Filtrovani v programu GeoGet

Program GeoGet (vase osobni databaze geokesi na vasem pocitaci) je dobry, ma mnoho funkci - ale zaroven je, podle meho nazoru, uzivatelsky nestandardni, nekdy az zavadejici. Je to samozrejme otazka zvyku. Hodila by se lepsi dokumentace - pak by mozna uzivatelska privetivost byla dostatecna.

Chvili mi trvalo, nez jsem se naucil pouzivat filtrovani tak, jak jsem potreboval. Mozna to porad nedelam tim nejlepsim zpusobem, ale aspon to funguje, jak chci :-)

Nejdrive trochu terminologie: GeoGet rika "seznam" (anglicky "list") tomu, co je prave zobrazeno na obrazovce. Pokud v takovem seznamu nejake polozky ubirate nebo pridavate, tak se to deje jen na obrazovce, nikoliv v databazi geokesi (pro vymazani z databaze jsou v GeoGetu jine funkce). Nejcastejsi zpusob (krome rucniho ubirani nebo pridavani radek), jak seznam vytvorit, je uzit nejaky "filter". Pozor ovsem na to, ze prostym vyberem filtru, se seznam na obrazovce nezmeni. To musite udelat rucne (bud stisknout "load" - je na nekolika mistech) nebo, casteji, stisknout klavesu F5. Tak se na obrazovce zobrazi jen ty kese, ktere odpovidaji prave vybranemu filtru.

Pak jeste GeoGet pouziva termin "tag", coz je libovolna poznamka, kterou muzete priradit k jedne nebo vice kesim. Nektere poznamky si vytvorite sami (treba poznamku "tohle je kes, kterou jsem navstivil s manzelkou"), nektere poznamky (tagy) jsou v GeoGetu uz predpripravene (takze je staci jen vybrat). Na priklad: vytvorim nejdrive novou kategorii tagu "Navstiveno spolu" a pak vytvorim dve hodnoty (dva tagy) v teto kategorii: "s manzelkou" a "s milenkou". Tagy jsou vhodne kriterium pro filtrovani - budu moci, napriklad, vybrat jen ty kese, ktere jsem jeste nenavstivil ani s manzelkou ani s milenkou.

"So far so good..." Komplikace nastanou, kdyz chceme kombinovat vice filtru, a navic, kdyz nektere filtry jsou zavisle na nekolika "tagach". Chceme treba rici "Zobraz vsechno, co odpovida filtru A, ale co zaroven neodpovida filtru B ani C". To neni teoreticka kombinace, to je ta, kterou pravidelne potrebuji. Zde je, co mam a co bych rad:

• Jde mi o kese v Praze.
• Chci vsechny typy krome eventu.
• Ale u mysterek chci jen ty, co mam vyresene anebo ty, ktere jsem oznacil tagem v kategorii "Stage" s hodnotu "PreFinal". Jinymi slovy, vyresim-li mysterku se vsim vsudy a mam jeji finalni souradnice, nepotrebuji k ni pridavat zadny muj osobni tag, protoze staci, kdyz k ni pridam finalni waypoint (volba "add waypoint"). GeoGet mi uz vetsinou sam spravne nabidne waypoint typu "Final location" se jmenem "Final" a prefixem "FI". Kdyz ale jeste potrebuji nekam zajit a neco k mysterce jeste zjistit, pridam ("edit tags") k takove mysterce muj osobni tag "PreFinal" me kategorie "Stage".
• A u multi-kesi chci jen ty, ktere mam take otagovany kategorii "Stage" s hodnotou "PreFinal" - tak oznacuji ty multinky, ktere mam v umyslu navstivit (zrejme proto, ze jsem jich uz cast nasbiral drive).

Vytvorim si nekolik filtru - ktere pak budu "skladat" dohromady, abych dostal seznam podle mych predstav. Filtry se vytvareji jednou provzdy - nemusim je delat znovu a znovu pokazde, co importuji nove kese do GeoGetu. Prvi pojmenuji "Prague - to load to GPS". Vyberu tam vsechno z Prahy:

Pak si vytvorim filter "Prague - remove unresolved". Tam definuji jen mysterky - a to pouze ty, ktere nemaji "Your final waypoint" a ktere nemaji tag "Stage" s hodnotou "PreFinal":

Konecne si vytvorim filter "Prague - remove rest of multi", kde budou multi-cache, u kterych nemam tag "PreFinal" (a tedy mne jeste nezajimaji):

Mam-li vsechny filtry, zbyva mi je nez zkombinovat do vysledneho seznamu. Toto kombinovani musim delat pokazde, kdyz chci takovy seznam. Nenasel jsem zpusob, jak si kombinaci uchovat do nejakeho "kombinovaneho filtru" (mozna tady je to misto, ktere jsem z GeoGetu jeste uplne nepochopil). Takze udelam tohle:

• Nastavim filter "Prague - to load to GPS" a stisku F5. Tim mam na obrazovce seznam vsech (mnou dosud nenalezenych) kesi v Praze (na obrazku dole je cislo 986, ktere rika, kolik ma tento seznam polozek):

• Nyni nastavim filter "Prague - remove unresolved" a nestisknu klavesu F5, ale naopak kliknu na ikonku filtru (trychtyre) s cervenym minusem, coz znamena "odeber ze zobrazeneho seznamu polozky, ktere definuje prave zvoleny filter". Vsimnete si, ze se delka listu zmensila, list ma ted jen 660 polozek:

• Nakonec odstranim jeste multi-kese, ktere nemam ve stavu "PreFinal". Vyberu filter "Prague - remove rest of multi" a opet stiknu jen trychtyrek s cervenym minusem. Dostavam seznam s 489 polozkami:

Ten seznam obsahuje presne to, co chci - a mohu jit exportovat do formatu GPX. Tech je take vice - a nenasel jsem je nikde zdokumentovany. Takze o nich snad priste. Ted si jen pamatuji, ze exportuji do formatu "Pocket Query GPX", ktery muj Oregon rozezna.

