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Scott Cee aka 2drx4

Scott Cee aka 2drx4

Taste the butwhole
Joined
Jun 13, 2020
Member Number
1991
Messages
736
Loc
The middle of BC, Canada
One of my coworkers gave me his old tablet, a Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. Was thinking I'd like to throw some map application on it so I can use it for no real useful purpose while out in the bush, except to maybe add unnecessary weight and complication to everything.

What do you use? Other than just good ol' Google maps.

I had Oruxmaps on one of my phones and it worked okay, a bit clunky to navigate, and I put the Back Road Mapbooks database in it (not sure if BRMB is a thing anywhere else, but they're pretty good for BC). Oruxmaps worked with the same format of maps as Garmin used. I'd do that again but not sure if there's a better option.
 
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Gaia is what I have and I like it. I do have a sub for it, bought it several years ago when it was much cheaper then I think it is now.


Hear alot of people on the Onx side. Does the same stuff as Gaia and I think is more money.

So I have a few programs, Gaia is the main, OsmAnd+ (also paid but a good navigation program), and Fatmap.

Have BFG OnTrail but don't use it as much as it doesn't have any features worth while for the cost in my opinion.
 
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I use OsmAnd downloaded through the F-droid application. That version is just like what you'd pay for on Google Play, it's full featured.
 
I have onX (not onyx :flipoff2:) offroad on my phone and we use onX hunt on our work phones. It comes in handy when we're out in the country and Google maps or whatever faggy iPhone version is called, isn't getting you there very accurately. You can look at onX and it will tell you the property owners name. If you pay for that.

I've used the offroad one a lot more and 98% of the time it's pretty sweet. You can set filters to show different types of roads or trails. I think it goes dirt bike, atv, sxs, high clearance 4x4, overlander. It's been off a few times, and I came up to a closed road, but usually pretty sweet.

Some trails will also have additional information added in, like pictures, specific descriptions of obstacles, time to traverse, elevation gain difficulty, ect. This is usually entered by other users so occasionally, some jeep fag will day a dirt road is like a 4 or 5 out of 10, :laughing: but again, it's usually pretty good.
 
I use onX offroad on my phone to navigate the land we wheel on. It's got a basic map of the place already but I can add anything I want to my own version of the maps.
 
Big red repost...
But I'll play
Gaia

Eta 02/26
Not if you use an android, they claim the software is not very compatible...
 
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irate4x4.com

Offline Mapping with .gpx files on mobile(android preferred)

our biggest issue here in the midwest is lack of maps being made for parks and such. and when they make a map alot of time its just a pdf of the map. so gaia is awesome for the TOPOs, for me that is. and you can create your own map from there by naming waypoints and such. i just need to...
irate4x4.com irate4x4.com


but yes, you did mention gaia in post #2
the merge the world of ibb has failed us woefully:flipoff2:
 
YotaAtieToo said:
I have onX (not onyx :flipoff2:)

I've used the offroad one a lot more and 98% of the time it's pretty sweet. You can set filters to show different types of roads or trails. I think it goes dirt bike, atv, sxs, high clearance 4x4, overlander. It's been off a few times, and I came up to a closed road, but usually pretty sweet.
Click to expand...
:homer:

Most of the info I see entered in these maps apps is wrong, illegal routes, wrong rating, wrong type of trail, etc. It's become a giant cluster of wrong information.
 
Weasel said:
:homer:

Most of the info I see entered in these maps apps is wrong, illegal routes, wrong rating, wrong type of trail, etc. It's become a giant cluster of wrong information.
Click to expand...

All it takes is one or two idiots. I ran into a jeep guy when we were farting around on some trails near Helena. He told me that he did all the trail info on onX in the area. Seemed to be decent. But I can totally see how one guy who thinks a 6" rock makes the trail a 5/10 would really mess stuff up.

There is only like one or two trails that have the extra info near me. One is a dirt road that any truck and most cars could easily pass. Someone put that it has a 4/10 rating :homer:
 
gaia is what i am using, i can make my own routes for parks that dont have a digital map and it can be shareable also. i do like it alot paid version here also lots of layers,

www.gaiagps.com

Topo Maps, Trail Maps, and Satellite Imagery

Access free topo maps online and use intuitive mapping tools to plan your next adventure. Gaia GPS’s map catalog includes detailed satellite imagery, worldwide trail maps, weather forecasting overlays, and avalanche data overlays.
www.gaiagps.com www.gaiagps.com
 
Alpinequest.

