free on-line mapping program, GPS Visualizer

[rpaske]

Just when you thought you thought you had all of the geocaching tools you needed, I ran across this link on geocaching.com. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/. Maybe this will help cure some of the nofinds I have been having lately 😉

[This message has been edited by rpaske (edited 09-05-2003).]

[kbraband]

quote:

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Originally posted by rpaske:
Just when you thought you thought you had all of the geocaching tools you needed, I ran across this link on geocaching.com. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/. Maybe this will help cure some of the nofinds I have been having lately 😉

[This message has been edited by rpaske (edited 09-05-2003).]

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It must be late and I must be tired. Randy, can you explain in a nutshell what you use this program for? Thanks.

[rpaske]

GPS Visualizer (formerly SVGPS) is an on-line tool that was originally designed to create SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) images from tracklogs exported by Kjeld Jensen’s Cetus GPS program (for Palm OS).

In addition to Cetus .pdb files, GPS Visualizer now supports GPX track and waypoint files, OziExplorer track and waypoint files, Geocaching.com LOC files, IGC log files, tab-delimited tracklog files, and PathAway .pdb files (GPX is an XML format for GPS data; OziExplorer is a GPS application for Windows; IGC files come from the Flight Verification Units in sailplanes; PathAway is another Palm-based tracking program). The output from GPS Visualizer can be viewed in any Web browser — assuming you have installed Adobe’s free SVG Viewer plug-in — or edited in a vector graphics application such as Adobe Illustrator.

And, There’s your nutshell. Glad to help.

[MR Andersen]

huh?

[kbraband]

quote:

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Originally posted by MR Andersen:
huh?

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Exactly, MR. I read that same description at the web site but I still don’t know what a geocacher would do with it. Can the former teacher shed some enlightenment, rpaske?

[This message has been edited by kbraband (edited 09-06-2003).]

[sbukosky]

A quick look at the site gives me the impression that it just displays the track log on a map. Mapsource and USAPhotomaps does that too. Let me know if I’m missing other features.

[jthorson]

I use it regularly, if not frequently.

1. Takes GPX files, the “lingua franca” of geocaching data. So… it can show you the distribution of caches in you pocket files from geocaching.com or any .gpx or .loc file.

2. The maps you can choose are from a wide variety, from politcal to topo to aerial photo.

3. If you are producing maps, lots of options to hide or highlight features not available from Mapsource.

4. Fast and adjustable, you can massage your final result to your needs, including larger than “sceen size”.

No it dosen’t do or pay my taxes but it is on my favorites list and I find it more useful than mapsource (which doesn’t take GPX files).

[rpaske]

Yeah, what Jeff said.

[wzbt03]

When Jeff says that Mapsource does not take GPX files – what exactly do you mean. I put my GPX files onto my GPS and then upload them to Mapsource.

Must be more involved then that – let me know.

[rpaske]

One can not import a gpx file into Mapsource without doing a conversion. In the case described, the conversion is the gps.

[adamschneider]

Two more things GPS Visualizer can do that most other programs can’t: (1) it can be used on any platform, not just Windows; (2) it produces SVG files, which are standard, editable, and scalable.

It also lets you adjust the opacity and position of the background, it lets you move all the labels around, and it makes the waypoint markers clickable (bringing you to the relevant geocaching.com page). In the future, it will also allow you to customize the appearance of the points somewhat.

And it also can be used to draw very nice maps of Canada (although I suspect most readers of this particular forum won’t care about that!).

[This message has been edited by adamschneider (edited 09-07-2003).]

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