Thanks to asciiphil - I created my wn custom XML file with a base from Dirk Stöcker - many thanks

I created 4 buttons in JOSM for Unclassified Resedential roads etc, but all with the added tag, source=BING.

These buttons have dramtically improved my productivity, a real bonus attached is the XML file I am using - all you will need to do is create some 16x16 pixel PNG files for buttons ( use MS Paint etc )( I am a Win 7 user, so modify paths as needed )

XML file as below

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If you are a JOSM user, download the latest version and BING is incorporated into it as a Slippymap. It is a great new addition and is allowing a great deal of new mapping to proceed in may parts of the world.

bri

I have just reviewed BING imagery in an area I know well and provided multiple GPS traces for ( osm.org/go/wHZ0etG-- ).

BING Imagery is out ( in Kaduna at least ) , so I would imagine it is out in other areas as well.

Unlike the WMS plugin, Slippy maps does not allow local alignment ( in JOSM at least )of the downloaded images from BING.

Is there going to be some work on this? It will be needed I suspect.

As a tip if you are not sure about alignment of imagery, have a look at the GPS traces ( in Potlatch or JOSM by downloading them ) and see how the imagery aligns to the GPS. If there is a noticeable error between the imagery and multiple GPS traces, it is likely the imagery has an offset.

bri

A few tips

The WMS plugin is extremly useful - takes a litle configiration for Yahoo imagery to work - follow the WMS Wiki and you will be fine

osm.wiki/JOSM/Plugins/WMSPlugin

Explore the plugins - there are many

I personally start Josm and reserve 1G of memory, though 512Mb is more than enough even for large detailed areas

In Windows ( if that is what you use create a shortcut with properties as below
where you execute Java with the -Xmx1024M ( change 1024 for 256 / 512 etc to reserve less memory ). With the path of JOSM ( will depend on where you put it )

C:\Windows\System32\java.exe -jar -Xmx1024M "C:\Software\Josm\josm-tested.jar"

Have fun - there is a bit of a learning curve - any questions, just ask

Happy mapping

bri

Hi eebrah - What GPS unit are you using ? - you trace was quite short - but it all helps - let us know it looks like the unit is auto tracking ( logging a point when you have changed direction ) rather than tracking once per second or similar

keep up the good work

Track Export - all the tracks are stored in the Etrex H - I am not totally familiar with it's menu structure. I guess you can specify in the Etrex H model how it stores GPX ( eg 1 sample / second etc ). The original Etrx units had no options to change how they cached but still had a 10000 point memory back in 2003, the H versions have the same. Get a Garmin serial lead and hook that up to your serial port or via a cheap USB to serial and you can recover all the tracks and points using GPX Babel, export them from your Garmin to a GPX file which you drag and drop straight into JOSM ( GPSBABEL is free! - which is what many of us use including me for my Garmin HCX )

Any questions drop one of us a line

good mapping

b

The Garmin H series are good - what i would recommend is a Garmin unit with an micro SD card slot as a minimum, so that the unit can cache to the 'unlimited' space that the SD card offers. Caching / storing at 1 - 3 second interval snapshots of your route to SD card is about as good a trace as you can get with the Garmins, you want to avoid their default setting of auto store which intelligently work out when you have changed direction and then log a point.

This system works well for tracing a route back to where you started but not really good enough for tracing routes.

The Garmin Legend HCX is a great starting point, a unit many OSMers own ( including me ) - not great graphics compared with the modern rivals but enough, and they are very good logging devices ( available on EBAY for a decent sum ). A couple of rechargeable AA batteries giving me about 16-20 hours. and very reliable

Any Garmin 'H' series with a micro SD slot will be fine - just set to log once per second. Compile / merge multiple traces using JOSM, with the EditGPX editor to remove spurious data points / noise, you will be fine

cheers b

Yes - copy all of the above - OSM is VERY MUCH and ONLY real world - Imaginary anything would destroy the credibility of OSM, a very important opensource project which benefits a lot of people around the world.

To be honest it would be wasted effort for you, because people would notice, review, check, then very quickly correct / delete erroneous entries. There are a lot of OSMers out there checking the database every day who know their area and take great pride in knowing it is as accurate as can be.

That all said....top marks for asking first !

b

Welcome also - I have just moved to the Grenoble region. France is really well mapped but there is ALWAYS more detail to add

If you need any assistance drop me a line

bri

Yep - NiMh 2200mAh should get 10-20 - used mine every day on a recent bike trip. For good GPX data I set the unit to log once per second, settings in track log setup. Ensure that you tick Log Track to Data Card. The 100000 point internal memory track log fills up in about 3 hours ( 3600 points / hour ) but the SD card will never fill up. A GPX file with one second logging generated to the SD card is only about 5-8 MB for 12 hours.

Make sure you check out the OSM sourced Garmin img maps from Cloudmade ( http://downloads.cloudmade.com/ ). These give you 'last weeks' OSM compile, country by country

Cheers bri

for pre made routable maps for Garmin etc

http://downloads.cloudmade.com/

Area and Nodes. I think the answer ( and the reason I do it ) is that a Node with properties such as Hotel or restaurant, and a Name will be found as such in GPS devices. When an OSM file is turned into an IMG file, all the nodes are loaded into the GPS device ( I only know Garmin ), and can be searched upon. Also areas don't show up with names in these devices, but nodes do.

cheers bri

Thanks for all the comments as above. Having read all and considered, I am with Marscot, there should be two individual nodes next to one another. One node a Hotel, one a Restaurant.

