nombre descondido - 10-5-2004 at 11:18 PM
I've been tinkering with turning my baja almanac into a digital map that might integrate with magellan gps units. Has anyone thought about doing this,
or better yet, done it?
I've managed to scan the maps and calibrate them for a PC based GPS program but what I'd really like to do is make it work with the street pilot so I
can just listen to the sweet lady tell me when to turn and focus more on the ballenas.
I know it can be done, but I'm curious to see if anyone else has paved the way.
David K - 10-5-2004 at 11:42 PM
Yes, I have seen it done where the scanned Baja Almanac maps are on a lap top, connected with a GPS, so you can see where you are, in your car. Plus,
it leaves a trail of the trip. You can see where the roads really are compared to where the Mexican Topos put them.
The program is called Ozi Explorer and another is Fujiwara. Not positive on the spelling. Wild Bill is the expert on this set up, which is how the
Baja race course route are mapped by him.
I just use a hand held GPS and sketch the track in my note book or Almanac... Not fancy, but within my budget!
Baja Lou has a way to down load his GPS into his PC after a desert run and then show the track on an Almanac map.
I am sure someone with better details than I can help. Also, check out http://www.bajagpsguide.com where there is some discussion on this.
Taco de Baja - 10-6-2004 at 08:04 AM
Right now I don?t think it is possible to put the Baja Almanac maps directly into any GPS unit(Garmin, Magellan, Lorance, etc) They all have
proprietary software that is not compatible. If you are a mega geek, or know one, you may be able to crack their code, but I expect it would take
100's of hours.
I emailed Garmin around a year ago to see if they would release a Topo-Mexico similar to their Topo-West, Topo-East programs, and got a response that
they had no planes to do it in the foreseeable future. 
Putting the maps onto a laptop is the easiest way to go and there are a number of programs that will then track your position using your GPS unit as
the antenna. A company called All topo Maps http://www.igage.com/ is a great source of digital maps in the US and is considering scanning all the Baja maps as well, at least when I wrote
them a while back. If they do make them all the Baja topos would would be on CD's for probably less than $100. Email them and express an interest
in a Baja series. Igage is a small company and has many friendly and helpful people.
[Edited on 10-6-2004 by Taco de Baja]
Digital
bajalou - 10-6-2004 at 08:55 AM
The topo's of Baja are available from INEGI for $60 in the 250,000 scale- not the best - they have been scanned and are in gif and tif formats - use
whichever you like. Using OZI you can add waypoints from your GPS as well as the tracks which you have traveled - this shows the difference from the
maps and the real roads. I have scanned in some of the Atlas for the area I travel the most as well as some of the 50,000 scale topos. With all of
these methods, you need Photoshop or something like that to put the scans together - Getting them lined up etc is the biggest part of the job. Then
use Ozi to add you're data and print out the area you want.
Capt Mike said he had some cds of Baja maps but don't know the particulars.
I also use Street Atlas USA to save tracks routes and waypoints in Baja. Even tho the program has no data for the area, it accepts the locations and
with several tracks, you can make your own map - of course only your data on it.
I used Fugawi
nombre descondido - 10-6-2004 at 10:42 AM
- a software package that takes a scanned image and allows you to calibrate it to a specific datum, then uses a gps to track your trip on a laptop.
It works well on a pc, but I have a mac, so thats no good.
It looks like the Garmin code has been cracked.
http://plrecgps.pp.org.pl/bin/view/GPS/UserMaps
digital maps
nombre descondido - 10-6-2004 at 10:58 AM
Also, fugawi has cd's of all of mex but they're pretty old.
What about satellite photos? Has anyone ever seen sat photos covering baja?
C-Map?
bigzaggin - 10-6-2004 at 12:07 PM
Not sure of the integration issues, but with enough $$$$ seems like the C-Map charts might ideal?
www.c-map.com
C-map
nombre descondido - 10-6-2004 at 12:16 PM
I think C-map untis cost like 12p38123048123987 dollars.
