qlandkarte – OpenMTBMap.org – Mountainbike and Hiking Maps based on Openstreetmap

Map Updates 09 June

extremecarver — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:07:39 +0000

Okay, the last map updates were a step in the right direction IMHO, but many of you were right that they were not "clean". I followed the route and decreased the map to three tiles now (main1, main2, mtb). Also routing offroad is now much more differentiated and in the tooltip of Mapsource (not on GPS for the moment, however I'm working on it...) and for every street type that could be unpaved, I take now mtb:scale/mtb:scale:uphill/ routes, tracktype, bicycle=no, bicycle=yes, bicycle=designated and sac_scale into consideration (about 150 different combinations for EACH road type, like path or unclassified) so that road classification is even better. Oh and riverbanks are back (was not nice to look at empy rivers, was it?)

n the mapsource tooltip you can identify which factors were taken into account as I put abbreviations into the name. These are much shorter this time, and on my Vista HCx in the routing page, very rarely does a roadname get stripped, on the map page while navigating even less often.

Routing over longer distances should work a bit better now, if the area is well mapped. I tried out a many routes that I know from the past and I was really astonished how closely or often better the route calculated is. Of course good mapping in an area is the key! - I calculated some routes around Garmin Partenkirchen in Germany, and hell, they must be a lot of fun on a mountainbike!

Oh and I nearly forgot to tell, Performance on GPS units when panning the map has increased tremendously, I found some hacks that even Garmin does not seem to know on how to change what gets drawn first, and panning/moving the map ist now a lot quicker (I'ld guestimate on averge 30-50% less waiting, smother moving without decreasing detail level)!

For downhill please enable shorter distance instead of faster route, and then more difficult runs (if more or less in the fallline to your destination) will be chosen. Also using mode bicycle sometimes produces very good results, In general car/motorcycle is better though. The main change with this map update is, that cycleways are not really required anymore to get somewhere, but tracks and pathes are well and often chosen. To get you understand the names, have a look at the abbreviation list:

Abbreviations used:

pri=primary / primary_link
sec=secondary
ter=tertiary
res=residential
min=minor
unsf=unsurfaced
uncl=unclassified
living=living_street
pdstrian=pedestrian
trk=track
pth=path
ft=footway
fp=footpath
brdlwy=bridleway
wy=way
rd=road
bywy=byway
serv=service

cy=cyclway
cwy=cyleway
bklane=cycleway=lane
bktrk=cycleway=track
opp=opposite
opptrk=cycleway=opposite_track
onwy=oneway
CW1=higwhway=* & highway=cycleway. (you should not tag like this).

rt=route
bk=bicycle=yes or simply bicycle therefor bkrt means bikeroute/cycleroute depending on way, mtbroute means mountainbikeroute.
mtb?? - i.e. mtb1:4 means mtb:scale:1 & mtb:scale:uphill4
xbk=bicycle=no
+bk=bicycle=designated

Current Issues: Tooltip on GPS does not show correct mtb:scale/mtb:scale:uphill information, the displayed symbols are correct.
Autorouting on GPS does not work over longer distances.

Big Update to the OpenMTBMaps for June

extremecarver — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:25:28 +0000

O.k. the first contries are uploading already, so I will post about the news:

White Background (this can be changed back in the typfile by deleting 0x4b if you don't like it) - The white background only appears when zoomed in to around 500m or closer. This is dependant on the map data. Should improve visibility a lot on most PNA. Makes no difference to Mapsource. I did change the look of other things too quite a lot. Layout is more consistent now. Still missing a few POI in the Typfile though (you can identify them in Qlandkarte GT or Mapsource looking at the map legend).
Autorouting improved once more.New lines visible on GPS and/or Qlandkarte GT
Search for roadnames. Not as good as real address search but better than nothing.
Icons for Polygons
Many more small things.
ATTENTION ON UPDATE - Delete all old *.img before copying in the new data. I patched my mkgmap installation to allow for less layers. Now there are only 4 layers (main, main2, mtb1, mtb2). This means you can't simply overwrite on updating but you need to delete all *.img first, otherwise you might run into problems.

