GPS for mapping new field

[ferch]

Hi,
An iteresting APP has just been released on Google Play called "Personal Eye System". I have been using it on OPFOR event (Featured on Popular Airsoft)

http://www.popularairsoft.com/operat...l-milsim-event

Google Play Link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...bWlrYS5wZXMiXQ..

Cheers,
Ferch

[ShadowTwoSix]

There was a system known as Battle Tac which incorporated GPS tracking with team members and mapping but I haven't seen too much from them recently. They did, however, provide a link to OpenStreetMapping and all kinds of tutorials that instruct how to create such a map including buildings and other structures. Links can be found here:

http://battletac.com/web/guest/maps

Hope this helps. I'm planning to use this to map a local field for the owners. You can incorporate your tracks into OpenStreetMapping and then add the buildings etc.

[Drakker]

Wow, can't believe I missed that thread before. Well, all the good GPS info is already here. But, being a geographer doing a PhD at McGill, I currently have access to all kinds of GIS software and mapping tools, plus a lot of data that might otherwise cost you a lot of money (ie. maybe even high resolution topographic maps of your area, though I offer no guarantee, I don't know if McGill has data for your area).

Once you have the GPS tracks and points, send them to me and I can start looking around for data sources and make a map tailored for Airsoft use. Or whatever else you might need.

[Long_Bong]

Originally Posted by Drakker

Wow, can't believe I missed that thread before. Well, all the good GPS info is already here. But, being a geographer doing a PhD at McGill, I currently have access to all kinds of GIS software and mapping tools, plus a lot of data that might otherwise cost you a lot of money (ie. maybe even high resolution topographic maps of your area, though I offer no guarantee, I don't know if McGill has data for your area).

Once you have the GPS tracks and points, send them to me and I can start looking around for data sources and make a map tailored for Airsoft use. Or whatever else you might need.

Merci mister!

C est pour le Napkins field!

[Drakker]

Originally Posted by Long_Bong

Merci mister!

C est pour le Napkins field!

Je sais bien, c'est pour ça que je l'offre. ;)

[danhay]

The Garmin GPS 60/62 series has a much better antenna than any of their other hand helds, but otherwise it's functionally identical to any of their other handhelds. The only reason to spend more money on the 60/62 series is for the extremely robust and water resistant case (IPX-8 I think) and the fact that the improved antenna is a must if you find yourself in canyons or mountainous terrain. If you're in fairly open terrain there is no reason to spend the extra money.

The extra topo maps are a must if you plan to use your GPS in the backcountry but superfluous if you only intend to use it to map your new field. Shortly after I picked up my GPS60c (it was a wedding gift actually) I purchased a full set of Canadian topo maps and a 2 GB micro-SD card (on which to hold the maps - the GPS60c ships with a tiny little 128 MB card) for $120 ... but that was 4 years ago. The current handhelds (eTrex, 62 or whatever) all have the capability to create and upload custom maps from Google Earth and other sources.

[L473ncy]

@ Drakker: Geography - GIS? That's kind of cool, I'll have to message you sometime about grad school and stuff, kind of not sure what I want to do right now since I'm close to finishing my BSc soon (kind of want to do the GIS and RS thing but right now I'm only specialized in GIS and mapping/spatial analysis).

@ OP: Anyways there are free topo maps from "NRC GeoGratis", I think the best resolution they get is 1:50,000 though (ideally you'll get a basemap form Bing or Google Earth or whatever to overlay underneath the shapefiles from GeoGratis).

Other than that, there are expensive programs (ArcGIS, Map3D) that you could input your data to and make cool maps. The other option is a free program like QGIS or GRASS, or just using Google Earth to import your tracks and draw trails based on that.

[horto]

export track, waypoints... basecamp... google earth... drakker... win

for gps tracking on android i like everytrail. but it sucks when your phone dies after an hour or two.

[Busterbunny]

Update:

I did two things.

