1src Forums - Mapping software questions

01-26-2003, 05:16 PM	#31
sebring Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Planet Earth, for now. Posts: 1,834	DanT, Does StreetFinder support Hires+ and is there a demo available anywhere. Hires+ is a must for maps. The difference between the 320x320 view and 320x480, when it come to maps is dramatic. __________________ My Sony is a NX80, if I fail to mention it in my posts related to performance or compatibility issues.

01-26-2003, 05:31 PM

#32

DanT

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Join Date: Jul 2002

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Quote:

Originally posted by wellsjs
The map(s) I use most are loaded contiguously and are three maps that comprise my locale. It takes about 8-10 seconds to load on my T665C (66Mhz processor).

I have 1.5MB map from StreetFinder that opens up about the same length of time with N760C at 53 mHz with PiDirectII

Quote:

Originally posted by wellsjs
When I'm using mapopolis to get somewhere, I load it that one time and then simply power off my PDA with it loaded. When I need to check the map again, I power it on and it's there. When I get where I'm going I close the app and remove the maps from RAM. Works out nicely!

It sounds like you need to keep plenty of free RAM for a big map.  I went to as low as 0.7MB free RAM without any problem loading 1.5 MB StreetFinder map with PiDirectII.  Would PiDirect work with mapopolis?

__________________
Vx, M500, N760P, NX70V/U, NX73V/U, NZ90/U, SL10/U, SJ30/U, T415, T615C, TJ25/U, TJ27/U, TJ35/E1, TH55/U, TH55/E1, TH55/E2, UX40/U, UX50/U, UX180P, iPhone, iPhone3G

01-26-2003, 05:51 PM	#33
sebring Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Planet Earth, for now. Posts: 1,834	DanT, I found a StreetFinder demo on Handmark's site. In my opinion, there is no comparison. This is based on the demo map they include. StreetFinder and the demo map took up about 900k of memory. Mapopolis, it's demo maps and a couple of demo maps of 2 entire counties where I live took up only about 150k more and the maps have incredible detail. I couldn't find a single street that was missing. Also the StreetFinder demo doesn't support hires+, not even sure it was hires. PiDirect probably would work with Mapopolis. Might be a better solution than their VFS support for large maps, when low on RAM. I believe I'll try it with MSMount. Good Suggestion. __________________ My Sony is a NX80, if I fail to mention it in my posts related to performance or compatibility issues.

01-26-2003, 07:01 PM	#34
DanT TH55 Nutcase member Platinum Contributor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 29°4'N/95°27'W Posts: 5,804	Sebring, I went to RandMcNally website and couldn't find any hires+ for StreetFinder either. They seem to gear their products towards Palm not Clie. I purchased the 5CD's version for the whole USA for my laptop from BestBuy. Since it has options to upload the map to Palm OS and to work with GPS, I figure that is not bad for $30. Someday, when Sony comes up with T series with VG, may be I'll get the mapopolis. It sounds like a great map app. For now, I feel the NR, NZ, or NX form factor are just too big to fit into my pants front pocket. T series is the perfect size. The StreetFinder .prc and .pdbs size are not a problem for me since I put them in MS in PiDirectII directory. The StreetFinder maps seem to have enough details for my needs. So far I can find my home street address and places that I need to go in Houston Metro (10 maps, 8 MB). If I need to go to a Mexican restaurant in some part of Houston, I just put My Marker in the map and tap Find, it will find Mexican restaurants within a chosen miles distance from the maker. This is a good option if you are visiting new area. __________________ Vx, M500, N760P, NX70V/U, NX73V/U, NZ90/U, SL10/U, SJ30/U, T415, T615C, TJ25/U, TJ27/U, TJ35/E1, TH55/U, TH55/E1, TH55/E2, UX40/U, UX50/U, UX180P, iPhone, iPhone3G Last edited by DanT : 01-26-2003 at 07:06 PM.

