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Old 05-08-2017, 08:19 PM   #141
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I tried Maps.me and found it clunky and burdensome. Google Maps is WAY better. And it's so easy to download offline maps to the phone and it automatically updates with saved points of interest. My vacation planning is mostly geospatial instead of long lists of stuff I might do or a rigid itinerary. Now I look at the map of the city we're visiting and pick a few things I might want to do in a certain area. Also great for walking tours since it's easy to hit several destinations along the route to another place and you can detour accordingly.

I'll have to check out this "save route ahead of time and get GMaps to automatically download the offline map data to the phone" thing. Sounds way easier than my old method of selecting a huge block of a country or region and downloading manually.

We're doing 9 weeks in Europe, leaving in about a month. 6 weeks we'll be using transit and on foot but the other 3 will be in the car and I'll be using a phone for GPS nav. For a 10 day period we'll be in Slovenia and won't have any cell data service (our global chip doesn't offer free service there) so it'll just be offline navigation. Shouldn't be a problem as we've used offline nav many times in Mexico and Canada where we didn't have a data plan.
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Old 05-09-2017, 07:20 AM   #142
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For those looking to plan a route ahead of time, I used this a few years ago and it seemed to work. You need to create an account (has not been a problem - EDIT - looks like you only need to create an account to save the set up on the site - you can still create a route and export the .gpx w/o an account), it's the only place I found at the time that would do this easily:

H-D Ride Planner | Motorcycle Trip Planner | Harley-Davidson USA

After planning your route, click GPS sync and manual mode and you can download a .gpx file that most GPS systems read, you might be able to sync your GPS directly. The advantage was that I had a route pre-planned, and didn't get auto changes to it every time I turned on the GPS, and didn't have to jump through more hoops to avoid certain roads. Planning is much easier on the Google Maps interface than any GPS I've used.


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... And it's so easy to download offline maps to the phone and it automatically updates with saved points of interest. ...
Have they changed this? The last time I tried it was super tedious. You had to zoom to the area you wanted to save, and then save it a step at a time along your path. And no hinting as to how big of an area was too big, you just got an error message after you tried, and you just tried again till you got it right.


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Old 05-09-2017, 07:39 PM   #143
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Have they changed this? The last time I tried it was super tedious. You had to zoom to the area you wanted to save, and then save it a step at a time along your path. And no hinting as to how big of an area was too big, you just got an error message after you tried, and you just tried again till you got it right.

I've used it over the years and it does seem easier today vs. 3-4 years ago.

In the android app you click "offline data", set the boundaries then click download. It downloads in the background while you look for the next chunk of map you want.

Or you can do the map routing on google maps desktop, then send to your phone, then it prompts you to download offline data for navigating w/o a data connection (or maybe to save on data). Tried it with a Raleigh to Charlotte route and it figured out the boundaries for me. 282 MB I recall for the ~3 hour drive. My only complaint is that I would add more data north of the northern boundary in case I have to detour off the map due to traffic. And I didn't need the huge area in the middle of the map in the rural areas that I had near zero chance of driving through. In that respect, I see how it's clunky.

What I usually do is download a whole city at a time including suburbs. And do that for several cities. Even works for whole chunks of countries. I can't recall the data size, but I was able to capture a third of Slovenia in one offline data set (the country is rather small though).
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Old 05-09-2017, 08:49 PM   #144
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Around town I use Google Maps, for planing I use MapQuest. For longer trips I use a new remanufactured Garmin with traffic. I don't have to worry about data plans or dead batteries. I use my iPhone for podcasts traveling so directions sometimes don't arrive or arrive late. I also like to be able to re listen to a direction if I miss it on the Garmin. I also have look ahead which will list gas, food, rest areas coming up on the route. Plus the Garmins 6" screen is easier on the eyes.
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Old 05-10-2017, 09:11 AM   #145
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For driving, I prefer to map my trip ahead of time and print out my own directions. Sometimes the detailed directions provided by Google or other maps are just plain silly and confusing. For example, the winding road up the mountain to our house changes names 4 or 5 times, but there's only one road. Google spells out every little bend in the road as an action to take. I use the map to pick a route, then write my own step-by-step directions.

