Two awesome Map/GPS apps

[wfooshee]

Just spent a few minutes playing with Bing's GPS out. It didn't put a route in my GPS, it put a bunch of loose waypoints, and apparently it's up to me to connect them, after finding them in the list of waypoints, somehow noting which ones came from bing and which ones were already there. No, thanks. I'd rather put them into Mapsource first and get an organized route, kind of like I already do with Google Maps and TYRE. And Bing's inability to save your built route is less than useless.

Again, Microsoft says, "Look, we do it, too!" and yet they don't even come close.

Bird's eye view is kinda neat, though.

 

[CHRIS_D]

I like how you can easily re-route with Bing, hopefully it will maintain that route when uploading it to the Garmin. Other than that it doesn't seem to show the difference between a paved or dirt road. :huh:

 

[Beamer Reamer]

Garmin makes good hardware but Mapsource is very cumbersome to use. On the Nakusp trip this past year I ended up building the route in Googlemaps and then going through an awful process of making Mapsource make good use of it - much like Fred W just described. I have been waiting for years for Garmin to release an all new version but it looks like they have decided it would be better to stick with hardware design and "open source" the mapping piece.

I have always thought that this forum could use one more main category of topics called "Navigation" or something of the sort. I suggested this once on the board operation section but it did not seem to resonate at the time. Navigation is such a key part of our sport today and also an area where many struggle. It can also be a matter of safety. Sharing routes, tracks, and waypoints all can be tricky at times and most everyone using the technology have all figured out their own little work-a-rounds for the common problems. So much is now understood about this bike technically (much of it from the early members) that there isn't much new outside of ride reports and some good banter. However - this seems to be an area that needs content that most everyone can use.

A personal favorite of my mind is to leave the tracking feature on for all my trips. I then download the track, designate it a certain color, and then copy it into a common mapsource file that contains all my trips. I can now open that file and see the tracks of all my trips in one place - it gets to be a pretty impressive map after a while.

Hudson - thanks for the heads-up on Bing. I will start playing with it in anticipation of training day. Look forward to seeing the crew again soon.

 

[wfooshee]

From what I see, comparing Bing to Google Maps, is that they both let your route, and they both let you easily and graphically drag the route around to modify it. Google lets you save a link to the route as built, Bing doesn't, and Bing exports (but waypoints only, not the actual route) to your GPS through Garmin Communicator, Google doesn't. The link save keeps me on Google, if those two are my only choices. In Bing, though, while you can't get a link right off the page, you CAN save the URL somewhere, like add it to your favorites, or copy the text of the URL to a text file, so unlike what I said before, you can return to a route you've built before in Bing.

In real life, I use Delorme Street Atlas, but I back it up with Streets and Trips due to some mapping errors in DeLorme. Delorme saves a GPX file that Mapsource opens and calculates to duplicate the route, making it the easiest by far of the non-Mapsource methods I've used. No 3rd-party conversion utilities involved.

So far NOTHING actually puts a built route into your GPS besides Mapsource. Best you can get is waypoints, and if you gotta work with waypoints, put 'em in Mapsource in order and as a group so the route is easy to build. If all you do is stick the waypoints into your GPS, you've got a helluva job picking them out of your list and re-building the route you just made in Bing or Google.

 

[zip]

Just spent a few minutes playing with Bing's GPS out. It didn't put a route in my GPS, it put a bunch of loose waypoints, and apparently it's up to me to connect them, after finding them in the list of waypoints, somehow noting which ones came from bing and which ones were already there. No, thanks. I'd rather put them into Mapsource first and get an organized route, kind of like I already do with Google Maps and TYRE. And Bing's inability to save your built route is less than useless.
Again, Microsoft says, "Look, we do it, too!" and yet they don't even come close.

Bird's eye view is kinda neat, though.

Totally concur here. Just tried it myself several times. First, the waypoints it put onto the Zumo 550 all had these weird, archaic names. Secondly, as suggested, there were no routes loaded - just the waypoints. Annoying. Would really like to see this work. Ironic that there seems to be no perfect solution.

As stated, though, Birdseye view is very useful sometimes, and the reason I'm often on Live Maps.

 

[Maura]

I admit Mapsource has a bit of a learning curve, but once you 'get it' it can't be beat. BTW, it has one click 'view in google earth' giving you all the detail, topography etc. Whenever I create a route in mapsource, I go straight to google earth and then examine it in detail. You can then flip from google earth to google maps and get a different view there as well.

 

[HaulinAshe]

This is off-topic, so my apologies first.

But if you prefer Google Maps and want to export to Garmin, use the IMPORT FROM WEBSITE function of TYRE.

Trace Your Route Everywhere - TYRE

The latest version creates a Track, Route and Waypoints from your Google Maps URL. You can compare the Track to a recalculated Garmin route in Mapsucks if you want to ensure matched routing.

