Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by mjr »

khain wrote:RMaps and OSMand are what I'm using just now. Both are ok but the OpenCycleMaps are limited for reasons I've stated above and OSMand requires payment for contours. Also, it doesn't seem to show cycle networks even in cycle mode.

OSMAnd~ (unofficial build) is not exactly OSMAnd but you're right that it doesn't show cycle networks or contours. It might be worth contacting them at http://osmand.net/ and asking for networks if you feel strongly about them. It hasn't bothered me much because it does show non-road cycle routes (blue dashes) and locally the National Cycle Network is a mix of a "duh, obvious" and annoyingly indirect detours, while the Norfolk Trails and National Byway haven't reached here yet.

I think OCM shows byways (brown dashed on the example shown above) from a few zooms out, so maybe they're not mapped correctly yet where you're looking. It's not as good as cycle.travel/map but it's not far off. Any maps for a few countries are likely to be pretty large, in whatever format.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by mjr »

OCM seems to show campsites and hotels from zoom level 16 inwards, the same level as they appear on OSM and the same level as other interesting features like pubs and cafes start to appear. I don't like the presentation much (purple text rather than symbols) but they are there.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
Richard Fairhurst
Posts: 2030
Joined: 2 Mar 2008, 4:57pm
Location: Charlbury, Oxfordshire

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

khain wrote:Also, unfortunately it's Europe I want maps for.

(whisper it) Maps of Western Europe are now tentatively live on cycle.travel as a pre-pre-pre-pre-pre alpha, though not route-planning (or place search) as yet.
cycle.travel - maps, journey-planner, route guides and city guides
User avatar
jamesgilbert
Posts: 316
Joined: 5 Feb 2013, 4:25pm
Location: Lyon

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by jamesgilbert »

That is really good news :D
User avatar
simonineaston
Posts: 8003
Joined: 9 May 2007, 1:06pm
Location: ...at a cricket ground

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by simonineaston »

mjr wrote:OCM seems to show campsites and hotels from zoom level 16 inwards, the same level as they appear on OSM and the same level as other interesting features like pubs and cafes start to appear. I don't like the presentation much (purple text rather than symbols) but they are there.

How do you know which zoom level you are at?
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
User avatar
mjr
Posts: 20308
Joined: 20 Jun 2011, 7:06pm
Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
Contact:

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by mjr »

simonineaston wrote:How do you know which zoom level you are at?

Osmand~ tells you when you zoom in/out, whereas on the website it's the z parameter in the URL IIRC.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
randomblue
Posts: 224
Joined: 28 Aug 2013, 5:09pm

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by randomblue »

I have the galaxy S4 and use Oruxmaps and openandromaps which I've found works well. It can be a pain in that it seems to pick which place names to show quite randomly at each zoom level, and at first it showed all the places in the database at once which was awful but you can get different mapforge styles which adjust those things so its just a case of finding one that does what you want, of making your own which I didn't have time to look into.
cotswolds
Posts: 287
Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 10:47am

Re: Digital Mapping - What do you use?

Post by cotswolds »

OSMAND can show both cycle routes and campsites. I've used it successfully for two European tours and have been very happy with it, getting to know the user interface can be difficult.

To show cycle routes: with the map showing, press the bottom left menu button and choose Configure screen
scroll down to the bottom and tick the box labelled Show cycle routes They appear at zoom levels 12 and up, equivalent to the 2 mile scale. (You can briefly see the zoom level above the zoom buttons bottom right when you change scale, though it gets replaced by the scale.)

Campsites are one of many types of POI that OSMAND can display and the assumption is that you don't want them all there all the time, to minimise clutter. To display them: Long press on the screen in the area you want to see them and tap the location box that appears; Choose Search near here; Choose Accommodation; Tap the 'show on map icon' (bottom left of the screen)

This will show campsites and other forms of accommodation, each with their own icon, at zoom levels 10 and up.
To just get campsites, tap the filter icon below the search list and type 'camp' in the filter box at the top. Show on map will then just show campsites, and as far is I know there's no reason why you shouldn't just leave them there all the time (but I haven't used it like this).

There are so many other useful POIs that my touring routine is something like this:
scroll ahead to the area I think I'll reach and use 'search near here' to find possible campsites;
choose one and set it as a favourite, which can be displayed when others have been hidden;
use 'directions to' to plot a route to the campsite (which I didn't necessarily follow, but they were usually pretty good);
use 'search near here' somewhere along the route to find a supermarket to buy food.

There are loads of other useful POIs which you probably wouldn't want on all the time, but can be really useful, such as cash machines, pharmacies, tourist information, etc. I think the range of information stored in offline OSMAND is phenomenal, and it's worth a bit of effort getting to know how to use it.

I also have a Garmin etrex in which I have maps from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ I've found these to be pretty good. I think it has all the same POIs as OSMAND. I don't trust its routing, it's lead me on odd detours too many times. I generally find OSMAND easier, so I use that for planning, and then have the Garmin on the bars ready to show detail along the way when needed.
Post Reply