UK/Northern Ireland/Ireland Maps?

Bazmcc · 10-16-2007, 04:27 AM

I've read through dozens of threads about UK maps for our car pcs but I can't seem to find any information on maps for northern ireland. I've had a look at destinator 3 maps and they are absolutely useless and only have a very small handful of roads. If anyone has any uk maps I'd be greatful if they could zoom into NI and see if there's a good coverage of roads. I promise that there are really more than destinator 3 shows. The nearest road it finds to me is roughly 30 miles away. Ideally I'd like a map that I can integrate into freedrive but if there's another software that works well then I don't mind using that. Garmin maps are very good for here but i'm not sure if they can be used on a pc?
Cheers
Baz

Marvin Hlavac · 10-16-2007, 05:21 PM

Garmin maps + the free Garmin nRoute software is a solution for PCs. I'm not sure how easy or difficult it would be to integrate it into a CarPC, though.

Bazmcc · 10-16-2007, 05:32 PM

It might be worth a look. Thanks for the suggestion.
Baz

Marvin Hlavac · 10-16-2007, 05:34 PM

If you give it a try, let the rest of us know how you like it.

Bazmcc · 10-17-2007, 10:14 AM

I just downloaded the setup file and I was wondering if I need map files or anything else?
The huge lists of maps and map types on the web site is very confusing.
I might get some time later and get it installed. I can't wait to test it out because the maps are 10 times better than destinator.
Any help is much appreciated.
Cheers
Baz

Bazmcc · 10-22-2007, 06:32 PM

OK so now I've got mapsource and nRoute installed. My next step is to get the software to see the gps reciever. It's on a usb connection and with my other testing software I can see that it's on COM port 4 but when I go to the nroute software and check for usb devices it says that there is no device there at all.
Is there some sort of configuration I have to go through or some sort of patch needed to pick up all the different types of recievers.
Cheers
Baz

P.S. the fact that it installed has impressed me more than some of the other software I've tried.

Marvin Hlavac · 10-22-2007, 07:27 PM

It must be just a matter of configurating GPS Gate properly. I don't sit in front of a PC with GPS Gate on it, but likely you need to specify that the input device is a Garmin-type receiver.

It shouldn't matter that you are using an unregistered trial version of GPS Gate.

Valheru · 10-23-2007, 02:35 AM

Can either of you explain how I get the nRoute software to install. I downloaded the software from the garmin website but upon installatoin it seems to be looking for a pre installed Garmin software package - which I do not have.

Is the nRoute software free ??

warren222 · 10-23-2007, 06:49 AM

NMEA
Sorry, no NMEA connections with work with nRoute, it uses the Garmin format only, but again most newer era Garmin units will work with either serial or USB connections.
http://www.gpsinformation.org/penrod/nroute/nroute.html

Bazmcc · 10-23-2007, 07:44 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by warren222

NMEA
Sorry, no NMEA connections with work with nRoute, it uses the Garmin format only, but again most newer era Garmin units will work with either serial or USB connections.
http://www.gpsinformation.org/penrod/nroute/nroute.html

Can you explain this please and also explain GPS gate as you seem to know about these things?
I might just try gpsgate later and see how it goes as I saw on another thread that the globalsat BU353 usb reciever works.
Baz

DarquePervert · 10-23-2007, 07:54 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bazmcc

Can you explain this please and also explain GPS gate as you seem to know about these things?
I might just try gpsgate later and see how it goes as I saw on another thread that the globalsat BU353 usb reciever works.
Baz

nRoute is Garmin's proprietary software. It only works with Garmin GPS units, which output data in their on proprieetary language. Naturally, only Garmin GPS units output in this language.

GPSGate will take data from a non-GarminGPS (like your BU353) and output a stream in Garmin's language so you can use with with nRoute.
Conversely, GPSGate can take the data stream from a Garmin unit and convert it to NMEA to use with other applications like CoPilot, Streets & Trips or iGuidance (among others).

Bazmcc · 10-23-2007, 07:57 AM

Ah, excellent. Thanks for the help.
I'l maybe get a chance to try it out later. I'll report back with my findings.
Cheers
Baz

Bazmcc · 10-23-2007, 01:01 PM

I got GPSgate loaded up and got nRoute to recognise and got the maps up on the screen. I haven't had much time to explore the features yet but the maps are excellent and it's very accurate and seems to work pretty flawlessly when it comes to simple tracking and displaying my position on the screen.
Initial comments would be: works well, far too many buttons and options on screen at once (which I'll need to suss out), maps are very good for my area as I have a lot of small roads here but they're all displayed, and generally I'm pretty happy with it but i'll need to see if I can set up some routes and see if it has all the trimmings I would expect from Garmin.
Baz