01-26-2003, 08:36 PM	#35
sebring Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Planet Earth, for now. Posts: 1,834	DanT, Your idea of putting the maps in the PiDirect folder works with MS Mount also. I think I will keep the maps I use most often in the MS Mount folder, they seem to load and redraw a little quicker than using the Mapopolis VFS support. The Mapopolis directory will be fine for maps I use less often. Not sure why the redraw would be any faster, since Mapopolis copies entire map to RAM from it's directory. That part may be my imagination. Thanks for the suggestion __________________ My Sony is a NX80, if I fail to mention it in my posts related to performance or compatibility issues.

01-27-2003, 04:46 PM	#36
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	Are there any maps for trails etc? I saw Garmin makes this handheld units (eTrex) and they can do hiking trails etc. Mike

01-28-2003, 01:40 PM	#37
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	I went ahead and ordered the GPS unit for my clie NR70V.. I'll let everyone know how it goes once I get it. I downloaded the maps for my county also and they are VERY good/detailed.. I can't wait to test out GPS on this thing! Now I still need a way to mount it in my car!

01-29-2003, 10:23 AM	#38
DanT TH55 Nutcase member Platinum Contributor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 29°4'N/95°27'W Posts: 5,804	MikeD, to mount Clie on the car dashboard, I use the $10 RadioShack radar-detector windshield mounting. It has adjustable side grip and fits perfectly with my N760C which has similar width and thickness dimensions with NR70V. The mounting device has a hinge to where you can tilt the Clie display vertically. I connect Garmin eTrex Vista (GeV) to the N760C. StreetFinder can receive NMEA format from GeV and track where I'm going in its map in Clie. Which GPS receiver are you going to get? __________________ Vx, M500, N760P, NX70V/U, NX73V/U, NZ90/U, SL10/U, SJ30/U, T415, T615C, TJ25/U, TJ27/U, TJ35/E1, TH55/U, TH55/E1, TH55/E2, UX40/U, UX50/U, UX180P, iPhone, iPhone3G

01-29-2003, 11:07 AM	#39
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	I'm going to be getting the Holux Mouse GPS unit.. It's really affordable and works with my clie NR70V with Mapopolis. I can't wait to try it out. How do you connect your eTrex to your clie? Also, when a more capable clie comes out (OS5 or OS6 unit like NZ w/bluetooth) I'd like to upgrade my clie to that unit and then get a bluetooth GPS unit. But alas, the NZ is WAY too big and too expensive for me. Perhaps if it were thinner and without that HUGE camera, I'd get it... as long as it had bluetooth though. Mike

01-29-2003, 12:02 PM	#40
DanT TH55 Nutcase member Platinum Contributor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 29°4'N/95°27'W Posts: 5,804	I build the cable adapter from GeV to N760 myself . You can get the parts from pc-mobile.net, but if you don't feel like messing around with the adapter, you can buy it from them too. The connection is pretty easy, you just need 3 wire cable from Clie (C) to eTrex (E): C-TXD > E-RXD C-RXD > E-TXD C-GRD > E-GRD Yours could be similar, so no need to get the DB9 (serial) with Null messy connectors. __________________ Vx, M500, N760P, NX70V/U, NX73V/U, NZ90/U, SL10/U, SJ30/U, T415, T615C, TJ25/U, TJ27/U, TJ35/E1, TH55/U, TH55/E1, TH55/E2, UX40/U, UX50/U, UX180P, iPhone, iPhone3G

01-29-2003, 12:58 PM	#41
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	The holux unit I got comes with a connector for the GPS unit and the Clie. Mapopolis sells the bundle for the clie NR/nx etc series.