Pay the 10 bucks, download the maps (of your choice) before ya go out. Now you have your own GPS.
 
So I played with Gaia a bit. It's totally fucking useless here. Which is the main issue, I'm not in the lower 48 so there isn't useful maps unless you happen to have some of the ones available from other third parties. Also, they want a shitpile of money on subscription, when it's useless.

I found out I could download Orux for free again using my Google account, but you can't update it to the current version, and it seemed to be very broken and would not allow me to load the Garmin maps I have into it. I'm not sure if the current version will actually work either, as Googling leads me to believe it's still very buggy, so I'm hesitant to pay for it and find it doesn't do what I want.

Having Garmin devices I could download Garmin Explore for free, and... Well, it's as useful as Gaia here, but free. But it won't let you dump a map into it from file, like WTF? I can put the map onto my GPSMAP 64S, and probably my InReach (haven't tried yet, but going to), but not their app. Garmin has another app for pairing with the InReach, which I've never used, but I suspect it will be the same.

So, is there just a basic map app for Android that will let you throw a Garmin map into it?
 
As an aside, Garmin's who ecosystem is pretty broken as far as how everything interfaces. "Oh, this app works with these devices, but not those" "You want to transfer a map or data by cable, it's this program, or maybe it's this one" "You want to take the data from one device and make it work on another, well, you need this program to export it, then this one might let you import it"

What a mess. :lmao:
 
I have one called "On X Hunt". Handy to find property lines and who owns the land. We'd use it when cruising a site for logging if needing to get in touch with property owners, or even to confirm the property lines.

Had one job to clear the property line on a 200 and 300 acre parcel split by a road. Two sections had subdivisions backed to the property line and quite a few of those places had encroached into the "woods". Some by 30-40 feet. Had built sheds, parking pads for RVs. One place had like 20+ years worth of grass clippings in a mound that was probably 15ft tall.

Of course had a surveyor that came in to mark the no kidding line, but the map was also helpful to show people, no, your property isn't there.
 
There are no good apps that are free and easy to use. The good ones with multiple layers and frequent layer updates cost money. You could make a free app work if you are willing to manually (and probably illegally) download, convert, and upload map layers and set up the app.

I hate subscription apps with a passion and I gladly pay for Gaia. It's worth it.
 
Yotota said:
There are no good apps that are free and easy to use. The good ones with multiple layers and frequent layer updates cost money. You could make a free app work if you are willing to manually (and probably illegally) download, convert, and upload map layers and set up the app.

I hate subscription apps with a passion and I gladly pay for Gaia. It's worth it.
Click to expand...
I'm not being clear.

I own (as in I bought and paid for) a Garmin .img map of the area that is the only one that is worth having as it turns out. Gaia's maps of this region are no more useful than Google maps, or the "free" maps I get by using Garmin Explore or Earthmate. The problem with using the map I have is currently it only wants to talk to my GPSMAP64S, which while it was a great device, and in a lot of ways still is, I have replaced it by carrying an InReach Explorer+. Since I'm normally not walking I actually don't care that the InReach only has the basic Garmin map, because I'd like to put the much more detailed maps I BOUGHT AND PAID FOR on an app that will run on Android.

So, if Orux will do it I will pay for it. The old version did, but that was a long time ago that I used it, and it had a lot of bugs/shit interface then. But I'm not buying a fucking subscription to Gaia so I can get updated detail maps of places I am not in and likely won't be visiting.
 
Initially I thought there might be some other apps that offered maps of this region that don't suck. My exhaustive search indicates there isn't.

Buying a subscription to a service that primarily has US maps is stupid and only rewarding bullshit behaviour.
 
Scott Cee aka 2drx4 said:
I'm not being clear.

I own (as in I bought and paid for) a Garmin .img map of the area that is the only one that is worth having as it turns out. Gaia's maps of this region are no more useful than Google maps, or the "free" maps I get by using Garmin Explore or Earthmate. The problem with using the map I have is currently it only wants to talk to my GPSMAP64S, which while it was a great device, and in a lot of ways still is, I have replaced it by carrying an InReach Explorer+. Since I'm normally not walking I actually don't care that the InReach only has the basic Garmin map, because I'd like to put the much more detailed maps I BOUGHT AND PAID FOR on an app that will run on Android.

