Best Mapping Software?

BML · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 11, 2004 Posts: 48

Does anyone know of O. S. mapping software like Memory Map that can be used to run a GPS and provide road routing?

lbendlin · Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:06 pm Post subject:

What you are asking for is a combination of vector and raster maps. As far as I know no serious solution for that exists yet. So far most succesful solutions provide either or.

raster map data is far larger than vector map data. To cover the UK with Memory Map style maps you'll probably need a 10 GB hard drive.
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BML · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 11, 2004 Posts: 48

Exposing my ignorance I am obliged to ask three questios:
1. "Why can I carry Memory Map on a desktop or laptop but not on a GPS?"
2. This then provoked me to think, "What if I loaded Memory Map onto a laptop and then connected it to a GPS?"
I found the mapping on the Garmin Quest a waste of space on the British coastal route I just travelled because it took me down roads that were practically goat paths. I know that I could have built a better route using via points but did not have the time so my last question is:
3. What is the best mapping software or in other words, the closest to Memory Map?"

lbendlin · Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:28 pm Post subject:

At the risk of repeating myself - you are mixing up road navigation and topographic mapping. Those two do not (yet) go together. Memory Map has nothing at all to do with road navigation.
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BML · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 11, 2004 Posts: 48

Many thanks for your advice. I am gradually beginning to understand the technology and do recognise the enormous difference between the amount of data required to create a Raster or Vector map.
Over the last three months I have been driving a motor caravan round the coast of Britain collecting data for a guide I am writing to camping and caravan sites with a view of the sea. When I wrote the last guide I had a large box of O. S. maps which were great. This time I thought I would use a GPS and what a mistake that was because the Garmin Quest took me to some awful places.
The Memory Map makes the Garmin Quest map look very simplistic so it was no surprise that I finished up driving a rather large Hymer motor caravan into Ruan Minor in Cornwall and I thought I would either have to abandon it or get lifted out by helicopter and that is why I am looking for an alternative foprm of mapping.
I suppose that I need to find some way of looking at the various types of mapping created for GPSs with a view to finding the one that offers the most detail. In other words, the one that carries information as closely related to the quality of an O. S. map because otherwise I will finish up having to run a GPS with one sort of software and a laptop carrying Memory Map at the same time so any advice would be very welcome.

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