01-29-2003, 01:22 PM	#42
DanT TH55 Nutcase member Platinum Contributor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 29°4'N/95°27'W Posts: 5,804	Cool. The cigaret lighter adapter will come in handy. I ended up making two type of adapters, one for the car, like the holux, to charge both the Clie and the GPS through 12VDC and one really compact and short cable (6" long) for hiking. The one for hiking has an second line to connect the Clie to a 4AA battery for long trip in the woods, pretty much like the setup that pc-mobile has. One thing nice about GeV, I can use it by itself too. It is compact, durable, and waterproof. It uses 2AA batteries, so no worry about running out of juice in the middle of nowhere. It also has altimeter for climbing and display with 25MB RAM for storing maps.  All this for $75 more than the holux. __________________ Vx, M500, N760P, NX70V/U, NX73V/U, NZ90/U, SL10/U, SJ30/U, T415, T615C, TJ25/U, TJ27/U, TJ35/E1, TH55/U, TH55/E1, TH55/E2, UX40/U, UX50/U, UX180P, iPhone, iPhone3G Last edited by DanT : 01-29-2003 at 01:25 PM.

01-29-2003, 01:51 PM	#43
sebring Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Planet Earth, for now. Posts: 1,834	DanT, I am interested in the cables you made. I have a Garmin emap, which I think has the same connector as the eTrek. I've been trying to determine the most elegant way to use it with my NR and have both powered by the cigarette lighter outlet. Most of the solutions I've seen so far leave one or the other powered by it's own batteries. The cable for the Holux looks just like what I would like, except of course for my emap. I want to spend as little ( how many people say they want to spend as much as possible?) as possible, since the emap is quite satisfactory by itself. Actually the emap display is easier to read in bright sunlight than my NR, but it is monochrome and much smaller than the NR display. The site you referenced has a good solution for using both devices together with both on their own battery. __________________ My Sony is a NX80, if I fail to mention it in my posts related to performance or compatibility issues.

01-29-2003, 02:13 PM	#44
MikeD Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 277	That's awesome that you are good with wiring etc.. It took me double the time to do a simple rewiring mod in my car than was stated by "everyone else." I saw that navman came out with a really cool GPS device and it claims about 10 hours on two or three AA batteries. Not bad at all! Again, I can't wait to upgrade this NR70V.. just waiting when Sony will come up with the "right" device for me. I'm spoiled by the large screen (High Res+ w/virtual graffiti), and need bluetooth. Camera is only optional but not at the expense of major BULK (like in the NZ's)

01-29-2003, 02:24 PM	#45
DanT TH55 Nutcase member Platinum Contributor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 29°4'N/95°27'W Posts: 5,804	Sebring, Garmin emap (Gem) use 2AA batteries and ePlug like the GeV, so the charging voltage is around 3.2 VDC, versus NR which is about 5.2 VDC. If you want both NR and Gem go to the same cigaret lighter charger, you need to drop the Gem power line voltage from 5.2 to 3.2VDC by adding two of 1N4148 diodes hooked in series from the power line to the ePlug. You can get a pack of 10 of these diodes from RadioShack for $1.00. Pfranc.com has a nice article about the trick I mentioned above. To make the adapter, I purchased a Clie 4-in-1 cable charger from eBay for about $16. It includes USB to 12VDC and USB to 120/240 VAC adapters. Then I cut the HotSync cable into two parts and solder the 4 pins of ePlug that I get from pc-mobile (you can also get from pfranc, BTW) with the cut-end right wires and voila, both Clie and GeV are powered by the 12VDC and talking to each other in NMEA format. Just in case you don't know about the NR pinout for the GPS: pin 1 and 18 = GND, 8= 5.2 VDC, 13=RXD, 14=TXD ePlug pinout:  1=GND, 2=TXD, 3=RXD, 4=3.2VDC __________________ Vx, M500, N760P, NX70V/U, NX73V/U, NZ90/U, SL10/U, SJ30/U, T415, T615C, TJ25/U, TJ27/U, TJ35/E1, TH55/U, TH55/E1, TH55/E2, UX40/U, UX50/U, UX180P, iPhone, iPhone3G Last edited by DanT : 01-29-2003 at 02:43 PM.