Mobile Atlas Creator and Garmin Custom Maps

The MOBAC is a very good program for downloading maps from various on-line sources (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, OpenStreetMap, but also, for example, UK OS Maps, etc.) and putting their "tiles" together into atlases that can be used in many different mobile devices. I was using the maps in my Android-based mobile phone with two different mobile applications: Maverick and OruxMaps (the Maverick links has more details about MOBAC).

The Mobile Atlas Creator can also create an atlas as Garmin's Custom Maps. But in my case, the result was disappointing (bad image resolution, maps were not really readable). But perhaps I was using wrong input parameters. I have found a good tutorial that may help to get better results: http://gpsteam.eu/guide/MOBAC_KMZ/MOBAC_GarminKMZ.htm.

Just to remind you how good the MOBAC is, here is a screenshot of a CykloAtlas from the Czech Republic (no, this is not the Garmin Custom map; this is a screenshot from the Mobile Atlas on the PC):

How to use OpenStreet maps in Garmin GPS

Garmin GPS (at least in Oregon and similar devices) can be enhanced by so called "Custom maps". Their usage, at least from my experiences, is limited to small maps (like park or campus plans). However, there are many open, large-scale maps around, notably in the OpenStreetMap project, that would be great to have in your GPS device (some of them are even routable, navigable). I was very pleased when a friend of mine told me that it was, indeed, possible.

The main site where are all the gory details is this: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin. Here is just a quick start how to do it:

• Find a map you are interested in and download it to your computer. A good place to start with is here: http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php. The downloaded file has a file extension ".img" (e.g. 632490265.img). The mentioned site allows to download one tile as an ".img" file, or you can combine more tiles into one ".img" file (using the option "Build your map").
• On the SD card of your Garmin GPS, create a directory "Garmin" and copy there your downloaded ".img" file but rename it to "gmapsupp2.img" - if it is not the first file there, increase the number (e.g your files may be "gmapsupp2.img", "gmapsupp3.img",...).

That's is.

Once you have a map in your Garmin device, however, you may start looking for how to see the same map also on your PC in the Garmin's MapSource program. That would give you a better chance for planning and evaluating the trips. And, indeed, it is also possible. The detailed instructions are here: http://freegeographytools.com/2007/adding-garmin-img-files-to-mapsource. You have to install first two programs on your PC: MapSetToolkit and cGPSmapper, and than follow the instructions. Here is an example of a map from the West Australie (town Geraldton):

Android map applications

There is an incredible application Maverick that shows several different maps, including the Google Maps, and - what is the punch line - it caches them for the offline usage. Once you browse them on your phone (e.g. using the free WiFi connection), you can go out, stay offline and you still see and use the maps! Only in the zoom levels that you browsed them at home, of course. There is a free version of Maverick and then there is a Maverick Pro version. These versions differ in number of custom waypoints, and perhaps in few other details, but the main feature, the map caching, is in both of them.

Maverick can also be used for recording your tracks.

Android applications for geocaching

As a new owner of Nexus One telephone with Android operating system, I was obviously interested in the applications for geocaching. I found several and played a bit with some of them. The winner, at least for me,  was c:geo.

The main advantage: it can store description of geocaches into the phone for the offline usage, and it does not need to use the map. It can use Google maps but does not need to. Which is cheaper if you are dependent only on the mobile network. Some of the other applications also can do it - but they need to take it from a .gpx file while c:geo takes it directly from the main geocaching site.

Of course, it's also nice that the author is Czech, living (according to the caches on his screen-shots) close to my house in Prague :-).

Bar code for installing the c:geo

How to update Garmin firmware

Garmin Oregon (and other Garmin GPS devices) get regularly new firmware that brings new features to your valuable toy. The update is done by a Windows program "WebUpdater". Download it, install it, plug-in your Garmin and start the updater. Follow the instructions.

I was pleasantly surprised by the recent updates that make some features quicker accessible (e.g. a new icon for changing easily dashboard contents).

Geographic calculators

Everybody knows about an excellent site GPS Visualizer with plenty of geographical utilities. I have been using it mainly for converting between various file formats (thanks to the equally excellent embedded GPS Babel tool) but recently I found its utilities for geographical calculations. I like its friendly user interface (allowing to copy easily data from one calculator to another one) and the gem, the "Draw range rings around a point".
 It allows me to see what actually I have loaded in my Garmin Oregon when preparing for a geocaching expedition. For example, In this map, each circle represents one GPX file in my Oregon.

More circles can be drawn together using another GPS Visualizer tool, the "Make a Google Map from a GPX File". Using the same tool, I can even see if the final coordinates of my solved puzzle geocaches fit in the range of the coordinates in my GPS:

Sometimes I need to find coordinates having a starting point, bearing (azimuth) and a distance. I often use http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html to do so:

 

It even shows you formulas how to make such arithmetic.