Has anyone used the QuoVadis maps and Touratech program with their GPS's?
I've looked at their website (http://www.qvnav.com./) and they have just about the whole world digitized from Russian mil. maps. I've found it can be difficult to get detailed paper maps from countrys like Chad, Sudan etc. Has anyone tried printing maps from the program as backup if your laptop dies?
Then there is Fugawi,(www.fugawi.com) with their TPC maps of north africa and navigation software.
Is one of them better and/or easier to use?

Erik

[This message has been edited by Erik D. (edited 07 March 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Erik D. (edited 07 March 2002).]

I've been experimenting with the demo versions of QuoVadis and Fugawi.

Like most of these products I personally do not find them particularly intuitive.

QuoVadis seems to work OK, and certainly prints maps. I've been able to import and calibrate my own scans, and print my maps and those scanned by other people.

The big thing going for it is that it is a German product. As most Sahara travellers hail from Germany there are a lot of Sahara maps scanned and calibrated for QuoVadis available, eg the French IGN maps as well as the Russian ones.

I haven't got very far with the Fugawi demo yet. Its file handling is crude and its screen processing is very buggy. Given that this is a packaged piece of software, then if the retail version is remotely like the demo version I certainly won't be buying it.

Anyway, that's my opinion. Why not download the demos and decide for yourself?

GARtrip (another German product) also allows you to import and calibrate maps. I've got the hang of GARtrip now and am using it to capture and store waypoints and routes, as well as communicate with my GPS. I haven't played with its mapping functions very much yet, but I'm so pleased with it that I've paid for the full version.

I have Quo Vadis, Fugawi, Ozi Explorer as well as other navigation software. And here’s what I think about them:

Fugawi: Fugawi
I bought this software first. It’s pretty basic but does the Job. I wouldn’t recommend it since the other two products in the same price range and are much better in terms of features, handling and overall quality.

Ozi Explorer: Ozi Explorer
This is a slick peace of software that does the job very well. It has more features than you’ll probably need and it’s easy to use, fast and stable. The only reason I’m not using this program anymore is that I found that Quo Vadis handles large waypoints database better for my purposes. But I have to say that my purposes are quite unusual (How about a 44000 waypoint database sound?). For regular overlanders it will do the job pretty well.

Quo Vadis: Touratech QV
My favorite. I haven’t seen anything better. It has almost all the features of the other 2 programs combined and best of all it has a database manager to manage your waypoints, routes and tracks. A nice feature is it lets you draw shapes and insert text on the maps itself for reference. It can handle a big number of maps and switching between then is easy and fast.

Quo Vadis is the most expensive but it’s worth it. However if you don’t need all the database features then Ozi Explorer would suit you great. All programs allow you to enter your maps and calibrate them. That means that you can get the TPC (Fugawi) or Russian (QV) maps to work on any program of the three.

The Maps:

TPC (1:500.000) and ONC (1:1.000.000) Maps:
I have the TPC maps that Fugawi sells. They are very nice to look at but pretty much useless other wise. The topographic and elevation contour lines are scares and some are not that accurate. You won’t be able to tell if you’re heading towards a ridge or a mountain. There are big shifted areas but at least it says so on the map. The thing that pisses me off the worst about these maps is the fact that all the roads, tarmac, dirt tracks, camel tracks and pretty much everything else is represented by a single black line. Having said that they look very nice. I even bought another brand new set to make a collage of Egypt to hang on my wall. But I wouldn’t take them in the desert.

Remember, these are aviation maps and they show land features like they appear from the sky. Something we don’t really care about.

The Russian Maps (1:500.000):
These maps are much better than the TPC/ONC maps when it comes to land navigation. The Russians made a colossal survey of the world mid last century and produces amazingly accurate 1:25.000 maps. The 1:500.000 maps are compiled from these maps.

I always prefer 1: 250.000 maps for land navigation since they provide good amount of details and don’t use too many sheets. When you downsize to 1:500.000 you inevitably loose details. The Russians did a great job packing a lot of useful information into the 1:500.000 maps. Most of the contour lines and elevation data are there. Best of all the desert tracks, camel tracks and roads are there and indicated properly. Just remember the roads are on the maps as they appeared mid last century. I even discovered a few tracks and passes that I didn’t know existed just from these maps.

The only problem with these maps is that they are in Russian. I though this would be a big problem when I first got them but now I don’t even notice it. I overlay my waypoints, with English names, on the maps and use those. I use the maps to figure out the terrain.

I also uploaded the GNDB database in my navigation software so I can find the names of the landmarks and land features that I don’t have in my waypoint database.

Quo Vadis has a nice feature that lets you translate the Russian names into English. It displays a small Russian keyboard on screen. You copy the name as is appears and it gives you the English pronunciation.

I believe that Daer, Germany, sells the Russian paper maps in different scales.

Terry, Where can I get he French IGN maps?

PS: If the map scale talk above is confusing let me know and I’ll explain in more details.

Hope this helps

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A.B.
www.ShortWheelbase.com

[This message has been edited by A.B. (edited 15 March 2002).]

__________________
A.B.
OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.

Thanks guys!

A.B., you can order IGN maps directly from their website: http://www.ign.fr/


Erik D.

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The Map Shop (http://www.themapshop.co.uk/) is a very good UK source - efficient and much cheaper than Stanfords (http://www.stanfords.co.uk/) and The Pilot Shop (http://www.transair.co.uk/system/index.html).

Hi AB, IGN only covered the former french colonies; not egypt (or sudan + libya) where tpcs backed up with russians and sats are your best bet.

we just used a tpc in algeriq where the old ign 1m was pretty skimpy and it was often accurate - notwithstanding its well known failings you mention.

As long as I travel in IGN teritory I must say I cant be bothered to get into the Russian maps - IGNs with newer TPCs do OK

Chris in Tunis

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Morocco Overland 4 pre-order for Xmas • Trans Morocco Trail

Hi Chris, It's to hear from you again.

Do you know where I can get good sat images of Egypt? I'm building a map and sat image collection and the sat images I have so far are not that good.

Also does anybody know how/where can I get my hands on a set of Conoco maps of Egypt? These are sat images 1:250.000 with the road network and town overlaid on top.

Thanks

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A.B.
www.ShortWheelbase.com

__________________
A.B.
OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.

For sats try

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/

Chris

__________________
Morocco Overland 4 pre-order for Xmas • Trans Morocco Trail

There is a free system (which I have not tried) at http://www.gpstm.com/

Sam