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k9unit

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I made the mistake of buying dome 1:25k maps for a green laning trip. Yes the detail is excellent, but the maps are physically huge and a nightmare to manage inside the vehicle. As said above, 1:50k paper maps backed up with Memory Map is the best combination IMHO.

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The OS tend to disguise the map scales with names.

1:50,000 are Landranger, with covers predominately pinkish in colour.

1:25,000 are Explorer, with covers predominately orange in colour.

What you get could depend on where you are driving (there are no details in your profile).

When in Derbyshire Peak District we used to use the Explorer OL1 (Dark Peak) and OL24 (White Peak), but these are printed on both sides and can be awkward for the navigator. However, they do cover 'everywhere'. Now they are for backup, and we use printouts from Memory Map, compiled during the planning of the trip. Unless you are taking a PC with you in the car, that's what you will have to do as well.

Beware Memory Map.

Deciding the pros and cons in making the right decision for you can be as confusing as choosing which OS map to buy, and a damn sight more expensive. Have a browse round the MM site and come back with any questions that arise.

For instance, the country wide DVD ONLY has 1:50k maps on, so don't assume you can get more detail, all you can do is blow it up to make it easier to read.

Also, that DVD can only be loaded completely (or read from the DVD - very slow). You cannot just load 'Middle England' on your PC.

Have you got the hard disk space (5GB for the country wide 1:50k, if my memory is correct).

Also, if you are going to swap routes with your mates, find out what version of MM they use, as you cannot run routes prepared on one version on another version. I'm not comparing v4 to v5, I'm comparing v5.1.3 Build 716 with an earlier form of v5.

You might guess I've hit all those snags.

HTH.

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Also, if you are going to swap routes with your mates, find out what version of MM they use, as you cannot run routes prepared on one version on another version. I'm not comparing v4 to v5, I'm comparing v5.1.3 Build 716 with an earlier form of v5.

If you import/export the overlay data as a different format to mmo, maptech is usually a good option, then you can share data between different versions of MM.

Or get a cracked version of MM without such restrictions :ph34r: Hmmm unlimited printing sizes.

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Hi K9Unit

I have been using Fugawi for a few years now, initially on a laptop, which is fine if you have a passenger. More recently I have run it on an in-car computer with a dash mounted 8" touch screen. OK this is rather indulgent I know, but it makes it so easy to solo navigate off road. Fugawi only comes in 1:50,000 scale but you don't really need any greater detail for driving. You can buy just the maps you need for your area, the UK is split into 4 disks, available separately.

For on road navigation I use MS AutoRoute 2006, not as good as tomtom but I've yet to find a version of that for a PC.

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Mapping is something I do a fair bit of………….. :P

Fugawi is generally a PITA……..

Ozi is good provided you have unlimited access to good quality digital maps……… Of all the software out there I guess MM5 is the most convenient, especially on a laptop…….you can easily use 1:50K maps and then auto zoom into the 1:25K and back to 1:50K …….also I have found that MM5 has a feature set which has the edge over Ozi…….. it is also much faster at map manipulation, especially when using compressed files………..

Right now I am looking into sending the lat/long from MM5 via Bluetooth to a Tom Tom 910…………not as easy as it seems but doable…..

:)

Ian

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I use MM a lot. The whole of GB (1:50k) is just over 3 gig and it's not slow, even running on an ancient brick of a vaio in the Disco.

I prefer 1:25k myself, but tend to take out explorer maps with me if I need more detail than what's on the screen.

It's very useful for Salisbury Plain as it's easy to lose your bearings there.

At the weekend I got a Road Angel 7000 which, I think, is the only satnav which supports MM. I can export sections of the map that I choose (less than 400 meg for each section - limitation of the RA). The RA supports up to 2gig cards so you could get most of the country on there (at 1:50k) if you wanted to. I got the whole of the south east and south west (say everything south of oxford) onto what was left of the 1gig card it came with. There are a few limitations, but for simple navigation and recording of the route (to sync with the PC later for closer inspection and saving), it's a great bit of kit. I've since found out that these limitations are fewer if you use a PDA.

1:25k maps from MM are expensive. They don't advertise it, but the whole of the uk is available for £2.5k. They offer "Selections" which lets you buy 2500, 5000 or 10000 sqkm which you select from a map of the UK. The cheapest I've found the 10000sqkm package (without aerial pics) is just over 200 quid. So still not a cheap option. But if you're ever feeling flush I guess it's a "nice to have" .

I actually use it most on the home PC, looking for good routes, planning outings etc. It's very useful for that as you can plan your route - colour the line, then it's easier to follow on the screen when you're in the car.