Thanks for all the feedback

Bri

Node sharing - I found an area in WGC as described above
osm.org/?lat=51.80694&lon=-0.22267&zoom=16&layers=B000FTF

where Sherrardspark Wood was 'node sharing with the Golf Club, some of which I have 'unglued' for demonstration.

To disconnect nodes I use JOSM. Highlight one area, say the golf course, then press and hold shift and select a single or multiple nodes. Select Tools > Unglue nodes ( or just press G ). The nodes of the area highlighted can now be dragged away from the other. A little care s always needed.

My opinion is that nodes should not be shared, a Josm line represents the centre of the road / track etc, and so boundry such as a park or gold course does not end in the centre of the road but to one side of it.

In actuality, boundaries are usually separated by something, a fence, a wall etc so sharing nodes, particularly in a CAD environment which can approach high levels of accuracy ( less than 1 m in JOSM, even though our current surveying tools ( eg GPS ) cant ), doesn't make sense.

Anyway experiment with JOSM and the Unglue nodes ability.

good luck

bri

I compile traces over multiple days into JOSM, merger the layers into one and remove any clearly irrelevant or 'poor' trace data.

If you have an micro SD card for your unit ( highly recommended ) you can set the unit to log once per second to the card, even 24 h of logging ( 3600 pints / hour ) will generate files of about 10 Mb or less.

Of course you can also upload map files to your Garmin's SD card, personal ones you have made, or pre made ( IMG files ) ones from Cloudmade etc. Really useful when cross checking an area you are mapping with the existing data.

Cheers bri

Averages are the key to accuracy, hence the real usefulness of uploading your personal traces to OSM. Over time a road will develop multiple trace data from multiple users over different times, from which a good representation of the road will emerge.

GPS errors are easily visible when the database of traces is are downloaded for a section of the map via JOSM, however the overall accuracy and confidence of the quality of the map representation will be also be seen as multiple traces confirms within sufficient accuracy, the position of the road.

Sufficient accuracy is the key here, how accurate doe the map have to be? As accurate as is reasonably possible given the tools we have today, and accurate enough so that users can navigate to it, thus one or two meters seems about right, about the limits of accuracy of GPS on a good day, on a good location with averaging.

It can be very tempting ( and quite fulfilling! ) to spend time adjusting roads and tweaking things on the map to make them 'perfect', but don't get too hung up about it, if you are that assiduous ( and most of us are ) the map is probably as good as we can get it for now.

Keep up the good work - bri

The Garmin Legend HCX ( and I guess the Vista is identical ) when fitted with an internal SD card will log up to a maximum of 10000 points in internal memory ( just under 3 hours at 1 second logging intervals ). The Legend also caches to the SD card, but with a 500MB / 1GB card caching is essentially unlimited as 24 hours generates a GPX file of about 10MB, thus a 1MB card can hold several thousand hours of caching, even at 1 second intervals.

When the internal memory is full, the SD card GPX file will still be made. When downloading from the Garmin for editing in JOSM, ( I use GPSBabel ) I ignore the tracks in internal memory, and only use the Waypoints. For the tracks I simply switch the Legend into USB mode and drag the GPX files from the top folder into JOSM.

To upload multiple GPX files of the same area, I drag them all into JOSM, merge the layers into one, and if necessary use the GPXedit plugin to tidy up poor or inaccurate tracks ( perhaps due to first switch on, highly built up areas or more usually areas of thousands of points because I left the unit on overnight ).

The resultant GPX file, a compilation of usually many days can then be uploaded in one attempt, which can be quite useful.

Cheers Bri

Hi

I am curious to know why you need to see the IMG file on your PC. The IMG file is created from the original OSM file. There is normally no need to see the IMG as it is just a representation of the OSM data.

To view the OSM file use JOSM. Pre made IMG files for your Legend HCX are available here -

http://downloads.cloudmade.com/

cheers bri

Hi Okorukwu - welcome to OSM - I have done some of the map of Nigeria mainly in the north ( Kaduna / Zaria ) and Ado Ekiti.
All the work on Zaria, Ado Ekiti and other places has been completed by GPS tracks alone and local knowledge.

Kaduna has been well mapped because, there is high resolution imagery, which has been traced over ( using JOSM with WMS plugin ) and by adding street names by traveling through the town with a GPS and taking note of streets manually - this was done in November 2009 when I last visited the town.

There is a lot of work to do in Abuja, the basic framework is there but you will need a good GPS and take lots of notes and waypoints ( possibly with your phone ). If you require any assistance please let me know and I will do what I can as mapping Nigeria with GPS is how I started mapping ( even before OSM existed! )

Cheers bri

First : osm.wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin

You have a couple of options for creating a map for your Garmin. i don't know which unit you have, either you have an older unit which has a serial connection or a newer one with a USB.

To Download pre made maps of countries or areas, try the links that Zartbitter has sent, I personally use the Cloudmade maps here http://downloads.cloudmade.com/ - Download the IMG file of the area / country you need and upload that to your Garmin.

To make a custom map - there are a number of ways - download an OSM file of the area you need direct from the website using the EXPORT tab, or more flexibly use JOSM to download an area, or multiple areas which can then be merged into one layer, saved as an OSM.

The OSM file needs to be converted into an IMG file for use by the Garmin - use MKGMAP to do this ( http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/index.html ) .

Uploading to the Garmin - if you have a newer USB mode simply copy the IMG file you have downloaded or created into the directory 'garmin'. The file must be called gmapsupp.img ( though I understand newer units can accept multiple files ).

For older units which have a serial connection use Mapsource to upload ( there are file size limitations depending on the unit you have.

cheers bri