Hmmmmm....
bigzaggin - 10-6-2004 at 12:27 PM
That does seem kind of steep...but assuming one did have the plata, are they worth it?
Not unless you're taking your 50 foot hatteras
nombre descondido - 10-6-2004 at 01:01 PM
C-map was big when the radar/chart plotters came out and you needed or wanted global cahrting capabilities for your big boat (I think). It was, I
think, the only real way to get maps into your chart plotter. Now you can just use a PC, and your little GPS can display maps. Also, C-map data, to
the best of my knowledge, doesn't have the "metadata" that contains the streets, dirt roads, highways, etc. that allow new gpsi to calculate routes
and distances and even direct you there.
I think thats correct. Maybe someone knows more?
DD - 10-6-2004 at 01:31 PM
To add to Bajalou's comment about topo's of Baja in gif and tif formats from INEGI, you can download these for free at:
http://www.ofps.ucar.edu/name/science_planning/MX_maps/mx_ma...
"Digital Topographical Mexican Maps Scale 1:250000 series II
(Carta topogr?fica imagen digital escala 1:250000 serie II)
The following series of digital topographical maps of M?xico is a product of ???El Instituto Nacional de Estadstica, Geografa e Informtica (INEGI)
. The areas covered by these maps are Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, and
Zacatecas. For more information (spanish only) regarding this map series, click Word Doc <./leeme.doc> or Plain Text <./leeme.txt> and see the
documentation provided in the Table below. Select the "Map Key" in the Table below for a quick look at any map. Contact Jos? Meit?n at meitin @
joss.ucar.edu or Gus Emmanuel at cbe@ucar.edu for additional information"
THANK YOU DD
bigzaggin - 10-6-2004 at 03:07 PM
Those are great maps. If everyone knew about that site someone would be out of business. Download them all now. Missing a few roads, but still very
good and high quality (TiFs the best)
Muchisimo gracias a usted.
Taco de Baja - 10-6-2004 at 03:47 PM
Great site DD.
Shouls make great overlays on my 3D DEM program.
Thanks!
Satellite Man - 10-7-2004 at 09:56 AM
I integrate GPS data with our Satellite Image data sets all the time. An example of this integration can be seen on my East Cape Surfing print at http://www.satprints.com/Baja.htm. I captured the roads with my Garmin GPS and then transferred it to my Geographic Information System (GIS).
It did take a bit of processing to get things right. I use professional GIS software such as ArcGIS (www.esri.com) and ERDAS Imagine (www.erdas.com). They are both on the pricey side.
Satellite imagery data sets are very large and take a lot of computing power. However, it can be done with know how, the proper software, lots of
time, and a good computer.
Another thing to note is that ?calibrating? a map to be used in a GPS doesn?t actually give you much precision when you compare it to a GPS. However,
at map scales that I have seen available for Baja, this doesn?t come into play much.
In order to have proper routing, maps (that did not originated from GPS work or other geo-reference data sets) need to first be geo-reference.
Geo-referencing is a process that will ?tie? the map to Earth coordinate system with a high degree of precession. Once this has been accomplished then
your GPS data map will give you a better idea of where you are, where you want to go, and how you might get to it.
The above was just the first step. Much more would have to be done with the data set to get ?the sweet lady? to tell you when to turn.
Alternatively, a more fun way of doing the work would be to travel all Baja roads while capturing your tracks on GPS.
[Edited on 10-7-2004 by Satellite Man]
The Lady is a real b-tch!
nombre descondido - 10-7-2004 at 10:32 AM
I figured out what it would take to basically turn a page from the baja almanac into a vector map for a Garmin StreetPilot with full routing
capabalities and the ability to have voice directions, and confirm that it's not gonna be easy.
Not easy, but doable. Next I need to figure out how to make her say, "look out, thats not quite as dry as it looks".
Satellite Man - 10-7-2004 at 10:41 AM
Gooooood Luck nombre descondido