The best MTB and Hiking Maps

extremecarver — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:36:11 +0000

Welcome to OpenMTBMap.org - Get the most popular maps for mountainbiking worldwide! Over 4000 users daily come here to get informed Get maps that guide you over the best trails, instead of getting lost. So here is why you should trust OpenMTBMaps:

6 Different layouts : Five high contrast layouts optimized for the different Garmin GPS (.e.g different layout for hiking than for mtbiking or for cycling). One layout for Desktop use. See the Map legend or screenshots (desktop) or screenshots (GPS)

Type of Way/Street? Clear differentiation between all street types. The maps display info out of the eyes of a biker / hiker. E.g. downhill arrows for steep singletracks

MTB & Hiking & Cycle relevant information like drinking water, alpine huts, guideposts,... Routes shown prominently besides (not instead of) the streets differentiated by colour for type and based on importance

Navigation - Advanced autorouting for mtbikers, cyclists and hikers. You can plan your routes and tracks on your desktop using the same maps as on your GPS . All maps come with Address search

Easy installation in Garmin Mapsource, Garmin Basecamp or Qlandkarte GT to plan your tours and tracks on your desktop.

Contourlines integrated nearly worldwide based on the excellent viewfinderpanoramas.org data. Much higher quality in mountainous regions than the generally used void filled SRTM3".

Participate? Map Incomplete or wrong? You can participate and add missing to OSM. I update the maps weekly, so every week the maps become better and more complete! Join over 300.000 mappers worldwide to add ways or fix data yourself.

GoodDocumentation because everything you want and need to know for using the maps is found on OpenMTBMap.org. Get Started and download the maps. Mac OSx Tutorial here.

VeloMap: If you're mainly cycling on-road or use your race bicycle, then I offer the similar VeloMap. The VeloMap has a focus on cycle friendly roads and cycle ways / cycle routes. As it shows less detail, it is quicker to understand.

Who can use the OpenMTBMap?

The maps offered here are of course, currently primarily used by Garmin GPS users and mountain bikers in general, but you don't need to have a Garmin GPS to use them. Qlandkarte GT an opensource and freely available Map Viewer can display them in all their pride, and also if not owning a Garmin GPS or buying maps from Garmin you can install Garmin Mapsource to your computer and enjoy autorouting like you have not enjoyed before. Besides third party progs like Glopus or Garmin Mobile XT can be used to display the OpenMTBMaps on your PDA or phone.

About OpenMTBMap.org

I started working on OSM because I saw the chance that for the first time in history there could be maps by mtbikers for mtbikers. However there was not yet any structure to classify ways so I developed the mtb:scale as well as many other attribute keys for OSM. But hardly anyone used them, so I started to create maps that showed the tags, and after a few month put up OpenMTBMap.org to make the maps available for everyone to download.

Currently around 2000-5000 unique visitors enjoy OpenMTBMap.org every day (as measured with Google Analytics).

Openstreetmap gives us the ability to really create mtb focused maps – like no other map provider has ever done. Therefore I call on you – to get engaged and start participating like over 300.000 people worldwide already do!

New Maps Updloaded (18.05)

extremecarver — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:42:20 +0000

Voila, I'm satisfied enough to push trough the updates. Here is what's new compared to the last updates (besides fresh OSM data):

1. Many new POI (about 70 new totalling now around 300 - all POI available as preset in JOSM and many more....) and much nicericons for them (mainly copied from JOSM) plus the ability to search for them in the proper category. Especially handy in Mapsource. Some POI still missing icons. I will add them sometimes.

2. Update to Routing Parameters - but not working like I want it to. Still failing on routes over long distances. As this has been better already I will have to keep on improving here.

3. Tracktype and Sac_scale are shown --> well not in Mapsource but on the GPS and in Qlandkarte GT.

4. Oneways are still disrespected. This is due to how mkgmap reads in the style-file. I hope it get's changed, or I will look for another solution to implement it.

-- I hope that on the next updates I will have worked out how I can implement routing over longer distances better. Maybe We/I have to accept however that the routing engine is too underpowered to give good routing over longer distances however. A main problem are not connected ways, that further make the situation worse however. I personally prefer good routing over a short distances (up to 10km) over bad routing that also works on longer distances. You can allways route over a distance of say 30km by putting one waypoint every 3km to achieve routing over longer distances however.