For hiking I prefer my Garmin GPS. It's smaller than my smart phone, and has a nice clip I can clip to my pocket, backpack, or whatever. I don't use it for navigating, I just use it to track how many miles we've hiked. Occasionally I will use an app on my smart phone too, but it's not as convenient. Neither is 100% accurate, but they're usually fairly close in distance readings.
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Old 05-10-2017, 03:27 PM   #146
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The problem I have with GPS, stand alone or phone, is it shows me where I am, and it gets me to where I want to go, but I don't know where I am. Now if that is confusing, I'll try to explain. I know where I am on the map, but that intrinsic feeling as to where you are within a geographical region is lost. Not sure if that makes sense. You look at the map and know you are at the Court House, you see the Court House, but you really don't have a good feeling for how you got here, or what you past several blocks away, or what were the key landmarks in the area.

I spent the majority of my AF career using dead reckoning on 1 to 50,000 maps. You move form point to point. you look out far away and pick up major landmarks. When your head has been buried in the cockpit and you look up or down you may not recognize where you are, but a quick look for the landmarks and you know right where you are. I have flown aircraft with moving maps. You tend to loose this skill set. For me the same thing happens in a car.
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Old 05-10-2017, 04:05 PM   #147
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The problem I have with GPS, stand alone or phone, is it shows me where I am, and it gets me to where I want to go, but I don't know where I am. Now if that is confusing, I'll try to explain. ...
I think I know what you are talking about. What helps me in that case, is to set the GPS to show North at the top. Then I can orient myself as to where I am in the area. That's harder for me when the map is turning to put travel direction at top.


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Old 05-10-2017, 04:07 PM   #148
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I think I know what you are talking about. What helps me in that case, is to set the GPS to show North at the top. Then I can orient myself as to where I am in the area. That's harder for me when the map is turning to put travel direction at top.


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I always set my gps showing north up and 2D. That's what I'm familiar with. I know folks who prefer 3D but for that, I can just look out the window .
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Old 05-10-2017, 04:26 PM   #149
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The problem I have with GPS, stand alone or phone, is it shows me where I am, and it gets me to where I want to go, but I don't know where I am. Now if that is confusing, I'll try to explain. I know where I am on the map, but that intrinsic feeling as to where you are within a geographical region is lost. Not sure if that makes sense. You look at the map and know you are at the Court House, you see the Court House, but you really don't have a good feeling for how you got here, or what you past several blocks away, or what were the key landmarks in the area.

I spent the majority of my AF career using dead reckoning on 1 to 50,000 maps. You move form point to point. you look out far away and pick up major landmarks. When your head has been buried in the cockpit and you look up or down you may not recognize where you are, but a quick look for the landmarks and you know right where you are. I have flown aircraft with moving maps. You tend to loose this skill set. For me the same thing happens in a car.
Have you tried pinch and zoom?

You can zoom out to see an overview of your route.

That's why I like to also look at the maps apps. on my iPad too. Also when I'm planning my trips, I do it on the desktop browser version of Google Maps, which is also easy to zoom in and out on a large display.

I even make some screen shots of my custom maps, to kind of get a good context of the place.
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Old 05-10-2017, 07:52 PM   #150
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I think it's more about not really keeping up with the trip. When map reading you are looking for an exit, you are looking at what you are passing and actively looking for the exit. With the gps, it is like talking on the phone, things just pass, sometimes you don't even notice. I am not engaged in the navigation and as such I am not as in tune with where I am.
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Old 05-10-2017, 09:23 PM   #151
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The problem I have with GPS, stand alone or phone, is it shows me where I am, and it gets me to where I want to go, but I don't know where I am.
That's how I ended up in the middle of the Adirondacks one day. Didn't realize our route on the interstate took us through the middle of nowhere and we wouldn't have cell reception. Guess where we broke down?