So, if Orux will do it I will pay for it. The old version did, but that was a long time ago that I used it, and it had a lot of bugs/shit interface then. But I'm not buying a fucking subscription to Gaia so I can get updated detail maps of places I am not in and likely won't be visiting.
Click to expand...

AH!

I could have also been retarded and not read what you said. :lmao:

Convert your Garmin .img map to another format. If you convert it to a GeoPDF, you can then use an app like Avenza Maps.

I googled "Garmin img to pdf converter" and this is the first hit. No idea if it's good, but you can find something that'll work.

mygeodata.cloud

IMG to GeoPDF Converter Online - MyGeodata Cloud

Discover fast and easy to use online conversion and transformation tool to convert IMG to GeoPDF format - widely used in ERDAS and Adobe Reader.
mygeodata.cloud
 
The other interesting thing is it seems that the newer Garmin devices actually use the old DeLorme format. I'm guessing because Garmin purchased DeLorme, and the InReach products are just a continuation of the DeLorme product line.
Yotota said:
AH!

I could have also been retarded and not read what you said. :lmao:

Convert your Garmin .img map to another format. If you convert it to a GeoPDF, you can then use an app like Avenza Maps.

I googled "Garmin img to pdf converter" and this is the first hit. No idea if it's good, but you can find something that'll work.

mygeodata.cloud

IMG to GeoPDF Converter Online - MyGeodata Cloud

Discover fast and easy to use online conversion and transformation tool to convert IMG to GeoPDF format - widely used in ERDAS and Adobe Reader.
mygeodata.cloud
Click to expand...
Ahhh.

Okay, I will try that. :smokin:
 
You do get access to more map layer when you pay for Gaia, unsure if you'd already done that or not.

Interesting on the DeLorme format, I had one of their GPS's 12 years ago and it was great other then the map format cause everyone else use the Garmin version. It was always a royal pain to convert and transfer back/forth.
 

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Osmand+ also has several Canada layers.

You can also import the .img into google Earth or Arcgis Earth and then export it as a KML/KMZ or other file that will import easily into these other programs.
 
Weasel said:
You do get access to more map layer when you pay for Gaia, unsure if you'd already done that or not.

Interesting on the DeLorme format, I had one of their GPS's 12 years ago and it was great other then the map format cause everyone else use the Garmin version. It was always a royal pain to convert and transfer back/forth.
Click to expand...
I didn't pay for it because if it sucked I wouldn't be able to get my money back. It wasn't clear what layers they had, the only info I found was old comments from people that it was useless and they were pissed off they paid for it. It looks like it actually has a bunch of layers that may be somewhat useful, but really only the BRMB is useful for me.

Currently I got my ancient version of Orux to work and it displays the ancient version of BRMB. So it's perfect. :laughing: Well, maybe not, Orux is quite slow, but as long as you're not trying to scroll over a ton of area it's fine. Avenza won't run on this tablet, Android version is too old and it's hit EOL, but maybe if I could find an old version it would. I tried Osmand+ and removed it immediately, along with a bunch of other ones, because I couldn't figure out if I could actually load the .img I had into them even if I paid for them (you definitely couldn't without paying).

I don't know what BRMB does for updating their maps. My paper copies are quite old, 20 years I think. And the .img I have (which I bought used) is probably 10 years old now. I'd like to compare it to a current version but don't feel like spending the money to find out (it's $150 to buy it outright). I want it to show the old roads, and if they kick them out of the database once they're deactivated then it's useless. Being able to layer the old/new version would be the best option. That's assuming the updates are actually that significant.

I think I'm going to call it good for now because I have managed to make it work for what I want to do. Maybe when this tablet goes kaput I will update to something better.

Oh, Garmin Eathmate is kinda nifty now that I've been using it. But quite useless at the same time. Same with Explore. Why the fuck can't I put a Garmin .img into them as a layer? Or if there's some way to just insert it into the file system so it can be displayed, well, it's not at all obvious. It's like their whole ecosystem is a complete afterthought. Whatever, I can wander around with just the InReach and get it to track or put waypoints in, then it syncs to the tablet so I can rename them without having to type at 1 character per minute. :homer:
 
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