About the upcoming map updates

extremecarver — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:28:55 +0000

Well thanks to Qlandkarte GT it is now possible to view even more information from OSM on your computer screen. I will add tracktype and sac:scale information to the OpenMTBMaps. There is one catch. While the additional information will be displayed on most GPS units (at least on Vista HCx and 60CSx) - it will not be shown in Mapsource.

Qlandkarte GT however will display the Overlays. Note that because I don't want to increase the tile number too much tracktype will only be shown outside of tunnels and bridges (here you should not need tracktype anyhow). And sac:scale will be shown in preference to oneway streets (an unlikely combination too).

Installation of Qlandkarte GT in Ubuntu x64 did run very smooth BTW - took me bout 15 minutes. For instructions read on here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Map_On_Garmin/QLandkarte

While I got Qlandkarte GT running on Windows XP 32bit after the hassle of adding gdal to system path (I used the free tool Redmond Path for this as for all of the progs I have to add to Win system path) which is not done in standard installation (Qlandkarte complained on startup that gdal.fw cannot be found), I have not yet suceeded in Windows 7 RC x64. I think the problem is that fwtools is only compatible with 32 bit systems. Will try compiling the necessary programs by hand. (yikes).

Now for the autorouting. I have heard and experienced myself many complaints that routing over larger distances with the maps of 10.05 did not work over distances as small as 5-10km inside cities (contrary it worked pretty well on the countryside). Even though the routes that did calculate where really nice IMHO, i will try to get the routing working for longer distances again with the next map updates. This is a bit of conservative step back which I regret cause routes on the countryside were so nice with 10.05 maps but I will have to increase the priority of normal roads a bit.

I will likely too implement one way streets but recommend using the GPS or Mapsource in Emergency mode if route calculation fails because of oneway streets (Emergency setting is quite nice insofar it behaves more or less like car/motorcycle but disrespects any turn and access restrictions)

Look at and Upload the OpenMTBMap.org now from any Platform – Thanks to QLandkarte GT

extremecarver — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:15:39 +0000

O.k. I don't think many of you have look into Qlandkarte GT Sourcecode every day so noone could have spilt the news already. A few days ago I got in contact with Oliver, the Author from Qlandkarte GT (I had been in contact with him before - but that was because I had probs compiling Qlandkarte and there were no Binaries yet) and I asked him whether he could adapt the rendering engine.

And less than 36 hours after some more talk I can present you a screenshot taken with the latest Qlandkarte GT (compile from SVN for now if you want) of the OpenMTBMap. So all Linux and Mac Users can from now on enjoy the OpenMTBMap and send it to their GPS (needs compiling driver too for now) without any need to resort to Windows. And for everyone that aked for precompiled gmapsupp.img, sorry won't come. Just use Qlandkarte GT (installing a map needs nothing more than opening the .tdb from within Qlandkarte) from now on.

Here are two Screenshots (click to open fullsize image in 1520x954).

OpenMTBMap.org with DEM Data

And here one example of why I consider QlandkarteGT the best progam for planning! You can put the OpenMTBMap as an overlay over your existing Geotiff Rastermaps. Great to see eventual shortcomings in the OSM data and to find out where you should go next for mapping. The raster maps displayed on the following screenshot is copyrighted by the LVA Bayern.

Visit QlandkarteGt here: www.qlandkarte.org/

Note that it will be compatible with the upcoming v .13 or you can get it now already if checkout SVN. Also if you've read down till here - maybe you fancy helping Oliver by writing code so that Qlandkarte GT will support autorouting in future too.

Qlandkarte GT is much more than a simple viewer for OpenMTBMap.org however. In effect it's the best program (except expensive heavyweights like TTQV or Oziexplorer) for displaying Raster maps. Meaning you can view and rotate any of your scanned old paper maps, ...... But you will get most out of it when you start putting a transparent OpenMTBMap.org over your rastermaps.... and put SRTM file behind to view all maps in 3D view (which is actually in my eyes by far the best 3D view available compared to other progs).

To activate the correct rendering of OpenMTBMap.org in Qlandkarte go to Settings --> Garmin maps --> and activate the "Bitmap" checkbox. Note that the current maps still display with some errors. This will be corrected by the next map update.