Having said all that, it's really the only software I've used, so I can't compare it to anything else. I'm pretty happy with it though. A few more features on the RA version to give similar control to the PC would be the icing on the cake.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi K9Unit

I have been using Fugawi for a few years now, initially on a laptop, which is fine if you have a passenger. More recently I have run it on an in-car computer with a dash mounted 8" touch screen. OK this is rather indulgent I know, but it makes it so easy to solo navigate off road. Fugawi only comes in 1:50,000 scale but you don't really need any greater detail for driving. You can buy just the maps you need for your area, the UK is split into 4 disks, available separately.

For on road navigation I use MS AutoRoute 2006, not as good as tomtom but I've yet to find a version of that for a PC.

I use http://www.mapfactor.cz/en/products/mapfac...gator-7-europe/ in the car and also tomtom on my pda, you can run tomtom emulated on your pc but it's not worth it omo

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I use http://www.mapfactor.cz/en/products/mapfac...gator-7-europe/ in the car and also tomtom on my pda, you can run tomtom emulated on your pc but it's not worth it omo

Hi

I was toying with the idea of a Road Angel Adventurer, but the extra cost of the OS maps seems a bit steep. I'm using a Tom Tom 1 XL now, great for navigating round Britain's roads, but not so good for green laning in Scotland.

Geoff :blink:

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Hi

I was toying with the idea of a Road Angel Adventurer, but the extra cost of the OS maps seems a bit steep. I'm using a Tom Tom 1 XL now, great for navigating round Britain's roads, but not so good for green laning in Scotland.

Geoff :blink:

Hi Geoff,

I bought a Road Angel Adventurer at Xmass. It is the same as the 7000 but waterproof plus has MMv5 included.

All is fine except the licence I have a 25k digital map that I can load into MM when it is not registered but as soon as you regisiter it you cannot load it. It's a bit of a dodgy deal if you ask me, you try it unrgistered with all features locked except Import. Then you register it (you cannot take it back to the shop once registered so the shop said) and find that the one feature you liked is now going to cost more to use!

MM Sales were very useful. I asked them about the chance of converting RA to use grid ref for locations in the navigation mode even though RA is not their product. The salesman suggested how to use a marker on a OS map to identify the destination by a name then import that to RA which should see the marker in navigation mode. Not tried it yet.

By the way RA has a couple of quirks in navigation mode, although it re-routes very quickly if you take a different turn than planned it does hang on to the last roundabout on the original route which means that it will take you past the destination to get to the roundabout then come back down the same road to the end!

Also it is not good with Postal Codes, once it took me past the road to the desired destination, went around the block (2 miles) and stopped next to where I wanted to be (on top of a hill when I wanted to be in the valley) but with no way of getting to it! Great I can see it but am no better off! :P

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Hi

I use the Landranger and they are good for most routes.

You may find this online OS map handy you can scroll and print off but not highlight on screen.

http://www.bdcc.co.uk/XMarksTheSpot.htm?t=...;g=SU1390085680

By changing the SU coordinates you can have it open on your local area.

Was up on the Plain Sunday and yes I got lost one track on the map 6 on the ground.

Is there an inexpensive GPS / Satnav that gives OS coordinates so I could relate where I was to my map.

John

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Pretty much any basic GPS will give your position in OS coordinates. Something like a Gamin ETrex or Geko cam be had for not too much money new or look for something second hand on ebay, maybe a simple robust unit like a Garmin GPS 12 or 12XL.

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I'm another in the MM camp. Fantastic IMHO.

1:25k is too detailed. It is seldom that you get lost on a greenlane - you're not in the wilderness after-all.

With 1:50 you quickly get a snese of perspective and the speed you travel is relevant to that size of map. In combination with a sat nav (to get you to the start) you have a pretty smart system. Interested to hear the negative review of the Road Angel - that seemed like the perfect combination.

I uploaded a route onto a GPS device for laning once. Pretty pointless in the end - as I say, you can't really wander off course. I tend to either print out a relevant section of 1:50k or upload it to my PDA for browsing on route.

Also worth combining with Googlemaps (aerial satelite view) if you want to check out where the lane really runs from above.

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Is there an inexpensive GPS / Satnav that gives OS coordinates so I could relate where I was to my map.

Plenty of satnav units can be unlocked so you can run OziExplorerCE (or MemoryMap if you must).

They don't have a big enough screen to really use instead of a paper map, but very good to give instant position on the paper version, and to find the correct entrance to that next lane without stopping and checking the paper map.

I've done a few different units, but my current fav is the HP Ipaq314, with a fantastic 800x480 screen :wub:

Head over to the forum at GPSPassion.com and see what can be done.

Dave

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