 

[squeezer]

I think we will try to videotape this and post on youtube. Hopefully we will get some of the bing dev's to instruct, since I know about 10% of Bing Map's capabilities. There are lots of hidden gems in this app, same with Trackr. Will post when we are ready. But playing around with these apps (hint, try right clicking on a map and see the ability to add waypoints, pictures, etc) will help too.

That would be great. :thumbsupsmiley:

 

[ahchiu]

So when is class?

Dave,

That sounds great, I hate Map Source, lets see if we can get a local class going this winter. I would like to be able to download maps to my Garmin 550 from Bing.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I been playing with Bing maps, but I'll be damned if I can find any place to "send to GPS"....anyone wanna give a hint?

 

[Fred W]

I been playing with Bing maps, but I'll be damned if I can find any place to "send to GPS"....anyone wanna give a hint?

scroll all the way to the end (bottom) of the turn by turn directions. "Send to: Email, Mobile, GPS"

 

[SouthernCruizer]

I been playing with Bing maps, but I'll be damned if I can find any place to "send to GPS"....anyone wanna give a hint?

scroll all the way to the end (bottom) of the turn by turn directions. "Send to: Email, Mobile, GPS"

************************************

Been there, done that...the final thing showing is the B FLAG, the end of the route. There are no other options there.

 

[wfooshee]

Are you in Windows or a Mac? I looked at this in both IE and Firefox, the send link is in both.

 

[SouthernCruizer]

Are you in Windows or a Mac? I looked at this in both IE and Firefox, the send link is in both.

********************************

Windows 7, IE8

 

[ahchiu]

I just found out that you need to be in Bing Maps, and NOT Bing Maps Beta. if you can't get into reg Bing maps you need to delete your cookies from your browser. There is a test in in the PNW section from Sportsguy for the route link. it shows at the bottom to send to GPS.

 

[Hudson]

I tested trackr today on the FJR, with an 80 mile ride. It worked great! My wife also used her Smartphone to see where I was at a given time.

Notice the broken links in the route, I assume I temporarily lost cell coverage, which is pretty common in those areas.

As per the Bing issues, I'll need to have Sportsguy set up a training session with the dev guys. I was pretty sure Bing downloaded routes, not just waypoints. I also got downloaded waypoints, not just on Bing but on GPS babel and other Google based sites. I simply could not get them to download a route last night via Garmin communicator. I think it is pilot error, not the websites, and I think the problem may be the Garmin 2730, which has an older version of the Garmin OS which limits the number of waypoints and truncates a downloaded route. At least, that is what the tech blogs suggest. I get my Garmin 755t mid week, and will see if this solves the problem.

One thing I can clearly do, which is to use Bing or Google to calcuate a route, then use GPSbabel or takitwithme to convert to GPX. From there, I can either download direct to the Garmin, or upload into mapsource, make sure the route is accurate, then use Mapsource to download to the Garmin. I much prefer this to using Mapsource to plan a route.

In any case, trackr is totally a big hit! Only issues are the drain on my phone's battery power.

 

[wfooshee]

^^^^ my findings as well. I've not seen a website that can actually put routes into a GPS, only the waypoints. A conversion utility will put them into the GPS (or a GPX file) as an uncalculated route, though.

My experience is only with a Streetpilot 2610.

Nevertheless, using Mapsource to plan a route is the last resort. Google Maps works pretty well, is easy, but requires Internet access and has Internet delays in its use. Two programs for the PC are Microsoft's Streets & Trips and Delorme's Street Atlas, which are both far and away better for rout planning, but will both require a utility to get the result into your GPS, as a GPX file either into the GPS directly or into Mapsource and then the GPS. I've got a thread outlining details of each here. I'll try to update that soon with current software and add Bing Maps to it.

 

[Hudson]

Walter, that linked "how to" post should be pinned on the FAQ forum section. Very nice! I may visit the company store and pick up a recent S&T edition as my 2003 copy is sorely out of date. I don't mind the extra step to convert to GPX files, and I agree that using Mapsource to recalculate the route is not difficult, plus you end up with a route my 2730 can navigate without error.

Did you ever encounter errors if the route you calculated in S&T or Delorme didn't match the route in your 2610? Or do you regularly update your map files in your Garmin GPS?

 

[wfooshee]

I haven't had too many problems with the route being completely different from what I expected once I got it into the 2610. I can see on Mapsource how it compares before I send it to the 2610, and I can even send it from Mapsource to Google Earth if I want to.

New roads or re-routed roads are a problem, but always will be, as long as mapping software exists.

 

[Hudson]

Just found this little gem, which will make me visit the company store tomorrow to add Streets and Trips 2010. It now supports export to GPX files, specifically Garmin. No more need for utilities to convert the maps.