We're kind of spoiled that we can plan a multi-hundred mile trip with a 10 second series of screen taps on a mobile phone, click "navigate" and then follow the spoken directions and get where we're going. I know what you mean about not really knowing where you are. On road trips I have to pay attention to what city we're in and even what state we're in.

To combat that, I take a look at the big picture. Zoom out. How many more miles till the next big city? How far till we get to the state line? Do I need to stop somewhere in particular for cheap gas or a place that has a variety of restaurants? Sometimes that's aiming for a certain exit number.
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Old 05-10-2017, 09:46 PM   #152
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When driving we do use our super great GPS, it came with a camera that I didn't add on, but the thing speaks the directions really well, and only gets confused (wrong directions) in passing through 1 city even after updating it. I think it was Nashville TN.

When I make a wrong turn, my old one would yell out "Re-calculating" as if that was hard, but this one just carries on and adjusts the route to fix my mistake.
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Old 05-11-2017, 05:35 AM   #153
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....When I make a wrong turn, my old one would yell out "Re-calculating" as if that was hard, but this one just carries on and adjusts the route to fix my mistake.
Yep, "Re-calculating" makes things interesting.
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Old 05-11-2017, 05:46 AM   #154
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And there is always the random brain fart, which was common with older GPS car units.

In 2005 I had a TomTom unit in the car. Went into a small town for lunch in rural Idaho and when about to get back on the highway it told me to go back the way I had come for "812 miles, then make a U-turn."
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Old 05-11-2017, 01:05 PM   #155
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I have a cheap phone with a non-US radio that I use for navigation, local calling, and my contact number when I'm traveling. It's a Moto-E. In Costa Rica, I bought a SIM for $2 and put 5000 Colones (about $10) on it (all done at WalMart). Also, I can switch on the wifi hotspot and use my regular phone (with a faster processor and bigger screen).

I did download the maps for where I expected to be (Google Maps), but I had cell data most places anyway. Never got close to using up my $10 worth.

So the bad news was my water shoes (with plenty of velcro) kind of self-destructed. The good news was that I had the phone where I could see it.
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Old 05-11-2017, 01:26 PM   #156
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What is that, some kind of a vent clip mount holding up the phone?
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Old 05-11-2017, 05:22 PM   #157
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OK, here what I do. It's pretty much way over the top:

Our cars have nav built into them, but when I'm traveling I often use both the car's nav system and the phone's. They have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Car system advantages:
- It's always there
- It has map data built in, so no connectivity required
- Shows upcoming exits and rest areas on highways. Even shows if the exit has fuel, restaurants, etc, even Starbucks!
Disadvantages:
- It's a pain to enter destinations, though I can send the car the destination from google maps
-

Phone system advantages:
- Voice (siri) is way better for specifying destination
- Waze (if I'm using it) shows me upcoming speed traps!
- Can choose from Apple Maps, Waze, others
Disadvantages:
- Smaller screen
- Needs cell coverage

So what I often do when traveling is use the phone for the actual navigation, but since it shows only the local area on it's small screen, I also have the nav screen up on the car showing a wider area. So I can see upcoming town and such. Helps with the situational awareness.

My favorite feature using Apple Maps is that when you are following it's directions, you can ask Siri about things ALONG THE WAY. E.g. "How far to the next Starbucks?" will just tell you about stores along your route - NOT the one closer, but you have get off the highway and drive 30 miles over city streets in the wrong direction to get there. This feature is awesome.
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Old 05-11-2017, 05:34 PM   #158
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One thing I noticed in a Lexus SUV is that the GPS is logging where the car has been.

Wonder if you have to go to the dealer to get all that cleared up. I remember on Dexter, he snoops on the navigation system logs of a car to track down someone.
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