27, 2012, 09:19:03 am »

You would give up the navigation feature, though.

That is curious Fred. As far as I can tell, the GPS will navigate based on the route (and route points), irrelevant of the waypoints it has scattered on the map. Do you think it works differently?

I tested the following for the Green Mountains loop. I stripped the file from all waypoints as follows:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30524605/ACA/GM01v003.gpx

I loaded the file on my Edge 705 and started navigating R01010 as shown in the following image:



In the two panels to the left, you see the navigation route, distance to next, and prompts at turns. In this case, the Edge 705 shows only straight lines. But that is a different topic that we discussed at length.

In the right panel, the list of waypoints is empty.

Is your experience different?

50

GPS Discussion / Re: How to get the AC gps route to overlay the North American maps?

« on: July 26, 2012, 09:32:00 pm »

Could you load the maps on the GPS unit without the waypoints? Do you need them on the GPS? Refer to the paper maps as needed along the way for points of interest.

51

New England / Re: New Haven to Albany, suggested routes?

« on: July 26, 2012, 09:21:54 pm »

Take a look at CT bicycle map. Route 5 connects New Haven to Canaan in NW CT. From there, head west to reach NY State Bicycle Route 9. That will get you all the north to Albany.

52

General Discussion / Re: Bicycle shop Seattle

« on: June 11, 2012, 10:07:36 am »

Builders of Davidson bicycles:
http://elliottbaybicycles.com/

Large store with multiple branches in the region:
http://www.greggscycles.com/

53

General Discussion / Re: Images are not appearing in ACA forum post

« on: June 03, 2012, 06:18:47 pm »

That seems to have fixed it.

I edited the post today with links to images hosted externally. I can now see them when logged in or not.

Thank you.

54

General Discussion / Images are not appearing in ACA forum post

« on: June 02, 2012, 08:10:19 am »

I have attached images to a post on the ACA forum at
http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=9892.0

I noticed these images do not appear unless I am logged in. If I logout, I can see all the text entries in the post, but cannot see the images.

Is that by design? Is there something I need to do to enable the images to appear all the time?

55

GPS Discussion / Re: Open Street Map?

« on: June 01, 2012, 09:16:07 pm »

I was not able to navigate to addresses in the United States and Canada using OSM.

OSM does not seem to recognize states. It shows data at the country level. I suppose this may work in other countries, where city names are indeed unique in the entire country. Alas, that is not the case in the US.

Below are two sets of images. The first set is when entering an address in City Navigator:


The second is in OSM:


Note:

• Region: City Navigator shows list of states and provinces. OSM shows countries
• City: City Navigator shows zip codes and city name associated with the state they are in. OSM, however, displays the city name associated with the country.

56

GPS Discussion / Re: Open Street Map?

« on: June 01, 2012, 09:06:54 pm »

Note in the previous post how the distance of the route in the two maps is calculated slightly differently. I am not sure exactly why. I think it is because they are two different maps. Roads on them are charted differently causing the discrepancy.

There is another reason. I used Google Maps on RideWithGPS.com to create route. The waypoints from that route do not match exactly those on the GPS unit. Take a look at the sticky topic Using Adventure Cycling GPS Data, under the title Variations among maps.

Especially in this case, the waypoints and track points were off in some cases when using OSM.

Note in the image below:

• The first tile shows a prompt to go "Left off of Newfield Court", while there is no left.
• The second and third tiles show an extra spur for the route, followed immediately by a U-turn.

I found this misalignment to occur about once on most routes. But it is very easy to recognize.

57

GPS Discussion / Re: Open Street Map?

« on: June 01, 2012, 08:44:18 pm »

Navigation worked exactly the same on both sets of maps: City Navigator North America & OSM.

Note the images below of navigation sequence for each map. They each contain:

• Preview of the route
• Preview of the cue sheet
• First prompt with advanced notice to turn
• Second prompt for immediate turn

The only difference between the two are the labels for roads, such as "Ridgewood Rd" versus "Ridgeweed Road", and "East St" versus "East Street (217)".

The first set of images below is for City Navigator North America:


The second set is for OSM:

58

GPS Discussion / Re: Open Street Map?

« on: June 01, 2012, 08:33:18 pm »

I have been testing the Open Source Map (OSM) on my Edge 705 for the past two months. I used it on the bicycle and in the car, in the United States and Canada.

For my most frequent use of the GPS, the map worked as expected:

• Navigates roads that are previously mapped.
• Shows detailed maps of all roads I was on, even minor ones in rural areas and inside state parks.
• Shows some services and points of interest in nearby areas. These are dependent on the information entered in OSM
• Shows turn by turn directions, prompts for each turn, distance to next, distance to destination, and other measurements.
• Could not navigate to US & Canadian addresses. The maps do not seem to recognize states. They show data at the country level. Therefore, unless the city name is absolutely unique in the entire United States (or Canada), it was impossible to enter it as part of the address.
• Because I was not able to enter my home address, I had to use its location so I can use the "Go Home" function

More details are in following posts to keep topics separate.

Meanwhile, I would at least try to use OSM in the following cases:

• Do not own Garmin City Navigator maps. OSM is free. As far as I found, it is a snap to install.
• Traveling to an area out of coverage. At the time of this writing, for example, I cannot find Garmin City Navigator maps for Japan. An OSM map for Japan is available though.
• Traveling for a short trip to another country. Maps average at about $100. Buying a set for each trip will add up quickly.

59

Gear Talk / Re: Which Schwalbe

« on: April 24, 2012, 05:31:51 pm »

They seem bullet proof

Says who?



With less than 1,000km on this pair, I got the nastiest of punctures. This old curved handmade nail penetrated the tire and shredded the tube.

60

General Discussion / Re: Bicycle Touring On Car Free Paths

« on: April 07, 2012, 01:39:39 pm »

Thank you for sharing it. These trails offer very pleasant experience. Here are a few more suggestions from ACA:

http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/12/flats-where-its-at-my-10-favorite-rail.html