Openmtbmaps and Contourlines

Now the most popular openmtbmap maps (over 50 countries) come with contourlines integrated

Note that since end of January 2012 the most popular openmtbmap maps have contourlines integrated, the text below is therefore for most people only for reference. On installation you can now select whether or not to also install the contourlines.

Introduction to the non integrated contourlines data formats:

There are three different download formats in which you can get the contourlines.

a) as gmapsupp.img format. That format is ready to be simply put in /garmin folder on "new generation" outdoor GPS like etrex 20/30, all Dakota/Oregon/Colorado or GPSMaps 62/76, edge 800 and Monata. It will also work on many Nuvi. There are however also other older Garmin GPS devices, that only accept 1 gmapsupp.img file, for them you have to use Mapsource/Basceamp (or advanced gmaptool) to send/assemble the maps for your GPS — see b) and c)

b) as installable file (.exe). Just download and install the contourlines and then use Mapsource/Basecamp or Qlandkarte GT to transfer the contourlines to your GPS

c) as .zip file. Just use your favourite unzipper (I recommend 7-zip) to extract them – then use them with Qlandkarte GT or join them to other maps using the batch files (see howto below).

b) and c) are more or less identical (or in fact identical once installed . a) on the other hand cannot be (easily) integrated into desktop applications. It is only useful to be used as is on your GPS device.

Get The Contourlines and send them as a seperate map to your GPS

You have to download the contourlines seperately – they are to be found below the normal maps. Get them here http://openmtbmap.org/download/#contourlines

You can download them .exe or as .zip.

If you simply want to use them as transparent maps on your GPS (they will be displayed on top of any other map) — then you need to do nothing but just run the .exe and send the contourline maps to your GPS like any other map from Mapsource/Basecamp/Qlandkarte GT. They will show up as a seperate map in the map selection tool. (just for those curious, the map FID is the 4 for digits of the mapnames, plus 300).

–  If you don't want to use Mapsource/Basecamp/Qlandkarte GT for the above, and use Windows XP or above, you can also doubleclick on "create_contourline_gmapsupp.img.bat" (get it from here: contourline_scripts.zip )
This creates a gmapsupp.img which you can directly put onto the \garmin folder on your gps or \garmin folder on your memory card (note, this is only practical for newer GPS that accept gmapsupp.img renamed to other names).

If you want to see the contourline maps at the same time as another map on your computer, then follow the steps below. For the info below you can either use the contourlines from the .exe or from the .zip downloads.

Install Contourline Maps in Basecamp together with the normal openmtbmaps.

Get the contourlines either as .exe or .zip and extract them (note you can extract the .exe).

I tried to make this installation as failproof as possible and this means for me to go with gmaptool  and cgpsmammper or with gmaptool and mkgmap.
If you use the script with mkgmap.jar you have to install Sun Java (JDK 1.6) and download mkgmap from http://www.mkgmap.org.uk/snapshots/mkgmap-latest.tar.gz

Attention: if you use the batchfiles "with_mkgmap.jar", you need to have at least as much available RAM as the size of the maps (select all 6*.img and 7*.img). On 32bit systems there is furthermore a barrier of about 1100MB of maps. Else it may fail, or you might need to wait a very long time (could be hours) for completion.

a) install them together.

Add the 7*.img from the contourline download (after extraction), to your normal map folder, and run create_mapsource_installationfiles.bat or run create_mapsource_installationfiles_with_mkgmap.bat (by using the mkgmap batch, a new address index is generated). Note you need to have all maps (6*.img), all contourlines maps (7*.img), the batches (.bat), and the .TYP-file inside the same folder. This folder can be the same as for the normal openmtbmap installation. Also mkgmap.jar should be the latest version. If mkgmap.jar is older than the version used to create the openmtbmaps, it may fail.

Note that currently only Basecamp 3 will show the contourlines on top of the normal maps (as well as all GPS). Mapsource does not show contourlines.

You can throw together as many contourline maps and normal maps into the folder as you like. They will all be munged into a new map. (make sure not to install two maps with the same FID, use mapsettoolkit to check if in doubt).

Mapsource 6.16 and Basecamp v 3 will show altitude profiles for routes (using autorouting, not direct routing) but not for tracks. (this were different if we had a real DEM, and not only contourlines – but it is not known how to legally do this).

Please note: frequently update "mkgmap.jar". If mkgmap is older than the openmtbmaps, it may lead to serious problems (like Mapsource/Basecamp crashing on mapselection) or the gmapsupp.img being unreadable on your GPS.

b) Sending Contourlines and openmtbmap maps as one combined map to the GPS

Simply put the openmtbmap maps AND contourliens of your choice into a folder, and doubleclick on create_gmapsupp.img.bat (needs to be inside the same folder) (Note: use the create_gmapsupp.img.bat from the normal map folder, the batch from old contourline downloads will not work)
This creates a gmapsupp.img that can be directly placed onto the external data card of your GPS or in the internal memory in the /garmin folder and off you go. Some newer units like Oregon or Dakota with newest firmware can even use any gmapsupp.img be it named gmapsupp.img or openmtb.img so for updating your maps you have more choice.