GPS
I bought a GPS receiver a week ago. Garmin etrex Legend at Canadian Tire (for $3 less than MEC)
an impulse buy, which is very odd for me.
the main thing I'd like to do with it is map the Sumas Mtn Scout Camp
also, do a bit with it at the RB site just for sake of it, really.
I started a little geocaching too. found 2, couldn't find a third (a micro). there's about a dozen within a km of my place.
we'll see if this 'sport' grabs me or not. I looked at the associated Waypoint stuff... it's not nearly as interesting
geocaching is free after your initial purchase of a unit. but the geocaching.com site is definitely set up to cater to those who pay a fee. which I won't. I feel so disabled when I'm on that site. like there should be an option here, or something else there, and then find that yes, those things do exist, but for those who pay. that website is starting to annoy me
also with money, I've heard that maps for GPS devices cost money, and lots of it.
until now...
from the groundspeak forum thread http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=160104
"Canada's Government Provides Free Online Access to Digital Mapping Data"
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/media/newsreleases/2007/200728_e.htm
Canada's New Government Provides Free Online Access to Digital Mapping Data
"users of digital topographic data will no longer have to pay to use digital versions of government maps and data. ... as of April 1, 2007, Natural Resources Canada began making its electronic topographic mapping data available to all users free of charge over the Internet"
The new no-fee access policy applies to data that is solely owned by NRCan. ... As well as waiving access fees, NRCan is lifting all cost and licence restrictions on the redistribution of the data.
"With the ongoing rapid growth of the Internet and the resulting drop in distribution costs, it is appropriate to make public information in digital form available without any restrictions on its use or redistribution"
which led to thread posts such as
Awesome news! Maybe we will be able to do our own map updates soon rather than waiting for Garmin and Maggie to sell us new, yet out of date, mapping software.
We just need some keen programmer to make up a program to automatically convert the ESRI files into MP files and we can have free topos on our GPSrs just like the printed maps....
then a new thread: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=174764
"Free Topo Maps for Garmin GPS, I'm bored..."
one guy is actually making the maps now! it's quite the process it seems, so he's doing it by request of mapsheets.
he's an albertan, so obviously 82/83/84 were done first. 52 and 72 have been requested and completed, and now I've requested he do 92, and some maritimer has requested 11. http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map for those who don't understand the numbering system.
I'm getting excited about it. I think it's awesome.
the maps have been / are being / will be put online at http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/
now the challenge is for me to figure out how to get my computer to talk to my gps nicely...
an impulse buy, which is very odd for me.
the main thing I'd like to do with it is map the Sumas Mtn Scout Camp
also, do a bit with it at the RB site just for sake of it, really.
I started a little geocaching too. found 2, couldn't find a third (a micro). there's about a dozen within a km of my place.
we'll see if this 'sport' grabs me or not. I looked at the associated Waypoint stuff... it's not nearly as interesting
geocaching is free after your initial purchase of a unit. but the geocaching.com site is definitely set up to cater to those who pay a fee. which I won't. I feel so disabled when I'm on that site. like there should be an option here, or something else there, and then find that yes, those things do exist, but for those who pay. that website is starting to annoy me
also with money, I've heard that maps for GPS devices cost money, and lots of it.
until now...
from the groundspeak forum thread http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=160104
"Canada's Government Provides Free Online Access to Digital Mapping Data"
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/media/newsreleases/2007/200728_e.htm
Canada's New Government Provides Free Online Access to Digital Mapping Data
"users of digital topographic data will no longer have to pay to use digital versions of government maps and data. ... as of April 1, 2007, Natural Resources Canada began making its electronic topographic mapping data available to all users free of charge over the Internet"
The new no-fee access policy applies to data that is solely owned by NRCan. ... As well as waiving access fees, NRCan is lifting all cost and licence restrictions on the redistribution of the data.
"With the ongoing rapid growth of the Internet and the resulting drop in distribution costs, it is appropriate to make public information in digital form available without any restrictions on its use or redistribution"
which led to thread posts such as
Awesome news! Maybe we will be able to do our own map updates soon rather than waiting for Garmin and Maggie to sell us new, yet out of date, mapping software.
We just need some keen programmer to make up a program to automatically convert the ESRI files into MP files and we can have free topos on our GPSrs just like the printed maps....
then a new thread: http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=174764
"Free Topo Maps for Garmin GPS, I'm bored..."
one guy is actually making the maps now! it's quite the process it seems, so he's doing it by request of mapsheets.
he's an albertan, so obviously 82/83/84 were done first. 52 and 72 have been requested and completed, and now I've requested he do 92, and some maritimer has requested 11. http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map for those who don't understand the numbering system.
I'm getting excited about it. I think it's awesome.
the maps have been / are being / will be put online at http://mapcenter.cgpsmapper.com/
now the challenge is for me to figure out how to get my computer to talk to my gps nicely...