TOPO!

“Ok I read all the old threads I could find and still would like some more info.

I am thinking about purchasing TOPO! National Geographic for the whole State of California...it's supposed to have 10 cd's with every USGS Topo for California on it for $99.00

Any TOPO! users out there that would like to chime in...please do so. I would like to hear some input on these programs.

Thanks”

“Me too.

And with that info, please include...
-can you download hikes tracked by GPS to the program, and if so, dies it seem accurate?
-how well is the resolution? (www.topozone.com is nice, but the clarity needs improved)
-can you create a track on the map, save it, bring it up and print it out anytime you want?
-can you create topographic profiles of downloaded/self-generated tracks?”

“I have the CA Topo! CDs, but since Snow Nymph keeps me in the mtns so much, I haven’t had time to test it out very much. But I do know...
The resolution is good, better then www.topozone.com. There are 5 different levels of detail.
You can save tracks and bring them up anytime. You can transfer a generated track to any of the 5 levels.
You can create an elevation profile of any track.
It’s advertised as 'GPS-ready', but I haven’t tried any of this yet.
It's easy to use and I'm happy with everything I've tried so far. The elev profiles seem to be accurate, but since you can’t allow for every tiny twist & turn in the trail when you’re generating a track, the mileage reported for generated tracks is invariably too low.

SnowDude”

“I have some Topo CD's for some western states and was looking forward to using them with my GPS only to find out that I needed a TopoGPS program too before it would work with all my CDs. What a rip!”

“All of my comments relate to Terrain Navigator, but TOPO! is very similar.

You can zoom in to twice the map scale, but it loses clarity (sort of like TopoZone does). You can import or export routes and waypoints to GPS units.

Sample images that I created from TOPO! (first image) and Terrain Navigator (other two images).”

“I LIKE 'em, Mr.kleetn!!!

Would the first image look similar if you were to use Terrain Navigator instead of TOPO? I'm looking at a $50 set of Terrain Navigator software for just the area where I dayhike.

What are you opinions on the Terrain Navigator's quality wrt what you'd need for showing dayhikes adequately on paper, that is if you were to create your own dayhike guidebook?”

“AHA! Trying to borrow copyrighted images for your guidebook, eh, Buddur?

The images would look almost exactly the same. I am not sure if TOPO! does the 3-d perspective thing like my one example.

Your quality will depend to a degree upon how good your printer is. Printing a full-size quad map sheet to our color laser plotter here at work results in a product that looks as good as the original.”

“Forget the DeLorme TopoUSA CD.

It's garbage. The maps are so full of errors I stopped using it.”

“I like them too Kleetn!

SnowDude...life's rough eh? That mean women keeps you in the mountains so much, you can't play on the computer...LOL! I wished you lived a few hours closer to me ...I'd like to see TOPO! in person!”

“Hey WW, I have both TOPO and Terrain Nav. Quality is similar, but I prefer TOPO, seems easier to navigate around & get what I want w less hassle. Ditto the above comments on DeLorme, though, some of the guys in my troop have it & are very sorry they don't have TOPO whenever we compare products.”

“I have DeLorme TOPO USA. It can make some decent maps, 3-D images, and hike profiles after you get the hang of it. The trails are somewhat inaccurate because they don't show all the current trails or switchbacks in detail. Consequently the computed distances are always about 25% too low. I got the Pacific Western States for $49.

I use Garmin Mapsource Topo Map CD with my Garmin eMap GPS. I create the routes on the computer topo and then load them into the GPS. I download the topos into the GPS also. I found some inaccuracies for trail camps and distances also. The current software for the Garmin eMap makes it one of the best all-around GPS packages in my opinion (biggest complaint: Not waterproof).”

“I've got both TOPO! state series and DeLorme 3-D Topo Quads State Series. TOPO! state series is by far the best choice. It is much easier to use. The file system is simpler and it works flawlessly with my GPS. If you have access to a plotter you can print out any size map you want also.”

“I just talked with a guy at REI today about the TOPO CD for Mi. It sounded GREAT. I WILL buy it if I dont get it for kwanza. He said that you can connect it to your GPS and plot points prior to a trip and your GPS will "walk" you through the route. I LOVE it!”

“I have no details, but noticed while walking thru REI today that they're selling "Inkjet Printer water-proof" paper, upon which you should print your maps.

I believe it was $19.95/pack, don't know how many pages/pack.

Are we getting close to the point where it's cheaper to buy maps??? Printer maintenance expense + paper expense + TOPO (or whatever program) + maintenance time (this means downloads, etc.)

So, playing devil's advocate, what's the advantage of all this techno-gizmo stuff over going down the street & buying a couple maps?”

“I can't help the folks in Califorina, but the following states can download free USGS DRG maps.



Arizona - Arizona Regional Images Archive, University of Arizona

Arkansas - Spatial Analysis Lab, University of Arkansas at Monticello

Delaware - Research Data Management Services-University of Delaware

Florida - Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection - Land Boundary Information System (LABINS)

Georgia - USGS-WRD/Georgia Tech-Center for Spatial Analysis Technologies

Idaho - Idaho Geospatial Data Center

Illinois - Illinois Natural Resources Geospatial Data Clearinghouse

Kansas - State of Kansas GIS Initiative - Data Access and Support Center

Missouri - Missouri Spatial Data Information Service

Montana - Montana State Library - Natural Resource Information System

Nebraska - Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nevada - Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology FTP Site

New Mexico - Los Alamos National Laboratory

New York - New York State GIS Clearinghouse

North Dakota - North Dakota Geological Survey

Ohio - Ohio Department of Administrative Services

Oklahoma - GEO Information Systems - University of Oklahoma

Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania State University

Utah - Utah's Automated Geographic Reference Center

West Virginia - West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection

Wyoming - Wyoming Spatial Data Clearinghouse


Upper Mid-Western States (partial) - USGS-Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

USGS LINKS”

“Wanderer,

Point well taken. It is probably cheaper to just go buy the dang paper map...but then you miss out on all the whiz-bang techno-geek fun!

I like being able to determine mileage and elevation gain/loss and I imagine those with GPS are loving the plotting of waypoints automatically.”