- I bought Backcountry Navigator for my S3. Roughly 10$. Since Rogers pays me a nice little 7000$ per year to lease an antenna on my field, getting good signal strenght is not a problem.
- I also bought a Garmin Dakota 20, from GPS City.ca. The price range for it is incredible between, say, La source (Circuit City), Futureshop and GPSCity. From anywhere between 350$ to 219$. Even within GPS City, there's a price difference between the basic unit (229$) http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-dakota-20.html and the basic unit + geocaching chip (which can be used to locate stuff... not sure how it works) that comes at 10$ LESS for some reason http://www.gpscity.ca/garmin-dakota-...min-chirp.html

I've played around with both during the weekend, since we're mapping the field officially next week. My "dream" of having the actual map from Google Maps IN the Dakota 20 doesn't seem to be feasible. However, I found this website, that's pretty straightforward to download a basic map more detailled than the even-more-basic maps included.

garmin.openstreetmap.nl

I was able to download a map that shows open field vs forest with excellent accuracy. Even though it's not a satellite picture, it still shows all the streets, and where you should get some forested areas, etc.

Adding waypoints and using it in general is fairly easy, and can be done with one hand. It looks rugged, and I wouldn't be afraid of using it in airsoft even. Ok, so I wouldn't put it in front of me to protect me from incoming BBs, but the case seems strong enough.

On the other hand, BackCountry Navigator on the S3, I found, was much less accurate. I tried both devices (S3 and Dakota) on the factory workfloor at my office. My factory is located near the TransCanada highway, and is large enough to appear on most maps. The Dakota 20 was dead on accurate. The S3 wasn't, and showed as if most of our production line was in the middle of the highway (which I assure you, is not).

My next challenge is trying convert tracks to something you can put on a Google Map, not Google Earth. Google Earth's nice, but I prefer a top view, not isometric- 3/4 view with perspective to give to people coming on the field to play. Waypoints are easy to transfer to Google Maps, but it doesn'T show the track you use.

When you want to export a track instead, through Basecamp (in GPX) and then through a converter, Google Maps can't give you more than 200 locations (it simulates waypoints). So, you manually have to delete a few. For example, a mere 10 minutes ride with an ATV gave me 310 location points. Now, the even suckier thing, which might be due to a problem with the chair-keyboard interface (e.g. me) is that Google Maps understands you need to use streets to go there. So, the track kind of just stick to the street, and never really gets in the forest, making the track pointless.

So, now, I'm stuck with either trying to understand how to intelligently map a track in Google Maps, or finding a way to transfert a track from Google Earth to Google Maps.

In any case, the Dakota 20 is awesome.

[Busterbunny]

Also, I need to check that Personnal Eye System stated above.

[horto]

Originally Posted by Busterbunny

My "dream" of having the actual map from Google Maps IN the Dakota 20 doesn't seem to be feasible.

Garmin BirdsEye Imagery
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=70144

TBH, I find TopoCanada more useful.

Originally Posted by Busterbunny

My next challenge is trying convert tracks to something you can put on a Google Map, not Google Earth. Google Earth's nice, but I prefer a top view, not isometric- 3/4 view with perspective to give to people coming on the field to play. Waypoints are easy to transfer to Google Maps, but it doesn'T show the track you use.
...
So, now, I'm stuck with either trying to understand how to intelligently map a track in Google Maps, or finding a way to transfert a track from Google Earth to Google Maps.

Try uploading the gpx tracks to EveryTrail (you'll need an account). See - http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1818374 Maybe you can screenshot something like that as a map. You can edit your track files in BaseCamp to clean them up before import, if you like. And I think EveryTrail has some options to edit tracks to clean them up as well.

Maybe Drakker has some tips.

[Busterbunny]

Ah, so that's what BirdsEye imagery is... hmmm. At that price, it's worth it.

Now, Topo maps, for a relatively flat field, is it really useful? I'm a noob here.

[Drakker]

I would love to help but I never used Google map with GPS points... did some with Google Earth, but was never satisfied with the result. In my case, it's much simpler to simply do it in ArcGIS or MapInfo, since I have access to them.

A poor man's alternative, that still works quite well, would be QGIS (free and open source), but the learning curve is a bit steep if you don't know the basics of cartography.

[phloudernow]

well if you are hardcore know your gadgets guy you could have those poles at different corners of the fields and triangulate a map JUST LIKE IN REIGN OF FIRE BITCHESSSSS